A commitment to brain health awareness
The Amazing Brain Science Talks is an annual event hosted by Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives (HBHL), an interdisciplinary neuroscience program at McGill University. Presented in collaboration with Brain Canada and the Brain-Heart Interconnectome, the Talks are an opportunity to learn about the latest advances in brain health research in an accessible and engaging format.
Join us this year to learn about your brain’s amazing capabilities and the brain-heart connection through short, engaging talks by Canadian brain health experts and speakers with lived experience. After the talks, discover the variety of exciting work being done by Montreal-based students in different areas of brain health during a reception and poster session.
OUR LATEST EVENT
2025 Amazing Brain Science Talks
When
Saturday, November 8, 2025
From 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.
Where
Auditorium – Grande Bibliothèque BAnQ
475, boulevard De Maisonneuve Est, Montréal, QC, H2L 5C4
Who
You!
Anyone can attend this free event.
Learn from experts about what makes your brain amazing, and what you can do to keep it healthy and happy.
Themes for the Talks
Themes for the Amazing Brain Science Talks include:
The Amazing Brain
- Topics that showcase the brain’s incredible capacity for top performance in a range of activities.
Tips and tricks for a healthy brain
- Recommendations from experts on actions you can take to improve your brain health and wellness.
The brain-heart connection
- Topics that demonstrate the interconnectedness of the brain and the heart and their role in health and well-being.
2025 Agenda
All the talks included French subtitles.
❋ 1:00 p.m. ❋
Introduction to the Amazing Brain Science Talks
Viviane Poupon, Brain Canada
❋ 1:00 – 1:15 p.m. ❋
Cracking the concussion code: Rethinking how we care for concussions
Roger Zemek, University of Ottawa
❋ 1:15 – 1:30 p.m. ❋
The power of knowledge: A patient perspective on genetic testing and the future of research
Kris Noakes, Community advocate
❋ 1:30 – 1:45 p.m. ❋
Heart-brain connections: A news lens to understand youth bipolar disorder
Benjamin Goldstein, University of Toronto
❋ 1:45 – 2:00 p.m. ❋
The little blue hope: Can a heart drug heal the injured brain of a baby?
Pia Wintermark, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC)
❋ 2:00 – 2:15 p.m. ❋
Q&A Session 1
Moderated by Viviane Poupon
❋ 2:15 – 2:30 p.m. ❋
INTERMISSION
❋ 2:30 – 2:45 p.m. ❋
What older people with HIV can teach us about brain health
Lesley Fellows, McGill University
❋ 2:45 – 3:00 p.m. ❋
Ageless pleasure: Redefining sexuality in later life
Philip Jai Johnson, Clinical psychologist and sex therapist
❋ 3:00 – 3:15 p.m. ❋
One breath at a time—understanding and healing anxiety
Georg Northoff, University of Ottawa
❋ 3:15 – 3:30 p.m. ❋
Q&A Session 2
Moderated by Peter Liu, University of Ottawa
❋ 3:30 p.m. ❋
Closing Remarks
Peter Liu
Post-Event Activities
❋ 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. ❋
Meet and Greet ❋ Brain Health Posters
Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with the speakers and Montreal-based students will showcase their research through posters.
Past Events
2025 Amazing Brain Science Talks
Lived experience and expert testimonials
On Saturday, November 8, 2025, Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives (HBHL) presented the third edition of the Amazing Brain Science Talks, in partnership with Brain Canada Foundation and the Brain-Heart Interconnectome. Held at the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal, the event attracted over 100 attendees for an engaging afternoon discussing popular topics in brain health. As the MC for the afternoon, Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada, opened the event, followed by an energetic talk from Roger Zemek, pediatric emergency physician at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Zemek debunked old myths about concussion care and offered a new, research-backed protocol for healing from concussion.
Kris Noakes, a community advocate, then shared her family’s journey of living with a genetic form of ALS, instilling the importance of raising awareness of ALS and genetic testing. Benjamin Goldstein, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Toronto, shed light on his research on the connections between the brain and the heart in youth bipolar disorder. Pia Wintermark, a pediatrician and neonatologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, spoke about her research team’s process of uncovering the unexpected effects of Viagra to heal the injured brain of a baby. Viviane Poupon returned to the stage to moderate the first Q&A session with these four researchers, eliciting many engaged questions from the audience.
Next, Lesley Fellows, Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill, shared the brain health lessons learned from her research with older people living with HIV. A clinical psychologist and sex therapist, Philip Jai Johnson, spoke about redefining sexuality in later life, drawing on his clinical experience. Finally, Georg Northoff, a philosopher and neuroscientist at the University of Ottawa, shared tips for breathing exercises that can help anyone calm down from anxiety.
The second interactive Q&A session, moderated by Peter Liu, allowed attendees to engage directly with the speakers. Dr. Liu, co-scientific director of the Brain-Heart Interconnectome, offered closing remarks, highlighting the interconnectedness of the brain and the heart, and the importance of engaging the public with brain health research.
Post-Event Activities
The 2025 Amazing Brain Science Talks also featured a reception with a scientific poster session by Montreal-based trainees, who discussed their brain health research with the public.
2024 Amazing Brain Science Talks
Expert speakers and lived experience
The 2024 Amazing Brain Science Talks event was organized by Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives in partnership with Brain Canada. Speakers covered a wide variety of topics like mental health advocacy, eye contact in conversations and brain aging. Notable speakers included Jibran Khokhar from Western University, who discussed the effects of cannabis and vaping in teens, Gabriel Blanco Gomez, who explored the fascinating question: “Why do humans have language?” and Katie Jensen, host and editor of Brain Canada’s podcast Playing with Marbles, who gave an impactful firsthand account her experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Engaging format
TED-style talks were followed by interactive panel discussions and Q&As, moderated by Dr. Alan Evans, Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Psychiatry and Biomedical Engineering at McGill and HBHL’s scientific director. Dr. Evans is a renowned neuroscientist known for his groundbreaking work in brain imaging and neuroinformatics.
Closing remarks for the event by Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada, highlighted the importance of continued research in advancing brain health.
Post-Event Activities
The 2024 edition of the Amazing Brain Science Talks also featured interactive activities after the talks, including scientific poster sessions and an art exhibit. Students from HBHL’s Undergraduate Summer Research Internship (USRI) program presented their research to the public, alongside the Cerebronze exhibit, a three-dimensional art installation in bronze and steel designed from brain scans made by McGill and Concordia students.
2023 Amazing Brain Science Talks
Engaging content by expert speakers
The inaugural 2023 Amazing Brain Science Talks event was organized by Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives in partnership with Brain Canada. Speakers covered a wide variety of topics like stress management, the power of sleep and anxiety in children with autism. Notable speakers included Dr. Matthew Galati, founder of Brain Changes, who talked about his lived experience of a traumatic brain injury, and Dr. Cindy Barha, Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary, who highlighted the benefits of exercise for the aging brain.
Dynamic format
TED-style talks were followed by interactive panel discussions, moderated by:
- Dr. Vladimir Hachinski, Distinguished University Professor at Western University and former Editor-in-Chief of the journal Stroke. Dr. Hachinski is also a pioneering clinical neuroscientist in stroke care and dementia prevention and has authored over 1,000 scientific papers.
- Dr. Alan Evans, Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Psychiatry and Biomedical Engineering at McGill University and Director of the Brain Imaging Centre at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Dr. Evans is a renowned neuroscientist known for his groundbreaking work in brain imaging and neuroinformatics.
Closing remarks for the event by Viviane Poupon, President and CEO of Brain Canada, highlighted the importance of continued research in advancing brain health.
Amazing Brain Science Talks 