My blog

I completed my undergraduate medical studies (MDCM) and training in adult neurology (residency) at McGill University. I subsequently completed a Master’s degree in epidemiology at McGill University, supported by a scholarship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé, under the supervision of Professor Christina Wolfson. With this background, I completed a mixed research and clinical fellowship in epilepsy at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, under the supervision of Professor Josemir Sander, and under the auspices of the International Sponsorship Scheme of the Royal College of Physicians of London. This immediately led to my PhD in translational neuroscience from Leiden University (The Netherlands), under the supervision of Professor Michel Ferrari as well as Professor Sander.

I accepted my first academic appointment in 2016 as Assistant (clinical) Professor in the Department of neurosciences at the Université de Montréal. I am an Associate Member of the Department of Social and Preventative Medicine at the Université de Montréal School of Public Health (ESPUM) as well as an Adjunct Member of the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University.

I am an Honorary Researcher at Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (SEIN), Heemstede, The Netherlands. I am an active member of the epilepsy group at the Université de Montréal Hospital Centre (CHUM) as well as the director of the CHUM Tuberous Sclerosis Complex clinic, what is likely the largest clinic for adults with TSC in Canada.

My research group is particularly focused on the study of somatic comorbidity in epilepsy, with a growing interest in cardiovascular disease in people with epilepsy. I supervise a number of projects examining multimorbidity and frailty in the general population, while also applying these concepts to my interest in epilepsy. Many of my studies rely on large population-based databases but I lead multicentre studies, recruiting participants for various cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Finally, I have considerable experience in systematic review and related knowledge synthesis methods.

• Active

  18/09-present – Dr Laurence Boulanger, PhD

  Project title: The Development and Validation of a Multimorbidity Index
  Co-supervisor (with Marie-Pierre Sylvestre) to Dr Boulanger (post-doc in biostatistics at the Université de Montréal). Dr Boulanger is developing and validating a new multimorbidity index using the Quebec Longitudinal Study on Nutrition and Aging (NuAge) cohort.

• Completed

  17/09-18/08 – Dr Zhuo-Yu Wang, PhD

  Co-supervisor (with Marie-Pierre Sylvestre) to Dr Wang (post-doc in biostatistics at the Université de Montréal). Dr Wang developed and validated a new multimorbidity index using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

• Active

  20/01-21/01 – Dr Guillaume Martin, MD

  Co-supervisor during 12-month clinical fellowship in epilepsy and electroencephalography

• Completed

  18/07-19/06 – Dr Véronique Martel, MD

  Co-supervisor during 12-month clinical fellowship in epilepsy and electroencephalography.

• 18/07-19/06 – Dr Raluca Pana, MD

  Co-supervisor during 12-month clinical fellowship in epilepsy and electroencephalography.

• 17/07-18/06 – Dr Laurence Martineau, MD

  Co-supervisor during 12-month clinical fellowship in epilepsy and electroencephalography.

• Active

  18/09 – present Christian Wilfried Mendo, MSc

  Co-supervisor (with Marie-Pierre Sylvetre) to Mr Mendo (PhD in Epidemiology at the Université de Montréal). Mr Mendo’s thesis will centre on the relationship between frailty and cardiovascular disease, with a focus on grip strength but also considering other aspects of Fried’s frailty phenotype. Recipient of student bursaries from the CRCHUM ($1000; 2019-2020), the Office of International Affairs of the Université de Montreal ($4,334; 2020-2021), and the School of Public Health of the Université de Montréal ($10,000; 2020-2021).

• Active

  19/09 – present – Arielle Vary O’Neil, BSc

  Principal Supervisor to Ms Vary O’Neil (MSc in neurosciences at the Université de Montréal). Ms Vary O’Neil’s thesis will centre on the investigation of frailty as a determinant of treatment efficacy and tolerability in older adults with epilepsy.

• 18/09 – present – Nafisa Husein, BSc

  Principal Supervisor to Ms Husein (MSc in public health at the Université de Montréal). Ms Husein’s thesis will centre on the relationship between cardiovascular disease and epilepsy. Recipient of a Bursary of excellence from the Faculté des Études Supérieures, Université de Montréal ($4,000).

• 18/09 – present – Dr Bastien Rioux, MD

  Co-supervisor (with Laura Gioia) to Dr Rioux (MSc in biomedical sciences at the Université de Montréal). Dr Rioux’s thesis will centre on the comorbidity of stroke and epilepsy, using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging as a study platform.

• 18/09 – present – Dr Yen Tran Phuoc, MD

  Co-supervisor (with Dang Nguyen) to Dr Phuoc (MSc in neurosciences at the Université de Montréal). Dr Phuoc’s thesis will centre on the relationship between the insula and cardiac electrophysiology, using the CHUM epilepsy database.

