Soheila Karimi, PhD

Professor, Dept. of Physiology and Pathophysiology
Founding Director, Manitoba Multiple Sclerosis Research Center                                        
Max Rady College of Medicine
Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Manitoba

Soheila.Karimi@umanitoba.ca

Follow us on Twitter at @KarimiLab

Current Appointments:

        Within the University of Manitoba

• Professor: Dept. of Physiology & Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, 2020-present
• Director: Manitoba Multiple Sclerosis Research Center      
  
• Chair: Departmental Award and Recognition Committee, 2020-present
  
• Principal Investigator: Spinal Cord Research Center, University of Manitoba, 2010-present
• Scientist: Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, 2010-present

• Secretary, the International Neurotrauma Society (INTS)
  
• Secretary-Elect and Board of Directors: Canadian Association for Neuroscience (CAN)
  
• Member: Scientific Advisory Board of the International Neurotrauma Society (INTS)
• Member: Executive Committee of International Women in Multiple Sclerosis (iWiMS)
• Member: Scientific Program Committee, the Canadian Association for Neuroscience (CAN)
  
• Member: College of Reviewers, Canadian Institute of Health Research
• Associate Editor: Frontiers in Neurology (Neurotrauma Section)
• Editorial Board: Journal of Neurotrauma
  

      Past Appointments and Training:

• Associate Professor: Dept. of Physiology & Pathophysiology, Regenerative Medicine Program, University of Manitoba, 2016-2020
• Assistant Professor: Dept. of Physiology & Pathophysiology, Regenerative Medicine Program, University of Manitoba, 2010-2016
• Adjunct Assistant Professor: Dept. of Surgery, Division of Anatomy, University of Toronto, 2007-2009
• Staff Neuroscientist, Toronto Western Research Institute, University Health Network, 2006-2009
• Postdoctoral Fellow (Spinal Cord Injury and Stem Cell Therapy), Toronto Western Research Institute, University of Toronto, Canada, 2001-2006
• PhD (Neurosciences/Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology), University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 1997-2001
• Faculty Instructor, Department of Pathology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 1991-1996
  
• MSc (Human Histology, Dept. of Human Anatomy), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 1990-1991
• BSc (Biological Sciences, Zoology, Dept. of Biology), Shiraz University, Iran, 1985-1989

      Areas of research interests:

• Neural repair and regeneration
• Spinal cord injury and Multiple sclerosis
  
• Regenerative Medicine
• Neural stem cell biology and mechanisms
  
• Oligodendrocytes differentiation and myelin repair
  
• Preclinical stem cell and pharmacological therapies in spinal cord injury
• Transgenic models for studying neural stem cells in spinal cord injury and MS
  
• Reactive astrogliosis and matrix remodeling
  
• Neuroinflammation and immune modulation
  
• Mechanisms of spinal cord gliogenesis
• Improving neural plasticity and neurological recovery
  
• Neuroanatomical and imaging techniques
• Genetic approaches in neural systems
• Bioengineered drug delivery systems for CNS therapeutics
  

  Soheila Karimi's Academic Background:

Dr. Karimi received her PhD degree in Neuroscience from the University of Saskatchewan in 2001. She then undertook a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury and Stem Cell Research at the Toronto Western Research Institute. During her graduate and postdoctoral training, Dr. Karimi received a number of research awards including postdoctoral fellowships from the CIHR, the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. In 2006, she was the recipient of the prestigious Synthes Award from The American Association of Neurological Surgeons in USA for her work on spinal cord injury and neural stem cell therapy.
In 2007, Dr. Karimi joined the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto as an adjunct Assistant Professor until 2009 when she moved to the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Karimi has had a long term interest in spinal cord repair and regeneration with a special focus on development of pharmacological and stem cell therapies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis. Her laboratory is physically located within the art Regenerative Medicine Program at the University of Manitoba. Karimi's program is affiliated with the Neuroscience and Spinal Cord Injury Division of the Department of Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Karimi's research has been consistently funded by national (CIHR, MS Society, NSERC, CFI), international (Craig Neilsen Fnd, Wings for Life and Christopher and Dana Reeve Fnd) and Provincial and Institutional grants (Research Manitoba, Canadian Paraplegic Association, CHRIM, HSC Fnd, MMSF, URGP, Thorlakson Fnd). In addition to her research,Dr. Karimi has been also been actively involved in national and international collaborations and leadership programs to serve the neuroscience community. She currently serves in the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience (CAN), Secretary of the International Neurotrauma Society (INTS) and the Executive Committee of the International Women in Multiple Sclerosis (iWiMS), in addition to serving in several grant peer-review committees. She has organized and chaired high-profile local, national and international symposiums. She serves as associate editor for respected journals in the neuroscience field and has performed peer-review for over 30 scientific journals. Dr. Karimi has participated in national and international mentorship programs including the endMS Scholar Program for Researchers In Training (SPRINT), iWiMS mentorship program and MITACS Global Internship program, in which she has provided advice and mentorship on career development of trainees. She is involved in outreach, fundraising and public events in Manitoba and Canada, by working with local and national programs such as events organized by the MS Society of Canada.Soheila's contributions and leadership in science has been recognized as she was named among the Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2020.