Martine Therrien PhD

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My research aims to use a multi-model approach to understand how genetic variants affect the initiation and progression of neurodegenerative disorders and rapidly translate my finding 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 my undergraduate degree at McGill University, I earned a MSc and PhD at the University of Montréal in 2016. During my doctoral research, I 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. I 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, I developed a platform that uses iPSC-derived microglia to interrogate the effect of genetic and brain environment on microglia states and functions. I was awarded an FRQS (Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé) and a CIHR (Canadian Institute of Health Research) postdoctoral fellowships.