Fall 2011 - Institute of Medical Science - University of Toronto

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
terest in genetics and the brain. Following
completion of his medical degree, his combined
clinical and research interests led to
a residency choice in psychiatry at the University
of Toronto. He recalls his rotation at
the First Episode Schizophrenia Program at
the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
(CAMH) as a third-year resident, and how
this experience shaped his future research
interest in schizophrenia as a brain disorder.
During the fourth year of his residency training,
he started his PhD with the IMS under
the primary supervision of Dr. James Kennedy.
A year later, he had the serendipitous opportunity
to spend six months at the Harvard
Medical School to learn about brain imaging
techniques. This opportunity opened doors
for fruitful collaborations as well as new ways
to think about neuropsychiatry, leading Dr.
Voineskos to go back to Boston later on during
his PhD studies to continue learning
about these cutting-edge techniques.
Having started his graduate training in Dr.
Kennedy’s neurogenetics laboratory, Dr.
Voineskos has also done some work in PET
imaging in the earlier days of his training.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Martha Shenton
at the Brigham and Women’s College at the
Harvard Medical School, he gained vast experience
working with diffusor tensor imaging
(DTI), a more advanced MRI technique.
DTI allows for the measurement of structural
properties in different brain regions, which
fits well with Dr. Voineskos’s passion for understanding
how risk genes influence brain
structures in patients with severe psychiatric
disorders, particularly schizophrenia. He
also credits the opportunities he had in the
Geriatrics Program at CAMH for shaping
his research scope. Being given a chance to
work as a part of the team and be involved in
data collection and scans led him to a whole
different area of collaboration and research
opportunities: recruitment of a healthy aging
control cohort, as well as studying healthy
aging and Alzheimer’s disease. His current
research combines multi-modal neuroimaging
and genetics approaches to map gene effects
in the brain with the aim of discovering
vulnerability pathways for severe mental illness.
His research findings on the role of the
BDNF gene in Alzheimer’s disease have been
featured widely in the news media earlier this
year.
Dr. Voineskos recognizes the influence of
many mentors on this work and credits them
greatly with where he is now as a scientist.
He emphasizes the importance of the mentorship
of Dr. Shenton at Harvard and Dr.
Kennedy as his supervisors, and states that
apart from research training, he has learned
so much from them about how to get funding,
grant writing, and the importance of networking.
He also thanks Dr. Nancy Lobaugh,
his clinical mentors Drs. Gary Remington
and Jeff Daskalakis in the Schizophrenia Program
at CAMH, as well as Drs. Bruce Pollock
and Benoit Mulsant in the Geriatrics
Program for their mentorship and support.
Last but not least, he acknowledges the role
IMS has played in his training and career.
“I’d like to thank Dr. Mary Seeman for being
flexible and allowing me to be away for my
imaging training,” he says and continues, “the
door was always open at the IMS, and the
staff has been wonderful and very helpful in
answering my questions on procedures and
timeline.” Having delivered the very prestigious
Salter-Siminovich lecture in the 2011
IMS Scientific Day this May, Dr. Voineskos
has always seen the Scientific Day as a great
opportunity to exchange ideas and learning
more about the research of his peers. He also
recalls having enjoyed taking IMS courses,
which gave him the chance to meet faculty,
explore areas relevant to his research in an
in-depth fashion, as well as publish highcaliber
scientific papers resulting form his
course work. As the Director of the Kimel
Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Research
Laboratory at CAMH, Dr. Voineskos
is eager to pass his research experience to
a new generation of research trainees: he is
currently supervising two Master’s level IMS
students and is looking forward to expanding
his laboratory.
One piece of advice Dr. Voineskos has for
IMS students has undoubtedly shaped his
young but stellar career, “having a great set of
mentors is at least as important as your specific
research focus; keeping an open mind
may open many doors for you in an unexpected
fashion.” He highlights the benefits
of learning as much as possible from each
mentor and taking their best qualities to better
yourself and your research skills. He also
reminds the students the importance of hard
work and staying motivated to succeed. Having
been an avid participant in sports from
a young age, he also emphasizes the importance
of work-life balance.
Indeed, this is not the typical career of a
recent PhD graduate. At the age of 33, Dr.
Voineskos has achieved success that many
senior researchers have not had in their long
careers. His stellar accomplishments surely
are inspirational to graduate students interested
in research as well as aspiring medical
trainees and residents. Most importantly, the
achievements of Dr. Voineskos serve as a testament
to the importance of a solid research
training, dedication, devotion, flexibility and
eagerness to learn from others as the hallmarks
of success and a fruitful research career.
IMS MAGAZINE FALL 2011 PROSTATE CANCER | 38