by Kyla Trkulja & Iciar Iturmendi Sabater

To illuminate the long nights of a Toronto winter, this issue of the IMS Magazine shines a light over a topic that also tends to lay in the shadows of medical science research: non-traditional approaches to medicine.

In this issue, we highlight the research conducted by Dr. Rosenblat, Dr. Husain, Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Lin. They investigate the potential of alternative psychotherapeutic approaches involving cardio-vascular exercise, nitrous-oxide, anti-inflammatory drugs, ketamine, psilocybin, and nabilone administration to improve mood disorder symptomatology across psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, autism, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The Viewpoints in this issue continue the discussion on the psychotherapeutic potential of psychedelics as well as mindfulness, reflect about placebo effects, and provide a critique on the scientific publication process.

For the first time, we include a commentary on a TV show, Painkiller, and we highlight specific contributions made by women to science in the Diversity in Science piece. Last but not least, one of our writers tells us about their trip to Lille to attend the 16th International Mesothelioma Interest Group annual meeting.

We thank the returning members of the IMS Magazine team, and are especially grateful to all new student writers, copy-editors, and designers who joined our team in September. We hope that this issue will provide you with a warm and interesting read during the dark hours of winter.

Kyla Trkulja

Kyla is a PhD student studying the mechanism of action of novel therapies for lymphoma under the supervision of Dr. Armand Keating, Dr. John Kuruvilla, and Dr. Rob Laister. 

Twitter: @kylatrkulja_

Iciar Iturmendi Sabater

Iciar is a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai and Dr.Hsiang-Yuan Lin. She investigates social adaptive behaviors in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Twitter: @iciar_itur