Fiona Costello

Fiona Costello

MD, FRCPC

Positions

Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurosciences

Full Member

Hotchkiss Brain Institute

Associate Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Office of the Dean | Research

Background

Educational Background

B.S. Biochemistry, Memorial University, 1991

Doctor of Medicine Medicine, Memorial University, 1995

Residency Neurology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2000

Fellowship Neuro Ophthalmology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 2002

Biography

Dr. Fiona Costello is a Professor in the Departments of Clinical Neurosciences and Surgery (Ophthalmology), Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary.  She is also a Clinician Scientist with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.  She completed her medical school (1995) and Neurology residency training (2000) at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and then embarked on a clinical fellowship in Neuro-Ophthalmology at the University of Iowa (2000 – 2002). Her fellowship training was supported by an E.A. Baker Scholarship she received from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.  From 2002 to 2007 she worked as an Assistant Professor in Medicine (Neurology) and Ophthalmology, at the University of Ottawa.  Since 2007, she has run a clinical practice in Calgary as a neuro-ophthalmologist, serving the needs of patients with neurological disorders involving the visual system.

Dr. Costello’s area of research focuses on using the eye as a model for brain disorders including multiple sclerosis and tumors. In 2013, Dr. Costello was named Chair to the Roy and Joan Allen Investigatorship for Vision Research and is working to establish a translational vision research program at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.  She served as Director, Office of Surgical Research with the Department of Surgery at the University of Calgary from 2013 to 2017.  Dr. Costello is currently an editorial board member with several academic journals including the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology, the Journal of Neurology, and Neurology.  She has also worked in leadership roles with the Canadian Neurological Society, the Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation, the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society, the International Women in Multiple Sclerosis Network, and the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis.  In 2022, Dr. Costello was appointed Associate Dean, Chairs & Professorships, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary.

Research

Areas of Research

Multiple Sclerosis, Ophthalmology, Visual pathways, Central nervous system, MS, Tumors

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Publications