A multidisciplinary team of scientists

Céline obtained her Ph.D. in Genetics from the University Paris 6, France. In collaboration with Pierre Fabre Pharmaceutics, she studied epigenetics and the mechanisms involved in tumor suppressor gene silencing in breast and prostate cancers. In 2013, she joined Dr. Guy Sauvageau’s lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow and now leads the chemo-genomic group of the Leucegene project, which aims to find alternative therapeutic options for poor-prognosis subtypes of AML.

Sam obtained his Ph.D. in 2018 in Molecular Biology from the Université de Montréal under Dr. Sylvie Mader’s supervision. His research work focused on understanding mechanisms underlying luminal breast tumor specification and investigating subtype-specific transcription factor networks. Houssam subsequently pursued his postdoctoral studies with Dr. Anne Marinier and Dr. Sylvie Mader in medicinal chemistry before joining the Drug Discovery Unit to lead research on the non-hematopoietic applications of the UM171 program together with Dr. Guy Sauvageau. Houssam officially joined the Sauvageau lab in summer 2024 as a research associate. He continues to lead UM171 research efforts in non-hematopoietic systems, as well as the biology team for the mubritinib research program. Houssam also brings substantial expertise in medical writing, having collaborated with physicians across Canada since 2019 as a freelance medical writer.

First as a postdoctoral fellow and then as a research associate, Jalila Chagraoui has over 15 years of experience in stem cell biology in the laboratory and contributed to the progression of most studies involving normal hematopoietic stem cell function. As a senior member, she has mentored numerous postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. students, and her expertise in flow cytometry and cell-based assays adapted for high-throughput screening led to the identification of the small molecule UM171, which promotes the expansion of human HSCs (currently being translated in clinic).

Loïc joined Dr. Guy Sauvageau’s lab as a CEGEP student intern in 2024. He then became a full member of the team as a laboratory technical assistant. Since then, he has been working under Simon Girard’s mentorship to uncover new insights into the mechanism of action of UM171, a small molecule identified by the laboratory in 2015 that enables ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells.

Ph.D. holder (Paris Descartes University, 2014), Maeva is a scientist with focused expertise in human genetics, molecular genetics, epigenetics, stem cell biology, development, neurosciences and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Maeva has 15+ years of research experience investigating human disorders, using a wide variety of models and techniques. Currently she is focused on genetic engineering of normal hematopoietic stem cells from Cord Blood and therapy development of acute myeloid leukemia, working closely with the Sauvageau lab (IRIC, Université de Montréal) and the Stem Cell Engineering group led by Bernhard Lehnertz (ExCellThera).

Nadine obtained her Master’s degree in Biophysics at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. She then joined Guy Sauvageau’s Molecular Genetics of Stem Cells laboratory in 1998 as a research assistant. She now takes care of the cell culture and in vivo experiments in the lab.

Simon graduated (B.Sc. in Biology) from UQAM in 1996. Until 1999, he worked on NK cells at the Institut Armand-Frappier, where he obtained an M.Sc. degree in Immunology and Virology. He joined the Sauvageau lab the same year as a research agent and was initially interested in PcG gene functions, helping, among other things, in the identification of novel interaction partners for BMI1. Simon is currently participating in the effort to decipher the molecular mechanisms involved in the cellular response to UM171, the lab’s lead compound for the ex vivo expansion of human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells.

Tara earned a DEC in Medical Laboratory Technology from Dawson College before completing a B.Sc. (Honours) in Cell and Molecular Biology at Concordia University in 2000, where she worked as a research assistant in bacterial genetics. She subsequently worked at the Montreal Children’s Hospital Research Center before managing a molecular biology core facility at the University of Calgary. In 2006, she joined the Sauvageau Lab, where she has served as a key resource for molecular biology and genetic engineering, implementing new molecular biology methods and contributing to major initiatives such as Leucegene. Her current research focuses on the characterization and epitope engineering of novel antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Alexandre completed his Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where he also works on immune aplastic anemia. He joined Dr. Sauvageau’s lab in 2024. His current research involves identifying optimal conditions for hematopoietic stem cell expansion from patients with immune aplastic anemia.

Carys completed her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Prof. Elisa Laurenti at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Her work investigated the kinetics and mechanisms driving human HSC functional loss in current ex vivo gene therapy culture conditions. After graduating, she worked for Orchard Therapeutics within the Process Development team, to help build and optimise HSC gene therapy protocols for new indications. Keen to return to an academic research environment, she joined the Sauvageau lab in June 2025 as a postdoctoral fellow where she works on understanding epigenetic memory in UM171 treated HSCs.

Florencia completed her Ph.D. at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, where she studied aplastic anemia using patient-specific iPSCs. Florencia joined the laboratory of Dr. Sauvageau in 2021 as a postdoctoral fellow. Her current research involves the identification of optimal conditions for human hematopoietic stem cells expansion.

