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Paul van Donkelaar, PhD
(He, Him, His)Professor
School of Health and Exercise Sciences
Office: ADM006KPhone: 250.863.3230
Email: paul.vandonkelaar@ubc.ca
Graduate student supervisor
Research Summary
Dr. van Donkelaar's research focuses on gaining a better understanding of traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to sports concussion or intimate partner violence.
Dr. van Donkelaar is currently not accepting any new graduate students.
Websites
Community Partner: Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research
Knowledge Translation Tool: CATT-Women’s Support Workers Module
YWCA PSA with Trevor Linden: My Concussion Story
Degrees
1987: B.P.E. – University of British Columbia
1990: M.P.E. – University of British Columbia
1994: Ph.D. – University of Calgary
Research Interests & Projects
The research taking place in my lab focuses on gaining a better understanding of traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to sports concussion or intimate partner violence. For this purpose, we measure cerebrovascular, neurocognitive, sensorimotor, and blood biomarker variables using a suite of state-of-the-art equipment.
For our research on intimate partner violence, we are using an integrated knowledge translation approach with the goal of co-designing and creating TBI-informed tools and resources for those working in a variety of sectors supporting survivors.
Current Lab Members:
- Dr. Shambhu Adhikari, Ph.D. – Post-doctoral fellow
- Bradi Lorenz – Ph.D. student
- Rory Marshall – Ph.D. student
- Tori Stranges – Ph.D. student
- Setareh Tehrani – Ph.D. student
Recent Lab Alumni:
- Dr. Colin Wallace, Post-doctoral fellow (2022) – (currently a Professor at Okanagan College)
- Naomi Maldonado-Rodriguez – M.Sc. (2021) (currently a Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia)
- Quinn Boyle – M.Sc. (2021) (currently a Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia)
- Liam Tapsell – M.Sc. (2021) (currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Western Australia)
- Dr. Jon Smirl – Post-doctoral fellow (2019) (currently an Assistant Professor at University of Calgary)
Selected Publications & Presentations
Peer-reviewed publications (last 5 years)
Nicol, B., Adhikari, S., Shwed, A., Ashton, S., Mriduraj, A., Mason, K., Gainforth, H., Babul, S., van Donkelaar, P. (2023) The Concussion Awareness Training Tool for Women’s Support Workers Improves Knowledge of Intimate Partner Violence-Caused Brain Injury. Inquiry, in press.
Adhikari, S.P., Maldonado-Rodriguez, N., Smiley, S.C., Lewis, C.D., Horst, M.D., Lai, C.W.J., Matthews, N.L., Mason, K., Varto, H., van Donkelaar, P. (2023) Characterizing possible acute brain injury in women experiencing intimate partner violence: A retrospective chart review. Violence Against Women, in press.
Adhikari, S.P., Maldonado-Rodriguez, N., Smirl, J.D., Boyle, Q., Mason, K., van Donkelaar, P. (2023) Cognitive-motor deficits and psychopathological comorbidities in intimate partner violence-related brain injury. In C. Martin, V.R. Preesy, V.B. Patel (Eds). Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence, 1-27.
Boyle, Q., Illes, J., Simonetto, D., van Donkelaar, P. (2022) Ethicolegal considerations of screening for brain injury in women who have experienced intimate partner violence. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 9.
Trotman, M., Kennefick, M., Coughlin, S., van Donkelaar, P., Dalton, B.H. (2022) The effect of increased cognitive processing on reactive balance control following perturbations to the upper limb. Experimental Brain Research, 240:1317-1329.
Smirl, J.D., Peacock, D., Burma, J., Wright, A.D., Bouliane, K.J., Dierijck, J., Kennefick, M., Wallace, C., van Donkelaar, P. (2022) An acute bout of controlled subconcussive impacts can alter dynamic cerebral autoregulation indices: A preliminary investigation. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 122: 1059-1070.
Boyle, Q., van Donkelaar, P., Illes, J. (2021) Methods in neuroethics. Encyclopedia of Behavioural Neuroscience, 2nd Ed. (Della Sala, S. (Ed)), pp. 240-245.
