New article from the Villeneuve lab
September 2024


Jonathan Gallego-Rudolf’s article “Synergistic association of Aβ and tau pathology with cortical neurophysiology and cognitive decline in asymptomatic older adults” has been published in Nature Neuroscience. Our study shows that early deposition of Aβ and tau proteins in the brain synergistically affect neural activity in asymptomatic older adults at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. We show that Aβ deposition parallels an enhancement of fast-frequency neurophysiological activity, while tau deposition promotes a shift towards neurophysiological activity slowing, related to cognitive decline. This evidence supports a long-standing hypothesis that Aβ and tau differentially affect neural activity in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s, previously only shown in animal or computational models. Check out the full publication.
[Papers] [Media and Press]

 

Valentin awarded Publication of the Year
August 2024


Congratulations to Valentin Ourry on receiving the Publication of the Year Award from the International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART) Reserve, Resilience and Protective Factors Professional Interest Area (PIA). His paper “How do modifiable risk factors affect Alzheimer’s disease pathology or mitigate its effect on clinical symptom expression?” was recognized as the most impactful publication in the PIA’s field in 2023. [Papers]
 

Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2024
August 2024


Villeneuve lab members appreciated participating in AAIC 2024 in Philadelphia. Alfonso, Daniel, Jonathan, Mohammadali, Valentin and Yara presented their research at poster sessions. Bery, Jonathan and Valentin gave oral presentations, and Yara co-chaired a session on fluid biomarkers. Thanks to everyone at AAIC for an enlightening and enjoyable conference. [Presentations] [Photos]
 

Recent awards
June 2024


Congratulations to Jonathan Gallego Rudolf on receiving a Roger J. Paiement Outreach Award to present his work at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia and to Amelie Metz on receiving a Marie Giguère Travel Award to present her work at the Organization for Human Brain Mapping’s Annual Meeting in Seoul. Also, a Douglas Open Science Award was awarded to Mohammadali Javanray, Ting Qiu and Jonathan Gallego Rudolf for their project “Open access neuroimaging data derivatives from the PREVENT-AD cohort.” Funding for this award was made possible through the Douglas Foundation and the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute at the Montreal Neurological Institute.

 

QBIN Scientific Day
May 2024


Villeneuve lab members attended this year’s Québec Bio-imaging Network Scientific Day, held at Concordia University. Ting, Mohammadali, Jonathan and Brandon presented flash talks on their latest research. Brandon received a “best presentation” award. [Presentations] [Photos]
 

QBIN

Healthy Brains Healthy Lives Symposium
May 2024


Jonathan was invited to give a flash talk and Amelie presented her recent work at a poster session at the 2024 HBHL Symposium at McGill University. [Presentations]
 

Amelie receives FRQS scholarship
May 2024


Congratulations to Amelie Metz on having been awarded an FRQS doctoral scholarship!

 

New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
April 2024


Ting Qiu’s article “Structural white matter properties and cognitive resilience to tau pathology” has been published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia. Our study demonstrates that the macro- and micro-structural properties of the brain’s white matter contribute to cognitive resilience against Alzheimer’s disease, particularly against tau pathology. Our results further reveal that education and vascular health aid in optimizing white matter properties, offering potential strategies to mitigate cognitive decline. [Papers]
 

Dr. Villeneuve on CTV News Montreal
March 2024


Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve was interviewed by CTV News on why Alzheimer’s disease affects more women than men. [Media and Press]
 

New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
February 2024


Frédéric St-Onge’s article “Tau accumulation and its spatial progression across the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum” has been published in Brain Communications. We describe the inter-individual heterogeneity in regional tau pathology in the brain across the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum. We found that a measure of the spatial extent of tau pathology is better at identifying certain associations with cognition. [Papers]
 

The Villeneuve Lab welcomes Brandon Hall
January 2024


A warm welcome to Brandon Hall! Brandon joins the Villeneuve lab as a PhD rotation student. He is currently applying diffusion imaging to study early-stage white matter microstructural changes in Alzheimer’s disease. You can read more about Brandon on our lab members page.

 

The Villeneuve Lab welcomes Daniel Bowie
January 2024


We would like to give a warm welcome to Daniel Bowie, who joins the Villeneuve lab as a post-doctoral fellow. Daniel will study how aging and vascular risk factors contribute to Alzheimer’s disease pathology and symptomatology. You can read more about Daniel on our lab members page.

 

Frédéric St-Onge defends his PhD thesis
January 2024


Congratulations to Frédéric St-Onge on successfully defending his PhD thesis! The Villeneuve lab is grateful to have worked with Fred over the last four and a half years, and wishes him continued success in his career.

 

Human Amyloid Imaging conference
January 2024


Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve, Alfonso Fajardo-Valdez, Yara Yakoub, Jonathan Gallego Rudolf and Dr. Valentin Ourry attended this year’s Human Amyloid Imaging conference (HAI 2024) in Miami to present some of the lab’s recent work. Sylvia and Alfonso gave podium presentations. Jonathan and Valentin presented posters, and Yara presented two posters. Congratulations to Valentin and Alfonso, who were awarded travel scholarships. Thanks to all for a wonderful conference! [Presentations] [Photos]
 

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New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
November 2023


Valentin Ourry’s article “How do modifiable risk factors affect Alzheimer’s disease pathology or mitigate its effect on clinical symptom expression?” has been published in Biological Psychiatry. This review provides an overview of the pathways and mechanisms by which modifiable risk factors may influence amyloid and tau burden and their effect on cognition in Alzheimer’s disease. [Papers]
 

The Villeneuve Lab welcomes Amelie Metz
September 2023


A warm welcome to Amelie Metz, who joins the Villeneuve lab as a PhD student, co-supervised by Dr. Mahsa Dadar. Amelie is studying the relationship between neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular pathologies. You can read more about Amelie on our lab members page.

