In the news

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Congratulations to Sarah Kessouri and Elisa Gaillard, who represented LIONlab at the 9th Biennial Meeting of the Society for functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS 2026), held from October 16 to 19 in Macao, China. They presented their work from the SYNCHRO project, exploring executive functions and parent–child relationships in young children with congenital heart disease:

Elisa Gaillard: Brain functional connectivity underlying executive functioning in young children with congenital heart disease.

Sarah Kessouri: Parent–child interaction quality and inter-brain synchrony in children with congenital heart disease.

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A wonderful recognition for Noémie Racine, who received the Canadian Psychological Association’s 2026 Certificate of Academic Excellence for her honours thesis at Concordia University, entitled “Inhibitory Control in 3-Year-Old Children Born with Congenital Heart Disease: a fNIRS Study,” conducted as part of the SYNCHRO project. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition.

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Congratulations to Sarah Kessouri, Andréanne René, Nina Cordier, Layla Gorand and Alice Vandewynckele, who participated in the RBC Race for Kids alongside the CIRENE team (Integrated Center for Child Neurodevelopment Network) and the Neurocardiac Investigation Clinic at CHU Sainte-Justine. The team successfully raised over $8,500 during the event! These funds will go directly to the CINC funds, supporting projects and care for our young patients. Thank you to all participants for their dedication and generosity.

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Congratulations to Gabrielle Proulx, who received an Excellence Award for her presentation: Impacts of Dysglycemia on Language and Cognitive Development in Children Born Preterm, at the Summer Research Intern Conference of the Azrieli Research Center held at the CHU Sainte-Justine.

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Congratulations to Elisa Gaillard who presented her work entitled : exploring the relationships between executive functioning and fine motor skills in children with congenital heart disease at the Development 2026 conference.

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Congratulations to Sandrine Patenaude who presented her work entitled : Comparison of Glucose Monitoring Methods in the Neonatal Unit for Preterm Newborns at the 48th Congress of the Société québécoise de la recherche en psychologie (SQRP).

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Congratulations to Layla Gorand for winning best oral presentation at the 19^e Journée scientifique du Département de psychologie de l’Université de Montréal ! Her presentation was on the cognitive development of three-year-old children born with a congenital heart disease and the contribution of parental factors.

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Congratulations to Emilie You and Noémie Racine for presenting their Honors project at the PURE Conference at Concordia University, titled respectively: Cerebral Auditory Processing : The Role of Glycemic Variability and Inhibitory control in 3 year-old children born with a congenital heart disease : A fNIRS study.

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Congratulations to Sandrine Patenaude for her participation in the 4th National Day on Neurovisual Disorders held in Paris. She presented the Prémasucré project, which aims to assess the impact of dysglycemia on the neurovisual and cognitive development of preterm newborns.

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Congratulations to Elisa Gaillard, Sandrine Patenaude, Charlotte Savard, and Noémie Racine for presenting their work at the 40th Annual Research Congress of the CHU Sainte-Justine.

Elisa Gaillard and Noémie Racine gave a poster presentation titled : Executive Functioning and Functional Brain Connectivity in Young Children with Congenital Heart Disease.

Sandrine Patenaude gave a poster presentation titled : Comparison of Intermittent and Continuous Glycemic Measurements in Preterm Newborns.

Charlotte Savard gave a poster presentation titled : Resting-State Functional Brain Connectivity at 42 Months in Children Born with Congenital Heart Disease: Comparison with Healthy Peers.

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Congratulations to Charles Lepage on successfully defending his PhD thesis!

Thesis title: The role of parental stress in the motor, cognitive, and behavioral development of preschool‑aged children with congenital heart disease. We are extremely proud of Charles and all the work he has accomplished at the LIONlab. Congratulations Charles on this remarkable achievement, and we wish you the best for the next steps of your career.

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Congratulations to Sandrine Patenaude, Charlotte Savard, and Noémie Racine for presenting their work at the Congrès Québécois de la Recherche Mère-Enfant 2026 (CQRME).

Sandrine Patenaude presented a comparative study of glycemic monitoring methods in premature newborns.

Charlotte Savard gave a poster presentation titled: Resting-State Functional Brain Connectivity at 42 Months in Children Born with Congenital Heart Disease: Comparison with Healthy Peers.

Noémie Racine gave a poster presentation titled: Executive Functioning and Functional Brain Connectivity in Young Children with Congenital Heart Disease.

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The study by Andréanne René, “Prenatal linguistic exposure shapes language brain responses at birth”, published in August 2025 in Communications Biology, explores how prenatal exposure to a foreign language influences newborns’ brain responses. This study was conducted with Laura Caron-Desrochers as co-first author.

