Project Overview

The Douglas-Bell Canada Brain Bank (DBCBB) houses and manages over 3,000 brains, as well as a large relational database containing demographic, clinical and developmental histories from the donors. The DBCBB is one of the rare brain banks in the world to collect brains from people who suffered from diverse mental disorders, including schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, and substance use disorders, as well as brains from individuals who were affected with different neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias. In Canada, the DBCBB is the only resource to offer such a variety of well-characterized samples. The DBCBB receives a large number of tissue requests, and regularly sends samples to researchers around the world. Its uniqueness and importance to the international neuroscience community is attested by the more than 1,000 brain samples the bank staff dissects and ships yearly providing access to well-characterized human brain samples to many researchers in Canada and around the world.

Although the DBCBB has been in operation for over 30 years and provides high quality tissue to a large community of neuroscientists, its infrastructure is outdated. In particular, it lacks essential equipment to streamline its operations, which limits its capacity to render services more efficient and to reduce wait times to receive samples. The Platform grant will provide the necessary funds to purchase essential sample processing equipment, and to hire specialized personnel who will implement a new database and operating procedures that will significantly accelerate the preparation of human brain samples for research.

Principal Investigator

Gustavo Turecki , Douglas Hospital Research Centre

Team Members

Naguib Mechawar, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Michael J. Meaney, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Guy Rouleau, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute

Michael Kobor, University of British Columbia

Martin Alda, Dalhousie University

Paul R. Albert, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Cathy Barr, Toronto Western Hospital

Darrell Mousseau, University of Saskatchewan

Satyabrata Kar, University of Alberta

Shimon Amir, Concordia University

Ana Andreazza, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Gilbert Bernier, Research Centre, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital

Diane Boivin, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Bernard Brais, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute

Nicolas Cermakian, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Balu Chakravarthy, Carleton University

Cletus D’Souza, BC Cancer Agency

Salah El Mestikawy, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Carl Ernst, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Ken Evans, Queen’s University

Harriet Feilotter, Queen’s University

Nicolas Flamand, Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et Pneumologie de Quebec, Laval University

Cecilia Flores, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

David Fortin, Université de Sherbrooke

Edith Hamel, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute

Michael R. Hayden, University of British Columbia

Sébastien Hébert, CHUQ Research Centre, Laval University

Martin Hirst, BC Cancer Agency

Jack Jhamandas, University of Alberta

Sidney H. Kennedy, University Health Network

Christine Lavoie, Université de Sherbrooke

Marco Marra, BC Cancer Agency

Anne McKinney, McGill University

Daniel Mueller, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Gerhard Multhaup, McGill University

Lisa Münter, McGill University

Art Petronis, University of Toronto/CAMH

Bruce Pike, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute

Judes Poirier, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Alexandre Prat, CHUM Research Centre, University of Montréal

Rémi Quirion, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Pedro Rosa-Neto, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Xavier Roucou, Université de Sherbrooke

Elizabeth Simpson, University of British Columbia

Abbas Sadikot, Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute

Lalit Srivastava, Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Moshe Szyf, McGill University

Derek van der Kooy, University of Toronto

Christine Vande Velde, Université de Montréal

Lan Xiong, CHUM Research Centre, University of Montréal

L. Trevor Young, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Partners and Donors

Douglas Mental Health University Institute Foundation

Douglas Hospital Research Centre

Le Réseau québécois sur le suicide, les troubles de l'humeur et les troubles associés (RQSHA)