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. 

Stacey Shim - Manager

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.

Jessica Drodge - Clinical Research Coordinator

Jessica joined the rTMS Neuromodulation Research Clinic in 2019 as a trainee under the supervision of Dr. Sara Tremblay and Dr. Synthia Guimond, where she investigated the relationship between neuroplasticity, cognition, and cortical structure using rTMS and other modalities. Before this, she completed a bachelor of science honours in neuroscience at Carleton University, with minors in psychology and biology.

Since graduating in 2023, Jessica has remained at the clinic to coordinate Dr. Tremblay’s clinical rTMS research trials and other ongoing research at The Royal. As research coordinator, she oversees all client participation, conducts clinical assessments and provides rTMS treatment. 

Youssef Nasr - Research Assistant

Youssef joined the rTMS Neuromodulation Research Clinic in 2023 as a research assistant. Before joining, he graduated in 2021 from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science and a minor in Psychology. He currently holds a casual research assistant position. 

In his role, Youssef assists with rTMS treatment and client monitoring. Over the last few years, he has gained clinical research experience and several pediatric pathology and surgery publications. His determination and success have led him to the MD-PhD program at the University of Ottawa. 

Julia Leclair - Research Assistant

Julia joined the rTMS Neuromodulation Research Clinic as a research assistant in 2024. Before joining the team, she completed her Bachelor of Science Honours in Neuroscience and Mental Health, with a minor in Psychology, at Carleton University. During her undergraduate studies, Julia dedicated her fourth year Honours project to better understanding how to communicate and translate dense scientific information to diverse populations.

Julia has always had a passion for educating the younger generation on mental health and advocating for individuals living with a mental illness. Her primary role at the clinic is administering rTMS treatments.

Jenn Cuda - Research Assistant

Jennifer joined the rTMS Neuromodulation Research Clinic as a research assistant in 2022. Prior to joining the team, she completed her Honour’s Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Ottawa.

Jennifer primarily administers rTMS treatments and clinical assessments to clients participating in our clinical trials. She is particularly interested in the potential impacts of rTMS treatments on sleep, which she will explore while completing her MSc in Neuroscience at Carleton.

Dr. Arthur R. Chaves - Postdoctoral Fellow

I, originally from Brazil, completed my Ph.D. in Medicine-Neuroscience at Memorial University (October 2020) while supervised by Dr. Michelle Ploughman (Canada Research Chair, Tier II, Rehabilitation, Neuroplasticity, and Brain Recovery). My research aimed at identifying biomarkers of symptom and disease progression and the impact of fitness and physical exercise training on the Stroke and the Multiple Sclerosis brain. Most recently (August 2021), I was awarded the uOttawa / CHEO Research post-doctoral Fellowship to pursue his post-doctorate training under the supervision of Dr. Lara Pilutti and Dr. Sara Tremblay at the University of Ottawa. My primary project will focus on using non-invasive brain stimulation and neuromodulation methods to investigate, and potentially prime, the neuroplastic effects of exercise on the Multiple Sclerosis brain. I endeavor to become a research leader at a major university in Canada. Among many hobbies, I like exercising, playing music, and motorcycling.

Maya El-Outa - Research Assistant

Maya joined the rTMS Neuromodulation Research Clinic as a research assitant in 2023. Before joining the team, she completed her Honour’s Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Mental Health, with a minor in Psychology, at Carleton University. During her undergraduate studies, Maya conducted her Honour’s thesis under the supervision of Dr. Michael Bodnar at the Royal.

Since graduation, Maya has accumulated valuable experience serving marginalized individuals with substance use disorders. Her primary focus now is administering rTMS treatments.

Dr. Aref Pariz - Postdoctoral Fellow

Aref completed his Ph.D. in Iran, his home country, at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, where supervised by Prof. Valizadeh. During his Ph.D., he studied information transfer and communication dynamics in the brain. After graduation, he moved to IFISC, Palma de Mallorca, Spain for a year as a researcher and continued his collaboration with Prof. Claudio Mirasso working on neuronal communication dynamics. In 2019, Aref attended Prof. Abdollahi’s lab in the chemistry department at IASBS as a postdoctoral researcher, excelling in the data analysis techniques developed in chemometrics. In 2021, he moved to Ottawa and started his second postdoctoral program at Dr. Lefebvre’s lab where he studied the effects of brain stimulation, specifically tACS on neural circuit connectivity and dynamics. Recently, In 2023, Aref joined Dr. Tremblay’s lab and will continue his study on the effect of TMS on brain function, connectivity, and plasticity.

Students

Alex Castro - PhD Student

Alex received her Honours B.A. with a specilization 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.

Beyond being born in Portugal, another surprising fact most people do not know about her is that she saw the Canadian Rocky Mountains from an unusual vantage point - by free-falling from 10,000 feet at a speed of 120 mph while skydiving in British Columbia.

Noémie Landry - PsyD Student

In 2017, I graduated from Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue with a Technique of Social Work. Passionate about the study of brain mechanisms and human behavior, I decided to pursue my academic career with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology at Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO).

In July 2020, during my last year of undergraduate studies, I got involved in the NEST lab. Thus, I had the chance to complete my honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Sara Tremblay. My project aimed to study the impact of the abrupt cessation and resumption of theta burst stimulation treatment (TBS), due to the pandemic, on the depressive symptoms of two patients with major depression.

With a growing interest in the field of neurosciences, I decided to pursue a PhD in clinical neuropsychology at UQO. My 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. In parallel to my studies, I’m working with a clinical population with Alzheimer disease. The areas of intervention and research that fascinate me are mental health and neurodegenerative diseases.

Manon Desforges - PsyD Student

I graduated from the University of Montreal with a B.Sc and a M.Sc in Psychology in co-direction with The Royal Institute of Mental Health, I am currently enrolled in a PsyD in Clinical Psychology at Université du Québec en Outaouais in collaboration with The Royal. It has been a great pleasure as well as valuable and rewarding experience to work with Dr. Sara Tremblay since January 2017, to get involved in the lab since its very beginning and to see it grow.

I take part in several projects. I am very happy to help train new lab members and assist with TMS-EEG data preprocessing. My research focuses on understanding the neuronal mechanisms of intermittent transcranial magnetic theta-burst stimulation of the prefrontal cortex and on optimizing its use as a stimulation tool applied to the treatment of major depressive disorder. I am passionate about neuropsychology and I plan to pursue both clinical and research practice. I truly believe that both of them are essential and I aim to help people struggling with major depressive disorder while offering them a better and shorter noninvasive treatment.

Marie-Claude Desjardins - PsyD Student

Marie-Claude recently joined the NEST Lab. A criminologist by training, she completed a second bachelor's degree in psychology at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) 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. She is particularly interested in understanding how the neural mechanisms involved in social cognition interact with the perceptual factors underlying the human visual system, and how this in turn influences behavior. She is currently fortunate to benefit from a master's scholarship from the Fonds de recherche en sciences naturelles et en technologie du Québec. Outside of her academic activities, she is an avid wilderness camper and road-tripper!

Alexandra Lemoyne - PsyD Student

Hello, my name is Alexandra. In December 2020, I completed my Bachelor's degree in Psychology at the University of Montreal. In September 2021, I started my PsyD in clinical neuropsychology, under the supervision of Dr. Tremblay at the Université du Québec en Outaouais in collaboration with The Royal. My 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. During my undergraduate degree, I also worked as a research assistant at the Douglas Hospital on a project on psychological pain and cognition in elderly depressed patients at risk for suicide. I am passionate about neuropsychology and my future career goal is to be a clinical neuropsychologist. A fun fact about me is that I play the piano in my spare time, and I really enjoy running.  

Christophe Carleton - PsyD Student

Christophe obtained his bachelor's degree in psychology from the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) 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. His current hobbies include chess and sport.

Volunteers

Annabelle Potvin - Honours BA in Psychology

Annabelle, fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa.

Emily Lepage - Honours BA in Psychology

Emily, fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa.

Eva-Maria Abi-Nader - BSc Biomedical Science

Eva-Maria Abi-Nader, undergraduate research scholar studying biomedical sciences at the University of Ottawa.

Nana Owusu - Honours BA in Biology

Nana, a fourth-year undergraduate student at Carleton University.

Emma Desjardins - Honours BSc in Psychology

Emma completed an Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Ottawa.

Aye Santos -

Rogelio Enrique Gutierrez-Sampson -

Ariane Lalonde - BSc Biomedical Science

Ariane, a first-year undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa.

Wesley Dunne -