Full professor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Faculty of Medicine

Marc Ouellette earned his Ph.D. on antibiotic resistance in bacteria from Université Laval. He then pursued postdoctoral studies at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), specializing in resistance to antimicrobial agents in protozoan parasites. In 1990, he joined the Infectious Disease Research Center (CRI) at Université Laval, where he currently serves as Professor and Director. From 2003 to 2024, he held a Canada Research Chair in Antimicrobial Resistance. Between 2010 and 2018, he also led the Institute of Infection and Immunity at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), where he worked, among other things, on the Ebola virus crisis in 2014 and the Zika outbreak in 2015–16. Since 2023, he has chaired the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Eastern Canada Pandemic Preparedness Hub (PPPeC).

Prof. Ouellette’s research focuses on the genomics of antimicrobial resistance, both in protozoan parasites and bacteria. He has contributed to fundamental discoveries on resistance mechanisms, particularly in Leishmania and Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus). Leishmania, classified among neglected tropical diseases, is the deadliest parasite after the malaria parasite, affecting around 12 million people. Pneumococcus, on the other hand, is among the most lethal bacteria worldwide, causing over a million deaths annually. It has been recognized by the WHO as a priority pathogen for the development of new treatments.

Prof. Ouellette’s lab employs various genomic screening methods combined with next-generation sequencing (NGS) to elucidate the mode of action and resistance mechanisms of antimicrobial agents. Omics approaches are also used to identify new therapeutic targets for novel compounds, or to better understand the cellular pathways involved in the survival or death of microorganisms, thereby guiding the development of innovative therapeutic strategies.