Richard LarivièrePh.D.

Dr. Richard Larivière is a professor in the Department of Medicine at Laval University, and a researcher within the Endocrinology and Nephrology axis of the CHU of Quebec Research Centre. He is also Director of Master’s and PhD programs in Clinical and Biomedical Sciences of the Faculty of Medicine at Laval University. Following his doctoral studies in Clinical Sciences (cardiovascular pharmacology) at the Université de Montréal, and postdoctoral studies in molecular endocrinology at McGill University, Dr. Larivière established himself as a professor-researcher in nephrology and hypertension at L’Hôtel-Dieu de Québec. He is an active member of the Amgen-Laval University Research Chair in Nephrology, a multidisciplinary group of fundamentalist and clinical researchers.

The main objective of Dr. Larivière’s research is to better define the mechanisms of arterial hypertension and remodeling of the blood vessel wall. More specifically, he studies the role of endothelial dysfunction, that is, factors derived from the vascular endothelium in the pathogenesis of arterial hypertension, vascular and renal damage in the case of chronic renal failure, and aging. Over the years, he has demonstrated that an imbalance in endothelial production of vasoconstrictor and vasodilator factors, as well as pro-inflammatory factors, contributes significantly to the increase of arterial pressure and rigidity by stimulating, among other things, hypertrophic remodeling and calcification of the blood vessel wall. He has also demonstrated that endothelial dysfunction can be modulated by various endocrine factors and pharmacological agents, including certain drugs. Dr. Larivière’s research uses a variety of experimental models and human tissue libraries.