Research Assets

University of Montreal

www.umontreal.ca

 

Founded in 1878, University of Montreal (UoM) is one of Canada’s leading universities. With 13 faculties, it is the largest institution of higher education in Quebec, the second largest in Canada, and among the most active in North America with CAN$ 429 million in research funding in 2005.

 

UoM’s health research is divided among various research centers, the main one being the Montreal University Hospital (CHUM) Research Center. Some of the leading scientists in the field of diabetes include:
 
Marc Prentki Ph. D.

marc.prentki@umontreal.ca

http://www.betacellcenter.com/prentki/prentki.asp

 

American Diabetes Association Award recipient Dr. Marc Prentki is director of the Montreal Diabetes Research Center. He was trained in Biochemistry at the University of Geneva in Switzerland where he obtained his M.Sc. in 1976 and Ph.D. in 1980. Dr. Prentki subsequently worked on insulin secretion as a postdoctoral fellow in Geneva. In 1984 he joined the University of Pennsylvania to work as assistant professor on calcium and glucose signaling in pancreatic ß-cells. In 1987 he returned to Geneva to work as Assistant Professor at the Institut de Biochimie Clinique. In 1994 he joined the University of Montreal where he was promoted to Associate Professor and subsequently, in 1997, to full Professor of Nutrition and Biochemistry.

 

The research of Dr. Prentki's laboratory has greatly increased our understanding of the mechanism of glucose-regulated insulin secretion. He also introduced the concept of ß-cell glucolipotoxicity, which has important implications for the development of both Type 1 and 2 diabetes and the survival of ß-cells following islet transplantation into diabetic patients.

 

 

Pavel Hamet M.D., Ph.D.

pavel.hamet@umontreal.ca

 

An honorary member of UNESCO’s World Academy of Biomedical Technologies, Dr. Hamet is now Director of Research at the CHUM Research Center. He has published over 400 articles or chapters in his career. His main research focus has been the genetics of hypertension but he is also a clinician involved in the treatment of diabetes. His most important national and international academic and industrial collaboration is in the area of diabetes treatment and its complications.  Pavel Hamet is National Director of the Canadian Branch and a member of the International Management Committee of the ADVANCE study, which includes over 10,000 diabetic subjects with macro- and microvascular complications who are being treated and followed for seven years. He is also responsible for the pharmacogenetic sub-studies of ADVANCE that will be designed and conducted in Montreal.

 

Jean-Louis Chiasson Ph. D

jean.louis.chiasson@umontreal.ca

 

Dr. Chiasson is Group Leader of the Hormonal Signaling and Metabolism Research Axis at the CHUM Research Center. Under his leadership, this research axis now comprises four research units:

 

The hormonal signaling unit characterizes the signaling pathways of insulin and other hormones. Among other things, this has led to the discovery of a new signaling pathway in the secretion of insulin.

 

The genetics unit has identified new genes that are regulated by insulin in skeletal muscle.

 

The metabolism unit has developed the concept of resistance to glucagons and a program of community-eating behavior modification for subjects at risk of developing diabetes.

 

The diagnosis unit has demonstrated that treatment of post-prandial hyperglycemia in glucose-intolerant patients reduces the risk of diabetes by 36%.

 

McGill University

www.mcgill.ca

 

Founded in 1821, McGill is Canada’s leading research-intensive university, and has earned an international reputation for scholarly achievement and scientific discovery.

 

The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and health-care hospital research centre. The institute is the research arm of the MUHC, a university health center affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. The institute supports over 500 researchers, nearly 1,000 graduate and postdoctoral students and operates more than 300 laboratories devoted to a broad spectrum of fundamental and clinical research.

 

Diabetes has long been a research focus for the Research Institute. Some of its prominent scientists include:

 

Lawrence Rosenberg M.D., Ph.D.

lawrence.rosenberg@mcgill.ca

 

Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg is Director, Division of Surgical Research. He studied at McGill University, where he obtained his M.D., C.M. He then trained in general surgery at McGill, completing his medical residency and Ph.D. in experimental surgery in the area of pancreatic cell differentiation. Dr. Rosenberg subsequently undertook postdoctoral studies and fellowship training in transplantation surgery at the University of Michigan. He then returned to McGill as Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Transplantation at the Montreal General Hospital. He is currently Professor of Surgery and Medicine and Director of the Division of Surgical Research at McGill, and A.G. Thompson Chair of Surgical Research at the McGill University Health Center.

 

The research of Dr. Rosenberg's laboratory has greatly increased our understanding of islet cell neogenesis. He also introduced the concept of post-isolation islet cell apoptosis and supporting trophic factors in the islet micro-environment, which has important implications for successful islet transplantation.

