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featuring
Dr. Marie-Ève Tremblay
Professor, Canada Research Chair (Tier II) of Neurobiology of Aging and Cognition, University of Victoria
Join us for a live presentation
Friday, May 30 @ 12:00 PM ET
The Flavours of Microglia: Nomenclature, Diversity and Dark Microgliain
Microglia are the immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS). They play essential roles which are important for CNS development, maturation, activity, plasticity and integrity, but also behaviour and cognition, across the lifespan. There is currently an exponential growth of microglial research pertaining to their roles, interactions with other CNS cells, including neurons and astrocytes, and the underlying mechanisms. This work is increasingly revealing that microglia are diverse, comprised of different states which perform different functions. This discovery promises to provide selective targets for therapeutic intervention across a wide range of disease conditions in which microglia were found to be implicated.
At this stage in the field, I think it is especially important to unravel how environmental risk factors for disease including chronic stress, sleep disturbances and infections, in addition to aging and pathology, influence microglial states and their function. My lab is using complementary approaches to assess microglial metabolism, ultrastructure, morphology, and molecular signature to help unravel the outcomes of various environmental factors and lifestyle elements along the aging trajectory. My presentation will focus on recent nomenclature guidelines in the field, discuss microglial diversity, and present some of our work on the dark microglia, which are suggested to play a key role in remodeling of the brain.
Marie-Ève Tremblay is a Canada Research Chair in Neurobiology of Aging and Cognition and a Full Professor at the Division of Medical Sciences of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, since July 2023. She obtained her Ph.D. in Neurological Sciences at Université de Montréal in 2009. She has conducted postdoctoral training with Dr. Ania Majewska in Rochester, New York (2008-10) as well as with Drs. Giulio Tononi and Chiara Cirelli at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2010-12). She started her first independent position at CRCHU de Québec-Université Laval in 2013, where she was Assistant Professor (2013-18) and Associate Professor (2018-20) of Molecular Medicine, as well as a Canada Research Chair in Neuroimmune Plasticity in Health and Therapy, before relocating to the University of Victoria as an Associate Professor at the Division of Medical Sciences (2020-23). Her research investigates the outcomes of various lifestyle and environmental influences on microglia, the immune cells of the brain, to design innovative treatment strategies for neurological disorders along the aging trajectory. She was ranked among the 1% most highly cited researchers by Clarivate in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. She has been a College Member of the Royal Society of Canada since 2023.
Webpage: Homepage - TREMBLAY LAB
Presentation will be recorded for member access after the sessions.
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featuring
Laurent Groc, PhD (DR)
CNRS - Université de Bordeaux
Join us for a live presentation
Will be rescheduled TBD
Autoimmunity in Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Neurological and psychiatric symptoms, as well as cognitive deficits, represent a prominent phenotype associated with variable forms of autoimmune encephalitis, regardless of the neurotransmitter receptor targeted by autoantibodies. The mechanistic underpinnings of these autoantibody-mediated conditions remain however still unclear. Using a combination of single molecule and superresolution imaging, immunocytochemistry, and electrophysiology, we investigated the molecular and cellular impacts of patient-derived autoantibodies against the glutamatergic NMDA receptor and other targets in the hippocampus. Here, I will discuss how autoimmunity in the neuropsychiatry is changing our field. More specifically, our current understanding on how autoantibodies trigger convergent network dysfunctions through a combination of shared and distinct mechanisms will be discussed, highlighting the major impact of autoantibodies onto extrasynaptic receptors. In addition, tuning the surface dynamics of membrane receptors emerges as an efficient target to circumvent autoantibody-induced cellular deficits.
Laurent Groc is Exceptional Class Research Director (DRCE CNRS) at the CNRS and Université de Bordeaux, head of the Team Developmental Brain Physiology and Pathology, and deputy director of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience. His research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the maturation of glutamate synapses in physiology and neuropsychiatric conditions, such as psychosis. He received his Ph.D. in Neurosciences in 2000 from Wayne State University (Michigan, USA) and Université de Lyon (France). He then joined the Department of Physiology at the University of Goteborg (Sweden) as a postdoctoral fellow to investigate the physiology of developing synapses. In 2004, he was appointed CNRS young investigator (CR) in Bordeaux to decrypt how excitatory synapses mature using an original combination of approaches. He received several prestigious awards, including the 2008 CNRS Young Investigator Award, 2009 Young Investigator Biology Award of the French Science Academy, 2015 Prix Foulon of the French Science Academy, 2015 Prix Dassault, 2016 Human Frontier Science Program Award, 2020 ERC Synergy Award, and 2022 CNRS Silver Medal. In 2020, he has been nominated Guest Professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden. Biosketch.
Webpage: Laurent Groc - France | CNRS
Presentations will be recorded for member access after the sessions.
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