Webinar Series: Advances in Dementia Research
The Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (TDRA) and the Alzheimer Society of Toronto (AST) created a Research Studies section on the Toronto Dementia Network (TDN) website. This section lists information about dementia studies led by TDRA scientists that are open for participation.
To highlight the dementia studies listed on the TDN website, TDRA and AST have partnered to host a bi-monthly webinar series called Advances in Dementia Research.
Each webinar provides an overview of a research topic in dementia, and features an available research study (or studies) related to that topic. Webinars are presented in plain language by the scientists who lead the study being discussed (or ‘Primary Investigators’). These webinars are open to anyone, but are designed with people living with dementia and their caregivers/care partners in mind. Participants have the opportunity to ask questions in a Q&A period.
For upcoming webinar dates, please see Events.
Past Webinar Recordings
Presented by researchers from the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto, this webinar explores how rehabilitation and technology support the independence and safety of people living with dementia, highlighting two studies on tech-based rehabilitation and games.
To mark Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, the Alzheimer Society of Toronto (AST), the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and TDRA partnered to present a virtual panel discussing innovative approaches in Alzheimer’s disease research and care, covering brain stimulation therapies, recent research updates, opportunities for participation, and the perspective of a research participant.
Presented by Dr. Eugenie Roudaia, this webinar explores how vision and visual perception changes with aging and in the presence of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
Presented by Dr. Arlene Astell this webinar explained the role of movement, balance, fall prevention, communication and other cognitive and physical rehabilitation techniques for people living with dementia and mild cognitive impairment. Dr. Astell introduced two related studies that are currently recruiting on the TDN site.
Presented by Dr. Mario Masellis, this webinar explained the role of genetics in different types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Specifically, Dr. Masellis discussed the complex nature of the genetics of AD and FTD, as it relates to late onset sporadic forms vs. early onset familial cases.
Presented by Dr. Mary Chiu, this webinar provided an overview of the caregiving/care partnering role, in the context of caring for persons living with dementia, and the impact on the carers’ health and wellbeing. Dr. Chiu reviewed evidence-based interventions and training programs currently available to support carers for different aspects of this demanding role. Dr. Chiu introduced a study titled “Dementia Caregivers Skill Training Through Virtual Reality Simulation (VR-SIM Carers)”.
Presented by Dr. Linda Mah, this webinar provided an overview of the relationship between heart rhythms and various aspects of physical, mental and cognitive health, including memory, mood symptoms and other aspects of emotional health.
Dr. Mah discussed a series of observational studies investigating the brain-heart connection; specifically, whether heart rate variability can be used as an indicator of cognitive health, in older adults.
Presented by Drs. Gary Naglie, Mark Rapoport and Sayeh Bayat, this webinar provided an overview of the challenges that driving cessation poses for people living with dementia and their family/friend carers, as well as new resources and technology (e.g., self-driving cars) being developed to support them. The speakers introduced three current research studies that investigate driving and dementia.
In this webinar, Dr. Andres Lozano presents an overview of functional neurosurgery, a specialized medical approach used to treat brain disorders. Dr. Lozano introduces the FRONSTIM study which will evaluate the safety of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in people diagnosed with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Presented by Dr. Jennifer Rabin, this webinar provides an overview of modifiable risk and protective factors that may delay the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Dr. Rabin also reviews a study based at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre that investigates risk and protective factors for dementia among people who identify as East Asian, South Asian, or White.
Presented by Dr. Carmela Tartaglia, this webinar provides an overview of frontotemporal lobar degeneration-related syndromes (e.g., frontotemporal dementia). Dr. Tartaglia also reviews two Toronto-based studies that examine how frontotemporal lobar degeneration-related syndromes progress over time.
Presented by Dr. Neda Rashidi-Ranjbar, this webinar reviews a study that investigates a form of non-invasive light therapy called photobiomodulation as a treatment for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI); an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease.
Presented by Dr. Sandra Black, this webinar provides an overview of the BEAM (Brain-Eye Amyloid Memory) study. The BEAM study investigates whether measurements of the eye can be used for earlier detection of dementia.
Presented by Dr. Krista L. Lanctôt, this webinar presents an overview of two ongoing clinical trials evaluating new drug treatments for agitation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Presented by Dr. Mark Boulos, this webinar discusses evidence that links sleep disorders with cognitive impairment and stroke. Dr. Boulos also explains how home sleep testing may improve outcomes in patients with cognitive dysfunction and stroke, and discusses preliminary results from a related study called ‘ENCHANT’.
Presented by Dr. Tarek Rajji, this webinar provides an overview of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques for Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, and discusses a brain stimulation study that aims to improve memory and thinking processes in people with mild cognitive impairment.
In this webinar, Dr. Ho Yu from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) reviews genetic and lifestyle risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, including differences between population groups. This webinar also discusses the Asian Cohort for Alzheimer’s Disease (ACAD) study.
In this webinar, scientists from the Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative (ONDRI) present recent updates related to their work in studying multiple diseases that can cause dementia. Details of the Health in Aging and Neurodegeneration in Dementias in Ontario (HANDDS-ONT) study are also discussed.