News
The Foundation presents Heinz Lehmann Award to Nicolas Cermakian, PhD
2006-02-06
The Douglas Hospital Foundation, in partnership with Pfizer Canada Inc., awards the Heinz Lehmann Award to Nicolas Cermakian, PhD, a Douglas Hospital Research Centre investigator and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University.
The award, established in 2002 in memory of Dr. Heinz Lehmann, is presented to a young researcher at the Douglas who advances knowledge and practice in the field of mental health and psychiatry.
Pfizer Canada Inc sponsors this award which will be presented at the Foundation’s 9th Wine Tasting fundraising event at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel, tomorrow evening.
Nicolas Cermakian joined the Douglas in 2002, after completing postdoctoral work at the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire in Strasbourg, France. Nicolas does research on circadian rhythms (and on the “internal clocks” that generate these rhythms). People tend to become aware of their internal clocks in special situations, such as when experiencing jet lag. With chronic disruptions to a person’s internal clock (which can be caused, for example, by shift work) severe sleep or mood disorders may emerge.
He and his team of six Douglas scientists are studying the molecular mechanisms underlying circadian rhythms, especially in animal models. His work focuses on maximizing our understanding of “the gears in the biological clock”. These gears are, in fact, genes, which we call “clock genes”. Mutation of these clock genes in animals or in humans leads to disturbed rhythms, which can cause sleep disturbances and mood disorders, and may even favour cancer progression.
The award, established in 2002 in memory of Dr. Heinz Lehmann, is presented to a young researcher at the Douglas who advances knowledge and practice in the field of mental health and psychiatry.
Pfizer Canada Inc sponsors this award which will be presented at the Foundation’s 9th Wine Tasting fundraising event at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel, tomorrow evening.
Nicolas Cermakian joined the Douglas in 2002, after completing postdoctoral work at the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire in Strasbourg, France. Nicolas does research on circadian rhythms (and on the “internal clocks” that generate these rhythms). People tend to become aware of their internal clocks in special situations, such as when experiencing jet lag. With chronic disruptions to a person’s internal clock (which can be caused, for example, by shift work) severe sleep or mood disorders may emerge.
He and his team of six Douglas scientists are studying the molecular mechanisms underlying circadian rhythms, especially in animal models. His work focuses on maximizing our understanding of “the gears in the biological clock”. These gears are, in fact, genes, which we call “clock genes”. Mutation of these clock genes in animals or in humans leads to disturbed rhythms, which can cause sleep disturbances and mood disorders, and may even favour cancer progression.
