Marie-France Perrier, MHSc, PhD
Marie-France Perrier began her PhD studies in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Ottawa as a speech-language pathologist. She had worked for many years in neurorehabilitation at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). Marie-France’s early academic course involved studying at the University of Western Australia and at the University of Geneva before she undertook her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Ottawa. Marie-France’s clinical experience included many years working as a member of the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team at CHEO, treating children with acquired brain injuries (ABI) and those with complex care needs starting from the acute phase of recovery.
For her doctoral studies, Marie-France applied mindfulness meditation to improve cognition and communication functions in children and adolescents with various types of ABI (traumatic brain injury, stroke and brain tumours). She was supported by a strong committee with expertise in psychology, physiatry, and speech-language pathology. She synthesized the literature and examined the feasibility and efficacy of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs for children with cognitive-communication impairments. She held numerous awards during her PhD studies, including the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and the Baxter and Alma Ricard Foundation Scholarship. Marie-France aspires to extend the existing evidence base by conducting empirical research that can inform pediatric rehabilitation and contribute to an emerging and promising field. She began her career with a postdoctoral fellowship in the ABCs Developmental Neuropsychology Lab at the Université de Montréal and the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine.
Nalia Juarez-Gurgel, DDS, MSc, PhD
Nalia is undertaking PhD studies in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Her research interests involve understanding the recovery process and developing evidence-based interprofessional interventions for oral health in patients who have experienced a stroke.
Nalia previously obtained a Doctorate in Dental Surgery (DDS) from the State University of Campinas, Brazil. She later completed a Master of Science in dental prosthetics at the São Leopoldo Mandic Faculty of Dentistry in Campinas, Brazil. Nalia has a certificate of Residency in Dental Implants from the Brazilian Dental Association, and has been practicing dentistry and treating the oral health of adults and persons with disabilities since 2002.
Kannika Hour, BSc (Neuroscience)
Kannika completed her Bachelor’s Honours thesis in Déconeuro Laboratory and worked as a research technician and physiotherapy assistant subsequently. She decided to undertake a Master of Health Science through the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences beginning in September 2020.
She is investigating cognitive and communication disorders after acute stroke with a particular emphasis on brain lesion locations and corresponding impairments. She is supervised jointly by Drs. Heather Flowers and Jason Steffener in the Faculty of Health Sciences. She is also very well supported by her committee members, Drs. Michel Shamy (neurologist) and Lisa Walker (neuropsychologist), both from The Ottawa Hospital.
Kannika has contributed to multiple laboratory research projects and served as co-author on multiple publications. She has received training in various neuroimaging software applications, such as SPM12, FSL, and MRIcron, and has been a great asset to a range of research initiatives.
Dr. Mona Ebrahimipour, PhD
Mona was welcomed to the lab in June 2017 as invited researcher from the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran, where she held a tenure-track position as assistant professor. She also had extensive clinical experience as a speech-language pathologist in both pediatric and adult settings. Her main research interests involve speech, language, and cognitive-communication in adults. She also has expertise in child speech and language functions and the development of cross-linguistic assessment tools. During Mona’s term as a lab associate, we sought to merge our interests and expertise. The primary project that came to fruition involved inquiry into pediatric feeding and communication development. We subsequently published an initial article (see publications) in the area. Mona continues to collaborate on publications in the lab, while she remains in Ottawa working as a speech-language pathologist at Elisabeth Bruyère Hospital.
