Position Title
Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology
- Center for Neuroscience
Research Summary
Stem cell models to study neuro-immune interactions in health and disease
The Gliomics Research Group studies how genetics and environment impact microglia states in health and diseases. They use a multi-model approach to understand how genetic variants affect the initiation and progression of neurodegenerative disorders and rapidly translate their findings to humans. Microglia are constantly sensing and responding to the brain environment. Understanding how microglia respond to changes in the brain micro-environment and how genetic susceptibility alters their normal response will increase our understanding of early disease events.
After completing her undergraduate degree at McGill University, Martine Therrien earned a MSc and Ph.D. at the University of Montréal in 2016. During her doctoral research, she developed models to better understand the genetic causes of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and became interested in understanding why some cell types are more affected than others in neurodegenerative disorders. She continued to pursue this question in Beth Stevens lab at the Broad Institute to elucidate the consequences of Alzheimer’s disease genetics on microglial functions. To do so, Dr. Therrien developed a platform that uses iPSC-derived microglia to interrogate the effect of genetic and brain environment on microglia states and functions. She was awarded an FRQS (Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé) and a CIHR (Canadian Institute of Health Research) postdoctoral fellowships.