A pharmacist by training, Dr. Nicolas Bertrand is an assistant professor at Laval University’s School of Pharmaceutical Studies. He is also a researcher in the department of Endocrinology and Nephrology at the CHU de Quebec Research Center. His research in nanomedicine focuses on potentiating the efficacy of therapeutic molecules by using nanotechnologies. He is the editor of the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics (Elsevier, IF: 4.2) and director of the « Biopharmacy et pharmacometrics » strategic cluster of the Réseau Québécois de Recherche sur les Médicaments (rqrm.ca). He is an associate member of the Institute on Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (INAF) and of the Centre de Recherche sur les Matériaux Avancés (CERMA).
Encapsulating bioactive molecules through differentiated technologies
Many drugs in development, or already on the market, possess suboptimal physiochemical or pharmacological characteristics. Nanomedicine can harness the unique features of nanomaterials to facilitate the administration of these drugs, or potentiate their efficacy. Encapsulation of bioactive molecules in nanoparticles can prevent their metabolism, ameliorate their pharmacokinetics, or ensure their optimal distribution to diseased tissues. Altogether, these effects can pave the way for more efficient and better tolerated drugs.
Dr. Nicolas Bertrand’s laboratory uses functional polymers and lipids to encapsulate a variety of bioactive molecules in clinically-relevant drug delivery vehicles.
Elucidate the interactions of nanomaterials with the immune system
Like other drugs, the use of nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles can trigger unexpected or undesirable reactions. The type of system, its size, or the materials used in its preparation can all influence the nature and extent of its interactions with the immune system. The development of better tolerated nanomedicines necessitates a better understanding of how drug delivery platforms interact with the various components of the immune system.
Through a unique expertise in the preparation of nanoparticle libraries, combined with an established knowledge in preclinical pharmacokinetics, Dr. Nicolas Bertrand’s laboratory specialises in studying the fate of nano- and biomaterials in living animals. This approach leads to an integrated understanding of the interactions of materials with complete, functional biological systems.
2705, boulevard Laurier
T4-13
Québec, Québec
Canada G1V 4G2
Latest news
Size Exclusion of Radioactive Polymers (SERP) informs on the biodegradation of trimethyl chitosan and biodegradable polymer nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo
Journal ArticleJ Control Release, 346 , 2022.
Innate and adaptive immune responses toward nanomedicines
Journal ArticleActa Pharm Sin B, 11 (4), 2021.
Isolating Nanoparticles from Complex Biological Media by Immunoprecipitation
Journal ArticleNano Lett, 21 (11), 2021.
Role of the complement cascade in the biological fate of liposomes in rodents
Journal ArticleNanoscale, 12 (36), 2020.
Drinkable lecithin nanovesicles to study the biological effects of individual hydrophobic macronutrients and food preferences
Journal ArticleFood Chem, 322 , 2020.
Residual Solvents in Nanomedicine and Lipid-Based Drug Delivery Systems: a Case Study to Better Understand Processes
Journal ArticlePharm Res, 37 (8), 2020.
Nanotechnologies dans le domaine agroalimentaire : que devons-nous savoir
Journal ArticleNutrition, science en évolution : revue de l'Ordre professionnel des diététistes du Québec, 16 , 2019.
Induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress by aminosteroid derivative RM-581 leads to tumor regression in PANC-1 xenograft model
Journal ArticleInvest New Drugs, 37 (3), 2019.
Insights into gold nanoparticles as a mucoadhesive system
Journal ArticleSci Rep, 8 (1), 2018.
Molecular Rotors for Universal Quantitation of Nanoscale Hydrophobic Interfaces in Microplate Format
Journal ArticleNano Lett, 18 (1), 2018.
Active projects
- Adaptation de la méthode SERP (size exclusion of radioactive polymers) aux nanovecteurs de silice , from 2021-12-17 to 2022-12-16
- Elucidating the link between toxicities of PEG-asparaginase and antiPEG antibodies, from 2021-04-01 to 2022-07-31
- Engineering functional nanoparticles using libraries of polymers, from 2016-04-01 to 2023-03-31
- FGR - Projet MAKISU ; de l'impression 3D au médicament injectable, from 2022-02-15 to 2023-02-14
- Nanopharmacologie et nanomédecine : vers le développement de plates-formes technologiques pour la vectorisation des médicaments, from 2018-07-01 to 2022-06-30
- Nanopharmacologie et nanomédecine: vers le développement de plates-formes technologiques pour la vectorisation des médicaments, from 2018-07-01 to 2022-06-30
- Pharmacological optimization of OpKemo, a silica-based nanoparticle platform for oncology, from 2022-01-31 to 2024-03-31
- Plate-forme de production de nanoparticules lipidiques pour le développement de thérapies à base d'acides nucléiques, from 2022-03-22 to 2023-09-28
- Un nano-vaccin contre les maladies cardiovasculaires, from 2020-04-01 to 2024-03-31
- Use of nanoparticles to understand and treat vascular calcification in chronic kidney disease, from 2020-10-01 to 2022-09-30
Recently finished projects
- Designing quality control strategies to assess the self-assembly and biological stability of chitosan nanoparticles, from 2018-05-01 to 2021-06-30
- Envisager une protection contre le passage des perturbateurs endocriniens à travers la peau, from 2019-02-01 to 2020-12-31
- Étude des échantillons de sang prélevés avant et après la vaccination contre la Covid-19, from 2021-04-30 to 2022-03-31
- Prevention of glioblastoma recurrence by injection in the resection cavity of a hydrogel formed by targeted lipid nanocapsules loaded with anticancer drugs, GLIOGEL, from 2018-04-01 to 2021-03-31
- Profil toxicologique de nanosphères de silice comme vecteur pharmaceutique, from 2019-10-01 to 2021-03-11