Title:
Assistant Professor

Institute:
Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montreal

Department:
Research Center

Province:
Quebec

Training:  
Postdoctorate Fellow, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
Postdoctorate Fellow, Skin Cancer Research Laboratory, Laval University Hospital Centre (CHUL), Quebec City
PhD, Physiology-Endocrinology, Laval University Hospital Centre (CHUL), Quebec City

Research interests:
Cellular signaling through ubiquitination; DNA-dependent processes (DNA transcription and repair); molecular basis of cancer.

Recognitions:  
Junior investigator award, Le Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ)
Taplin Fellowship, Harvard University

Research Projects

Project title:
A novel ubiquitin signaling pathway in the regulation of BRCA1 (Breast Cancer 1, early onset) tumor suppressor function

Funding period:  
2011-2013

Program:
Operating Grant (Basic Research)

Summary:
A biochemical reaction called ubiquitination occurs in all cells of our body and consists of the attachment of a small protein, called ubiquitin, to other cellular proteins. This is a very selective tagging system that marks the targeted proteins as no longer needed, and induces their destruction. If a protein destruction event is not executed at the right time or the right place, this may contribute to cancer development. The goal of my research is to determine how the process of ubiquitination coordinates the function of BRCA1, a gene required for blocking breast cancer development. This gene is called a tumor suppressor, meaning that it is a break that prevents the cells from multiplying without control. We plan to use molecular and cellular biology tools to determine how ubiquitination coordinate the function of BRCA1. This will not only shed new light on our understanding of breast cancer development, but might also provide highly significant information for the treatment of breast cancer.