Team

Research unit director

Team

Research Associates

My interest in cell biology began during my doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Julie Theriot at Stanford University. As a PhD student, I tackled the problem of understanding how stationary cells polarize and begin to move, looking at the large-scale spatial regulation of actin cytoskeletal dynamics in these cells. After receiving my PhD in 2006, I moved to Montreal to do my first post-doc here in the Charron lab, where I developed a novel in vitro assay for axon guidance and used it to identify a non-canonical Shh signaling pathway for axon guidance. I then joined the lab of Dr. David Colman at the Montreal Neurological Institute in 2008, where I was part of the Neuroengineering group. I used super-resolution microscopy to investigate the distribution of N-cadherin at neuronal synapses. In 2012, I finished my post-doc with Dr. Colman and returned to the Charron lab. I am currently a Research Associate and am pursuing my interest in projects at the interface of neuroscience, quantitative cell biology, and engineering, with a specific focus on axon guidance and Sonic hedgehog signaling.

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Frédéric Mille	I completed my Ph.D. in Lyon, France, in the laboratory of Patrick Mehlen where I was working on Ptch1-induced apoptosis. During my Ph.D. I received fellowships from the région Rhônes-Alpes and the Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC). Then, I joined the laboratory of Frédéric Charron at the IRCM at the beginning of 2009 as a postdoc where I am currently working on cancer projects related to Sonic Hedgehog signaling. In 2009, I received a "transition" fellowship from the Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC) and I am currently supported by a NCIC-Terry Fox fellowship.
Léa Lepelletier	Currently a post-doctoral researcher in the laboratory since February 2011, I completed my studies in France: Pharmacist at the University of Tours, Masters in Molecular and Cellular Biology in Strasbourg (peripheral nervous system development using Drosophila as a model, IGBM), and biology thesis in Paris (inner ear development in mice, Institut Pasteur). I am studying commissural axon guidance.
Michael Verwey	I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill University, co-supervised by Dr. Cecilia Flores (Douglas Mental Health University Institute) and Dr. Frederic Charron (Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal). In this position, I am studying the induction of plasticity in the dopamine system. I received my Ph.D. in the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology under the supervision of Dr. Shimon Amir (Department of Psychology, Concordia University), where I studied circadian rhythms in several areas of the limbic forebrain. I am currently an associate faculty member of the Faculty of 1000, a NeurOnline Champion for the Society for Neuroscience, and have received salary awards from the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.
Tiphaine Dolique	After completing a classic university course of first cycle, I joined the "Ecole Normale Supérieure-Ulm" of Paris, where I completed a Master degree in Neuroscience co-accredited Paris VI University-UPMC. Since the beginning of my research activity, the field of spinal cord neuronal networks is highly appealing to me as evidenced by my master internship in the laboratory of Dr. Y. De Koninck at Quebec on the study of the synaptic organization of the sensory spinal cord. I continued in the same research field for my Ph.D (MENRT fellowship) in Dr. F. Nagy's lab at Bordeaux where I devoted myself to the study of the plasticity of synaptic connections between dorsal horn neurons, in condition of spinal sensitization to pain. Always in the context of the study of the organization of sensory networks, I chose to realize my postdoc in Dr. F. Charron's lab by selecting a project on the visual system development that fits into an area of research that is both new (developmental biology) and complementary to my previous works on the cellular mechanisms controlling the development of sensory neural networks and the establishment of connections needed to become functional.

PhD Students

Darius Camp	I joined the Charron lab in 2007 where I study the transduction of the Hedgehog pathway using Drosophila melanogaster as model organism.
Tyler Sloan	I came to Montreal to study Neuroscience as an undergraduate at McGill, and I am now working on a doctoral degree within the program in Neuroengineering. My research interests involve integrating approaches from various fields to better our understanding of how nerve cells grow and can be guided. I have spent my time in the lab so far engineering a new axon guidance assay using microfluidics. I am interested in integrating experimental with theoretical modelling to further the fundamental principles of the field. I will continue my trans-disciplinary education at the frontiers between neurobiology, engineering and computer science.
Jimmy Peng	I completed my BScH at Queen's University in 2010 before starting my PhD in the Charron lab as part of the Developmental Biology program at McGill. Prior to my graduate studies, I worked in the lab of Ian Chin-Sang at Queen's University studying the role of the Eph receptor in PTEN regulation in C. elegans, and briefly in the lab of Joe Culotti at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Using mouse models, I am currently studying mechanisms of axon guidance in the visual system and spinal cord using in vivo and in vitro approaches. I am particularly fascinated by how guidance defects in specific populations of axons during development can lead to specific behavioural phenotypes. I received the NSERC Julie Payette Scholarship in 2010 and the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship in 2011.
Lukas Tamayo	I obtained my medical degree two years ago in Colombia; after that, I worked as an assistant professor of neuroanatomy. I also have some experience in clinical neurophysiology and histology of the nervous system. Currently, I am starting my PhD studies at the McGill University Integrated Program in Neuroscience. One of my intellectual passions is the study of evolution and development; I also spend some time reading philosophy books—I am a declared admirer of Karl Popper. For my thesis work in the Charron Lab, I am studying the role of sonic hedgehog signaling in the progression of medulloblastomas. These tumors are a unique example of how the deregulation of a developmental process leads to cancer.

MSc Students

Wei-Ju Chen

In 2006, I came to Montreal from Vancouver to start my undergraduate degree at McGill. During my undergraduate degree at McGill University, I became interested in developmental biology while working as a research assistant in one of the Biology labs in McGill. After my undergraduate degree I decided to pursue my interests and joined Dr. Charron’s lab to study the development of the nervous system and how misregulation in developmental pathways can lead to pathologies.

Karen Cholmondeley

I completed my BSc. in Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill University in 2011, and am currently at the Charron lab pursuing a MSc. in Experimental Medicine. Prior to this I worked at the MUHC/Montreal Children's Hospital on characterizing the expression of the Tmed genes, which are essential facilitators of protein cargo transport from the ER to the Golgi during embryonic development. My current project focuses on signal transduction of the Sonic Hedgehog pathway.

Support Staff

Steves Morin	I completed my Masters in 1999 in the laboratory of Dr. Mona Nemer at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal. This is where I met Fred Charron for the first time and our collaboration started! I left the IRCM in the winter of 1999 to work in the private industry at MethylGene Inc. In May 2005, I came back to IRCM with Fred as a research associate. When I'm not in the lab dissecting rats, I'm out running my 100 km a week!
Julie Cardin	I completed my BSc in Biochemistry in 1998 and my MSc in Endocrinology at the Université de Montréal in 2000. I worked as a research assistant, at the Montreal Heart Institute from 2000 to 2005, where I was doing fundamental and pre-clinical studies in hemodynamy. Since 2005, I split my time as research assistant between the Charron and Kania labs. In the Charron lab, mice say that I am the one who investigates which mouse is having an affair with whom: call this genotyping the mouse colony!
Jessica Barthe	Biography pending
Monique Villani	Biography pending