Biography
Overview of interests
Dr. Ruth Slack and her research group’s long term goals are to promote the regeneration of the damaged brain after stroke or in neurodegenerative diseases. She and her team have shown that proteins that regulate cell replication can also play important roles in the regulation of neural stem cell self renewal and long term maintenance in the embryonic and adult brain. Dr. Slack’s group has also shown that mitochondrial dynamics and function have a major impact on adult stem cells and their differentiation, thus changes in metabolism or defects in mitochondrial function in the context of neurodegenerative diseases may have a major impact on neurogenesis, regeneration and neurological function. By exploiting new knowledge of these key regulatory pathways, they plan to activate the neuronal precursor and stem cell pools in order to facilitate regeneration of the damaged brain.
Grant support
Dr. Slack’s research is supported by the Canadian Institute for Health Research, Brain Canada, the Canadian Stroke Network and the Heart and Stroke Foundation Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery.
Fields of interest
- Neurogenesis
- Stem Cells
- Stroke
- Cell Cycle
- Mitochondria
- Neurodegenerative Disease