Simon Rousseau

Understanding the molecular pathology of ARDS using data from the Biobanque québécoise de la Covid-19 (BQC19)

Simon Rousseau, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine, McGill University 
The Meakins-Christie Laboratories;
Co-director
Quebec COVID-19 Biobank (BQC19);

In person: 
IRCM Auditorium
110, avenue des Pins O, H2W 1R7 Montreal
 

Online :
Zoom link : https://zoom.us/j/97704834107
ID : 977 0483 4107
Code : 375240

About this conference
A minority of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 will develop severe COVID-19 disease requiring invasive respiratory support associated with high mortality. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying severe pathology, we conducted an unsupervised stratification of the circulating proteome of 731 SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive hospitalized participants to the Biobanque Québécoise de la COVID-19. This led to the identification of several molecular features associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe COVID-19, including Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFR) and SH2-containing transforming protein 4 (SHC4) signaling. Interestingly, a prognostic model was developed and validated on 631 patients that creates new opportunities for automated identification of high-risk groups in the clinic. BQC19’s mission is to make sure scientists have access to high quality samples and data to carry out research on COVID-19. The content of the collection can be interrogated using the publicly available tool BENTO.

About Dr Simon Rousseau
Dr. Simon Rousseau is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University, and a member of the Meakins-Christie laboratories at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, part of the translational program in respiratory medicine. The major focus of his research program is systems biology of host-pathogen interactions in lung diseases. His work has been funded by the major provincial and national agencies (CFI, CIHR, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, FRQ-S, NSERC). He has published >80 peer-reviewed manuscripts leading to >9500 citations. 
He is a long-standing member of the Québec respiratory health research network, leading the Cystic Fibrosis strategic research group from 2012 to 2014, before becoming the multi-institution biobank codirector in 2015 and its director in 2018. At the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, he was named as the co-director of the Biobanque québécoise de la COVID-19 (BQC19), a provincial initiative established by FRQ-S and Génome Québec to help the research community investigate and mitigate the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infections. He became the Director of the Canadian Respiratory Research Network in January 2023, the largest network of researchers and clinician-scientists working in the field of respiratory health in Canada. 

About BQC19
The Quebec COVID-19 Biobank was created in an emergency at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first participant was recruited in early April 2020. Recruitment and follow-up of participants has continued without interruption throughout all pandemic waves: over 6,000 participants with severe, mild, or asymptomatic COVID-19 have been recruited to date, including pediatric participants and pregnant women. Many participants have now been followed for more than two years. This recruitment strategy has resulted in a dataset and biospecimens (>45,000) that cover the entire spectrum of the pandemic, including participants with long-standing COVID, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, as well as re-infected patients. This unique collection, enhanced by the high-quality multi-*omics data generated on 2,000 samples (plus 1,500 under analysis), places the BQC19 in an exceptional position to enable research to answer key questions about COVID-19, increase knowledge about this disease, and open new avenues of research. 

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