Guy Sauvageau
RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS
Dr. Sauvageau is the Founding Scientific Director of IRIC and was CEO of the institute from 2007 to 2014. Since 2004, he holds the Canada Research Chair in the Molecular Genetics of Stem Cells. Dr. Sauvageau is an internationally-recognized researcher and clinician, with a research focus on the nature of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and the molecular signals that regulate their proliferation, survival and differentiation.
Over the last fifteen years, Dr. Sauvageau’s work has led to ground-breaking discoveries in understanding the production of HSCs. He and his research team identified the key role of the HOXB4 and Bmi1 genes in regulating HSC self-renewal. His laboratory uses functional screening approaches to identify genetic networks implicated in this process.
More recently, Dr. Sauvageau and his team were the first to successfully induce the expansion of HSCs ex vivo. Published in the prestigious scientific journal Science in October 2014, this breakthrough is instrumental in accelerating the development of novel treatments for patients waiting for a bone marrow transplant.
In the last few years, his team has also led a large scale genomics project – The Leucegene Project – aimed at the identification of all genetic mutations associated with certain types of leukemia. This work will have important clinical applications, currently under development, and may change the way we treat leukemic patients.
Finally, in 2014, the discovery of a new molecule that expands stem cells from umbilical cord blood has earned Dr Sauvageau and the members of his team the La Presse award for Scientific Personality of the Year, the Radio-Canada award for Scientist of the Year, and Québec Science magazine’s readers prize for Discovery of the Year.
AFFILIATIONS
- Principal Investigator, IRIC
- Professor, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal
- Adjunct Professor, Department of Experimental Medicine, McGill University
- Hematologist, Bone Marrow Transplant Centre, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital
- Scientific Advisor, Quebec Leukemia Cell Bank
AWARDS & HONORS
- Canada Research Chair in Molecular Genetics of Stem Cells 2004 - ...
- Stohlman Scholar, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 2007
- McCulloch & Till Award, International Society for Experimental Hematology 2006
- Scholar, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 2002 - 2007
- 2014 La Presse Scientific Personality of the Year
- 2014 Radio-Canada Scientist of the Year
- Québec Science magazine’s readers prize for Discovery of the Year 2014