Michel Bouvier (born September 14, 1958) is a Canadian

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

and molecular pharmacologist. He is a professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine at

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 ...

; a principal investigator and the chief executive officer at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer; and an associate vice-president in Research, Scientific Discovery, Creation, and Innovation at

. His work focuses on the study of

cell signaling In biology, cell signaling (cell signalling in British English) or cell communication is the ability of a cell to receive, process, and transmit signals with its environment and with itself. Cell signaling is a fundamental property of all cellula ...

towards the discovery of new

pharmaceutical drug A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...

Biography

Michel Bouvier earned a B.Sc. in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

(1979) and a Ph.D. in neurological sciences (1985) from

, and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship (1985-1989) at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

under the supervision of Robert Lefkowitz (2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry). Bouvier is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Université de Montréal and a principal investigator at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at Université de Montréal.

Research

He is a world-known expert in

and drug discovery, notably in the field of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which constitute the largest single protein family involved in the transduction of hormonal signals and neurotransmitters. Their physiological significance makes them prime targets in drug development, and over a third of existing drugs use GPCRs as their target site of action. Bouvier's work in the regulation of receptors led to new paradigms (inverse agonism; pharmacological chaperones; receptor polymerization; and pluridimensionality of signaling), which, coupled with the development of

bioluminescence resonance energy transfer Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...

-based methods, have a direct impact on drug discovery. He has authored over 260 scientific articles, filed 36 patent applications, and delivered over 400 lectures as a guest lecturer. Bouvier holds the Canada Research Chair in Signal Transduction and Molecular Pharmacology.

Honours

* 2021 -

Killam Prize The Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Prize was established according to the will of Dorothy J. Killam to honour the memory of her husband Izaak Walton Killam. Five Killam Prizes, each having a value of $100,000, are annually awarded by the Canada Cou ...

in health sciences * 2017 - Wilder-Penfield Prize * 2017 -

Julius Axelrod Julius Axelrod (May 30, 1912 – December 29, 2004) was an American biochemist. He won a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 along with Bernard Katz and Ulf von Euler. The Nobel Committee honored him for his work on the re ...

pharmacology prize of the

American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) is a scientific society founded in late 1908 by John Jacob Abel of Johns Hopkins University (also the founder of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biol ...

* 2014 - Member of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

* 2011 - Adrien-Pouliot Prize -

Association francophone pour le savoir Acfas (previously: Association francophone pour le savoir from 2001 to May 2019 and before, Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences from 1923 to 2001 "ACFAS" or "Acfas") is the principal French-language learned society in ...

(Acfas) * 2006 -

Léo-Pariseau Prize The Léo-Pariseau Prize is a Québécois prize which is awarded annually to a distinguished individual working in the field of biological or health sciences. The prize is awarded by the Association francophone pour le savoir ( Acfas), and is named ...

(Acfas) * 2005 - Fellow of the

Canadian Academy of Health Sciences The Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) is one of three national academies that comprise the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), the highest honour granted to scholars in Canada. The two other CCA academies are the Royal Society of Canada ...

References

External links

Curriculum vitae
Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at the Université de Montréal
Michel Bouvier's lab
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouvier, Michel 1958 births Living people Canadian biochemists Academic staff of the Université de Montréal Université de Montréal alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada