Sandra Black

Dr. Black has had continual peer-reviewed funding since 1986. Her research focuses on the cognitive sequelae of stroke and stroke recovery, the differential diagnosis of dementia, the use of neuroimaging techniques to elucidate brain-behaviour relationships in stroke and dementia, and more recently, imaging-genetics correlations.

Her funding sources include the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, Brain Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, National Institutes of Aging and Weston Brain Institute.

She is conducting prospective studies on the utility of quantitative structural and functional imaging in diagnosis and monitoring of mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and Parkinson’s-Lewy body disease, and on the interactions of Alzheimer’s disease and cerebrovascular disease. She is also an active clinical trialist with experience in more than 60 clinical and pharmaceutical trials.

She is leading multicentre Canadian trials using amyloid imaging in patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease with moderate to severe white matter disease. In these trials, she is using ocular biomarkers, genetics, multimodal magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological testing. She is also concluding a repurposing trial of angiotensin receptor blockers versus angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors in hypertensive patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

As of March 2025, Dr. Black has over 675 publications, a Scopus H-index of 114, Google Scholar H-index of 148 and 94,967 citations. She is ranked 8th nationally and 298 in the world of the top 1000 female scientists by Research.com, a leading academic platform for researchers (2024). Over the last 30 years, she has led multidisciplinary research teams in studies of stroke and dementia. She has mentored many young faculty and trainees, including 50 postdoctoral fellows, 20 PhD students and 20 master’s students, earning outstanding mentorship awards from U of T’s Institute of Medical Sciences and department of medicine.

Her CIHR-funded multidisciplinary, multimodality longitudinal study of 1,279 patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias has investigated brain-behaviour relationships, particularly the role of small vessel disease, and the utility of neuroimaging for diagnosis and monitoring treatment response (including 170 patients followed to autopsy). This invaluable archive has generated and contributed to 191 peer-reviewed publications in high-quality journals with trainees as first authors on more than 70 of those. These include reports of novel gene mutations in frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body disease.

Education

• B.Sc. (Hons), 1969, biological and medical sciences, University of Toronto, Canada
• Diploma (MA Equivalent), 1970, history and philosophy of science, Oxford University, UK
• MD, 1978, medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
• Fellowship in cognitive neurology, 1984, Western University, Canada

Appointments and Affiliations

• Scientific Director, Dr. Sandra Black Centre For Brain Resilience and Recovery (2020 – )
• Associate Faculty (status only), Graduate Dept. of Psychological Clinical Science, UofT (2015 – )
• Executive Director, Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (2012 – 2020)
• Adjunct Scientist, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre, UofT (2012 – ), Senior Scientist (1999 – 2012), Associate Scientist (1990 – 1999)
• Professor, Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, UofT (cross-appointment) (2010 – )
• Adjunct Scientist, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (2008 – )
• Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program Research Director, Sunnybrook Research Institute (2006 – 01/ 2022)
• Recipient, Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize (2021)
• Deborah Ivy Cristiani Brill Chair in Neurology, Dept. of Medicine, UofT (2006 – 2017)
• Professor, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute (RSI), former GDRS, UofT (2003 – )
• Site Director and Co-founder, Heart and Stroke Foundation Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery (2002 – 2023)
• Officer, Order of Canada (2015)
• Appointed to Order of Ontario (2011)
• Medical Director, North & East GTA Regional Stroke Centre, Ontario Stroke System (2001 – 2012)
• Professor, Department of Medicine (Neurology), UofT (1999 – )
• Head, Division of Neurology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, UofT (1995 – 2006)
• Member, Neuroscience Program, University of Toronto (1994 – )
• Member, Institute of Medical Science, UofT (1991 – )
• Senior Scientist, Sunnybrook Program in Aging/Imaging (1990-2002), Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program (2002 – )
• Co-Director, Stroke Research Unit, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, UofT (1988 – 2009)
• Director, LC Campbell Cognitive Neurology Research Unit, Sunnybrook HSC, UofT (1986 – )
• Consultant Neurologist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (1985 – )