
Principal Investigator
B.Sc. [Microbiology] (University of Alberta), Ph.D. [Microbiology] (University of British Columbia)
Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia
Research Interests
Aging; lipid metabolism; Neurodegeneration; neuroscience; pathologyDr. Wellington’s major research interests are on both genetic and environmental factors that modulate risk for Alzheimer Disease (AD), the most common dementia. An increasingly recognized environment risk factor for dementia includes a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Current projects include understanding how injury severity, number of injuries, and age at injury all affect dementia risk, and understanding how the neuropathology and clinical presentation of TBI-related syndromes overlap with classical dementias. Over two million TBIs occur annually in North America, with rapidly increasing public concern over the long-term effects of concussion on brain health during development and aging. Existing animal models of TBI, however, fail to replicate the mechanics of most real-life human TBIs, which are caused by sharp, angular and/or linear accelerations or decelerations of a freely moving intact head.

Photo courtesy of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
Working with biomechanical engineers at ICORD, Dr. Wellington and her colleagues have developed a transformative new model of rodent closed head TBI, called CHIMERA (Closed Head Injury Model of Engineered Rotational Acceleration) that was specifically designed to overcome the caveats that limit the translational relevance of existing TBI models. CHIMERA’s innovation lies in its ability to generate, in a biomechanically controlled and reproducible manner, a wide range of TBI severity with completely free head movement, where head motion analyses are integrated with behavioral and neuropathological outcomes.
Current Lab Members
Research Associates | Research Staff |
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Sophie Stukas | Anna Wilkinson |
Tara Caffrey | Tara Caffrey |
Jianjia Fan | Andrew Agbay |
Trainee Awards
Year | Name | Award |
2019 | Elyn Rowe |
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2019 | Emily Button |
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2019 | Pantea Azadpour |
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2016 | Iva Kulic |
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2016 | Jerome Robert |
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2016 | Emily Button |
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2016 | Asma Bashir |
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Recent publications
- Iadecola, C et al.. 2023. The Neurovasculome: Key Roles in Brain Health and Cognitive Impairment: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.. Stroke. doi: 10.1161/STR.0000000000000431.
- Tabor, JB et al.. 2023. Characterizing Factors Influencing Baseline Plasma Biomarkers for Sport-Related Concussion in Adolescents.. J Neurotrauma. doi: 10.1089/neu.2022.0501.
- Stukas, S et al.. 2023. Association of CSF and Serum Neurofilament Light and Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein, Injury Severity, and Outcome in Spinal Cord Injury.. Neurology. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000206744.
- Messing, M et al.. 2022. Prognostic peripheral blood biomarkers at ICU admission predict COVID-19 clinical outcomes.. Front Immunol. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1010216.
- Cameron, TC et al.. 2022. PDMS Organ-On-Chip Design and Fabrication: Strategies for Improving Fluidic Integration and Chip Robustness of Rapidly Prototyped Microfluidic In Vitro Models.. Micromachines (Basel). doi: 10.3390/mi13101573.