ABOUT US

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Gabor G. Kovacs, MD, PhD, FRCPC

Dr. Kovacs is Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto and in the Department of Medicine/Division of Neurology, a Consultant Neuropathologist at the Laboratory Medicine Program (LMP) at the University Health Network (UHN) and a Principal Investigator at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Disease. He is also a Senior Scientist at the Krembil Brain Institute, a Faculty member of the Edmond J. Safra Program in Parkinson's Disease and the Co-Director of the Rossy Program for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Research (UHN).

Dr. Kovacs completed his medical training at the Semmelweis University (Budapest, Hungary) where he specialized in Neurology (1998) and Neuropathology (2003) and obtained a PhD in Neuroscience (2002). From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Kovacs was the Head of the Department of Neuropathology at the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Budapest, Hungary. From 2007 to 2019, he was an Associate Professor at the Institute of Neurology at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. He was the leader of the Hungarian (2004-2019) and Austrian (2011-2019) Reference Center for Human Prion Diseases. Dr. Kovacs has also trained at Indiana University (2007) and University of Pennsylvania (2016 and 2017) as a visiting professor/scholar.

His major research interest is the neuropathology of neurodegenerative diseases. He has published more than 380 peer-reviewed papers, earning him an H-index above 69, and edited two books on Neuropathology. Dr. Kovacs‘s aim is to use his expertise in the neuropathology of neurodegenerative diseases to enhance the excellent Neuropathology team at LMP, to probe the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative proteinopathies using state-of the-art methodologies and to facilitate collaborative research on neurodegenerative disorders at the Krembil Brain Institute and Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Disease.

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3841-5511

Our Team


Researchers

Dr. Ivan Martinez, PhD

Ivan Martinez earned his degree in Biochemistry at the University of Navarra (Spain) in 2013. After graduation, he performed a Master in Neuroscience followed by his Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Maria Rosario Luquin at the University of Navarra, focusin on the relationship between neurodegenerative diseases and type two diabetes. He received his Ph.D. in September 2019 and joined Dr. Gabor Kovacs’ research group as a postdoctoral fellow in January 2020 where he hopes to establish new molecular techniques which help to unravel the heterogenicity of tau and α-synuclein proteinopathies. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6463-6321

Dr. Shelley Forrest, PhD

Dr Shelley Forrest is a Scientific Associate at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Disease (CNRD), University of Toronto. She holds a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Sydney (2013) and received postdoctoral training in the Discipline of Pathology, the University of Sydney. During this time, she acquired a deep knowledge of the cellular abnormalities of frontotemporal dementia and related disorders, ageing and a range of neurodegenerative diseases. Dr Forrest was then recruited to the Dementia Research Centre, Macquarie University, as the Neuropathology group leader to facilitate the development of a neuropathology research program combining human neurodegenerative diseases and preclinical models. She has recently joined the Tanz CRND to focus on the progressive supranuclear palsy research program. Dr Forrest’s research focuses on the neuropathology and disease mechanisms underlying progressive supranuclear palsy, frontotemporal dementia, ageing and a range of neurodegenerative disorders. In particular, her work involves the investigation of protein abnormalities and cell types affected to determine the selective regional and cellular vulnerability in these disorders, and associated clinicopathological correlations. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7863-5389

 

Lab Technicians

Linda Li

Linda Li graduated from China Medical University and also completed Medical Science Doctoral Degree in 2006. She worked in the hospital as a doctor in China. From 2007 to 2020, she worked in the Hospital for Sick Children as a lab technician in different teams, joined the research of Bronchopulmonary Disease histology and pathology, complement characteristics in acute kidney injury and gene treatment for Cystic Fibrosis. Linda is a laboratory technician, working in Dr. Kovacs’ Lab.

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Ali Karakani

Ali Mohammadi Karakani received his degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences, Toxicology, and Biochemistry in Iran. He received his Post Graduate diploma in Pharmaceutical R&D in Canada. He worked for 10 years as a Laboratory Technologist (core Lab and histopathology), Lab Supervisor and Pathologist Assistant before moving to Toronto in 2014. Ali started with Antech and then IDEXX as a Medical Laboratory Technician and Histotech and team lead. After, he received the MLPAO/OSMT certificate, joined Dynacare and then PHOL during last two years. He enjoys listening to music and watching movies and also exploring the outdoors and visiting different places with his wife and 16 year old son.

Dr. Helen Chasiotis, PhD

Helen is currently a Histopathology Lab Technician and Instrument Specialist with Dr. Gabor Kovacs’ research group at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, University of Toronto. Helen completed her PhD in Animal Physiology and Cell and Molecular Biology at York University (2011) and has since received extensive post-doctoral and technical training in various labs across Toronto, ranging in a wide variety of research topics, such as fish and aquatic insect osmoregulation, cardiovascular disease, and neurobiology. In terms of technical expertise, Helen is particularly interested in the design and development of custom histological methods and specializes in advanced microscope systems (e.g. confocal and super-resolution imaging).

Students

Seojin Lee

Seojin is a PhD-candidate in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto. She completed her undergraduate studies in the University of Western Ontario with an Honors Specialization in Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences, and following her interest in neuroscience, joined the Kovacs’ Lab to grow her knowledge and passion in the field. Seojin’s studies focus on deconstructing the pathological iron imbalance in neurodegenerative diseases. Seojin joined the group in September 2019 and plans to complete her PhD degree in 2024.

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Ain Kim

Ain is a PhD student at the University of Toronto, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. She received her Honors Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Cell & Molecular Biology at University of Toronto and is grateful to continue her research career in the Kovacs lab. Her project aims to evaluate cell type specific accumulation of neurodegenerative proteins in the human brain. Ain joined the group in September 2020.

 

Visiting Scientists

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Dr. Koji Yoshida

Current Affiliation:
Inami Central Hospital, Japan


Visiting Period:
September 2019 - June 2024

Project Title:
Clinical and neuropathological findings in preclinical and initial cases of progressive supranuclear palsy

Dr. Hidetomo Tanaka

Current Affiliation:
Neuropathology Research Fellow, Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Department of Pathology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Japan

Visiting Period:
April 2022 - March 2026

Project Title:
Molecular neuropathology of progressive supranuclear palsy

Dr. Satoshi Tanikawa

Current Affiliation:
Neuropathology Research Fellow, Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Department of Pathology


Visiting Period:
February 2023 - January 2026

Project Title:
Establishment of cell culture methods from post-mortem brain

Previous Lab Members

Dr. Shojiro Ichimata

Visiting Scientist

September 2021 - July 2023

Alfred Maluach

Lab Manager
November 2019 - December 2020

Dr. Tomoya Kon

Visiting Scientist

April 2022 - March 2024

Suganthini Ilaalagan

Senior Technician
November 2019 - May 2021

Dr. Levente Szalárdy

Visiting Scientist

Autumn 2021

Areeb Jafrani

Master's Student
September 2019 - August 2021

 

Farbod Khorrami

Undergraduate Student
August 2019 - June 2020

 

Olivia Buffo

Lab Technician
February 2021 - July 2021

 

Dr. Valerie Sackmann

Post-Doctoral Fellow
March 2020 - March 2022

Positions Available

There are no positions available at this time.
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