Jean Sévigny

Professor Sévigny teaches at the Department of Microbiology-Infectiology and Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine of Université Laval. He completed his doctorate at the Université de Sherbrooke and his postdoctoral studies at Harvard in Boston. By 2024, Professor Sévigny had already contributed to the publication of more than 300 scientific articles. He also has about ten patents to his name.

Professor Sévigny’s team is interested in elucidating the functions of extracellular nucleotides, which act by activating around twenty P2 receptors. The emphasis of their research focuses particularly on the enzymes that regulate nucleotide concentrations on the surface of cells. Professor Sévigny and his team have identified, cloned, and characterized six new genes, including the first and last members of a new family encoding enzymes called NTPDases. His team is interested in several functions, including the regulation of inflammation in response to pathogenic determinants, the migration of immune cells, the functions of leukocytes, the contraction of smooth muscles, and particularly the regulation of intestinal inflammation, with an emphasis on epithelial cells and potential treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.

For their research, Professor Sévigny’s team uses animal models with knockout mice as well as methods of cellular biology (culture of primary murine and human cells), pharmacology, biochemistry, and immunology. Professor Sévigny also serves as director of an antibody production platform.