Funded Grants

Dr. De Koninck studies the persistent changes in spinal cord function that occur after nervous system injury that lead to chronic pain.

Complex research questions in neurology are often most effectively addressed by monitoring brain structure and function in human patients and live animals in experimental disease models.

There are an estimated 86,000 people living with a spinal cord injury (SCI) in Canada, with an annual economic burden of $2.67 billion for those surviving the initial injury.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for over two thirds of cases. As of 2013, there are over 44 million people with dementia worldwide.

This project is studying a novel intervention in 250 older persons whose major depression has been successfully treated with an antidepressant medication: a combination of cognitive remediation (CR, consisting of memory and problem solving exercises) plus transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS, a non-painful low electrical current that circulates through the brain of awake patients and stimulates their neurons).

Many childhood disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), are a result of abnormal growth and connections throughout the brain, rather than being caused by some specific pathology, such as a tumour.

Aberrant control of protein synthesis (also termed translation) leads to pathological conditions like cancer, obesity, memory impairment and has been hypothesized to cause the development of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Fragile-X syndrome (FXS).

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is rising dramatically on a yearly basis and new interventional strategies are required to treat ASDs and related disorders like Fragile X syndrome.

Parkinson’s disease and addiction have tremendous human and economical costs for our society.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive fatal disease that affects the nerve cells responsible for muscle movement (motor neurons).