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

120 entries « ‹ 2 of 12 › »

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.

| Links:

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

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.

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

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

Journal Article

Mol Psychiatry, 26 (9), 2021.

| Links:

Alpaugh M, Cicchetti F

Huntington's disease: lessons from prion disorders

Journal Article

J Neurol, 268 (9), 2021.

Abstract | Links:

Gan-Or Z, Rao T, Leveille E, Degroot C, Chouinard S, Cicchetti F, Dagher A, Das S, Desautels A, Drouin-Ouellet J, Durcan T, Gagnon JF, Genge A, Karamchandani J, Lafontaine AL, Sun SLW, Langlois M, Levesque M, Melmed C, Panisset M, Parent M, Poline JB, Postuma RB, Pourcher E, Rouleau GA, Sharp M, Monchi O, Dupre N, Fon EA

The Quebec Parkinson Network: A Researcher-Patient Matching Platform and Multimodal Biorepository

Journal Article

J Parkinsons Dis, 10 (1), 2020.

Abstract | Links:

Masnata M, Salem S, de Rus Jacquet A, Anwer M, Cicchetti F

Targeting Tau to Treat Clinical Features of Huntington's Disease

Journal Article

Front Neurol, 11 , 2020.

Abstract | Links:

Savage JC, St-Pierre MK, Carrier M, El Hajj H, Novak SW, Sanchez MG, Cicchetti F, Tremblay ME

Microglial physiological properties and interactions with synapses are altered at presymptomatic stages in a mouse model of Huntington's disease pathology

Journal Article

J Neuroinflammation, 17 (1), 2020.

Abstract | Links:

Siddu A, David LS, Lauinger N, Chen X, Saint-Pierre M, Alpaugh M, Durcan T, Cicchetti F

Beneficial effects of cysteamine in Thy1-α-Syn mice and induced pluripotent stem cells with a SNCA gene triplication

Journal Article

Neurobiol Dis, 145 , 2020.

Abstract | Links:

Bartl S, Oueslati A, Southwell AL, Siddu A, Parth M, David LS, Maxan A, Salhat N, Burkert M, Mairhofer A, Friedrich T, Pankevych H, Balazs K, Staffler G, Hayden MR, Cicchetti F, Smrzka OW

Inhibiting cellular uptake of mutant huntingtin using a monoclonal antibody: Implications for the treatment of Huntington's disease

Journal Article

Neurobiol Dis, 141 , 2020.

Abstract | Links:

Gosset P, Maxan A, Alpaugh M, Breger L, Dehay B, Tao Z, Ling Z, Qin C, Cisbani G, Fortin N, Vonsattel JG, Lacroix S, Oueslati A, Bezard E, Cicchetti F

Evidence for the spread of human-derived mutant huntingtin protein in mice and non-human primates

Journal Article

Neurobiol Dis, 141 , 2020.

Abstract | Links:

120 entries « ‹ 2 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
  • Interrogating induced neuronal cells from Huntington’s disease patients to better understand cognitive impairments, from 2019-11-01 to 2023-06-30
  • Les effets de la cystéamine chez les patients souffrant de la maladie de Huntington : Analyse des données cliniques, from 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31
  • 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
  • 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
  • Projet de recherche clinique sur la maladie de Parkinson (Cystamine), from 2019-04-01 to 2022-03-31
  • Targeting the neurovascular unit to prevent disease dissemination and progression, from 2021-01-01 to 2023-03-31
Data provided by the Université Laval research projects registery