Principal Investigator
Rémi Quirion, O.C. , PhD, C.Q., FRSC
Scientific Director, Research Centre, Douglas Institute
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University
Executive Director, International Collaborative Research Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease
Research associates
Danielle Cécyre, BSc, danielle_dot_cecyre_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Danielle is the coordinator of the Douglas Institute Brain Bank which collects human brain specimens from donors and distributes them to researchers in the neuroscience field.
Jean-Guy Chabot, PhD, chajea_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Douglas Institute & McGill University
BSc, MSc, PhD (Université de Sherbrooke)
Research interests include the CGRP Family (Calcitonin gene-related peptide, Amylin and Adrenomedullin) and their related receptors: molecular and pharmacological organization and role in tolerance to morphine analgesia.
Yvan A. Dumont, PhD, dumyva_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Douglas Institute & McGill University
BSc Biology (1976), PhD Biology (1981) Université de Sherbrooke
Research interests include the characterization and distribution of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptors in the central nervous system.Techniques used in his research include: Whole Body Autoradiography (WBA) & Peptide iodination.
Weiya Ma, MD, PhD, mawei_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Weiya Ma obtained her medical education in P.R.China in 1980s. In 1995, she earned her PhD degree from Dept. Of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University. From 1995 to 2000, she did post-doc fellowships in Queens' and McGill University.
From 2000, she went to Wake Forest University in States to hold a faculty position in Dept. of Anesthesiology. In January 2004, she came back to Douglas to join Dr. Quirion's laboratory again. Currently, she is a research associate working on CGRP project. So far, she has published 42 original research articles in pain research field. Research interests include the role of CGRP and adrenomedullin in neuropathic pain and morphine tolerance and role of macrophage derived prostaglandins in the mechanisms of neuropathic pain.
Mira Rajani Thakur, MSc, mira_dot_thakur_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Douglas Institute & McGill University
MSc Biology, University of Ottawa
Diploma in Project Management, McGill University
Mira has been working for the last 33 years in research laboratories at different Canadian universities. For the past 29 years, she has been a member of the Douglas Institute working in clinical (Aging project involving Melatonin & Cortisiol) and basic (NPY & CGRP projects) neuroscience research divisions. Currently and since last few years, she has become the lab manager/coordinator of Dr. Rémi Quirion`s lab and has taken over the responsibilities of the management of his lab.
Yanguo Hong MD, PhD, yangua_dot_hong_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
PhD Physiology, McGill University (1991)
Yanguo has been working in various fields of Neuroscience. Research Interests include: the role of peptides in pain and morphine tolerance.
Post Doctoral Fellows
Wenfeng Yu MD, PhD, wenfeng_dot_yu_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Wenfeng Yu got his PhD in Neuroscience from the Division of Molecular Neuropharmacology, Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden) in 2006 for his thesis on the interactive mechanism of nicotinic receptor and beta-amyloid in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. He joined Rémi Quirion's lab as a post-doctoral fellow in July 2006. Research interests include the neuropathological changes and its possible interactive mechanism between cholinergic neurotransmitter system in Alzheimer's disease.
Mark Farso, PhD, mark_dot_farso_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Mark Farso received his PhD in 2007 from the University of Melbourne, Australia. His PhD project was completed at the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne, and focused on the “Functional roles of metabotropic glutamate receptors in neuronal injury and microglial activation”. In April 2007, he joined the group of Dr. Rémi Quirion as a post-doctoral trainee. His particular interest in neuroinflammation will drive his current project to examine the interaction between microglia and neuronal injury in aging/Alzheimer's disease in both in vitro and in vivo settings and explore possible therapeutic strategies.
Caroline Ménard, PhD, caroline_dot_menard_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Caroline Ménard received her PhD (Biophysics and Cell Biology) from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (Canada) in 2008. Her thesis project was focused on the role of calcium-independent phospholipase A2 in the regulation of hippocampal glutamate receptors in Alzheimer's disease. She joined Dr. Quirion's team as a postdoctoral fellow since May 2008. Research interests include the impact of dynorphin gene expression alteration on the cognitive functions during normal and pathological aging.
Ramesh JL Kandimalla, PhD, ramesh_dot_kandimalla_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
He received his PhD in 2011 from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India. His PhD project was focused on the “Genetic and protein biomarkers for early detection of Alzheimer's Disease and use of siRNA against gamma secretase for decreasing Aβ 1-42 production”. Recently, he joined the group of Dr. Rémi Quirion as a post-doctoral fellow. His project will be to develop new animal models of schizophrenia that take into account the purported neurodevelopmental features of the disease including its clinical manifestation following the onset of puberty.
Masanobu Ito MD, PhD, ito_dot_masanobu_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Masanobu Ito got his PhD in 2010 from Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Japan. His PhD project was focused on the interactive mechanism of electroconvulsive seizure and neurogenesis. He joined Dr. Quirion’s team as a postdoctoral fellow in April 2011. His research project is to examine the role of NPY Y5 receptor in depression and the interactive mechanism of different NPY receptors and electroconvulsive seizure in neurogenesis.
David Bouvier, PhD, david_dot_bouvier_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Bouvier got his PhD in Neurosciences in 2008 from the Department of Pathology and Cellular Biology, University of Montréal, Canada. He did his previous postdoc in Andrea Volterra’s lab in Lausanne, Switzerland, working on the molecular basis of astrocyte-synapse communication in the mature hippocampus. He joined the lab in 2011 and is interested to work on the role of microglia and astrocytes in Alzheimer Disease.
Graduate Students (Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery)
Julio César Morales Medina, MSc, julio_dot_morales_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca or sarju19_At_yahoo_dot_com
Douglas Institute & McGill University
He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at The Universidad de las Américas-Puebla in 2003. He received a Master’s degree in Biotechnology at The Universidad de las Américas-Puebla in 2005. He is performing PhD research in Dr. Rémi Quirion's lab trying to find the exact relationship between different NPY receptors and depression using a well documented mice model of depression. Additionally, he will be involved in the project of characterization of a new NPY receptor.
Pedro Cruz Duarte, pedro_dot_cruz-duarte_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Douglas Institute & McGill University
He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree (major in Biology) with distinction from McGill University in the year of 2008. He is pursuing a master’s degree in the department of Neurology & Neurosurgery at McGill University. His research project is on the involvement of COX 2/ PGE 2 in the modulation of BDNF expression in DRG neurons following partial sciatic nerve ligation in rats. The main in vivo and in vitro techniques used for this project include behavioral studies, pharmacological treatments, cell morphological analysis and protein and gene biochemical analyses.
Chelsea Cavanagh, B. Sc., chelsea_dot_cavanagh_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in the Anatomy and Cell Biology Honors Program at McGill University. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill University. Her research project is on the mechanisms of early impairments of neuronal function associated with amyloid-beta in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
Jessica Colby-Milley, B. Sc., jessica_dot_colby-milley_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill University and is currently working towards a Master’s degree in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill University. Her research focuses on the role of neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and the potential use of polyphenols (resveratrol and epigallocatechin-3-gallate) in treating this aspect of the disease.
Research Assistant
Bruno St-Jacques, M. Sc., bruno_dot_st-jacques_At_douglas_dot_mcgill_dot_ca
Bruno did his B.Sc. at University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada and then obtained his M.Sc. in Molecular Biology at University of Montreal, Montréal. He joined the team as a research assistant in October 2008 and currently works on neuropathic pain project.
