14 new research chairs at Université Laval
Sentinel North has endowed Université Laval with 14 outstanding new scientists through its research chairs program, a true legacy for the institution.
These rising scientists, who are at the beginning of their career, started arriving in 2018 and are boosting Université Laval’s research and education potential by focusing on strategic areas of research for the institution.
Drawing on their advanced expertise, these chairholders have provided a fresh perspective on the challenges of research on the North. A number of these specialists hail from disciplines rarely associated with northern research, including the neurobiology of stress, mathematical modeling and gut microbiology, which bears witness to their willingness to take on bold new challenges.
Selected for both their excellence and leadership, some of these chairholders acted as ambassadors for Sentinel North’s inter- and transdisciplinary research and training initiatives. Others led projects with a profound impact for northern communities, which face environmental and socio-economic changes which affect their physical health and well-being. The researchers also forged close ties with various partners and helped train a new generation of scientists who are capable of collaborating across traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Their arrival has had a tangible impact at Université Laval. Since being recruited, these chairholders have published over 350 peer-reviewed articles, supervised more than 160 graduate students and raised over $15M in additional funding, demonstrating their ability to mobilize the resources needed to broaden our knowledge on the changing North and its impact on human beings. Their commitment to both northern research and interdisciplinarity will continue to bolster Université Laval’s research capacity for years to come.
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Raoul-Marie Couture, Professor
Faculty of Science and Engineering
Sentinel North Research Chair in Aquatic Environmental Geochemistry
This research chair aims to understand how element cycles are affected by current environmental changes and what impact these changes have on water quality.
Caroline Ménard, Professor
Faculty of Medicine
Sentinel North Chair in the Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience
This chair's objective is to shed light on the biological mechanisms underlying vulnerability or resilience to stress, in part with the help of state-of-the-art photonic technology, in order to develop innovative treatments to treat or even prevent depression and mood disorders.
Mariana Baz, Assistant professor
Faculty of Medicine
Sentinel North Research Chair on Respiratory viruses at the Animal-Human Interface: Emergence and control
The objectives of this chair are to 1) Characterize and study the evolution of human and animal influenza virus in the North of Quebec and compared it with other parts of the Quebec province; 2) Elucidate the molecular basis for mammalian adaptation of animal and avian IVs. 3) Evaluate novel and existing therapeutic approaches against IVs, SARS-CoV-2 and IVs/SARS-CoV-2 coinfections using animal models representing high-risk populations.
Caroline Hervé, Professor
Faculty of Social Sciences
Sentinel North Research Chair on the Relations with Inuit Societies
The main objective of this chair is to to analyze the relationship between Inuit and non-Inuit, and the transformations of this relationship over the last decades and years to come.
Maripier Isabelle, Assistant Professor
Faculty of Social Sciences
Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair in Economics and Brain Health
The objective of this Chair to is to understand the dynamics and causal relationships between income inequality, the organization of health care systems and brain health.
Pierre Legagneux, Assistant professor
Faculty of Science and Engineering
Sentinel North Research Chair on the Impact of Animal Migrations on Arctic Ecosystems
This Chair aims at understand Arctic ecosystem’s complex interconnections by including the connections created by animals migrating between the North and other parts of the globe.
Antoine Allard, Assistant professor
Faculty of Science and Engineering
Sentinel North Research Chair on the Applications and Theory of Network Analysis
The mission of the Research Chair on the Applications and Theory of Network Analysis is to develop new analysis and modelling tools to better understand the complex systems of the changing North.
Benoît Labonté, Assistant professor
Faculty of Medicine
Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair in Molecular Neurobiology of Mood Disorders
The Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair in Molecular Neurobiology of Mood Disorders aims to understand the molecular dynamics through which the environment modifies genome organization and increases men and women’s susceptibility to the stresses of daily life.
Antoine Godin, Assistant professor
Faculty of Medicine
Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair on Probing Life and the Environment with Light
This research chair will develop new tools that use light and data processing to probe the organization of living tissues and the environment, from the nanoscopic all the way up to the scale of the vast northern expanses.
Mélanie Lemire, Assistant professor
Faculty of Medicine
Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair on Ecosystemic Approaches to Health
This interdisciplinary research chair focuses on the health and resilience of indigenous peoples living in northern coastal regions. The research is conducted in close collaboration with these communities. Studying the complex effects of environmental change on health and well-being will aid in the development of relevant preventive actions for indigenous and coastal populations.
Pascale Roy-Léveillée, Associate professor
Faculty of Forestry, Geography, and Geomatics
Partnership research chair on Permafrost in Nunavik
This new research chair aims to characterize and map permafrost conditions on land used for traditional Indigenous activities, as well as assess its vulnerability to warming; perform additional permafrost characterization in northern villages to support sustainable land use planning, the adaptation of construction methods, the maintenance and development of infrastructure, and population safety; and design decision-making and scientific popularization tools to consolidate new findings and disseminate them to partners, as well as strengthen local capacities.
Cristoforo Silvestri, Adjunct Professor
Faculty of Medicine
Sentinel North partnernship research chair on the gut microbiome-endocannabinoid system as an integrator of extreme environmental influences on bioenergetics
The chair will examine how extreme environmental conditions typical of life at northern latitudes affect brain and peripheral tissue mitochondrial function, and hence mental and metabolic health, through the intermediacy of the gut microbiome-endocannabinoid-mitochondria triangle, with the ultimate aim of developing new endocannabinoid/microbiome based therapies.
Natalie Jane Michael, Assistant professor
Faculty of Pharmacy
Sentinel North partnership research chair on sleep pharmacometabolism
This Chair aims to determine how key neuronal populations in the brain, known to regulate sleep and wakefulness, detect changes in energy homeostasis. We will study how the function of these neurons is altered by factors associated with energy surplus. We will also define the pathophysiological changes that occur in these systems following the administration of drugs commonly used for the treatment of allergies and mental health problems. In addition, we intend to define the functional and behavioral impacts of disruptions in arousal circuitry. This work is particularly important for populations in northern Canada, which are subject to significant seasonal fluctuations in photoperiod, and where the burden of obesity is particularly pronounced.
Jean-Pascal Bilodeau, Assistant professor
Faculty of Science and Engineering
Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair on northern infrastructure
In a context of climate change, the need to develop and maintain reliable and safe infrastructure for northern communities and for natural resources in the northern regions of Quebec and Canada requires a high level of expertise in northern engineering. The objective of this Chair is to develop technological tools to promote the sustainable development of infrastructure adapted to northern and changing conditions.