The research has received wide media coverage, including:

• La Presse Canadienne / Le Soleil : Un fœtus peut se familiariser avec une langue étrangère dans le ventre de sa mère
• Scientific American : Babies’ brains recognize foreign languages they heard before birth
• UdeM Nouvelles : Un fœtus peut apprendre une langue avant même de naître

A big congratulations to Andréanne and Laura for this outstanding contribution to neurodevelopmental research.

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A big congratulations to Sarah Kessouri and Noémie Racine, who participated in the RBC Race for Kids alongside the CIRENE team (Integrated Center for Child Neurodevelopment Network) and the Neurocardiac Investigation Clinic at CHU Sainte-Justine. The team successfully raised over $9,000 during the event! These funds will go directly to the CINC funds, supporting projects and care for our young patients. Thank you to all participants for their dedication and generosity.

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Elisa Gaillard presented her work at the annual Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative (CNOC)conference, held in Colorado. Her presentation, entitled “Exploring the link between executive functioning and fine motor skills in children with congenital heart disease”, focused on the relationship between executive functions and fine motor skills in children with congenital heart disease. Congratulations to Elisa for this valuable contribution to neurodevelopmental research.

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Congratulations to Kassandra Roger on successfully defending her PhD thesis

Thesis title: Effects of Early Childhood Malnutrition on Adult Brain Function: A Multimodal NIRS-EEG Study. We are proud to announce that her thesis was rated Excellent and recommended for the Rector’s Honour List. Congratulations Kassandra on this outstanding achievement.

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Congratulations to Charles Lepage for his presentation entitled « The Role of Parental Stress in the Motor, Executive, and Behavioral Development of Preschool-Aged Children with Congenital Heart Disease », presented at the 86th Annual Convention of the Canadian Psychological Association in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

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Congratulations to Sandrine Patenaude for receiving the Best Poster Presentation Award in the Neuropsychology category at the Conference of the Société Québécoise pour la Recherche en Psychologie (SQRP), for her presentation entitled: «Glycemic Variations in Premature Newborns and Visual Function at 3 Months.» A big bravo for this well-deserved recognition.

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Congratulations to Andréanne René and Elisa Gaillard for presenting their work at the Annual Conference of the Société Québécoise pour la Recherche en Psychologie (SQRP).

• Andréanne René: The Impact of Prenatal Language Exposure on Language Networks at Birth
• Elisa Gaillard: Exploring the Links Between Executive Functioning and Motor Skills in Children With Congenital Heart Disease

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Congratulations to Charlotte Savard for winning the Best Oral Presentation Honor Award at the Scientific Day of the Department of Psychology at Université de Montréal, for her presentation entitled: «The Impact of Congenital Heart Disease on Executive Functioning at 3 Years: A Comparative Study with Healthy Children.» Well done on this well-deserved recognition of your work.

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Congratulations to Andréanne René for her excellent presentation at the 39th CHU Sainte-Justine Congress, where she presented her work on the impact of prenatal exposure to a foreign language on brain responses at birth. Bravo Andréanne!

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Congratulations to Elisa Gaillard, Julie Tremblay, and Sandrine Patenaude for presenting their work at the 39th CHU Sainte-Justine Research Congress.

Elisa Gaillard: Executive Functioning and Brain Functional Connectivity in Young Children with Congenital Heart Disease: Preliminary Results.

Julie Tremblay: Multimodal fNIRS-EEG Analyses during a Reading Task: Exploring the Correlation between the Spectral Signature of Neuronal Signal and Hemodynamic Data.

Sandrine Patenaude: Prematurity and Glycemic Variations: What Impact on Infant Visual Brain Processing?

A big congratulations to them as well as all the collaborative team members and families who help us advance research.

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Congratulations to Sarah Provost on her thesis defense!

We are proud to congratulate Sarah Provost on the remarkable success of her thesis defense. Her work, titled “Brain and Cognitive Functioning in Children with Congenital Heart Disease”, was recognized for its exceptional quality, and her candidacy has been recommended for inclusion on the Rector’s Honor List. This distinction is a well-deserved recognition of the excellence of her research and its valuable contribution to understanding brain development in children with congenital heart disease. Bravo Sarah, on this great achievement! It is a source of pride for our laboratory, and we wish you a promising future in research and clinical practice.

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LIONLab wishes you a roaring 2025!
2025 begins with great momentum, and the LIONLab team is ready to take on new challenges, continue exploring innovative ideas, and strengthen our collaborations. Stay tuned throughout the year to discover our projects and advancements. Together, let’s make 2025 a year of meaningful achievements in science and health!

