Dr. Louis R. Lapierre, PhD

Appointments:

Associate Professor, Dept. Chemistry and Biochemistry, Université de Moncton

Affiliations:

Université de Moncton, New Brunswick Centre for Precision Medicine

Research interests:

Lysosome, Proteasome, Aging, XPO1, Drug Resistance, Selective Autophagy, Solid cancers

Research Summary:

Location, location, location: Subcellular protein partitioning in oncogenesis.

Our laboratory focuses on the biology of aging and proteostasis using different model systems from nematodes to mice. Our work on nucleo-cytoplasmic protein partitioning serendipitously led us to pursue research into cancer cell proliferation and survival. Specifically, our laboratory focuses on the modulation of nuclear protein export and proteostasis in order to alter cancer cells ability to build biomass, and to survive various proteotoxic and chemotherapeutic stresses. Our work also aims to uncover new biomarkers in human cancers that helps us define and develop specific therapeutic routes to accomplish precision medicine.

Hometown: Lac-St-Jean, Québec

What brought you to your current institution? I originally build my independent research career as an NIH-funded tenure-track Assistant Professor at Brown University, with the intention of eventually coming back to lead a laboratory in Canada. Being an alum, I feel connected to the Université de Moncton, and the emergence of the New Brunswick Centre for Precision Medicine in Moncton matched our recent interests in cancer research and precision medicine.

Learn More about my research: https://sites.google.com/view/lapierrelab/home

Involvement with BHCRI to date:

As our laboratory recently started in Moncton in 2022, I have had the chance to attend the BHCRI conference and reconnect with former colleagues in Halifax. One of our current summer students, Eva Abou-Samra, is an awardee of the BHCRI Summer Studentship

Contact:

louis.rene.lapierre@umoncton.ca

Twitter handle: @LapierreLab

Recent News:

Dr. Lapierre was invited to present his laboratory’s recent work on the regulation of nucleo-cytoplasmic protein partitioning in cancer and aging at the Signalisation Québec 2024 meeting in Nicolet, Qc in June 2024. Judging by the outstanding quality of posters and short talks by graduate trainees, the future of signalisation-related research is in excellent hands.