Christine Tardif

Biography

Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Research Interest

Dr. Tardif’s research has focused on MRI-based investigations of myelin, a fatty substance that forms an electrically insulating sheath around axons to achieve and maintain the rapid conduction and synchronous timing of neural networks. Myelination is a lifelong dynamic process of forming and modulating myelin sheaths. It underlies key mechanisms of brain plasticity and higher order cognitive functions. In addition to demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis, there is accumulating evidence that dysmyelination contributes to psychiatric disorders as well. Dr. Tardif’s lab investigates myelination (in both white and grey matter) in relation to cognition and behaviour to gain a better understanding of myelin plasticity in healthy individuals, and of diseases involving myelin damage or dysregulation. To achieve these goals, Dr. Tardif’s lab develops novel MRI techniques to generate high-resolution quantitative MR images of the brain in-vivo, and relates them to microstructural features of the tissue. Methodological developments include novel image acquisition techniques, multi-modal biophysical modelling, and high-resolution cortical modelling. The lab has a translational approach, working on both small animal (7 Tesla) and human (3 and 7 Tesla) MRI systems.