Meet our keynote speaker: Sheena Josselyn, Canada

Keynote lecture 'Making and breaking memories'
Saturday 7 October, 15.15-16.15

Sheena Josselyn is a senior scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and a professor in the departments of psychology and physiology at the University of Toronto in Canada. She holds a Canada Research Chair in brain mechanisms underlying memory, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Her undergraduate degrees in psychology and life sciences and a Masters degree in clinical psychology were granted by Queen’s University in Kingston (Canada). Sheena received a PhD in neuroscience/psychology from the University of Toronto with Dr. Franco Vaccarino as her supervisor. She conducted post-doctoral work with Dr. Mike Davis (Yale University) and Dr. Alcino Silva (UCLA).

She received numerous awards, including the Innovations in Psychopharmacology Award from the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CCNP), the Effron Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and the Andrew Carnegie Prize in Mind and Brain Sciences.

Sheena is interested in understanding how the brain encodes, stores and uses information. Her primary model organism is mice. However, several human disorders (ranging from autism spectrum disorder to Alzheimer’s disease) may stem from disrupted information processing. Therefore, this basic knowledge in mice is not only critical for understanding normal brain function, but also vital for the development of new treatment strategies for these disorders.

She spoke about her work to ECNP press officer, Tom Parkhill.
Read the interview