Electrical Stimulation
for Neural Repair

Dr. Stephanie Iwasa is a Staff Scientist at the KITE Research Institute. She completed her PhD on Electrical Stimulation of Stem Cells in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She is currently assisting in managing the core Electrical Stimulation for Neural Repair group and industrial-academic projects with CRANIA (Centre for Advancing Neurotechnological Innovation to Application). She is the logistics coordinator of this ESNR Convergent Working Group.

Dr. Morshead is a tenured Professor and Chair of the Division of Anatomy, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto. She is cross-appointed to the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and Rehabilitation Science Institute, and is a member of the Institute of Medical Science, Next Generation Precision Medicine (PRIME), Collaborative Program in Neuroscience (CIPIN) at the University of Toronto, and the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (KITE) and the Center for Advancing Neurological Innovation to Application (CRANIA) at the University Health Network.

Dr. Stefanovic is a Senior Scientist, CRC Tier 1 in Functional Brain Neuroimaging and Director of Physical Sciences at Sunnybrook Research Institute, and a Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. Dr. Stefanovic’s research focuses on the development of new methods for quantitative in vivo imaging of brain function. Her research interests include the development and application of in vivo high field functional MRI, two-photon fluorescence microscopy, and extracellular recordings for tracking functional deficits in cellular components of the neurovascular unit over the course of neurodegeneration in transgenic models of Alzheimer’s Disease and during chronic stage of recovery in rodent models of focal ischemia and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Stefanovic is the Chair of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee in the Department of Medical Biophysics.

Min Zhao, MD/PhD, is a professor at the Dept. of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, and the Dept. of Dermatology, at the University of California, Davis. His research aims to understand the mechanism of how electric fields that naturally occur at wounds regulate wound healing, and to exploit this mechanism to facilitate wound healing. Min Zhao graduated from the Third Military Medical University in China and obtained his PhD with Professor Zhengguo Wang in trauma pathology. He moved to London and was trained under Geoff Burnstock at University College London. He then moved to the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and worked with Professors John Forrester and Colin McCaig. He established his own lab in 1999 with a prestigious Wellcome Trust University Award. He was selected to present at the House of Commons of the UK as one of the top young Scientists in 2001. He was promoted to full professor in Regenerative Medicine, and honorary consultant in Ophthalmology with Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in 2004. He and his lab moved to University of California Davis in 2007 and expanded electrical regulation of regeneration. His lab also focuses to answer the question of how cells sense and respond to weak electric fields. He serves on various review panels at the NSF, NIH and DoD. He is a founding associate editor of a new journal – Bioelectricity. Research in his lab is currently supported by the NIH, Air Force and DARPA.