DMRF Canada is pleased to announce our support of 2022-2023 Banting Research Foundation Discovery Award recipient, Luka Milosevic.
Professor Milosevic was selected to be one of this year’s Banting Research Discovery awardees for his project; Physiologically-informed and data-driven methods for advancing neuromodulation therapies in dystonia.
Professor Milosevic is a Scientist with a focus on Clinical and Computational Neuroscience at the Krembil Brain Institute, University Health Network, and an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto.
He and his team are focused on developing diagnostic models to identify brain biomarkers associated with dystonia and will be using these signals to design new forms of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) with the goal to identify better treatment for individuals living with dystonia.
DBS is a surgical treatment that uses an implanted medical device to treat dystonia and other neurological disorders. Initially reserved for only severe cases of generalized dystonia, DBS is now being used to treat a greater variety of dystonia patients. The use of DBS is evolving as research progresses.
Professor Milosevic’s work on brain disorders, combined with the rapidly growing field of neurotechnology, impacts new devices to alter brain activity and new therapies that can be applied to restore neurocircuit function in various disorders such as dystonia.
As the current implementation of DBS therapy involves delivery stimulation 24 hours per day, physiologically informed DBS would instead deliver stimulation only, when necessary, based on brain signals associated with disease symptoms, thereby reducing side effects and improving quality of life.
This award, a one-year grant valued at $30,000, recognizes the highest-ranked applicants in an annual peer-reviewed competition for their big bold ideas in innovative health and biomedical research. The Banting Discovery Award, originally established nearly a century ago in 1925, recognizes those individuals contributing to a healthier Canada and a better world. For more details on the Banting Research Foundation and the 2022 Discovery Award recipients, please click here.
Our thanks to The Banting Research Foundation for their partnership in this important research initiative.
Credit: Thanks to the Banting Research Foundation for allowing us to share this information