Maldonado-Rodriguez, N., Crocker, C.G.V., Taylor, E., Jones, K.E., Rothlander, K., Smirl, J., Wallace, C., van Donkelaar, P. (2021) Characterization of cognitive-motor function in women who have experienced intimate partner violence-related brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma, 38:2723-2730.
Nicol, B., van Donkelaar, P., Mason, K., Gainforth, H (2021) Using behavior change theory to understand how to support screening for traumatic brain injuries among women who have experienced intimate partner violence. Women’s Health Reports, 2: 305-315.
An acute bout of soccer heading subtly alters neurovascular coupling metrics, Frontiers in Neurology, doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00738.
Kennefick, M., McNeil, C.J., Burma, J.S., Copeland, P.V., van Donkelaar, P., Dalton, B.H. (2020) Modulation of vestibular-evoked responses prior to simple and complex arm movements. Experimental Brain Research, 238:869-881.
Dierijck, J.K., Kennefick, M., Smirl, J.D., Dalton, B.H., van Donkelaar, P. (2020) Attention is required to coordinate reaching and postural stability during upper limb movements generated while standing. Journal of Motor Behavior, 52, 79-88.
Smirl, J.D., Jones, K.E., Copeland, P., Khatra, O., Taylor, E., van Donkelaar, P. (2019) Characterizing symptoms of traumatic brain injury in survivors of intimate partner violence. Brain Injury, 33:1529-1538.
Fraser, S., Wright, A.D., van Donkelaar, P., Smirl, J.D. (2019) Cross-sectional comparison of spiral versus block integrated curriculums in preparing medical students to diagnose and manage concussions. BMC Medical Education, doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1439-0.
Kennefick, M., Burma, J.S., van Donkelaar, P., McNeil, C.J. (2019a) Corticospinal excitability is enhanced while preparing for complex movements. Experimental Brain Research, 237, 829-837.
Kennefick, M. Burma, J.S., van Donkelaar, P., McNeil, C.J. (2019b) The time course of motorneuronal excitability during the prepartion of complex movements. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31, 781-790.
Lo, O.Y., van Donkelaar, P., Chou, L.-S. (2019) Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation over the right posterior parietal cortex on attention function in healthy young adults. European Journal of Neuroscience, 49:1623-1631.
Selected Grants & Awards
Health Innovation Funding Investment (UBC Health)
Title: Virtual Reality training tool to facilitate police investigations of head injury and strangulation in intimate partner violence cases
Amount: $25,000
Period: 2022-2023
Principal Investigators: Babul, S., van Donkelaar, P.
Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health Kickstart Grant
Title: Characterizing tau pathology in survivors of intimate partner violence-related traumatic brain injury
Amount: $30,000
Period: 2020-2023
Principal Investigator: van Donkelaar, P.
CIHR Project Grant
Title: Using Cerebrovascular Biomarkers to Characterize Traumatic Brain Injury associated with Intimate Partner Violence
Amount: $252,450
Period: 2020-2023
Principal Investigator: van Donkelaar, P.
Anonymous Donor
Title: Changing the Conversation: Integrating Traumatic Brain Injury Knowledge into Community-Based Supports
Amount: $500,000
Period: 2019-2022
Principal Investigator: van Donkelaar, P.
Department of Women and Gender Equality
Title: Generating and Translating Knowledge on Intimate Partner Violence and Traumatic Brain Injury
Amount: $1,000,000
Period: 2019-2024
Principal Investigator: van Donkelaar, P.
Media
Recent Media Coverage:
‘This Isn’t My Story’. CTV News Vancouver, May 2023
Brain Injury from Abuse Puts Women at Risk in Court. The Tyee, February 2023.
Brain Injury in Intimate Partner Violence. BBC Radio Women’s Hour, February 2023.
How Does Intimate Partner Violence Affect Women’s Brains. Globe & Mail, December 2022.
Domestic Violence Causes Concussion. Vancouver Sun, October 2022.