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You are cordially invited to attend the seminar of Dr. Louis-Philippe Leroux, a candidate for the tenure-track position of Assistant Professor in One Health Against Pathogens in the Institute of Parasitology.

Title: From innate immunity to a One Health perspective: Understanding the molecular mechanisms to combat parasitic diseases

Parasitic diseases are caused by a broad range of evolutionary diverse organisms and affect both animal and human populations worldwide as well as the environment. Unfortunately, parasites often receive less attention to the extent that many diseases caused by these organisms are absent from the global health agenda despite being among the most prevalent. In order to fight these pathogens, it is imperative to understand how they subvert immune responses to persist within their hosts. The apicomplexan Toxoplasma gondii and the helminths from the Trichuris genus have proven to be useful models to study these complex biological processes. Our work with these organisms has demonstrated that the modulation of innate immune responses involves complex transcriptional, translational, and posttranslational networks in part influenced by parasite-derived virulence factors. Building upon these studies, unraveling the regulatory mechanisms, through integrated multiomics and immunophenotyping approaches, may help identify common pathways dysregulated during both infections and other diseased states such as inflammatory disorders and pave the way to novel therapies and, by extension, strengthen global health.

About the speaker

Louis-Philippe Leroux

Candidate for the Assistant Professor Position One Health Against Pathogens

I obtained my Ph.D. at the Institute of Parasitology under the supervision of Dr. Florence Dzierszinski. My thesis focused on the dysregulation of MHC-II antigen presentation by the Toxoplasma gondii. I then undertook my first postdoctoral training in Dr. Armando Jardim's laboratory at McGill. Our work focused on the excreted-secreted molecules from the pig whipworm Trichuris suis.

I later joined Dr. Maritza Jaramillo's laboratory at the INRS-CAFSB for a second postdoctoral training. I spearheaded projects that led to the first published translatomes of macrophages infected by parasites (T. gondii and Leishmania donovani). Recently, we have initiated drug screening projects to investigate the anti-parasitic potential of synthetic rocaglate compounds, which target mRNA translation. In addition to my academic research, I have worked as a Principal Scientist at CellCarta, a contract research organization (CRO), where I supervised over 20 studies sponsored by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Furthermore, I am a cofounder of the Canadian Parasitology Network (CPN), a pan-Canadian network of researchers and trainees, and helm its various activities. Now, I wish to establish my laboratory to study the role of central nodes of regulation that dictate innate immune polarization and functions in response to parasitic diseases and their virulence factors.

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