FibRNet - An initiative to cure lung fibrosis

David Langlais, PhD

FibRNet Lead

Assistant Professor, Dept of Human Genetics, McGill University

David Langlais is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Human Genetics and Microbiology & Immunology at McGill University, and Principal Investigator at the McGill Genome Centre. Dr Langlais completed his Ph.D. with honors in Molecular Biology in 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Jacques Drouin at the IRCM. His work revealed the complex transcriptional regulation at play in the immuno-neuroendocrine interface and in the maintenance of pituitary tissue. Dr Langlais then pursued postdoctoral research in Dr Philippe Gros’ laboratory at McGill University where he studied the role of critical innate immunity transcription factors and participated in the characterization of new proteins involved in immune function and neuroinflammatory conditions, including cerebral malaria. Dr Langlais has received multiple awards and fellowships, including the Milstein Young Investigator Award from the International Cytokine and Interferon Society and the 2018 Top 10 Discovery by Quebec Science. His current research is founded on functional genomics, bioinformatics, genome editing and molecular biology methods to explain the transcriptional mechanisms involved in normal and pathological inflammation, aiming to identify and validate novel therapeutic targets for inflammatory diseases.

Marie Hudson, MD

FibRNet Co-Lead

Associate Director for Clinical Research, Lady Davis Institute

Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, McGill University

coming.

Deborah Assayag, MD, MAS

Scientist, RI-MUHC , Montreal General Hospital

Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, McGill University

coming.

Christian Pineau, MD

Investigator, RI-MUHC , Montreal General Hospital

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, McGill University

Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, MUHC

coming.

Gregory Fonseca, PhD

Project Lead

Dr. Fonseca completed his Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Joe Mymryk at the University of Western Ontario. Here, he studied the innate immune response to adenovirus infection. After the completion of his Ph.D., Dr. Fonseca pursued post-doctoral training in the lab of Dr. Chris Glass at UCSD working on transcription factor recruitment in the genome using machine learning. He was recruited to the RI-MUHC in the Meakins-Christie Laboratories in 2019 and has established a program working on lung macrophages in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Silvia Vidal, PhD

Professor, Department of Human Genetics, McGill University

Director, McGill Research Centre on Complex Traits

coming.

Ana Nijnik, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, McGill University

Dr. Ana Nijnik is a Principal Investigator and Associate Professor at the Department of Physiology of McGill University. She holds a Canada Research Chair Tier II in Hematopoiesis and Lymphocyte Development, and is a full member of the McGill Research Centre on Complex Traits.

Originally from Ukraine, Dr. Nijnik completed her undergraduate studies in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at the University of Oxford (UK) in 2002, working under the supervision of Prof. Dominic Kwiatkowski and Prof. Irina Udalova on transcriptional regulation of inflammatory response. She carried out her Ph.D. training also at the University of Oxford, working under the supervision of Prof. Richard Cornall, and postdoctoral studies at the University of British Columbia (Canada) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK), in the laboratories of Prof. Bob Hancock and Prof. Gordon Dougan. During her training with these mentors, Dr. Nijnik gained expertise and contributed to the knowledge of hematopoietic stem cell biology in the context of ageing, B lymphocyte development, immunogenetics of humoral immunity and autoimmunity, and the role of antimicrobial peptides in innate immune response. She joined McGill University as a Principal Investigator in 2011.

Christopher Moraes, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University

coming.

Jerry Pelletier, PhD

James McGill Professor, Depts of Biochemistry and Oncology, Goodman Cancer Institue, McGill University

Jerry Pelletier is a James McGill Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Oncology at McGill University and a member of The Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Center. Dr. Pelletier is a biochemist and molecular biologist who received his Ph.D. from McGill University under Dr. Nahum Sonenberg in 1988. He trained as a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. David Housman at the MIT Center for Cancer Research from 1988-1991. He then joined McGill University in 1991 and was promoted to full professor in 2002. His interest is on diverse aspects of eukaryotic translation initiation - with a recent focus on applying chemical biology and genetic tools to better understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate ribosome recruitment to mRNAs.

Jerry Pelletier, PhD, FRSC, CQ

James McGill Professor, Dept of Biochemistry, Goodman Cancer Institue, McGill University

My lab has been established at McGill University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) since March 1992. Over 60 researchers, students, postdoctoral fellows and supporting staffs have been or are currently committed to our research projects. In order to understand and find cures for human diseases, my lab focuses on protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases). PTPases regulate various signaling pathways in cells, playing essential roles in many biological and pathological processes. To date, my lab has successfully shown that PTPases play key roles in diabetes, obesity, spinal cord injury and infectious diseases as well as in diverse cancers. We believe that our studies will lead to the development of new treatments for a broad range of human diseases.