EVENT DATE: January 14, 2010
TOPIC: Music and Memory: What Can Dementia Teach Us about the Brain?

Dr. Duffin is an award winning scholar and educator.  She is a medical historian and haematologist, and she is a great speaker.  She was one of the Top 10 lecturers in the 2008 TVO Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition.

She has made significant contributions to the field of history of medicine, and is the author of five books and editor of several others.  Her research interests include 19th century French and Canadian medicine, medical illustrations, and medical saints. 

In 2005, she co-authored, with Dr Lola Cuddy, professor emeritus of psychology at Queen’s, a prize-winning study of a woman with severe Alzheimer’s disease who showed surprising musical memory.  They researched the question: is music recognition spared in dementia, and how can it be assessed?  The results are both uplifting and fascinating.