Our Team
Dr. Sara Tremblay - Scientist and Professor - Director of NEST lab
Dr. Tremblay joined the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research (IMHR) at The Royal in 2018 and has since developed a neuromodulation research platform to improve and explore current paradigms of rTMS treatment in the region.
Dr. Tremblay obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology in 2015 at Université de Montréal. She then completed her first postdoctoral fellowship at the Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders at University College London and a second postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Mental Health and Addiction in Toronto. As of 2020, Dr. Tremblay is a tenured professor and clinical supervisor in the Psychoeducation and Psychology Department at the Université du Québec en Outaouais.
Emma Cummings - Research Coordinator rTMS clinic staff
Emma joined the rTMS Neuromodulation Research Clinic in 2024 as a Research Coordinator. She holds an MSc in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health from King’s College London and works on the uni- vs bi-lateral, fMRI-guided and youth clinical trials. Emma is interested in advancing the scientific understanding of brain-based therapies for mood disorders, particularly within clinical and translational research settings.
Binty-Kamila Bangoura - RA I/Technician rTMS clinic staff
Stacey Shim - Manager rTMS clinic staff
Stacey brings nearly a decade of clinical research expertise to her role as Manager at the rTMS Neuromodulation Research Clinic, where she joined in 2022. Her journey began at the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where she specialized in TMS and electroencephalography (EEG) for research initiatives. Over the years, her focus shifted towards the clinical facets of rTMS research, leading her to coordinate numerous multi-center clinical trials. Stacey also took on the role of an internal monitor, ensuring quality standards were met throughout the research process.
Mojtaba Jouzizadeh - RA I/Technician rTMS clinic staff
Mojtaba completed his Master's degree in Neuroscience at the University of Ottawa, where his research focused on exploring sex differences in the brain using simultaneous EEG-fMRI and a visuospatial task. He is currently pursuing a Master's in Neuropsychology, and his current research focuses on brain connectivity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients using EEG
Dr. Arthur R. Chaves - Scientist
Dr. Chaves hold a PhD in Medicine with a specialization in Neuroscience and is a certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist (CSEP-CEP). He is a Scientist at The Royal and the NEST Lab, where his research focuses on novel treatments for mental health disorders and how these interventions shape the brain through neuroplastic mechanisms. His work also examines how structured exercise training and improvements in physical fitness can enhance the effectiveness of existing therapies, particularly brain stimulation approaches.
Dr. Aref Pariz - Postdoctoral Fellow
Aref Pariz joined the lab in 2023 as a postdoctoral researcher. He holds a PhD in Physics and works on iTBS-induced connectivity. Aref aims to start his own lab and continue research on brain stimulation techniques.
Rosalie Letourneau - RA II/Technician rTMS clinic staff
Students
Alex Castro - PhD Student UOttawa
Alex received her Honours B.A. with a specialization in Psychology at the University of Ottawa. Following her undergraduate degree, her desire to combine her interest in both neuroscience and clinical psychology lead her to join the NEST lab in 2020. She is currently pursuing her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Ottawa, under the supervision of Drs. Sara Tremblay and Patrick Davidson. Her research project proposes to use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to study the functional integrity and excitability of the cholinergic system across the lifespan, specifically to probe the underlying neurophysiological processes of memory. Her research is currently being supported by a NSERC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship.
Marie-Claude Desjardins - PsyD Student UQO
A criminologist by training, she completed a second bachelor's degree in psychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais in 2022. Under the co-supervision of Drs. Caroline Blais and Sara Tremblay, her honours thesis focused on the impact of direct current stimulation on empathic abilities and the processing of facial expressions of pain.
This mentoring continues as part of her clinical doctorate in neuropsychology, which she began in 2022 at UQO. Her doctoral thesis will address the themes of empathy and pain perception using repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation. More specifically, her projects focus on visual and social perception, in particular the decoding and underestimation of facial expressions of pain.
