Pierre Ayotte

Pierre Ayotte, a professor-researcher in toxicology at the Faculty of Medicine of Université Laval and an associated researcher at the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), has dedicated his career to studying the effects of environmental contaminants on the health of isolated coastal populations, whose diet relies on marine resources.

After completing his doctorate in pharmacology-toxicology at the University of Montreal, Prof. Ayotte began his career at the Quebec Ministry of the Environment as a toxicologist tasked with assessing the risk associated with the presence of trace pollutants in drinking water. Subsequently, he joined Dr. Éric Dewailly’s environmental health research team, where he was responsible for evaluating exposure using toxicological analyses (biomarkers) in epidemiological studies focusing on the deleterious effects of environmental contaminants on health. He has been a professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine since 1993.

Over the past few decades, we have witnessed a decrease in concentrations of traditional pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls and DDT in the environment, and the emergence of new contaminants such as poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and microplastics. To address these new challenges, Prof. Ayotte collaborates with chemists from the Quebec Toxicology Center (INSPQ) to develop innovative analytical methods to detect and quantify these new contaminants in biological samples.

In addition to environmental contaminants, Prof. Ayotte is also interested in the nutrients present in the traditional Inuit diet. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and selenium are particularly abundant in the sea foods consumed by the Nunavimmiut. Prof. Ayotte and his team have identified an organic form of selenium, selenoneine, in the blood of the Nunavimmiut and in the skin of beluga whales (mattaaq), a highly prized food in this population. This form of selenium appears to offer protection against exposure to methylmercury, a neurotoxic compound found in the flesh of marine mammals. This discovery has sparked several research projects aimed at identifying the origin of selenoneine in the Arctic marine environment and characterizing the pharmacological properties of this unique compound.

Lastly, as the scientific co-director of the Qanuilirpitaa? 2017 survey, Prof. Ayotte was involved in the establishment and implementation of this extensive health survey conducted among the Nunavimmiut. In the coming years, Prof. Ayotte intends to continue analyzing the data from this survey to understand how ongoing environmental and lifestyle changes in Nunavik influence the health and well-being of the population, and he aims to collaborate on the development of adaptation strategies to minimize the deleterious effects of these changes.