Group Leader

Dr. Sheng T. Hou
Senior Research Officer
National Research Council Canada
Institute for Biological Sciences
Bldg M-54, 1200 Montreal Rd
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6
sheng.hou@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Telephone: 613-993-7764

Business Contact

Stacey Nunes, B.Sc., MBA
Business Development Officer
National Research Council Canada
Institute for Biological Sciences
Bldg M-54, 1200 Montreal Rd
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6
stacey.nunes@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Phone: 613-993-9212
Fax: 613-952-5136

Group Focus

The mandate of NRC-IBS' Cerebrovascular Research Group is to carry out fundamental and applied research in areas of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and cerebrovascular diseases.

Brain vasculature is functionally implicated in a majority of brain diseases. The main goal of the Group is to understand integrative functions of the neurovascular unit in physiology and disease, including the blood-brain barrier permeability, inflammatory and angiogenic responses, and roles in process of neuronal death and neurovascular repair. The group develops novel molecular imaging, drug delivery and therapeutic approaches that target neurovascular unit.

Team members

Research Officers: Dr. Abedelnasser Abulrob, Dr. Sheng Hou, Dr. Maria Moreno, Dr. Danica Stanimirovic
Research Associates: Dr. Nadia Caram-Salas, Dr Umar Iqbal, Dr Shawn Whitehead
Technical Officers: Amy Aylsworth, Marguerite Ball; Eve Boileau, Ewa Baumann; Eric Brunette, Dr. Xiuxian Jiang, Claudie Charleboris, Sandhya Gangaraju, Marina Rukhlova, Jacqueline Slinn
Graduate Students: Moises Freitas-Andrade

Ongoing Research Activities and Projects

Brain Imaging and Therapeutic Delivery
The project develops new vectors for brain delivery of drugs, biologics and imaging agents. Single-domain antibodies against brain vascular targets are developed for applications in imaging and receptor-mediated payload delivery across the blood-brain barrier   

Neurovascular Remodeling
Understanding of mechanisms of brain vascular organization and remodeling in response to ischemia, tumor microenvironment and sheer-stress is used to develop novel pleiotropic anti-angiogenic and anti-tumorigenic biologics, and to develop tissue-engineered vascular implants. 

Experimental Neurotherapeutics
Develops and evaluates novel neurotherapeutics that target cell death cascades triggered by injurious stimuli in vitro and stroke in vivo. 

Partnering Opportunities

The Cerebrovascular Research Group develops and transfers technologies in  collaboration and partnership with academia, regional and international biotechnology companies and large pharmaceutical companies.  Several of the group’s technologies are available for license.

Expertise and available technologies

• Stroke models
• Cerebrovascular physiology
• Blood brain barrier
• Targeted drug delivery
• Targeted nanoparticles
• Angiogenesis

Facilities

• Molecular imaging facility (Time-domain optical imaging, microCT)
• Vascular tissue engineering lab  (Bioreactor)
• Viral vector facility (BCL2)