Benjamin Tari

I was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  I attended the University of Toronto (2014-2018) where I studied neuroscience, psychology and physiology; I graduated with distinction.  I moved to the University of Western Ontario in 2018 to pursue a Master’s degree under the supervision of Dr. Matthew Heath.  I was fast-tracked into the PhD program in 2019.  My doctoral dissertation focussed on the mechanisms which underpin the magnitude and persistence of a postexercise benefit to executive function, particularly the effects of changes to cerebral blood flow.  As well, Dr. Heath and I developed an at-home assessment of executive function which provides a means to assess overall brain health in traditionally difficult to reach and/or underrepresented populations.  My work was supported by a postgraduate scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and a short-term grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).  I completed my PhD in 2022.

Currently, I am a postdoctoral research analyst with Dementias Platform UK (DPUK) supervised by Dr. Vanessa Raymont.  DPUK is a partnership aimed at progressing dementia research via collaboration between universities, charities, and pharmaceutical and technology companies.  My role is primarily with the Trials Delivery Framework where we aim to establish a new means for testing dementia treatments by matching the right volunteers to the right early-phase trials.

My current research interests include the effects of built environment and socioeconomic status on mental health and lifestyle factors which influence the onset of dementia.  I am also interested in the effects of physical activity and acute and chronic sport-related brain injury, its interaction with cognitive status and its potential as a modifiable risk factor for the onset of dementia.