9IÖÆ×÷³§Ãâ·Ñ

Neurogenesis Speaker Series

Wednesday, March 26, 2025
4:30–5:30 p.m. (with post-event reception)

The Neurogenesis Speaker Series is an opportunity to get to know HBHL-supported faculty recruits firsthand, learn about their research, ask questions and network with your peers during the post-event reception.

Each event in this series will feature two HBHL faculty recruits whose research areas provide an interesting contrast or intersection for discussion.

March Speakers:

• Dana SmallÌý-ÌýThe Interoceptive Origins of Reward
• -ÌýFine Tuning Neuroimaging Analysis to Reveal Hidden Signals 

Speakers

Dana Small

Dana Small, PhD is the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Metabolism and Brain at 9IÖÆ×÷³§Ãâ·Ñ. Her research focuses on understanding how sensory, metabolic and neural signals are integrated to determine food choices and on how the dysregulation of these systems contribute to the development of obesity, diabetes and cognitive impairment. Her work combines neuroimaging with metabolic, psychophysical and neuropsychological methods in humans and she has established a translationalÌý-Ìýreverse translational program of research through collaborations with colleagues working in mouse models.  Dr. Small has served as a standing member of the HSDO study section, on the Executive Boards of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) and the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) as Secretary (AChemS), Program Chair (AChemS/SSIB) and President (SSIB).  Her work has been recognized by the Ruth Pike Award for contributions to research in nutrition, the Alan Epstein Award for a specific research discovery that has advanced the understanding of ingestive behavior, the Moskowitz-Jacobs Award for research excellence in the psychophysics of taste and smell and the Ajinomoto Award for research in gustation. She has also served as Associate Director of Research at the John B Pierce Laboratory (2015-2018), Board Member for the National Academy of Sciences Board on Behavioral, Cognitive and Sensory Science (2014-2020), Divisional Director of Nutritional Psychiatry at Yale (2018-2022) and has Directed the Modern Diet and Physiology Research Centre since 2016. She currently leads the Brain and Metabolism Initiative (BMI) at 9IÖÆ×÷³§Ãâ·Ñ.

Yashar Zeighami

Yashar Zeighami, PhD, is an FRQS Junior 1 Scholar in artificial intelligence at the Douglas Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, 9IÖÆ×÷³§Ãâ·Ñ. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Tehran. In 2018, he completed his PhD in Neuroscience at 9IÖÆ×÷³§Ãâ·Ñ, working in the Human Dopamine Neuroimaging Lab to study Parkinson’s disease progression through brain network analysis. During his PhD, Dr. Zeighami completed an internship as a visiting scholar at the Allen Institute for Brain Science. He then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the 9IÖÆ×÷³§Ãâ·Ñ Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (MCIN) with a focus on brain aging. Since establishing his own research group, the AGING Lab, his work has focused on integrating multimodal neuroimaging and transcriptomics to investigate brain alterations across the lifespan in both health and disease. The primary goal of his research is to uncover the mechanisms underlying healthy brain aging and identify risk factors that contribute to deviations from this trajectory in neurodegenerative disorders and obesity. His work is funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Healthy Brain Healthy Lives (HBHL), and Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS).