NMD4C

Dr. Smith is currently leading multiple translational research projects in a wide variety of neuromuscular conditions at The Ottawa Hospital’s NeuroMuscular Centre to facilitate rare disease diagnosis, develop more effective monitoring of neuromuscular disease progression and treatment response.

“Occupational therapy is where science, creativity, and compassion collide”. This is a quote from Jessica Kensky, a survivor of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and keynote speaker at the 2016 American Occupational Therapy Association welcome ceremony. To me, this quote represents exactly what I love about my profession. Pursuing a PhD allows me to develop these three elements even further…

During my pediatric neurology residency training, I was able to dive into different subspecialties of neurology in great detail. I was drawn to the neuromuscular specialty by the significant ongoing advances in understanding the genetics of the neuromuscular disorders and the growing number of novel therapeutic options in the field…

I came to the neuromuscular disease field completely by chance in 2007 after seeing an advertisement for a research support job in the TREAT-NMD network coordination centre in Newcastle…

I was amazed by the idea that populations of tissue-resident cells maintain and repair the body throughout life, and how drastic the consequences of impaired stem cell-mediated regeneration can be to an individual. It made me consider that understanding stem cell biology could help towards the development of new therapies for incurable conditions, such as many neuromuscular disorders…

Growing up, I was not sure what career I wanted to pursue. As such, I chose a general psychology degree to focus on, and part way through discovered my passion for neurosciences…

I was born and raised in Lebanon. From a young age, I knew medicine was my dream career. Thankfully I reached this goal by obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery from the Beirut Arab University in 2011…

Back in 2011, my introduction to Neuromuscular Disorders (NMD) research happened by chance when I joined as a temporary research associate in a Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD) project under the supervision of Prof. Atchayaram Nalini, an accomplished neurologist and NMD specialist in South India..