Francesca CicchettiPh.D.

Dr. Cicchetti obtained her Ph.D. in neurobiology from Laval University in Québec City (Canada) in 1998. In 2002, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in the field of cell replacement therapy for neurodegenerative disorders. She is now a professor for the department of Psychiatry & Neurosciences, of Laval University’s Medical School in Québec City. Dr. Cicchetti has published over 80 manuscripts in various high impact journals such as PNAS, Annals of Neurology, Acta Neuropathologica, Trends in Pharmacology, and Brain. She has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award (2007-2012), the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ) Junior Research Award (2003-2006 and 2006-2007), Young Investigator Award from NARSAD (2006) and Parkinson Society Canada (2002) and more recently, the prestigious National Researcher award from FRQS (2014-2017), followed by an FRQS research Chair (2017-2021). Three of her recent publications (2014, 2015, 2016) have been awarded most influential papers in the field of Huntington’s disease. She is an active member of several scientific committees and editorial boards.

Our research program is built on 3 distinct themes: 1) to better understand the phenomena that may contribute to the development or the propagation of the pathological aspects found in neurodegenerative diseases (in particular Parkinson’s and Huntington’s) and related-cognitive features; 2) to develop therapeutic strategies that would allow an early or late intervention in the evolution of the disease; 3) to study the mechanisms of action underlying the beneficial and/or detrimental effects of current experimental therapies (cell transplantation and deep brain stimulation) in order to improve these methodologies for the clinic. Our research program is based on translational research, from the animal model to the clinic, with the goal of developing novel therapeutic targets for individuals suffering from Parkinson’s and/or Huntington’s diseases. With this research program, we have developed a considerable expertise in the animal models of these diseases, in imaging/microscopy in small animals, but more importantly in the histopathological analyses of human tissue. Our collaborations with various clinicians provide us invaluable access to human samples (blood, spinal cord, and brain), at times extremely rare (ex.: the brains of transplanted patients). Various pharmaceutical/industrial partners with whom we also collaborate will help us accelerate our findings to tangible clinical applications.