 

 

Barry I. Posner O.C., M.D., FRS(C)

barry.posner@mcgill.ca

 

Dr. Posner earned his medical degree from the University of Manitoba, graduating as the Gold Medalist in 1961. He then pursued postgraduate work in biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed his clinical training at the New England Medical Center. He was subsequently a research associate in biochemistry at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and thereafter joined the McGill Faculty of Medicine and the staff of the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1970. By 1979 he was Senior Physician, Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Polypeptide Laboratory for hormone research. In 1981 he was appointed Director of the McGill Training Program in Endocrinology and Metabolism, and has served as Vice-President for Research at the Royal Victoria Hospital, and Chairman of the Research Committee of the hospital’s Research Institute (1987-1990). He served as Physician-in-Chief at the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital from 1996 to 2002.

 

Dr. Posner focuses on the study of insulin and growth factor action. Novel substrates of both the insulin receptor kinase (IRK) and the EGF receptor kinase (EGFRK) have been identified within endosomes. The association of signaling molecules with the internalized EGFRK indicates further that signaling occurs intracellularly. Over the last 12 years, he has discovered a class of phosphotyrosine phosphatase (PTP) inhibitors — the peroxovanadium (pV) compounds — as potent insulin mimickers. Current work is focusing on how EGF and insulin signaling use very similar intracellular pathways and yet produce responses highly specific to each agent.

 

Dusica Maysinger Ph. D.

dusica.maysinger@mcgill.ca

 

British Council Award recipient Dr. Maysinger is Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

 

She was trained at the University of Southern California, USA. Dr. Maysinger was a research fellow (Alexander von oldt fellowship) and worked on neurodegeneration in Germany at the Max Planck Institute (Munich) and at the University of Heidelberg. She subsequently became a member of Dr. Cuello's team at Oxford (UK) and a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University's Department of Pharmacology, where she continues her research on molecular mechanisms underlying degenerative changes in the nervous system. She was appointed Assistant Professor in Pharmacology at McGill in 1987 and then Associate Professor in 1992. Dr. Maysinger has participated in numerous local and international collaborations throughout her scientific career.

 

The research performed by Dr. Maysinger's laboratory has contributed to our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of pancreatic islet cell death and long term complications in diabetes. She is now investigating the effectiveness of a pentadecapeptide derived from Islet Neogenesis Associated Protein (Ingap). Clinical trials with Ingap peptide are in progress. Dr. Maysinger's team is developing novel drug delivery methods that will promote islet cells, or progenitor cells that will transform into islet cells that allow cells to survive and function (secrete insulin) normally.

 

Large-Scale Projects

 

The large-scale projects in diabetes research clearly illustrate the multi-disciplinary approach and the tight collaboration between research centers from different universities.

 

Montreal hosts currently three world-class initiatives in the field of diabetes research.

 

Genome Canada / Genome Quebec

www.genomecanada.com

www.genomequebec.com

 

Genetics of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus  — Barry Posner (McGill University);  Marc Prentki (UoM)

 

Genome Canada and Genome Quebec have together invested over CAN$ 16.2 million in this project aimed at identifying genes that predispose people to develop Type 2 diabetes.

 

To achieve this goal, a team of researchers at both McGill University and the University of Montreal will identify genes and proteins whose function is different in the cells of people with diabetes. These will include genes and proteins that prevent the pancreas from producing proper amounts of insulin as well as those that prevent insulin from working properly in other tissues in the body. Because obesity may lead to diabetes in some people, this project will also identify genes and proteins that may link increased body weight to Type 2 diabetes.

 

This program relies heavily on the cross-complementarities of expertise among the 10 research groups and more than 60 researchers involved.

 

This genetic research project is complemented and supported by other large-scale projects and platforms funded by Genome Canada and Genome Quebec such as:

 

 

Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI)

www.innovation.ca

 

Montreal Diabetes Research Center — Marc Prentki; Pavel Hamet (UoM)

 

 

The CFI has invested over CAN$ 16 million in this new research center aimed at discovering and developing revolutionary treatment therapies in diabetes. It is ranked among the top research centers worldwide.

 

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF)

www.jdrf.org

 

JDRF Center for Beta Cell Replacement at McGill and University of Montreal — Lawrence Rosenberg (McGill)

 

This center, funded by a three-year, US$ 3.5 million grant from the JDRF, will develop and implement a program attempting to expand the number of beta cells in support of transplantation to cure diabetes. A second project at the center will clarify the action of glucose and various fatty acids with respect to human pancreatic beta cell death and design strategies for blocking this action. Finally, a third project will explore the use of slow-release encapsulated immuno­suppressive drugs that could be given along with transplanted islets so that they survive longer in recipients. The use of local drug delivery could help to diminish some of the harmful effects of systemic exposure to immunosuppressive drugs.

 

This document had been prepared by: Montréal International