Mark Cembrowski
Principal Investigator
In 2019, Mark started as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at the University of British Columbia and an Investigator with the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, and was promoted to Associate Professor (with tenure) in 2024. His research interests are in applying technological, computational, and mathematical approaches to understand healthy brain function, especially learning and memory, as well as brain changes that emerge in disorder and disease. He has received a variety of recognitions for his research, including being named a Next Generation Leader by the Allen Institute, a Future Leader of Canadian Brain Research by the Brain Canada Foundation, a Scholar with Michael Smith Health Research British Columbia, an Alzheimer’s Young Investigator by the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada, the Krieg Cortical Scholar in the 2020 worldwide competition, and he was the recipient of the 2025 Canadian Association for Neuroscience New Investigator Award.
Jeffrey LeDue
NINC Managing Director
Jeff manages the NeuroImaging and NeuroComputation Core (NINC) which is the DMCBH’s core facility focused on advanced preclinical imaging and microscopy as well as computation and data analysis. Additionally, he coordinates the Dynamic Brain Circuits and Connections in Health and Disease research cluster which brings together diverse scientists and accelerates their insights into brain circuit function by creating a stronger, more equitable and inclusive research environment: access for all to infrastructure, technology and training that embraces modern data-driven methodologies.
Jeff holds a BSc (Hon) in Physics and did his graduate work on optical instrumentation at the University of Victoria and National Research Council Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre. Prior to UBC, Jeff worked as the Vision Science Imaging Specialist at UC Berkeley’s Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and School of Optometry.
Mehwish Anwer
Faculty Scientific Advisory Board Member, External
Mehwish Anwer is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (DMCBH) at the University of British Columbia (and an incoming faculty at University of Lethbridge, Fall 2026). Her postdoctoral research focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and how these changes may contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. She applies a range of advanced techniques including tissue clearing, light sheet microscopy, and spatial transcriptomics to investigate how injury impacts brain structure and function over time. Mehwish completed her PhD at the University of Eastern Finland as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow. She has received multiple honours and fellowships throughout her academic career and is actively involved in promoting collaboration in scientific research.
Naomi Futhey
MD/PhD Student
Naomi (“Catie”) Futhey is an MD/PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia, co-supervised by Dr. Mark Cembrowski and Dr. Veronica Hirsch-Reinshagen. Her doctoral research explores how vascular, inflammatory, and hormonal factors contribute to cognitive decline in chronic brain disorders such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease. Using spatial proteomics in human postmortem brain tissue, she maps molecular and pathological disease signatures onto clinical symptoms.
Catie holds a BSc in Neuroscience from McGill University and has presented her research at national and international conferences. Outside the lab, she is an advocate for physician-scientist trainees and for advancements in women’s brain and heart health.