• Active

  19/09 – present – Dr Bénédicte Dansereau, MD

  Principal Supervisor to Dr Dansereau (resident in adult neurology at Université de Montréal). Dr Dansereau is carrying out a systematic review of studies examining neuromodulation therapy in epilepsy.

• 19/04 – present – Dr Lahoud Touma, MD

  Principal Supervisor to Dr Touma (resident in adult neurology at Université de Montréal). Dr Touma is carrying out a systematic review of studies examining neuromodulation therapy in epilepsy.

• 18/09 – present – Dr Joel Neves Briard, MD

  Principal Supervisor to Dr Neves Briard (resident in adult neurology at Université de Montréal). Dr Neves Briard is carrying out a Cochrane review of studies examining for differences in efficacy and tolerability of generic versus branded antiepileptic drugs.

• 16/09 -present – Dr Bushra Sultana, MD

  Principal Supervisor to Dr Bushra (resident in adult neurology at Université de Montréal). Dr Bushra is carrying out a systematic review of observational studies focused on the risk, burden and predictors of drug resistant epilepsy.

• Completed

  16/12-19/02 – Dr Nastasija Lezaic, MD

  Principal Supervisor to Dr Lezaic (resident in adult neurology at Université de Montréal). Dr Lezaic carried out a systematic review of observational studies focused on the comorbid relationship between epilepsy and neoplasia.

• 17/04-18/06 – Dr Alexandra Muccilli, MD

  Principal Supervisor to Dr Muccilli (resident in adult neurology at Université de Montréal). Dr Muccilli carried out a rigorous evaluation of the quality of search strategies used by systematic reviews of neurological conditions published over the last 3 years.

• 13/07-14/01 – Dr Hanni Bouma, MD

  Co-supervisor (with Dr Christina Wolfson) to Dr Bouma (neurology resident at McGill University) during her 6-month Neuroscience rotation while she carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of routine EEG for epilepsy after a first unprovoked seizure.

• Active

  20/05 -present – Isabel Kalaycioglu, DEC

  Principal Supervisor to Ms Kalaycioglu (undergraduate medical student at Université de Montréal) during a 3-month summer research elective and beyond. Ms Kalaycioglu is carrying out a methodological study on systematic reviews, comparing different methods to assess risk of bias in primary studies.

• 20/05 -present – Sarah Bouhadoun, DEC

  Principal Supervisor to Ms Bouhadoun (undergraduate medical student at McGill University) during a 3-month summer research elective and beyond. Ms Bouhadoun is carrying out a methodological study on systematic reviews, comparing different methods to screen titles and abstracts.

• 19/05 -present – Kenan Bachour, DEC

  Principal Supervisor to Mr Bachour (undergraduate medical student at Université de Sherbrooke) during a 3-month summer research elective and beyond. Mr Bachour is carrying out at a national audit of the description and care received by adults with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex in Canada.

• Completed

  17/06-18/12 – David Lasry, DEC

  Principal Supervisor to Mr Lasry (undergraduate medical student at McGill University) during a 3-month summer research elective and beyond. Mr Lasry carried out a case report on a malignantly transformed epidermoid cyst.

• 16/06-17/12 – Andrew Bui, DEC

  Principal Supervisor to Mr Bui (undergraduate medical student at Université de Montréal) during a 3-month summer research elective and beyond. Mr Bui carried out a nationwide retrospective survey, the National Epilepsy Surgery Survey 2016, to examine the use of epilepsy surgery in Canada.

• 16/06-17/12 – Jacob Abdaem, DEC

  Principal Supervisor to Mr Abdaem (undergraduate medical student at McGill University) during a 3-month summer research elective and beyond. Mr Abdaem carried out a diagnostic validation study, comparing the criterion validity of different electronic database hedges meant to screen for six enumerated neurological conditions.

• Active

  20/05 – present – Joudy Kabouji, DEC

  Principal Supervisor to Ms Kabouji (undergraduate students in biomedical sciences at Université de Montréal) during a 3-month research elective (15 course credits) and beyond. Ms Kabouji is carrying out a methodological study on systematic reviews, comparing different methods to screen titles and abstracts.

• Completed

  17/09-19/07 – David Berger, MSc

  Co-supervisor (with Marie-Pierre Sylvestre) to Mr Berger (1-year sabbatical prior to his starting his PhD in mathematics) as a research associate. Mr Berger estimated graphical models, based upon machine learning algorithms, to illustrate undirected associations between chronic diseases in the general population.