Are two of the most talked-about drugs in our culture today quietly reshaping how we understand the brain? Host Fiona Sanderson sits down with two researchers exploring the intersection of metabolic health and neuroscience - including how cannabis impacts the nervous system's ability to regulate blood flow to the brain, why GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic work brilliantly for some people and not at all for others, and what this could mean for the future of personalized medicine.

With cannabis now legal in Canada and GLP-1 agonists reshaping how we treat obesity and diabetes, these researchers are asking the questions patients - and the public - most need answered.

Featured guests:

Dr. Alexandre Caron, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Laval University

Dr. Michael Tymko, Assistant Professor in the College of Biological Science, Department of Human Health Sciences at Guelph University

This work is supported by the Azrieli Foundation and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

The Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Program is made possible thanks to an anchor gift from the Azrieli Foundation, and matched by Brain Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund. It supports bold, early-career neuroscientists and helps bring their ideas to life.

Bold Minds is hosted by Fiona Sanderson. Our executive producers are Jillian Donnelly and Kate Shingler.

Our lead producer is Jess Schmidt, with editing by Morgane Chambrin.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, we’d appreciate it if you could send it to a friend. If you want to learn more about Brain Canada and the amazing research we support, please visit our website at

braincanada.ca.

What if we could stop treating illness by trial and error, and actually understand the signals that our brains are giving us? Host Fiona Sanderson sits down with two of Canada's bold early-career clinician-scientists to explore the cutting edge of mental healthcare - including using brainwave patterns to predict which treatments will work, novel imaging methods that capture the brain in real time, and the surprising promise of psilocybin as a next-generation treatment for bipolar depression.

With more than one in three people worldwide living with a neurological condition, the stakes couldn't be higher…and these researchers are tackling the problem from bench and bedside - asking the questions patients need answered, and harnessing neuroscience to find them.

Featured guests:

Dr. Anthony Gifuni, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, and a Researcher and Psychiatrist at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute

Dr. Gayatri Saraf, Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at University of Ottawa

This work is supported by The Erika Legacy Foundation.

The Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Program is made possible thanks to an anchor gift from the Azrieli Foundation, and matched by Brain Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund. It supports bold, early-career neuroscientists and helps bring their ideas to life.

Bold Minds is hosted by Fiona Sanderson. Our executive producers are Jillian Donnelly and Kate Shingler.

Our lead producer is Jess Schmidt, with editing by Morgane Chambrin.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, we’d appreciate it if you could send it to a friend. If you want to learn more about Brain Canada and the amazing research we support, please visit our website at

braincanada.ca.

What if the brain could repair itself all along, and we just needed to learn how to help it? In this debut episode of Bold Minds, host Fiona Sanderson sits down with three of Canada's bold early-career neuroscientists to explore the cutting edge of brain regeneration, including stem cell and myelin biology, the support cells in our brains that might be responsible for stress regulation, and the surprising mechanisms behind what might just be the next generation of antidepressants.

With more than one in three people worldwide living with a neurological condition, the stakes couldn't be higher…and these researchers are tackling the problem from the inside out, literally - starting with the brain's own cells.

Featured guests:

Dr. Anastassia Voronova, Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of Alberta

Dr. Argel Aguilar-Valles, Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Carleton University

Dr. Ciaran Murphy-Royal, Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at l’Université de Montréal

This work is supported by the Azrieli Foundation and Crabtree Foundation.

The Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Program is made possible thanks to an anchor gift from the Azrieli Foundation, and matched by Brain Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund. It supports bold, early-career neuroscientists and helps bring their ideas to life.

Bold Minds is hosted by Fiona Sanderson. Our executive producers are Jillian Donnelly and Kate Shingler.

Our lead producer is Jess Schmidt, with editing by Morgane Chambrin.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, we’d appreciate it if you could send it to a friend. If you want to learn more about Brain Canada and the amazing research we support, please visit our website at

braincanada.ca.