Skip to main content

Episode 1: Senses Episode 2: Loneliness Episode 3: Cognitive Engagement Episode 4: Exercise Episode 5: Nutrition Episode 6: Brain-Health Resolution Episode 7: Air Pollution Episode 8: SleepEpisode 9: Keep it SimpleEpisode 10: StressEpisode 11: Caregiving Episode 12: DNAEpisode 13: Mind the Gap Episode 14: Stick it to Stigma

Defy Dementia – The podcast for anyone with a brain, by Baycrest

Defy Dementia is an empowering new podcast by Baycrest that is dedicated to helping you reduce your dementia risk. Join us on a captivating exploration of key dementia risk factors as we interview experts, hear inspiring stories from persons with lived experience, and share practical advice to help you optimize your aging journey. Tune in and subscribe at defydementia.org or anywhere you get your podcasts, and unlock the power to age fearlessly and defy dementia.

Each episode will be complemented by a short video, infographic, and related resources to help you take control of your brain health.

Defy Dementia is hosted by Jay Ingram (Canadian author and broadcaster) and Dr. Allison Sekuler (President and Chief Scientist, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation). This program is generously supported by the Slaight Family Foundation.

The first season of the program was generously funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Learn more about our hosts

Jay Ingram

Jay Ingram has more than 40 years of experience as an author, broadcaster, and science communicator. He was co-host of Discovery Channel's science show, Daily Planet, for 16 years, and was instrumental in helping shape the program format. He also hosted CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks for 12 years, earning him two ACTRA Awards, and had a weekly science column in the Toronto Star for 12 years. He has written 20 books. In 1984, Jay was awarded the Sandford Fleming Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute for his efforts to popularize science, and he also earned the Royal Society of Canada’s McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science in 1997. In 2000, Jay was awarded a Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. He is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and in 2009 he was named to The Order of Canada. In addition, he is the 2015 recipient of the Walter C. Alvarez award for medical writing given by the American Medical Writers Association.

Dr. Allison Sekuler

Dr. Allison Sekuler (FSEP, FPsyS, FAPS) is the Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute, the President and Chief Scientist at the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education and at the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). A graduate of Pomona College (BA, Mathematics and Psychology) and the University of California, Berkeley (PhD, Psychology), Dr. Sekuler holds faculty positions in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University. Her foundational research uses behavioural and neuroimaging approaches to understand perception, cognition, and the brain; and her clinical and translational research aims to develop methods to prevent, detect, and treat age-related sensory and cognitive decline. Dr. Sekuler has won numerous national and international awards for research, teaching, and leadership – including serving as the country’s first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and recently being named one of WXN's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada (2019).

 

The Defy Dementia team:
Dr. Meaghan Adams
Dr. Rosanne Aleong
Sophie Boisvert-Hearn
Dr. Faith Boutcher
Dustin Canter
Monique Cheng
Dr. Sylvain Dubroqua
John Guarenas
Jimmy Hew-Sang
Alexandra Ho
Jay Ingram
Kimberly Krezonoski
Natalie Leventhal
Kataryna Nemethy
Suzanne Pede
Shusmita Rashid
Ben Schaub
Dr. Allison Sekuler
Dr. Adriana Shnall
Kimberly Taylor
Kevin Tran
 
Cover art:
Tilby and Forbis
 
Music:
Steve Dodd
 
Translation:
Soludoc



Back to Podcast Homepage