Sébastien HébertPh.D.

Dr. Hébert was born in Montréal in 1974. He studied biotechnology, and obtained his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology at Laval University in 2003. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in human genetics at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. In 2009, he was recruited as Assistant Professor at Laval University. Dr. Hébert is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Laval University. He is also a researcher (group leader) in the Neuroscience Unit of the Research Center of the CHU de Québec – Laval University.

Dr. Hébert’s work focuses on the biological and molecular mechanisms that cause neuronal death and dementia. Specifically, his research team studies the role of micro-RNAs in the development, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and Huntington’s disease. Micro-RNAs are small molecules in the body that are similar to DNA and regulate the level of proteins. Dr. Hébert’s pioneering research has shown that many micro-RNAs are deregulated in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and other types of dementia. Curiously, a number of these molecules can reproduce the pathological and clinical symptoms of dementia in biological models on their own, such as cultured neurons and mice. Dr. Hébert also uses the postmortem human brain as an indispensable tool for his research.

Recently, his work on a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease was presented by Le Soleil, the FM93 radio station, and The Alzheimer’s Society of Canada’s Website.

Dr. Hébert has received various awards, including the Alzheimer’s Society of Saskatchewan’s Young Investigator Grant (2010) and the FRQS Junior Research Scholar Career Award (2011, 2014). He has been a spokesperson for the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada (2011). In addition to his commitment to teaching, he regularly participates in various evaluation committees and conferences. Finally, he helps organize events and promote basic Canadian research on Alzheimer’s disease, and related dementias.