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INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research

The Oslo-Toronto Alliance in Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition - Next Years

Alternative title: Oslo-Toronto allianse om livsløpsendringer i hjerne og kognisjon

Awarded: NOK 3.1 mill.

The project is a continuation of the successful collaboration for excellent education and research between LCBC at the University of Oslo and our Canadian partners, supported by INTPART 2016. The project will involve a number of senior researchers, postdoctoral researchers, doctoral students, and master's students, both in Oslo and Canada. The purpose of the project is to contribute to new scientific insights and research-based education regarding the relationship between changes in the brain and cognitive function from birth to old age. Furthermore, the continuation of the collaboration will help increase the understanding of the role of cardiovascular factors in brain health. For this purpose, the project will integrate, harmonize, and analyze data from both partners' studies. We will continue to host an annual summer school in Oslo and Canada. This was canceled for several years due to the COVID-19 situation, but we held the summer school in Oslo in August 2023 and are planning a new summer school in Canada or another location in 2024. The summer school will involve academic discussions and lectures. We also plan to continue student/researcher exchanges, where students/researchers can spend 1-2 months at the partner institution. As the partners complement each other in key areas, these exchanges will enrich the field of neuroscience with new knowledge and expertise.

Establishment of the Oslo-Toronto collaboration supported by INTPART in 2016 enabled us to take advantage of the complementary expertise and resources, to make major advancements in understanding brain and cognition through the lifespan. The previous project was an important vehicle in starting a scientific and educational collaboration between LCBC and Toronto. Now it is critical that this collaboration is consolidated. Substantial efforts have been put down at both sites, and we are now in a position to take full advantage of these initial efforts. The Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Saint Justine has been added to the alliance taking over all the activities of the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Continuation and expansion of the previous project will yield huge benefits now that the foundation is solidified. Added value will emerge from five main activities: (1) The Oslo-Toronto-Montreal summer school: We will continue the highly successful annual summer school as soon as the covid-19 pandemic situation allows for that. The summer school is at the intersection between education and research, involving lab-tours, demonstrations and experiments, discussions and talks. (2) Students/ researcher exchange: 3-5 students/ researchers to spend 1-2 month at the partner lab. (3) Strengthened collaboration on the role of cardiovascular factors in brain health: LCBC has unique longitudinal studies where more than 1000 participants are followed over time with repeated cognitive testing and brain MRIs. The Toronto and Montreal group has expertise on cardiovascular factors in relation to brain health that LCBC aims to capitalize on in our longitudinal studies. (4) Between-scanner harmonization of MRI data: 10 participants will be scanned in Oslo, Toronto and Montreal. The data will be analysed through workshops at the summer schools. (5) Data pooling and harmonization – Big Data: The project will take advantage of the major studies conducted by the partnering sites, with special emphasis on comparison, replication, validation and extension of results. The potential of between-site data integration is large, which the project will capitalize on to a major extent in the next period.

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Funding scheme:

INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research