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Congratulations to Charlotte Savard and Sandrine Patenaude, Honors interns, for presenting their posters at the NeuroQAM scientific day, respectively titled: “Sleep disturbances at 3.5 years as predictors of global cognitive functioning at 5 years in preschool-aged children with congenital heart disease” and “Impact of prematurity and glycemic variations on cerebral visual processing at 3 months”

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Congratulations to our team!

We are thrilled to announce that we have secured funding for the project titled Lifespan Brain Health Trajectories in Congenital Heart Disease: The Role of Sex & Gender, which will run from 2024 to 2029. This project is supported by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC), Brain Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). We are excited to co-lead this initiative with Thalia Field, a researcher at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health and an associate professor in the Division of Neurology at the University of British Columbia (UBC). We look forward to collaborating to advance research on brain health throughout the lives of patients with congenital heart disease.

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A big thank you to our Synchro project members, Sarah Kessouri and Elisa Gaillard, for joining the RBC race to support our children and the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation. Thanks also to the organizers and everyone involved who made this event a success. Let’s keep working together to bring hope and support.

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Congratulations to Andréanne René, who will soon begin her PhD studies in neuropsychology, for being awarded a graduate research scholarship from the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation.

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Congratulations to Charles Lepage, PhD candidate in Research and Intervention in Neuropsychology, for receiving the award for Best Poster Presentation in the Education and Development category at the SQRP Congress.

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Congratulations to Charles Lepage, PhD candidate in clinical neuropsychology, who was awarded the best presentation prize from the public at the last annual meeting of the Association québécoise des neuropsychologues!

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Learn more on our latest findings regarding neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with congenital heart disease, children with malnutrition and children born prematurely.

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Congratulations to Sarah Provost and Charles Lepage, both PhD candidates in clinical neuropsychology, for participating in the Royal Bank of Canada’s Race for the Kids to raise money for the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation! Great job to all the health services workers, parent-partners and patients who took part in the event.

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Congratulations to Sarah Provost, PhD candidate in clinical neuropsychology, for obtaining the bronze medal for her oral presentation at the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Sarah’s presentation was ranked third among 2800 abstracts presented during the congress by world-renowned experts in the field.

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Congratulations to Dr. Gallagher, as well as Yara Maalouf, Charles Lepage and Sarah Provost, PhD candidates in clinical neuropsychology, for their participation in the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery in Washington DC, United Stades!

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Congratulations to the whole team for being awarded a 5-year research grant from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) for the research project Fonctionnement exécutif et relation parent-enfant chez le jeune enfant avec un maladie cardiaque congénitale : dépistage précoce et mécanismes cérébraux sous-jacents, in collaboration with the CHU Sainte-Justine’s Clinique d’investigation neurocardiaque, and co-investigators Miriam Beauchamp, Annie Bernier and Guillaume Dumas from Université de Montréal.

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Congratulations to Charles Lepage, PhD candidate in clinical neuropsychology, for being awarded a 4-year supplement to his FRQS scholarship by the Fondation des étoiles pour la recherche pédiatrique!

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It is with great emotion that we must say farewell to Phetsamone Vannasing who has been with us a research project manager for many years. We wish her the best for her upcoming retirement. Her knowledge and her humor will not be forgotten!

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Congratulations to the whole team for being awarded a 2-year research grant from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC) for the research projet Intervention de yoga parent-enfant pour réduire le déficit de l’attention chez les enfants ayant une maladie coronarienne congénitale, in collaboration with Marie-Noëlle Simard, OT, PhD (UdeM) and Marie Brossard-Racine, OT, PhD (UMcGill).

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Congratulations to Charles Lepage, PhD candidate in clinical neuropsychology, for being awarded a 4-year doctoral scholarship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS)!

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Congratulations to Charles Lepage, PhD candidate in clinical neuropsychology, for being awarded a prize from Université de Montréal’s Fonds d’amélioration à la vie étudiante for his community involvement!

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Congratulations to Dr. Gallagher and Charles Lepage, PhD candidate in clinical neuropsychology, for their interview on Radio-Canada’s radio on the topic of parenting stress in the context of congenital heart disease. Listen to the interview (in French): https://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/premiere/emissions/les-annees-lumiere/segments/reportage/435668/stress-parents-enfants-cardiopathie-developpement

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Congratulations to Laurence Petitpas, MSc student in psychology, for the final deposit of her memoir on the topic of brain activation in newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy following early glycemic abnormalities!

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Congratulations to Charles Lepage, Honors student and future PhD student, on obtaining the Undergraduate student research award from the NSERC as well as the supplement for this same award!

