Routine MRI is normal in motor neuron diseases such as ALS. However, advanced MRI techniques can provide an objective measure of degeneration (a "biomarker") by examining brain structure, wiring, chemistry, and function. We will develop and evaluate novel MRI techniques that could improve our understanding of ALS and provide a means to diagnose it sooner and monitor its progression. Importantly, we expect these techniques to improve how new drugs are tested, which may lead to the more rapid discovery of a treatment for ALS. Each participant will have 3 MRI scans over a period of 8 months, along with neurological and cognitive evaluations. Study visits will take 2 - 3 hours. MRI is a safe technique that does not involve radiation.

Open-heart surgery requires temporarily stopping the heart and lungs and diverting the patient's blood to an outside system that takes over the function of the heart and lungs. This is possible through the use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) which diverts blood, through plastic tubing, to a heart-lung machine which includes an oxygenator. The external oxygenator works as an artificial lung. This allows cardiac surgeons to operate in a field that is free of blood, while the patient's body continues to receive healthy blood. CPB is an advanced medical technology that allows for heart surgeries, such as coronary artery bypass, heart valve surgery, and procedures involving major blood vessels. It is recognized that there are many risks associated with its use, including microscopic stress exerted on blood components by the oxygenator and tubing, which can lead to irreversible damage to the blood cells. This effect can contribute to bleeding during and after surgery. This type of bleeding can be difficult to monitor and treat, especially given the limited access to point-of-care blood testing to inform clinicians on what part of the blood is failing to function properly. The investigators will use a point-of-care machine called Plateletworks to test the function of platelets during surgeries which require CPB. Platelets are an important part of blood that help stop bleeding by forming clots. At the investigators' institution two oxygenators are currently used interchangeably. These oxygenators have different properties that may impact how platelets function. This project will help determine if using a higher pressure oxygenator increases the risk of patients bleeding. Additionally, the investigators will compare the platelet data from Plateletworks to data collected from rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM). This will yield valuable data about commonly used oxygenators and tests which can ultimately improve patient care.

Male and female subjects age 18-85 with lung disease will inhale 5ml/kg (patient body weight) hyperpolarized helium and will be scanned using MRI at 3 Tesla, to evaluate the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC), ventilation defect volume and percent ventilation.

Development of a central repository for PD-related genomic data for future research.

The primary objective of this study is to assess the feasibility of randomizing breast cancer patients to quantitative ultrasound to guide adaptive Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy as compared to standard clinical monitoring and therapy. The Investigators have previously demonstrated that high-frequency ultrasound and spectroscopy, and recently conventional-frequency ultrasound and spectroscopy may be used to detect cell death in vitro, in situ and in vivo. The method can detect different forms of cell death and has been demonstrated to be sensitive to apoptotic, necrotic and mitotic cell death. By detecting cell death early in a treatment on the order of hours to days, rather than traditional anatomical assessments that take place weeks to months after the completion of therapy, ineffective therapies could be switched to more efficacious treatments or aggressive salvage therapy which has shown to already benefit patients. The overarching goal of this research is to transform the delivery of neoadjuvant chemotherapy using quantitative ultrasound (QUS), which is non-invasive, inexpensive and portable.

The purpose of this study is to compare the two approaches for monitoring pancreatic cysts. The study doctors want to compare more frequent monitoring vs less frequent monitoring in order to learn which monitoring method leads to better outcome for patients with pancreatic cysts.

The objective of this study is to determine if an opioid-free general anesthetic (OFA) technique utilizing lidocaine, ketamine, dexmedetomidine and magnesium reduce postoperative opioid consumption and speed return of bowel function in patients undergoing elective, laparoscopic, colorectal surgery compared to traditional opioid-containing general anesthetic techniques. It is hypothesized that this intraoperative OFA regimen will reduce postoperative opioid consumption, and expedite return of bowel function in this population.

The main goals of this project are to support the research training of undergraduate medical students at the University de Sherbrooke and promote planning of health services a better knowledge of the prevalence, social, and geographic distribution of public health issues in several regions in Quebec. To meet the objectives of the project, a population-based prospective study linked to several regions in Quebec public health surveys is proposed. Monitoring and data collection will be provided by 3rd year undergraduate medical students at University de Sherbrooke through telephone interviews. The research themes will be proposed by various researchers affiliated with the University de Sherbrooke. They will be selected yearly by an internal scientific committee and included in the questionnaires administered by the students.

Double blind double dummy of Intravenous Acetaminophen and oral acetaminophen placebo versus IV placebo versus oral acetaminophen in patients following cardiac surgery. The primary endpoint is development of Delirium during the post-operative stay.

This will be a prospective, double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial. There will be two arms of treatment: intervention and control group. Preoperatively patients will be allocated at random to receive ultrasound guided bilateral ESP block either with the local anesthetic (intervention group) normal saline (control group). The aim of this study is to examine the effect of ESP block to increase the Quality of Recovery (measured via QoR-15 total score) and decrease opioid consumption.