David Munoz

MD, FRCPC, MSc

Investigator

Research Programs

Biography

Dr. David Munoz holds an MD from Navarre and MSc in Pathology from Queen’s University, Ontario. He trained in neurology and neuropathology and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1984. He has practiced in Vermont, Saskatoon, London (ON), Madrid, and Toronto, and briefly in Vancouver. He is currently a Neuropathologist and Head, Division of Pathology at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, and Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto. He is the author of 194 peer-reviewed papers, 20 book chapters, and co-author of one book. He has held research grants in Canada (Medical Research Council and Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and USA (National Institutes of Health).

His research interest is focused on neuropathology, particularly the mechanisms of development and progression of degenerative diseases of the brain, including Alzheimer’s disease, the non-Alzheimer dementias, movement disorders, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. His other research interest in neurooncology is derived from his clinical practice.

Please note: Dr. D. Munoz is not taking any summer students

Recent Publications

  1. Wiseman, M, Yep, R, Wood Alexander, M, Pople, CB, Perri, L, Gopinath, G et al.. Objective speech measures capture depressive symptoms and associated cognitive difficulties. Transl Psychiatry. 2025; :. doi: 10.1038/s41398-025-03728-2. PubMed PMID:41257835 .
  2. Fernandez-Ruiz, J, Riek, HC, Brien, DC, Coe, BC, Grimes, DA, Lang, AE et al.. The relation of eye movements to the occurrence of freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease. Brain Commun. 2025;7 (5):fcaf402. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaf402. PubMed PMID:41169272 PubMed Central PMC12569761.
  3. Wagner, KM, Cervin, M, Cheng, JSC, Arriaga, J, Cruz, VZ, Berrones, D et al.. Transdiagnostic links of reward processing in obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. J Affect Disord. 2025;391 :119886. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.119886. PubMed PMID:40675261 .
  4. Lui, M, Sevinc, F, Elgafarawi, M, Munoz, DG, Keillor, JW, Sinclair, J et al.. Transglutaminase 2 function in glioblastoma tumor efferocytosis. Cell Death Dis. 2025;16 (1):487. doi: 10.1038/s41419-025-07819-2. PubMed PMID:40610434 PubMed Central PMC12229499.
  5. Sumra, V, Hadian, M, Dilliott, AA, Farhan, SMK, Frank, AR, Lang, AE et al.. Regional free-water diffusion is more strongly related to neuroinflammation than neurodegeneration. J Neurol. 2025;272 (7):478. doi: 10.1007/s00415-025-13201-1. PubMed PMID:40560468 .
  6. Pinciotti, CM, Avery, J, Zhang, C, Muñoz, JS, Berrones, D, Cruz, VZ et al.. Benchmarking empirical severity for the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale-Second Edition. J Affect Disord. 2025;390 :119719. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.119719. PubMed PMID:40541829 .
  7. Broberg, DN, Haddad, SMH, Aveni, K, Havens, A, McLaughlin, PM, Binns, MA et al.. White matter tract correlations with spoken language in cerebrovascular disease. Brain Commun. 2025;7 (3):fcaf145. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaf145. PubMed PMID:40351387 PubMed Central PMC12062522.
  8. Bennett, J, Levine, AB, Nobre, L, Negm, L, Chung, J, Fang, K et al.. A population-based analysis of the molecular landscape of glioma in adolescents and young adults reveals insights into gliomagenesis. Nat Cancer. 2025;6 (6):1102-1119. doi: 10.1038/s43018-025-00962-x. PubMed PMID:40335748 .
  9. Pottier, C, Küçükali, F, Baker, M, Batzler, A, Jenkins, GD, van Blitterswijk, M et al.. Deciphering distinct genetic risk factors for FTLD-TDP pathological subtypes via whole-genome sequencing. Nat Commun. 2025;16 (1):3914. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-59216-0. PubMed PMID:40280976 PubMed Central PMC12032271.
  10. Rashidi-Ranjbar, N, Churchill, NW, Black, SE, Kumar, S, Tartaglia, MC, Freedman, M et al.. A Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Assessment of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and Brain Functional Connectivity in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment, Cerebrovascular Disease and Parkinson Disease. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2025;40 (4):e70075. doi: 10.1002/gps.70075. PubMed PMID:40246706 PubMed Central PMC12006058.
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Affiliations & Other Activities

  • Head, Division of Pathology, St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto