Research professional

Luce has been a nurse since 1993. From 1993 to 1997, she worked at Laval hospital on different departments (surgery, cardiology and internal medicine). Then she left Quebec city to work in Toronto at “Info health” system. In 2002, she worked at St-Hyacinthe hospital in the intensive care unit before coming back to her home town where she worked at Chauveau Hospital for two years. She has been working at Laval hospital (IUCPQ) since 2004 as a clinical research nurse.

She is in charge of the coordination and planning of the clinical trials done in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies. She makes sure the methodology of the protocols are carried out as intended while implementing the ethical review bord’s specifications are respected. She performs the techniques requested by the protocol and act as a link between the physician, the pharmaceutical company, and other people involved in the clinical trial.

After completing her laboratory technical training in biotechnologies at the Cegep of Levis-Lauzon in 2007, Pascale continued her training at the university level with the DEC-BAC agreement of Laval University and completed her bachelor’s degree in Microbiology in 2009. She then joined Dr. Caroline Duchaine’s team, specializing in air microbiology at the research center of the Quebec Heart & Lung Institute, to carry out her graduate studies for the master and PhD (2009 -2014) on the role of archaea in inflammation and their impact on human health. Pascale then worked as a research professional at CRIUCPQ in the team of Dr. David Marsolais; an expert in immunology and in the biology of sphingolipids (2014 to present). She was recently trained at the IUCPQ to manage the COZI clinical trial, initiated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and led, among others, by Dr. Marsolais, studying the efficacy and safety of ozanimod, a ligand for the sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor, in the treatment of COVID-19. These new tasks have enabled Pascale to acquire the knowledge necessary to become, in 2020, the manager of two clinical trials studying the efficacy and safety of apabetalone and olaparib in pulmonary hypertension, namely APPRoAcH and OPTION, directed by Dr. Steeve Provencher.

Pulmonary Hypertension Program
Specialized Pulmonology Clinics (CSP)
Clinic of Pulmonary Vascular and Interstitial Diseases

Pulmonary Hypertension Program
Specialized Pulmonology Clinics (CSP)
Clinic of Pulmonary Vascular and Interstitial Diseases

As she was completing a bachelor’s degree in biology at Laval University, Alice first joined the pulmonary hypertension research group as a summer intern. During her B.Sc. in general biology, her interests quickly turned to cell biology and medical research. The internship with the team only confirmed and strengthened her interests about research in pathophysiology. She thus decided to continue her work and joined the research group to begin her master’s degree in January 2017. As her projects evolved, her curiosity and interest have prompted her to pursue her doctoral studies in order to deepen her knowledge in pathophysiology. Her main PhD project aims to understand the implication of epigenetic factors in pulmonary arterial hypertension and to identify new therapeutic targets. Thanks to the experience acquired in recent years, she also had the opportunity to occupy a position as a research professional in addition to her studies.

During her University training in Cellular Biology and Plant Physiology (Tours-France), Sandra worked in a bio-organic chemistry laboratory in Trento (Italy), then completed her master’s degree in 1999 at the University of Oenology of Bordeaux-IV (France) during which she studied a grapevine disease at the National Institute of Agronomic Research in Bordeaux. Her professional career then led her to work from 1999 to 2003 in a laboratory for the analysis of wine taste defects (Laboratoire Excell, Mérignac, France). Then she worked in Animal Physiology in the Vascular Biology Research Laboratory at the University of Alberta (2003-2008, Edmonton). In Quebec City from 2009 to 2011 she worked at the proteomics platform of the CHUL as a Research professional, then in 2012 she joined the Pulmonary Hypertension Research Group at the IUCPQ; laboratory where she is the fundamental research coordinator.

Sandra did her undergraduate studies in biochemistry at Laval University. During those years, she did an internship in a laboratory at the research center of the Lung and Heart Institute specialized in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Thereafter, she completed a Master degree on the composition and function of the quadriceps in those patients. Since 2017, she’s been working in the pulmonary hypertension group as a research assistant.

Mélanie completed an internship in 2019 within the pulmonary arterial hypertension research group in order to validate the second year of her medical biology license. She had discovered her interest in fundamental research and molecular biology, and so she decided to pursue a master’s degree in molecular medicine at Laval University after graduating with a degree in experimental analytical biology from Université de Clermont-Ferrand (France) in june 2020. It is with pleasure that she joined Dr. Bonnet’s team again in 2021 to follow her research project on the role of Aurora Kinase B in pulmonary arterial hypertension. In spring 2022 she completed her Master’s degree, and in the spring of 2023 she joined the group as a research professional and she is the cell culture manager.

During her studies in Animal Health Technique at the Cegep of Saint-Felicien Charlie did 2 internships of 5 weeks each; one specialized in veterinary clinic at the Lachapelle hospital in Quebec City, and the other one in the PAH research group at the IUCPQ where she assists with the different treatment techniques for the research group’s animal protocols.

In March 2022, Charlie graduates from college and worked the following summer at the research center’s animal facility where she cares off the mice colonies as a junior animal health technician. In September 2022, she finally joined the PAH research group as a researcher professional in order to develop her expertise with all the different surgeries and procedures on rats and mice for the group’s many projects.

Mariko completed her secondary education at Kyushu University in the city of Fukuoka in Japan where she worked from 2007 as a clinical engineer at the hospital in the areas of life support devices such as artificial heart-lung machines, ventilators and blood purification devices. Then from 2014 to 2017 Mariko was assistant Professor at the faculty of Medical Sciences in the biomedical technologies division where she taught students biomedical laboratory techniques such as the use of electrocardiograms.

In 2018 Mariko obtained her PhD in engineering in fundamental research on visual prostheses. In 2023 she joined the PAH research group at the IUCPQ as a research professional.