Dr. Frédéric Calon is a Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and principal investigator at the Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Laval University since 2003. He is a biochemist-pharmacist focusing his research program on the development of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Author of more than 120 peer-reviewed articles, he and his team at Laval University, Quebec City, mainly carry on preclinical assays in animal models of brain diseases or neuropathology studies on human brain samples. His fields of expertise are focused on neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s), essential tremor, as well as general neuropharmacology. Dr. Calon is mostly known for his contribution to the discovery of a neuroprotective effect of omega-3 fatty acids in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ischemic stroke. He cofounded with Sophie Layé (Bordeaux) in 2014 the Laboratoire International Associé (LIA) OptiNutriBrain, a unique collaborative laboratory now one of the world references in research on nutrition and brain diseases.
Dr. Calon’s group has also contributed to the discoveries of neuropathological clues in the cerebellum of patients that had suffered from essential tremor.
Finally, Dr. Calon’s team has developed a unique research platform to quantitatively and qualitatively the capacity of drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier, which is now the limiting step in CNS drug development.
His discoveries have been the subject of hundreds of public reports (radio, TV, and written press) and were highlighted by major national and international media. These discoveries have attracted considerable public interest and media coverage, including prime time interviews for Radio-Canada (TV, radio, internet) and the front page of the Globe and Mail. Dr. Calon’s work on GABA receptors in ET was selected among the top 10 scientific discoveries made in Quebec in 2012 and featured on “Le code Chastenay” on Télé-Québec, and he was also chosen as one of the “Lauréats de Québec LeSoleil/Radio-Canada” (personalities of the week) in 2013. In addition, one of his latest discoveries was published in Paris Match in 2015.
The goal of Dr. Calon’s work is to accelerate the transfer of knowledge from basic neuroscience to clinical applications for CNS diseases.
2705, boulevard Laurier
T2-50
Québec, Québec
Canada G1V 4G2
Latest news
- [ULaval Nouvelles] Découverte d’une protéine qui influence la progression de l’alzheimer 2023-06-20
- [ULaval Nouvelles] L’alzheimer associé à la perte de récepteurs de l’insuline dans les microvaisseaux sanguins du cerveau 2022-10-26
- IRSC : Un financement de près de 8 millions de dollars pour 10 projets de recherche 2022-07-19
State of the Science on Brain Insulin Resistance and Cognitive Decline Due to Alzheimer's Disease
Journal ArticleAging Dis, 2023.
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Pharmacokinetics, biodistribution and toxicology of novel cell-penetrating peptides
Journal ArticleSci Rep, 13 (1), 2023.
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Sex and Age Differences in a Progressive Synucleinopathy Mouse Model
Journal ArticleBiomolecules, 13 (6), 2023.
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Postsynaptic Protein Shank3a Deficiency Synergizes with Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology to Impair Cognitive Performance in the 3xTg-AD Murine Model
Journal ArticleJ Neurosci, 43 (26), 2023.
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Direct and Indirect Effects of Filamin A on Tau Pathology in Neuronal Cells
Journal ArticleMol Neurobiol, 60 (2), 2023.
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Cerebrovascular insulin receptors are defective in Alzheimer's disease
Journal ArticleBrain, 146 (1), 2023.
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Investigating the plasma-liver-brain axis of omega-3 fatty acid metabolism in mouse knock-in for the human apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele
Journal ArticleJ Nutr Biochem, 111 , 2023.
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A diet rich in docosahexaenoic acid enhances reactive astrogliosis and ramified microglia morphology in apolipoprotein E epsilon 4-targeted replacement mice
Journal ArticleAging Brain, 2 , 2022.
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Evidence of Filamin A loss of solubility at the prodromal stage of neuropathologically-defined Alzheimer's disease
Journal ArticleFront Aging Neurosci, 14 , 2022.
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Combining NGN2 programming and dopaminergic patterning for a rapid and efficient generation of hiPSC-derived midbrain neurons
Journal ArticleSci Rep, 12 (1), 2022.
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Active projects
- Blueberry polyphenol metabolites: biodistribution and mechanisms of protection at the blood-brain barrier, from 2023-08-25 to 2024-03-31
- Elimination of senescent endothelial cells to prevent vascular dementia in aging atheroscierotic mice, from 2019-10-01 to 2024-09-30
- Évaluation des conditions de culture optimales chez la macroalgue Palmaria palmata pour la production d’acides aminés analogues à la mycosporine et étude de leur biodisponibilité systémique et cérébrale chez la souris, from 2022-11-09 to 2023-11-08
- Fatty acid metabolism in carriers of apolipoprotein E. epsilon 4 allele: determining the blood-to-brain link, from 2020-04-01 to 2025-03-31
- FGF-21 in Alzheimer's disease, from 2022-10-01 to 2027-09-30
- Health Research Training to Address Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Decline: the Vascular Training (VAST) Platform, from 2022-01-01 to 2027-12-31
- How does insulin interact with the blood-brain barrier? Therapeutic implications for diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, from 2020-04-01 to 2025-03-31
- Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF), from 2017-04-01 to 2024-03-31
- Laboratoire international associé (LIA) OptiNutriBrain, from 2015-03-01 to 2025-03-01
- Mechanisms of endocytosis and transcytosis into endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier, from 2020-04-01 to 2025-03-31
- Nutrition and brain health, from predictive biology to disease prevention and treatment - Food4BrainHealth, from 2019-03-18 to 2024-03-17
- Phase Two of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, from 2019-04-01 to 2024-03-31
- Plateforme Biomarqueurs et cibles thérapeutiques – Cohorte clinique CIMA-Q, from 2019-04-01 to 2024-03-31
- Risk factors and markers for early detection of Alzheimer's Disease: focus on early-life stress, inflammation and lipid mediators, from 2021-12-01 to 2024-11-30
- Team 7.1.1: Investigation of cerebrovascular pathology using cerebral microvessel extracts and in animal models, from 2019-04-01 to 2025-03-31
Recently finished projects
- Approches clinicopathologiques et précliniques au développement de traitements pour les maladies neurodégénératives, from 2018-07-01 to 2022-06-30
- Elucidating the role of the Alzheimer risk factor CD2AP in brain capillary endothelial cells and vascular functions, from 2018-10-01 to 2023-03-31
- Investigating the contribution of Shank3 in Alzheimer's disease, from 2018-04-01 to 2023-03-31
- Multi-pathway cholesterol depletion on top of FOLFIRINOX in newly diagnosed metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma: a feasibility and proof-of-concept study, from 2019-10-01 to 2021-09-30
- Neuronalg - Les effets bénéfiques des macroalgues du Saint-Laurent sur la santé cognitive, from 2020-04-01 to 2022-10-31
- Valorisation d'algues marines et étude de la bioactivité des acides aminés de type mycosporine (NeuronAlg), from 2020-04-01 to 2023-03-31