Neurogenesis Speaker Series
Come meet HBHL-supported Faculty!聽
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
4:30鈥�6:30 p.m. (includes a one-hour reception)
Kick off the new year with the Neurogenesis Speaker Series! Get to know HBHL-supported faculty recruits firsthand, learn about their research, ask questions and network with your peers during the post-event reception.
Each event in this series will feature two HBHL faculty recruits whose research areas provide an interesting contrast or intersection for discussion.
January Speakers:聽
- Manuela Ferrari, PhD - "Rethinking Mental Health Through Play: Game-Based Innovation in the Game-in-Action聽Project"
- Lena Palaniyappan, MD, PhD -聽鈥淐an we postpone mental illness? Why, how and why not?鈥�
- Q&A moderated by HBHL Scientific Director聽Alan Evans
Speakers
Manuela Ferrari, PhD
Prof. Manuela Ferrari is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at 91丝瓜视频 and a researcher at the Douglas Research Centre in Montreal. She is an expert in the use of digital聽technologies and interventions for improving mental health service delivery to young people. Her research program seeks to optimize digital mental health assessment, treatment and capacity building, focusing on promoting user-led research designs and participatory research. Her work integrates local knowledge and cultural values while promoting mental health literacy, particularly in under-resourced or marginalized settings, and supports more ethical, accurate and destigmatizing media portrayals of mental health. She was awarded a Fonds de recherche du Qu茅bec-Sant茅 (FRQS)聽Chercheurs-Boursiers聽(Research Scholar Junior 1 and Junior 2) and the Healthy Brains, Healthy聽Lives (HBHL) New Recruit Start-Up Supplements grant. Dr. Ferrari's research is supported and sponsored by provincial (FRQS) and federal programs (SSRCH, CIHR, NRC), as well as philanthropic foundations and partners (National Bank of Canada).聽
Lena Palaniyappan, MD, PhD
Dr. Lena Palaniyappan is a practising psychiatrist; he works with youth and families experiencing severe mental illnesses such as psychosis. Following his Bachelor鈥檚 degree in psychology, he completed his medical training at Stanley Medical College in Chennai, India, followed by a Master's聽and PhD in Psychiatry at the University of Nottingham in the UK. He currently holds the Monique H. Bourgeois Research Chair and directs the Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health at the Douglas Research Centre. He is also the Chief Editor of the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology Journal. His work on neuroimaging in psychosis led to the Global Rising Star Award from the Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Early Career Foundation Grant. His research program is geared towards optimizing long-term mental health outcomes and pathways of care for individuals with serious mental disorders that often start in adolescence. His work centres聽on developing an understanding of the brain mechanisms involved in mental states such as psychosis and depression and in generating developmentally informed tools to predict outcomes after first-episode psychosis and non-invasive treatment approaches.鈥�� His areas of interest include聽youth mental health, psychosis, relapse, speech, Natural Language Processing (NLP), predictive analysis, neuroimaging, digital health and early intervention.聽