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Congratulations to Kassandra Roger, PhD student, on obtaining the Doctoral training scholarship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) !

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Congratulations to Sarah Provost, PhD student, on obtaining the Doctoral training scholarship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) !

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Congratulations to Dre Gallagher, Phetsamone Vannasing and Alejandra Hüsser for their webinar presentation on fNIRS use in epilepsy in collaboration with NIRX. To watch the webinar : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C63oyeID30

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Congratulations to Alejandra Hüsser, PhD student, on obtaining the Maternity scholarship from the University of Montreal! Congrats for the birth of our first LION baby!

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Congratulations to Sarah Provost, PhD student, on obtaining the Jean-Marc Chevrier Scholarship from the University of Montreal’s psychology department.

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Congratulations to Isabelle Gaudet, PhD student, on obtaining the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation scholarship as well as a the Bourse de fin d’études doctorales from the University of Montreal.

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Here you can find the 3rd newsletter of the LION lab (French only). Discover more on the influence of various pediatric conditions on brain function. You will find articles on the preliminary results of the Congenital Heart Disease project (written by Sarah Provost) and the Malnutrition project (written by Kassandra Roger) as well as our new PrémaSucré project (written by Janie Damien).

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Congratulations to Kassandra Roger, PhD student, on obtaining the MITACS research scholarship as well as the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation scholarship. 

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Congratulations to Alejandra Hüsser, PhD student, on obtaining the Savoy Foundation scholarship who allocate financing for epilepsy research projects.

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Congratulations to Phetsamone Vannasing on winning the Research Professionals Excellence Awards from the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ). Her expertise, devotion and her remarkable contribution in the training of the next generation makes her an incredible and essential member of our team. We are lucky to have you!

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Congratulations to Dr. Anne Gallagher on obtaining a Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). This 5-year grant will allow us to pursue the ELAN project!

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Congratulations to Yara Maalouf, trainee and incoming PhD R/I candidate in Neuropsychology in the laboratory, for receiving an undergraduate research scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), as well as the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarshipfrom the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

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Congratulations to Alejandra Hüsser for receiving the Scholarship for End of Ph.D. Studies of the Faculty for Graduate and Postgraduate Studies (GPS)

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Congratulations to Kassandra Roger for receiving the Mitacs Globalink Research Award

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Congratulations to Dr. Anne Gallagher on obtaining a Canada Research Chair in Child Neuropsychology and Brain Imaging

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Here you can find the second newsletter of the LION lab (French only). You will be able to discover more on the influence of the prenatal environment on brain and language development. The first article is based on the ELAN project and is written by Laura Caron-Desrochers, and the second is written by Kassandra Roger, both Ph.D students at the lab.

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Congratulations to Alejandra Hüsser and Solène Fourdain for the renewal of their scholarship for foreign students from the QBIN (Quebec Bio-Imaging Network)

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Congratulations to Dr. Anne Gallagher, Dr. Elana Pinchefsky, Dr. Gregory Lodygensky and the entire LION team for a major CIHR funding for the visual and cognitive development of premature infants.

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Congratulations to Kassandra Roger on obtaining a CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation Scholarship

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We would like to welcome four new interns and research assistants to our lab: Laurie Décarie-Labbé, Clémence Noiseux, Mathieu Bissonnette and Yara Maalouf! They will work on various ongoing projects in the lab.

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Congratulations to Kassandra Roger, a doctoral student in our lab, for receiving a scholarship from the International internship program Quebec-Cuba of the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) !

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Congratulations to Janie Damien, a doctoral student in our lab, for receiving a scholarship for Doctoral Training from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS).

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Congratulations to Sarah Provost, a doctoral student in our lab, for receiving the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship (Master’s Program) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

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Dre Gallagher receives funding from the Savoy Foundation for a project on functional brain connectivity and the neuropsychological profile after a first crisis.

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Congratulations to Dr. Anne Gallagher on obtaining a FRQS Junior Fellow-Researcher Salary Award.

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Julie Tremblay, ing., Anne Gallagher and Eduardo Martinez-Montes obtain funding from the Ministry of International Relations and the Francophonie for a project on the integration of multimodal brain imaging data in NIRS and EEG.

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Congratulations to Sarah Provost, a doctoral student in our lab, for receiving a doctoral scholarship from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies of the Université de Montréal !

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We would like to welcome three new students in our lab : Janie Damien, Sarah Provost, and Kassandra Roger !

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Congratulations to Laura Caron-Desrochers for receiving the NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship as well as the FRQNT Scholarship!

