April 2021 CCHCSP ON Session - Interdisciplinary Research

Objectives:
1. Understand how a psychologist works with oncologists, neurobiologists, radiologists, nursing, and physiotherapy in a research program.
2. Discuss the value of research that spans and integrates levels of analyses and different model systems to understand neuroplasticity.
3. Highlight research harnessing neuroplasticity for cognitive recovery and brain repair in survivors of paediatric brain tumours.

Dr. Donald Mabbott, received his PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Alberta in 1998 and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in paediatric neuropsychology at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Dr. Mabbott is Head of Neurosciences and Mental Health Program and Senior Scientist within the Research Institute at SickKids and a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. Situated at the intersection between clinical neuroscience, developmental neuropsychology, and regenerative medicine, Dr. Mabbott’s research program seeks to: (a) understand how perturbed brain development manifests as cognitive impairment in children – particularly in survivors of paediatric brain tumours, and (b) discover how neuroplasticity in the developing brain can be harnessed for neural recovery and cognitive restoration in children with acquired brain injury. His work has been instrumental in documenting the thinking and learning problems children and adolescents treated for brain tumours experience, and the underlying damage to brain structure and function that cause these problems. He is now conducting exciting new work to find ways to foster brain repair and cognitive recovery following acquired brain injury in children, including harnessing neuroplasticity from physical exercise and employing drugs that stimulate the growth of new brain cells.