Judes Poirier is Canadian-born professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

and former director of the Centre for Studies in Aging at McGill University. He currently serves as director of the Molecular Neurobiology Unit at the

Douglas Institute Research Centre Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

and, co-founder and associate director of the Centre for the Studies on the Prevention of Alzheimer's disease at

Career

He received his undergraduate training at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

in biochemistry and clinical sciences. Shortly after, he joined Dr.

André Barbeau André Barbeau, (27 May 1931 – 9 March 1986) was a French Canadian neurologist. He was known for his research into Parkinson's disease and Friedreich's ataxia and taurine research. Born in Montreal, Quebec, he received a Bachelor of Arts d ...

’s group at the Clinical Research Institute of Montréal where he worked on the neurobiology of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. He then moved to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Consortium of Southern California which is based at the Andrus Gerontology Centre, in Los Angeles. It is in California that he discovered the important role of

apolipoprotein E Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a protein involved in the metabolism of fats in the body of mammals. A subtype is implicated in Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular disease. APOE belongs to a family of fat-binding proteins called apolipoproteins. ...

, a cholesterol transporter that acts as a powerful modulator of brain reinnervation and a key player in

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

pathophysiology. In 1989, McGill University and the Douglas Institute recruited him back to Montréal to establish a research program specialized in the

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

of neurodegenerative diseases.

Significant contributions

Dr. Poirier has made some key contributions to the advancement of scientific research on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. He belongs to a short list of Canadian scientists who made milestone discoveries in Canadian Health Research history. He is internationally renowned for his works on the role of

in the normal and injured brain and, in the genetics of

. Beside his seminal contribution in the field of the neurobiology and genetics of apolipoprotein E, he has been a pioneer in the establishment of the

pharmacogenomic Pharmacogenomics is the study of the role of the genome in drug response. Its name ('' pharmaco-'' + ''genomics'') reflects its combining of pharmacology and genomics. Pharmacogenomics analyzes how the genetic makeup of an individual affects the ...

bases of brain diseases treatment. Dr Poirier is also the co-founder of several Canadian-based biotech corporations including Nova Molecular Inc. (1996–2000) and more recently Spectral Neuroscience Inc. (2004 -) which have been involved in the development and commercialization of

pharmacogenomics Pharmacogenomics is the study of the role of the genome in drug response. Its name ('' pharmaco-'' + ''genomics'') reflects its combining of pharmacology and genomics. Pharmacogenomics analyzes how the genetic makeup of an individual affects the ...

services and gene-based therapy for biotech and pharmaceutical corporations.

Honours and awards

He received several international scientific awards in recent years including: the International Society for Neurochemistry Investigator Award in 1995, in Kyoto, Japan; the AAIC/First Parke-Davis International Award (now referred to as the AAIC Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer's Disease) in 1996, in Osaka, Japan and the Galien Prize (1997). On national scene, he was the recipient of the Beaubien Award of the Alzheimer Society of Canada (1994) and, the Investigator Award (1994) and Innovation Award (1998) of Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CCNP). He was more recently awarded the

Jonas Salk Jonas Edward Salk (; born Jonas Salk; October 28, 1914June 23, 1995) was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He was born in New York City and attended the City College of New Y ...

Award (1999) in honor of Dr. Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, the AstraZeneca/ASC/RxDx Award (2001) and the CSCC Award (2001) for his seminal work in the field of Alzheimer’s disease. In the summer of 2004, he was nominated to the rank of Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...

by the Premier of Quebec. He received in the fall of 2009 a Doctorate Honoris Causa in Medicine in regard to his pioneering work in the field of Alzheimer’s research from this oldest School of Medicine in the world, the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest univ ...

in France. In 2010, he was awarded the prestigious Genesis Prize in the "Innovation of Tomorrow" category. He acts as a Scientific Ambassador of the Alzheimer Society of Canada and was nominated one of the Ten Personality of the Year in 1996 in the magazine ''

l'actualité ''L'actualité'' is a Canadian French-language news and general interest magazine published in Montreal by Rogers Communications until 2016, then by Mishmash (XPND Capital). The magazine has over a million readers, according to Canada's Print Measu ...

'' and Personality of the Week in the newspaper '' La Presse'', in 1998 and again, in 2014. His most recent contribution to a lay audience is the publication of a book entitled ''Alzheimer's Disease: A Guide'', published in 2011 in French, English, German, Portuguese and Chinese. His publication was awarded the 2012 prestigious "Hubert Reeves Literary Prize".

Other kudos

*2004 - ''Knight'' from the

Ordre national du Québec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gov ...

*2009 -

Honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

, faculty of medicine, University of Montpellier, France *2010 - Genesis award from Genome Québec and Bioquebec * 2012 - Hubert Reeves Award * 2014 - Personality of the Week, La Presse newspaper * 2015 - Top 10 Discoveries in Science in 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poirier, Judes Canadian neuroscientists Canadian psychiatrists Academic staff of McGill University Knights of the National Order of Quebec Living people Year of birth missing (living people)