Arnaud completed his B.Sc degree in molecular biology from Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France. During his M.Sc degree he studied the mechanism of relapse of MRD in melanoma BRAFv600e. Arnaud joined Dr. Guy Sauvageau’s lab in 2020 for an end-of-study internship during which he is working on the identification of new antigens for acute myeloid leukemia.

Camille completed her bachelor and master’s degrees in Biomedical Sciences in Translational Research at Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. During her master’s thesis, she studied the impact of m6A modification in the viral fitness of group B coxsackieviruses at the ULB Center for Diabetes Research. She joined Guy Sauvageau’s lab in January 2023 to work on identification of novel agents for targeted therapies in acute myeloid leukemia.

Deanne obtained her B.Sc in molecular biology & biochemistry at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, B.C. During this time, she worked at BC Cancer Research Center with two post-doctoral fellows to (1) identify tumour heterogeneity within follicular lymphoma cases using mass cytometry and (2) investigate signaling pathways involved in leukemic stem cell activity in T-ALL. She then obtained her M.Sc at the University of Oxford, where she studied the role of the tumour suppressor protein ATRX in pediatric MLL-rearranged leukemias. In 2020, she joined Dr. Guy Sauvageau’s lab as a Research Assistant, where she worked on the characterization of compounds targeting acute myeloid leukemia, and later decided to undertake a Ph.D. in 2026.

Elham completed her B.Sc. in Biotechnology at the University of Tehran and her M.Sc. in Medical Biotechnology at Isfahan University of Medical Science. During her master’s degree, she developed an M13 phage-based vaccine displaying multiple epitopes from Vibrio cholerae toxin subunits and evaluated its immunogenicity. She subsequently worked at the Cell-Based Therapies Research Center, where she participated in gene therapy research focused on CRISPR-based approaches for thalassemia. In 2026, Elham joined Dr. Guy Sauvageau’s laboratory as a Ph.D. student. Her current research focuses on investigating how degradation of the CoREST complex affects fetal hemoglobin expression and erythroid differentiation, with the aim of developing improved therapeutic strategies for sickle cell disease.

Félix obtained his B.Sc. in 2023 from the Université de Moncton in biochemistry with a specialization in molecular biology. He then undertook his M.Sc. at the Université de Moncton, where he worked at the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute, elucidating the impact of platelet-derived microparticles in cancer. In 2026, he began his Ph.D. in the Sauvageau Lab, working to understand the impact of novel therapeutic agents targeting the metabolic pathways of cancer cells.

Gabrielle earned a B.Sc. in Biology from Université Laval (Québec City, Canada), where she gained research experience in the fields of marine climate change and space health. She went on to complete an M.S. at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (Honolulu, USA), applying molecular tools to study coral reef biodiversity and their resilience to climate stressors. In January 2025, Gabrielle joined the Sauvageau and Knapp laboratories as a co-supervised Ph.D. student. Her current research focuses on identifying novel compounds to understand the age-associated functional declines observed in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).

Laure completed her B.Sc degree in molecular biology from Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France. During her M.Sc degree she studied the involvement of the VDAC protein channel in liver cancer. She joined Dr. Guy Sauvageau’s lab in 2022 for an end-of-study internship during which she worked on the identification of new antigens for acute myeloid leukemia. She is now working on new determinants of the response to UM171, a molecule used in the expansion of haematopoietic stem cells. Laure is the recipient of a “Bourse d’Excellence” from the molecular biology program (UdeM).

To come.

To come.

Mélanie has been an animal health technician for the laboratory since 2002. She is in charge of the entire mouse colony, both for breeding and for experimentation. She is the intermediary between the experimenter and the animal.

Valérie graduated with a degree in Animal Health Technology in 2012 from the Cégep de St-Hyacinthe. Following her end-of-studies internship at Guy Sauvageau’s laboratory, she officially joined the team in 2013 to work alongside Mélanie Fréchette, taking on animal experimentation and breeding responsibilities.

Muriel Draoui is the Administrative Project Manager for the Guy Sauvageau Laboratory at IRIC. She oversees the strategic coordination of large-scale research grants, budget allocations, compliance, and reporting. Muriel holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from George Washington University and an Executive MBA from Paris Dauphine / UQAM. She has over 30 years of diverse experience across academic, biotech, and pharmaceutical settings—including previous roles as a postdoctoral fellow, clinical research associate, and strategic marketing manager in France and the US. Since 2006, she has successfully managed major multi-million dollar initiatives at IRIC, including Genome Canada and Stem Cell Network grants. Her expertise lies in scientific project management, streamlining administrative workflows, and bridging communication between principal investigators, industrial partners, and funding bodies.