Itch is a common feature of various cancers, while cancer cells actively secrete factors promoting neuronal infiltration of tumors. Experimentally stopping the electrical signals of tumor infiltrating neurons helps decrease tumor growth, but the specific means by which neurons regulate cancer cells survival is yet to be uncovered.

Treatments empowering patient’s own immune system (immunotherapy) have revolutionized cancer treatment this last decade, showing substantial clinical activity in different tumor types. However, 60% of cancer patients still fail to respond to immunotherapy and other standard of care. Our laboratory recently identified the proteinase receptor 2as a new target to overcome immunotherapy resistance. We propose to investigate the therapeutic potential of this receptor for cancer immunotherapy.

Ditch Labs is a medical technology company developing a new treatment for smoking cessation. The objective of this research project is to understand how nicotine delivered by a novel electronic nicotine deliver system travels through the body from its absorption to its excretion. The study is important because it will allow Ditch Labs to select optimal nicotine doses to be delivered to patients and then subsequently reduced over a period of several weeks until complete cessation.

Les végétaux demeurent de nos jours une source incontournable de molécules bioactives pour le développement d'agents thérapeutiques novateurs. Par contre, l'étude et l'utilisation des molécules d'origine végétale sont souvent limitées par leur manque de solubilité dans l'eau et leur faible biodisponibilité. Pour surmonter ces limitations, l'ajout de groupements polaires sur les molécules appelé dérivatisation est une approche attrayante pour améliorer les propriétés physico-chimiques et pharmacologiques des produits naturels.

iA Groupe financier est un groupement de sociétés d’assurance et de gestion de patrimoine des plus importants au Canada. Plus de la moitié des personnes couvertes par iA viennent du Québec. Le 6 juillet 2021, Régie d’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) a annoncé une transition des patients utilisant des médicaments biologiques de référence, c’est-à-dire des médicaments fabriqués à partir d’organismes vivants ou de cellules, vers des médicaments biologiques similaires.

Pharma in silica is a preclinical stage company developing silica-based nanoparticles to formulate more efficient and better tolerated chemotherapy modalities. In this collaboration, they will benefit from the expertise of the laboratories of Prof N. Bertrand and S. Fortin to obtain useful chemistry, manufacturing, and control (CMC) information and advance their nanoparticles toward regulatory approval.

Actuellement les prothèses d’épaules dites inversées sont préconisées dans le cas de coiffe des rotateurs endommagée. Ces prothèses assurent la stabilité de l’articulation mais limitent la mobilité articulaire, notamment en élévation du bras. Pour pallier cette déficience, Statera Medical propose un design de prothèse innovant avec un degré de liberté additionnel. En collaboration avec le laboratoire de simulation et modélisation du mouvement, cette nouvelle prothèse sera testée puis optimisée par des simulations musculosquelettiques.

Different autoimmune diseases often have similar mechanisms that trigger and drive the pathology. Therefore, it’s logical that having one autoimmune disorder increases the risk of acquiring another one. At the same time, autoimmune disease cooccurrence is rare. Our research found that type 1 diabetes (T1D) and multiple sclerosis (MS) share common mechanisms. We pinpointed the protein, called NLRX1, that protects against both autoimmune diseases. This protein belongs to the class of pattern recognition receptors that we use to detect pathogens.

With the imminent emergence of personalized medicine and the availability of costly targeted drugs comes the crucial allocation of ressources within the halthcare systems. Determining which treatment options should be funded has become an increasingly difficult task. Decision-makers are relying heavily on pharmacoeconomic (PE) evalutions to decide which of them will be most effective and safe—but also, which will most improve the quality of life of patients and which will be most valued by society.

Myopathies are a group of muscle diseases that are caused by over 150 genes variants, leading to muscle weakness and/or wasting. In addition to the emotional, physical and social impact on the patients and their families, the medical expenditure for the patients affected by myopathies is substantial, about $7.2 billion in Canada, which makes it the 4th diagnostic category with the largest total cost for the healthcare system.