From left: Tristan Glatard, Sandi Curtis, Marta Kersten-Oertel
New Members Add to PERFORM's Spectrum of Expertise
January 16, 2017
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The PERFORM Centre team welcomed eight new members to its growing research team this year. From music therapy to learning development to the relationship between diet and cognition, each researcher brings a unique skill set to PERFORM’s interdisciplinary spectrum of preventive health expertise.
Angela Alberga, Department of Exercise Science
Angela Alberga’s interdisciplinary research focuses on understanding how complex interactions between the biological, psychosocial, and environmental factors affect obesity prevention and management and participation in physical activity. Alberga is particularly interested in research and policy efforts aimed at health promotion and reducing weight stigma and discrimination and their implications for population and public health.
Sandi Curtis, Department of Creative Arts Therapies
In her work, Sandi Curtis studies the impact of violence on women’s health, and explores how music can address issues at both the individual and societal levels. Increasingly, she examines the role of popular culture in perpetuating violence against women as well as in challenging sociopolitical underpinnings the cycle of violence. She also looks at how survivors can be supported through music therapy.
Ben Eppinger, Department of Psychology
Ben Eppinger studies how learning and decision-making abilities and the underlying neurobiological mechanisms develop across the human lifespan. To address these research questions he uses a multi-methodological approach that combines experimental paradigms, computational modeling and neuroimaging. The longer-term mission of his work is to develop normative, mechanistic theories of age-related changes in learning and decision-making across the life course.
Tristan Glatard, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
In his research on big data infrastructures with a focus on neuroscience, Tristan Glatard designs new concepts and algorithms to automate data processing processes. His research has led him to address several important issues such ensuring that big data analyses are reproducible over space and time, and how the performance of key scientific applications can be improved. For PERFORM, the potential applications of this research span the whole spectrum of disciplines engaged in data science.
Marta Kerstel-Oertel, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Motivated by the potential of dramatically improving patient care, Marta Kerstel-Oertel’s primary research goal is to develop novel software solutions that facilitate clinical tasks and workflows, and improve patient outcomes. Working within the medical domain, she addresses a need for the use of novel visualization and interaction techniques that leverage state-of-the-art technologies to improve diagnosis, rehabilitation, and planning and execution of treatment strategies.
Matthew Parrott, PERFORM Scientist
In his work, Matthew Parrot examines how nutrition influences the trajectory of age-related cognitive decline, and how individual differences in biology or lifestyle alter the diet-cognition relationship. His primary research goals are to identify eating patterns that are associated with cognitive function in older adults, determine underlying biological mechanisms, and understand how the diet-cognition relationship is weakened or enhanced by factors such as genetics and lifestyle.
David Secko, Department of Journalism
A former science journalist, Dave Secko works to give journalists and students new tools to communicate scientific knowledge. His interdisciplinary research links journalism, science and ethical issues to clarify and experiment with the roles of the public, experts and journalists in the democratic governance of biotechnology. His other interests include the moderation and design of deliberative engagement events.
Laurel Young, Department of Creative Arts Therapies
Laurel Young studies how music and music therapy can help individuals and communities reach their full potential for living well. Her work focuses on developing best practice guidelines for therapeutic and practical applications of music within various healthcare, psychosocial and community contexts. Her areas of expertise include the use of music and music therapy in dementia and palliative care, singing to promote health and well-being, and the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music.
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