Did you know that some of the world’s deadliest diseases have their roots in the dialogue between the brain and the body? Dr. Dana Small, a renowned scientist and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Metabolism and the Brain, is getting to the root of the world’s biggest killers by studying the brain-gut connection. Her pioneering work is globally sought after, but she has big plans for the McGill University Health Centre and its research institute (RI-MUHC). Supported by the MUHC Foundation, Dr. Small is launching the Brain and Metabolism initiative at the RI-MUHC, transforming it into a world-class centre where scientists will be able to solve the world’s most challenging medical mysteries.

“What’s exciting about Dr. Small’s research is that it has the potential to entirely reshape how we think about health.”

“This area of research has the capacity to unlock a myriad of secrets about the world’s most debilitating diseases, and will ultimately lead to reduced rates of dementia, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Our goal is to fight all these killers at once,” says Dr. Small.

In Canada, obesity is the leading cause of diabetes and heart disease, and a strong risk factor for depression, certain cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, and all-cause mortality.  Recent advancements have shifted the focus from obesity as purely metabolic to understanding its roots in the brain, and specifically in the connection between the brain and metabolism, or the brain-gut interaction. According to Dr. Small, understanding this link is critical to solving not just obesity, but a wide range of debilitating diseases ranging from Alzheimer’s and cancer to heart disease.

The impact of Dr. Small’s Brain and Metabolism initiative will be felt far and wide. She aims to bring together experts across various fields to delve into the intricate connections between brain activity and metabolic disorders, aiming to reduce disease rates and even inform national food policies. These brain-gut interactions hold promise for improving public health outcomes and shaping a healthier food environment in Canada, and the MUHC Foundation is proud to support an initiative that will have such a wide-spread positive impact.

What’s exciting about Dr. Small’s research is that it has the potential to entirely reshape how we think about health. Her research is multi-pronged and will touch on multiple departments at the hospital, advancing critical knowledge that can lead to lifesaving treatments. The MUHC is known for its transdisciplinary, collaborative approach to health care, and Dr. Small will bring this to an entirely new level.

“This initiative—being at the intersection of two fields—pushes us to completely reimagine the way we think of disease and its causes. And we get to build the science at the RI-MUHC and bring it directly to patients in need, because of its unique proximity to the MUHC hospital,” shares Dr. Small.

Dr. Small is trained as a neuroscientist and clinical neuropsychologist. This background has given her unique insight into the impact of an unhealthy diet and metabolic dysfunction on brain health and cognition. She is also interested in understanding the role of the brain-body dialogue in determining food choice and in understanding the impact of the modern food environment on these functions.

“When we think about food reward, we often focus on pleasure—the taste, the smell, the flavour, and the appearance of our food.  But food reward is an ancient mechanism that originated in organisms with minimal or no consciousness and rudimentary brains—it fundamentally relies on sensing the physiological benefits of eating, and this is rooted in the body” explains Dr. Small.

For example, when an organism consumes glucose, it may enjoy the taste if it has the sensory capability, but more importantly, the glucose is absorbed in the gut and used as fuel by the cells—generating a signal indicating the energy is being used. In fact, it is this signal that is essential for associating the consumption of glucose with brain reward circuits, including dopamine—the ‘feel-good’ chemical—in the brain.

“Another way to think about this is that food is not rewarding because it tastes good, it tastes good because it is rewarding”

Therefore, whereas we once thought food reward was determined by the experienced pleasure of consuming foods, we now know that the critical rewarding signals are generated when those foods are digested. It is these unconscious body-based signals that drive brain reward circuits so that the value of foods, and our preferences for them, can be learned. Another way to think about this is that food is not rewarding because it tastes good, it tastes good because it is rewarding. This new insight reaffirms what Dr. Small aims to explore further: the brain and metabolism are interconnected and contribute to behaviours such as overeating.

“Dr. Small is laying the groundwork to transform the RI-MUHC into a thriving ecosystem of transdisciplinary knowledge and a hub for neurometabolic research.”

We are at the forefront of this exciting field, and this is just one example of the many transformative insights that the Brain and Metabolism Initiative will uncover about the brain-body connection. Dr. Small is laying the groundwork to transform the RI-MUHC into a thriving ecosystem of transdisciplinary knowledge and a hub for neurometabolic research. An added benefit is that it will attract world-class talent to Montreal, establishing our city as a centre for sophisticated and innovative health care research.

“This is exactly the type of innovation that the MUHC Foundation is eager to fund. Dr. Small is going right to the root of the world’s biggest killers, and we’re thrilled that the RI-MUHC and the hospital get to benefit from her extensive knowledge and future discoveries. We know the impact will be huge,” shares Marie-Hélène Laramée, President and CEO of the MUHC Foundation

You can help support Dr. Small as she goes straight to the source of the world’s leading killers. Visit our website to learn more, and donate: https://muhcfoundation.com/works/gut-brain-connection-unlocking-the-link-behind-common-illnesses

The MUHC Foundation is accredited by Imagine Canada for excellence in non-profit accountability, transparency and governance.  https://muhcfoundation.com