Véronique Moulin

Following her training in France, in Paris, Dr. Moulin was recruited to better understand the complex process of healing. Since 1998, she has been a professor at Université Laval, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery but also a researcher at the LOEX Center at Université Laval and at the Research Center of the CHU de Quebec. Her work focuses on the normal and pathological mechanisms of skin healing. To perform this, she uses different cell culture models reconstituted by tissue engineering to reproduce in vitro fibrotic skin diseases (hypertrophic scars, scleroderma). At the same time, she uses the tissue engineering method to reconstruct cutaneous substitutes to treat skin deficient patients, after burns, for example.

Myofibroblasts in normal or pathological scars: These cells appear during wound healing and play an important role in the contraction of the edges of the wound. Dr. Moulin’s team has shown that these cells also play a central role in the production of extracellular matrix as well as in angiogenesis. They also have a role in the formation of disabling scars such as hypertrophic scars. Dr. Moulin’s team analyzes the different functions of myofibroblasts in normal or pathological scarring; investigates existing interactions between endothelial cells, keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and myofibroblasts; and analyzes the role of extracellular matrix secreted by cells in various cellular functions such as apoptosis, angiogenesis, or cell differentiation.

Systemic scleroderma: This pathology is a fibrotic disease that stiffens all organs, including the skin, and is fatal in the long term. Dr. Moulin uses the method of tissue engineering to understand this pathology but especially to determine new treatments to reduce fibrosis.

Clinical application of tissue engineering: Tissue engineering skin production is carried out from patients’ cells and then grafted onto them to allow closure of wounds in patients unable to heal after extensive burns or other pathologies. The properties of skin reconstructed by our method are being evaluated in a clinical trial accepted by Health Canada to cover large burned patients.