Angela Jane Roskams is a

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

(UBC) with a joint appointment in Neurosurgery at the University of Washington. She is

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the Centre for Brain Health at UBC, and directed the laboratory of

neural regeneration Neuroregeneration is the regrowth or repair of nervous tissues, cells or cell products. Neuroregenerative mechanisms may include generation of new neurons, glia, axons, myelin, or synapses. Neuroregeneration differs between the peripheral nervous ...

and brain repair, before winding down her lab in 2015–16 to become Executive Director of the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and a leader in the Open Science movement. After leading Strategy and Alliances for the Allen institute's multiple branches, she has become an influencer in the fields of neuroinformatics, public-private partnerships, and Open Data Sharing. Roskams completed fellowships in neuropathology and neuroscience at

Johns Hopkins Medical School The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1893 following the construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the ...

, where she began research to analyze the mechanisms that drive successful regeneration in the

olfactory system The olfactory system, is the sensory nervous system, sensory system used for the sense of smell (olfaction). Olfaction is one of the special senses directly associated with specific organs. Most mammals and reptiles have a main olfactory system ...

and underscore the early loss of brain function in

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. This led her to research examining the interplay between genetics and the environment in shaping how cells in the nervous system develop and adapt across the lifespan, and test for key differences in mouse brain circuits. Roskams currently directs analytics and training initiatives for the Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform (CONP), and is co-developer and co-PI of Mozak - an NIH funded online citizen science game-based approach to brain big data analytics. Her research is directed at best practices in large-scale data sharing, and the cross-testing of brain analytics platforms. She is leading the development of an online Global Training Space in brain data science in her work with the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF), based at the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. In addition to her work with the INCF, she is also an advisor to BrainMind and the XPrize, and a founding co-director of a digital health data company, Level42.ai.

Early life and education

Roskams was born and raised on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. On July 5, 2017, her achievements in Science, and developing and promoting programs to enhance diversity in Science were recognized in the annual Tynwald Day Ceremony, by the Isle of Man Government. She attended the University College of Swansea, from which she graduated with a first class honours degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

. A graduate scholarship took her to the United States to study

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

for her master's studies. Local reporting resulted in her being awarded a

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

for science journalism. She completed her

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

in 1991. She completed postdoctoral training fellowships in neuroscience and

neuropathology Neuropathology is the study of disease of nervous system tissue, usually in the form of either small surgical biopsies or whole-body autopsies. Neuropathologists usually work in a department of anatomic pathology, but work closely with the clini ...

at the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

and

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a Private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1893 following the construction of the Johns Ho ...

, before taking up a professorial position at the

. In addition to her appointments in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

(Faculty of Science) and

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

(Faculty of Medicine), Roskams is also a professor in the Dept of Neurosurgery at the University of Washington. Roskams also served as an associate dean.

Research

Currently a recognized leader in Brain Big Data and Open Data sharing, Roskams previously made significant contributions to the field of

regeneration Regeneration may refer to: Science and technology * Regeneration (biology), the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs and limbs * Regeneration (ecology), the ability of ecosystems to regenerate biomass, using photosynthesis ...

and epigenetics, focusing on how cells interact during brain development. She researched how

neural stem cells Neural stem cells (NSCs) are self-renewing, multipotent cells that firstly generate the radial glial progenitor cells that generate the neurons and glia of the nervous system of all animals during embryonic development. Some neural progenitor ste ...

and specialized

glia Glia, also called glial cells (gliocytes) or neuroglia, are non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord) and in the peripheral nervous system that do not produce electrical impulses. The neuroglia make up ...

in the brain can aid in promoting nervous system development and repair. In 2008, she collaborated with the

Allen Institute for Brain Science The Allen Institute for Brain Science is a division of the Allen Institute, based in Seattle, Washington, that focuses on bioscience research. Founded in 2003, it is dedicated to accelerating the understanding of how the human brain works. Wit ...

to bring together a group of experts to produce an annotated gene expression map of the spinal cord, which is now freely used by researchers across the world as a genetic map for discovery. Between 1999 and 2014, the Roskams Lab received more than $1.7 million in funding from the

Canadian Institutes of Health Research The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; ; IRSC) is a federal agency responsible for funding health and medical research in Canada. Comprising 13 institutes, it is the successor to the Medical Research Council of Canada. CIHR supports ...

. Her study of

olfactory ensheathing glia Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), also known as olfactory ensheathing glia or olfactory ensheathing glial cells, are a type of macroglia ( radial glia) found in the nervous system. They are also known as olfactory Schwann cells, because they e ...

has been funded by the

Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Short Hills, New Jersey, dedicated to finding treatments and cures for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders. The organizati ...

. In 2011, her lab identified

radial glial cell Radial glial cells, or radial glial progenitor cells (RGPs), are Bipolar neuron, bipolar-shaped progenitor cells that are responsible for producing all of the neurons in the cerebral cortex. RGPs also produce certain lineages of glia, including as ...

s in the periphery of the adult spinal cord. As of 2015, Roskams and the Allen Institute for Brain Science were working on a project known as BigNeuron. This effort joins computer programmers and scientists for "hackathons" in which participants test computer algorithms that could allow for the automated analysis of neurons. Dr Roskams is also the Co-developer of Mozak - a NSF/NIH-funded game-based approach to engaging "citizen scientists" in analyzing large-scale brain data, and currently leads analytics and training initiatives for the Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform (CONP). As a former advisor to the US BRAIN initiative and the Obama White House, she contributed to the development of the 21st Century Cures act, and served from 2014 to 2016 as an advisor to Governor

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee ( ; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012 as a ...

in Life Sciences and Global Health. In 2016, she then co-founded the non-profit Cascadia Data Innovations - catalyzing and enabling enhanced collaboration across the non-profit, academic and tech sectors in Seattle and Vancouver to tackle shared challenges in health big data. Roskams is on the founding executive of the Global Brain Consortium, and is actively engaged in advising a number of international projects fostering collaboration to drive discovery from shared brain data. An outspoken proponent of women in science, Roskams has received multiple recognitions for mentorship, and has served on advisories for the National Academy of Sciences in creating more optimal environments to enhance diversity in STEM, training the next generation of neuroscientists, and developing data sharing guidelines for funders of clinical research.

Awards

In 2013, Roskams received the Bernice Grafstein Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Mentoring from the

Society for Neuroscience The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is a professional society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., for basic scientists and physicians around the world whose research is focused on the study of the brain and nervous system. It is especially well k ...

Books and publications

She was the co-editor of "Genome Analysis: A Lab Manual" (ColdSpring Harbor Lab Press) the first definitive guide to analyzing multiple genomes, and ''Lab Ref'', a how-to manual of basic research resources for scientists. That work has been reviewed in publications such as '' Biochemistry (Moscow)'' and the ''

Journal of Cell Science The ''Journal of Cell Science'' (formerly the ''Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of cell biology. The journal is published by The Company of Biologists. The journal is partnered with P ...

''. She has also been published in ''

Glia Glia, also called glial cells (gliocytes) or neuroglia, are non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord) and in the peripheral nervous system that do not produce electrical impulses. The neuroglia make up ...

'', and in ''

Brain Research ''Brain Research'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on several aspects of neuroscience. It publishes research reports and " minireviews". The editor-in-chief is Matthew J. LaVoie (University of Florida). Until 2011, full reviews were ...

.'' Roskams is on the editorial board of BrainFacts.org.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roskams, Jane Canadian neuroscientists Canadian women neuroscientists Academic staff of the University of British Columbia University of Idaho alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni Living people Manx emigrants to Canada Canadian women academics Manx people Year of birth missing (living people)