Page 6 - Brain Project 2016 Commemorative Catalogue

ABOUT BAYCREST

B aycrest Health Sciences is a global leader a community centre; day programs for seniors

in geriatric residential living, healthcare,
living suites and independent living apartments.
research, innovation and education, with a with frailty or cognitive impairment; and assisted
special focus on brain health and aging. The Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest,
Established in 1918 as the Toronto Jewish launched in 1989, was ranked by an international
Old Folks Home, Baycrest began to expand in panel of leading experts as one of the highest
the 1950s on a 23-acre site in north Toronto and impact cognitive neurosciences programs in the
evolved to become a multi-faceted academic world in the area of human memory and aging.
health sciences centre fully affiliated with the The first research to show that bilingualism delays
University of Toronto. It is also the home base of the onset of dementia was done at Baycrest. The
the new Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain hundreds of studies currently underway include
Health Innovation. longitudinal research on the brain health of
Funds raised by The Brain Project support former professional hockey players.
the work of Baycrest, which sees unprecedented Baycrest is co-leader of The Virtual Brain, an
opportunities to dramatically redefine the international project spanning three continents.
potential for personal engagement, activity and The integrated computer model of a fully
fulfillment in later life. functioning human brain simulates how the brain
Baycrest has received an “exemplary status” is functioning under normal conditions, and then
designation from Accreditation Canada as one of shows how it changes with age and responds
the highest performing healthcare organizations to damage from trauma or disease. It will allow
in the nation in the delivery of patient care, safety scientists – in the not-too-distant future – to
and corporate operations. virtually test therapies on unique patient groups
The campus includes a hospital where older before introducing those therapies to the patient.
adults with complex medical conditions receive Baycrest is also an educational leader in
continuing care or rehabilitation; a 472-bed long- best practices in geriatric care, training 1,300+
term care home; outpatient clinics for memory, professionals a year and routinely hosting
mood disorders, hearing, multiple sclerosis, educational seminars and medical rounds that are
Parkinson’s disease and other health concerns; linked to dozens of other sites around the globe.

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