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Congratulations to Dr Emmanuelle Dionne-Dostie, co-directed by Dr Gallagher, for the successful completion of her thesis defense regarding the Development of audiovisual integration from infancy to adulthood using electrophysiology.

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Drs Anne Gallagher, Pedro Valdes-Sosa (Cuba), Janina Galler (USA), and Cyralene Bryce (Barbados) receive financing from Quebec Bio-Imaging Network (QBIN) for an international pilot study to identify cerebral markors of child malnutrition in a Barbados cohort.

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We would like to welcome three new research assistants in our lab: Sarah Kraimeche, Maxime Richter, and Daniella Vilaire! They will work on different projets on typically developing infants and children with epilepsy.

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Congratulations to Solène Fourdain, a doctoral student in our lab, for receiving the Quebec Bio-Imaging Network (RBIQ) International Student Scholarship!

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We are pleased to announce the creation of our seasonal newsletter in which you will find educational articles and preliminary results of the current studies conducted in our lab. Here is the first LIONLAB newsletter!

Click here to read the newsletter [French only]

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Dr. Anne Gallagher has been awarded the Louise Rousselle Trottier Award from the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation. This research award is presented to a young researcher in cardiovascular disease and was granted to her for the project “Functional brain connectivity in infants with congenital heart disease: a predictor of neurodevelopmental outcomes?”.

Click here to read the article [French only]

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Congratulations to Solène Fourdain, a doctoral student in our lab, for her doctoral scholarship from the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation!

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Dr. Anne Gallagher receives a Grant-in-Aid from the Heart and Stroke Foundation for her project “Functional brain connectivity in infants with congenital heart disease (CHD): A predictor of neurodevelopmental outcomes?”

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Drs. Anne Gallagher and Eduardo Martinez-Montes, from the Centro de Neurociencias de Cuba, receive new joint funding from the FRQNT and the FRQS for a short Cuba-Quebec scientific mission.

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Dr. Anne Gallagher has been awarded the Junior Investigator Award from the Canadian League Against Epilepsy (CLAE / LCCE). This award was presented to her in recognition of her outstanding contribution to epilepsy research.

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Congratulations to Emmanuelle Dionne-Dostie, a doctoral student in our lab, for her doctoral scholarship from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FESP) at Université de Montréal!

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Congratulations to Laura Caron-Desrochers, a master’s student in our lab, for her Canada Graduate Scholarship awarded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)!

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27 students and postdoctoral fellows from Université de Montréal at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center receive a scholarship from the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ).

Click here to read the article

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Congratulations to Solène Fourdain, a doctoral student in our lab, for receiving three scholarships this year: the Merit Scholarship of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FESP) at Université de Montréal, the “Coup de pouce santé” from the Caisse Desjardins, and the Quebec Bio-Imaging Network (RBIQ) International Student Scholarship!

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Congratulations to Natacha Paquette, a student co-supervised by Dr. Gallagher, who successfully defended her doctoral thesis!

Click here to read the thesis [French only]

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Drs. Anne Gallagher and Lionel Carmant receive funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada for a project on the impact of early intervention in neurodevelopment for children with congenital heart disease.

Click here to read the article

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Dr. Anne Gallagher is presented as a rising star in epilepsy research by the Canadian League Against Epilepsy, a distinction that demonstrates her rigour and scientific determination.

Click here to read the article

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$3 million in funding for research infrastructure at Université de Montréal, including FCI Leader funding to Dr. Gallagher’s LION Lab.

Click here to read the article [French only]

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The risk of language difficulties in premature infants is detectable at three months of age.

Click here to read the article [French only]

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Drs. Anne Gallagher and Sarah Lippé receive funding from the Quebec Bio-Imaging Network (QBIN) for a pilot project on the study of functional brain connectivity in 4-month-old babies with congenital heart disease.

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Six researchers and one student at CHU Sainte-Justine receive NSERC funding.

Click here to read the article

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Progress in Prematurity: Imaging Innovation (pp. 49–51)

Click here to read the article

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A country united for baby brain health

Click here to read the article [French only]

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Congratulations to Emmanuelle on her scholarship for the dissemination of research results from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at Université de Montréal!

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Dr. Anne Gallagher receives major funding from CIHR and FRQS. Click here to read the article

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Three new researchers at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center for the 2013 academic year. Click here to read the article

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We congratulate Emmanuelle Dionne-Dostie for obtaining the Doctoral Fellowship of the Fonds de recherche du Québec en santé (FRQS)!

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Dr. Anne Gallagher receives funding from the Savoy Foundation for a project on preclinical detection of infantile spasms.