Keynote Speakers
Dr. Michelle Monje, MD, PhD
Michelle Monje, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Neurology at Stanford University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She received her M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford and completed her residency training in neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School Partners program, and then returned to Stanford for a clinical fellowship in pediatric neuro-oncology.
Her research program focuses at the intersection of neuroscience, immunology and brain cancer biology with an emphasis on neuron-glial interactions in health and oncological disease. Her laboratory studies how neuronal activity regulates healthy glial precursor cell proliferation, new oligodendrocyte generation, and adaptive myelination; this plasticity of myelin contributes to healthy cognitive function, while disruption of myelin plasticity contributes to cognitive impairment in disease states like cancer therapy-related cognitive impairment.
Her lab discovered that neuronal activity similarly promotes the progression of malignant gliomas, driving glioma growth through both paracrine factors and through electrophysiologically functional neuron-to-glioma synapses. Dr. Monje has led several of her discoveries from basic molecular work to clinical trials.
Her work has been recognized with numerous honors, including an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Richard Lounsbery Award from the National Academy of Sciences and election to the National Academy of Medicine.
Research Links
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Leanne Friesen
Leanne is the author of the book “Grieving Room: Making Space for All the Hard Things After Death and Loss,” and the host and curator of the popular Instagram page @grieving.room where she offers grief support to 37,000 followers. A grief educator and ally, Leanne is passionate about helping our culture learn to make more space for grief and grievers. Leanne regularly speaks as part of grief forums, conferences and workshops, and is delighted to be honoured to be joining the Brainstorm Summit. She lives with her family in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where she works as an ordained minister.
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