Kai Curbelo - PhD Student UQO
Wesley Dunne - MSc Student Carleton
Wesley joined the NEST Lab in 2024 as a volunteer research assistant. He has a degree in psychology from Carleton University and for his masters now leads a project examining TMS-EEG markers of brain-circuit changes in depression, which could help identify the people most likely to benefit from this treatment. Wesley is especially interested in computational neuroscience and hopes to continue developing technical tools that make clinical research more efficient and ultimately improve patient care.
Hanna Bariciak - Honour’s Student Carleton
Hanna is a fourth-year Neuroscience & Mental Health student at Carleton University. She joined the NEST Lab in May 2025 and has a research interest in exploring associations between baseline physical activity levels and neurophysiology in treatment-resistant depression (TRD).
Noémie Landry - PsyD Student UQO
In 2017, she graduated from Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue with a Technique of Social Work. Passionate about the study of brain mechanisms and human behavior, she decided to pursue her academic career with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology at Université du Québec en Outaouais. In July 2020, she got involved in the NEST lab. Thus, she had the chance to complete her honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Sara Tremblay.
With a growing interest in the field of neurosciences, she decided to pursue a PhD in clinical neuropsychology at UQO. her PhD project will investigate the role of the combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) as a neurophysiological measure to predict clinical response to TBS treatment in patients with depressive disorders.
Christophe Carleton - PsyD Student UQO
Christophe obtained his bachelor's degree in psychology from the Université du Québec en Outaouais in the summer of 2023. He is currently doing a PsyD in neuropsychology at UQO under the supervision of Dr. Sara Tremblay. In addition, he has been a member of the NEST lab since October 2021, assisting with document translation, rTMS treatments, TMS-EEGs and other lab projects. The main focus of his research projects is the representation and neuromodulation of motor cortex in neurotypical participants.
Annabelle Potvin - PsyD Student UQO
Jennifer Cuba - MSc Student Carleton
Jennifer joined the NEST lab as a research assistant in 2022 after completing her Honour’s Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Ottawa. Since joining the team, Jennifer has become increasingly interested in exploring the impact of rTMS treatments on sleep disturbances, which often accompany symptoms of depression and appear to play an important role in response to antidepressant treatments. As a Master's student at Carleton University, her research now focuses on identifying neuroimaging markers associated with sleep improvements following rTMS
Alexandra Lemoyne - PsyD Student UQO
In December 2020, she completed her Bachelor's degree in Psychology at the University of Montreal. In September 2021, she started her PsyD in clinical neuropsychology, under the supervision of Dr. Tremblay at the Université du Québec en Outaouais in collaboration with The Royal. Her doctoral thesis focuses on comparing the therapeutic efficacy of unilateral and bilateral theta burst stimulation in patients with major depression, as well as predicting treatment response using resting state connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex. She is passionate about neuropsychology and her future career goal is to be a clinical neuropsychologist.
Daniel O’Sullivan - MD/PhD Student UOttawa
Daniel joined the lab in 2025 as a student in the University of Ottawa's MD/PhD program. He holds a BSc in Biomedical Science from the University Ottawa (2023), and a MSc in Neuroscience from McGill University (2025). Co-supervised by Dr. Natalia Jaworska, Daniel's research is investigating neuroanatomical and neurophysiological profiles associated with treatment response to TBS and aerobic exercise in depressed populations. Daniel is aspiring towards a career as a clinician-researcher in psychiatry, and is broadly interested in leveraging neuroimaging for translational psychiatric research.
Bianca McFadden - PsyD Student UQO
Hafsa Ahmed - Honour’s Student UOttawa
Hafsa Ahmed joined the NEST Lab in 2024 as a Volunteer Research Assistant and is currently completing her Honours Project as an Honours student at the lab. She is pursuing an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science at the University of Ottawa, where her research investigates sex differences in short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI) and their relationship to memory processing. Hafsa hopes to further her education and pursue a career in healthcare, with a strong interest in working with children and advancing pediatric neuroscience research.
