I am a Research Associate in the Stroke Imaging Lab for Children (SILC) at the Hospital for Sick Children. My Ph.D. was completed at the University of Toronto in the Institute of Medical Science with a Collaborative Program in Neuroscience. My doctoral work focused on how the brain reorganizes hand function after stroke in children using multi-modal brain imaging techniques, including functional MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and magnetoencephalography Dissertation: “Structural and Functional Correlates of Hand Recovery Following Childhood Stroke.”

As a post-doctoral fellow, I shifted from studying mechanisms of recovery to mechanisms of injury to the brain in an experimental stroke model. During this time, I learned the evolution of blood-brain barrier permeability in the acute and sub-acute phases post-stroke using histological (Evan’s Blue) and in vivo MRI (dynamic contrast MRI), both measures of blood-brain barrier leakage. I was then hired back to the Stroke Imaging Lab for Children. I have since been involved with all of the research MRI studies being conducted within SILC, with a particular interest in the multi-institutional Brain Canada study. I am also working on a pilot study implementing a home-based virtual rehabilitation system designed for children with cerebral palsy that will be used as an intervention in childhood stroke patients. My role will be to apply functional and structural MRI techniques to study neuroplastic outcomes associated with the intervention