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.

CHUL
2705, boulevard Laurier
T2-07
Québec, Québec
Canada G1V 4G2
+1 418-525-4444, extension 48853
+1 418-654-2298
francesca.cicchetti@crchu...

Latest news

119 entries « ‹ 1 of 12 › »

Salem S, Cicchetti F

Untangling the Role of Tau to Huntington's Disease Pathology

Journal Article

J Huntingtons Dis, 2023.

Abstract | Links:

Denis HL, Alpaugh M, Alvarez CP, Fenyi A, Barker RA, Chouinard S, Arrowsmith CH, Melki R, Labib R, Harding RJ, Cicchetti F

Detection of antibodies against the huntingtin protein in human plasma

Journal Article

Cell Mol Life Sci, 80 (2), 2023.

Abstract | Links:

de Rus Jacquet A, Cicchetti F

Prompting endogenous repair of brain injury: science fiction or reality?

Journal Article

Mol Neurodegener, 17 (1), 2022.

Abstract | Links:

Bérard M, Sheta R, Malvaut S, Rodriguez-Aller R, Teixeira M, Idi W, Turmel R, Alpaugh M, Dubois M, Dahmene M, Salesse C, Lamontagne-Proulx J, St-Pierre MK, Tavassoly O, Luo W, Del Cid-Pellitero E, Qazi R, Jeong JW, Durcan TM, Vallières L, Tremblay ME, Soulet D, Lévesque M, Cicchetti F, Fon EA, Saghatelyan A, Oueslati A

A light-inducible protein clustering system for in vivo analysis of α-synuclein aggregation in Parkinson disease

Journal Article

PLoS Biol, 20 (3), 2022.

Abstract | Links:

Alpaugh M, Masnata M, de Rus Jacquet A, Lepinay E, Denis HL, Saint-Pierre M, Davies P, Planel E, Cicchetti F

Passive immunization against phosphorylated tau improves features of Huntington's disease pathology

Journal Article

Mol Ther, 30 (4), 2022.

Abstract | Links:

Alpaugh M, Denis HL, Cicchetti F

Prion-like properties of the mutant huntingtin protein in living organisms: the evidence and the relevance

Journal Article

Mol Psychiatry, 27 (1), 2022.

Abstract | Links:

Pereira Luppi M, Azcorra M, Caronia-Brown G, Poulin JF, Gaertner Z, Gatica S, Moreno-Ramos OA, Nouri N, Dubois M, Ma YC, Ramakrishnan C, Fenno L, Kim YS, Deisseroth K, Cicchetti F, Dombeck DA, Awatramani R

Sox6 expression distinguishes dorsally and ventrally biased dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra with distinctive properties and embryonic origins

Journal Article

Cell Rep, 37 (6), 2021.

Abstract | Links:

Rieux M, Alpaugh M, Sciacca G, Saint-Pierre M, Masnata M, Denis HL, Lévesque SA, Herrmann F, Bazenet C, Garneau AP, Isenring P, Truant R, Oueslati A, Gould PV, Ast A, Wanker EE, Lacroix S, Cicchetti F

Shedding a new light on Huntington's disease: how blood can both propagate and ameliorate disease pathology

Journal Article

Mol Psychiatry, 26 (9), 2021.

Abstract | Links:

de Rus Jacquet A, Bogard S, Normandeau CP, Degroot C, Postuma RB, Dupré N, Miyasaki JM, Monchi O, Martino D, Fon EA, Cicchetti F

Clinical perception and management of Parkinson's disease during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Canadian experience

Journal Article

Parkinsonism Relat Disord, 91 , 2021.

Abstract | Links:

de Rus Jacquet A, Denis HL, Cicchetti F, Alpaugh M

Correction to: Current and future applications of induced pluripotent stem cell-based models to study pathological proteins in neurodegenerative disorders

Journal Article

Mol Psychiatry, 26 (7), 2021.

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119 entries « ‹ 1 of 12 › »
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Active projects

  • Crosstalk at the blood-brain barrier: new insights into Parkinson's disease, from 2022-06-30 to 2024-06-30
  • Premier biomarqueur sanguin de la maladie de Parkinson : de la validation à la commercialisation, from 2022-09-14 to 2024-09-13
  • Preventing pathological protein spread in Huntington's disease: relevance to pathology and treatment, from 2021-12-20 to 2024-12-19
  • Preventing pathological protein spread in Huntington's disease: relevance to pathology and treatment, from 2020-04-01 to 2025-03-31
  • Redefining PD pathophysiology mechanisms in the context of teterogeneous substantia nigra neuron subtypes, from 2021-09-01 to 2024-08-31
  • Targeting the neurovascular unit to prevent disease dissemination and progression, from 2021-01-01 to 2023-03-31
  • Untangling tau contribution to cognitive impairments in Huntington’s disease., from 2019-04-01 to 2024-03-31

Recently finished projects

  • Compréhension de la pathogénèse des maladies neurodégénératives et développement de stratégies thérapeutiques, from 2017-07-01 to 2021-06-30
  • CRISPR-Cas9 nickase as a new approach to treat Huntington’s disease, from 2019-07-01 to 2022-03-31
  • Interrogating induced neuronal cells from Huntington’s disease patients to better understand cognitive impairments, from 2019-11-01 to 2023-02-28
  • Projet de recherche clinique sur la maladie de Parkinson (Cystamine), from 2019-04-01 to 2022-03-31
Data provided by the Université Laval research projects registery