 

Dr. Villeneuve in the media
August 2023


Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve and Dr. Judes Poirier were invited to the TV studios of CBC/Radio-Canada, where they answered questions from the public about Alzheimer’s disease on two episodes of the live call-in show La période de questions. [Media and Press]
 

New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
August 2023


Frédéric St-Onge’s paper “Functional connectome fingerprinting across the lifespan” has been published in Network Neuroscience. We found that individuals have unique signatures of brain activity that can be identified using functional MRI scans throughout the adult lifespan. [Papers]
 

Yara receives Quebec Bio-imaging Network scholarship
August 2023


Congratulations to Yara Yakoub on receiving a Quebec Bio-imaging Network scholarship!

 

OHBM 2023
July 2023


Villeneuve Lab members Alfonso Fajardo, Jonathan Gallego Rudolf, Mohammadali Javanray, Bery Mohammediyan, Valentin Ourry, Ting Qiu, Frédéric St-Onge and Yara Yakoub attended the 29th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping. Yara, Ting, Jonathan, Fred, Bery and Ali presented some of their latest research as posters. Fred’s abstract received a Merit Award. [Presentations] [Photos]
 

Dr. Villeneuve on TVA Nouvelles
July 2023


TVA Nouvelles visited the StoP-AD Centre and interviewed Director Sylvia Villeneuve on the early detection of Alzheimer’s and the latest developments in anti-amyloid antibody treatment. The video segments can be watched online here and here.

 

Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2023
July 2023


Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve, along with Bery Mohammediyan, Frédéric St-Onge, Jonathan Gallego Rudolf, Ting Qiu, Dr. Valentin Ourry and Yara Yakoub travelled to Amsterdam to partake in AAIC 2023 and share their latest research. At the Alzheimer’s Imaging Consortium, Dr. Villeneuve spoke at a panel discussion and Jonathan presented his work as a data blitz, while Valentin, Frédéric, Ting, Yara and Bery gave poster presentations. At the main conference, Frédéric gave a Featured Research Session talk and presented a poster, and Valentin, Yara, Ting, Jonathan and Bery presented posters. [Presentations] [Photos]
 

Recent fellowships and awards
June 2023


Congratulations to Valentin Ourry on receiving an FRQS post-doctoral scholarship, to Jonathan Gallego Rudolf on receiving a Healthy Brains Healthy Lives fellowship, a Marie Giguère travel award and a Quebec Bio-imaging Network travel award, and to Frédéric St-Onge on receiving a Roger J. Paiement Outreach award and an AAIC conference fellowship.

 

New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
June 2023


Yara Yakoub’s paper “Longitudinal blood biomarker trajectories in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease” has been published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia. In this cohort study of cognitively unimpaired older adults, we find that plasma biomarkers pTau181 and GFAP increase longitudinally in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. [Papers]
 

QBIN Scientific Day
May 2023


Villeneuve lab members attended the Québec Bio-imaging Network’s Scientific Day 2023 at Université Laval in Québec City. Bery, Frédéric and Jonathan presented flash talks on their latest research. Thanks to the organizing committee for a wonderful day! [Presentations] [Photos]
 

QBIN

PREVENT-AD Gala 2023
May 2023


Despite the cold weather, the StoP-AD Centre and the Villeneuve lab warmly welcomed PREVENT-AD participants to a gala on the riverfront on May 24th. Study participants, staff, students and researchers had a chance to mingle and enjoy a buffet under patio heaters. They heard updates on Alzheimer’s research from the Centre’s director Sylvia Villeneuve and co-director Judes Poirier, as well as about our lab’s research from Valentin Ourry.

 

gala

Dr. Villeneuve receives Brain Canada grant
May 2023


We are pleased to announce that Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve was awarded a Brain Canada Platform Support Grant, in support of the Canadian Alzheimer’s Prevention Data Repository and Sharing platform. This important funding will allow Dr. Villeneuve and the StoP-AD Centre to acquire, harmonize and openly share data on preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. This grant is made possible by Health Canada’s Canada Brain Research Fund and Brain Canada’s sponsors, donors and partners, including Optina Diagnostics, the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS), the J.-Louis Levesque Foundation, the Douglas Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

 

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Human Amyloid Imaging conference 2023
January 2023


Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve, Bery Mohammediyan and Dr. Valentin Ourry attended the 15th annual Human Amyloid Imaging conference (HAI 2023) in Miami, where they presented some of their recent work. Bery gave a podium presentation and Valentin presented a poster. [Presentations] [Photos]
 

hai2023

Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2022
August 2022


Cherie, Jonathan, Ting and Yara presented their latest research at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2022, held in San Diego, USA. Cherie and Yara gave talks, and Cherie, Jonathan, Ting and Yara presented posters. [Presentations]
 

aaic2022

New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
July 2022


Cherie Strikwerda-Brown’s latest paper, “Association of Elevated Amyloid and Tau Positron Emission Tomography Signal With Near-Term Development of Alzheimer Disease Symptoms in Older Adults Without Cognitive Impairment”, was published in JAMA Neurology. In 4 independent cohorts of cognitively unimpaired individuals, the presence of both amyloid and tau PET positivity was associated with near-term AD clinical progression. [Papers]

Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives (HBHL) Research Day
June 2022


Frédéric and Yara presented their research at HBHL Research Day 2022 at McGill University. [Presentations]

QBIN Scientific Day
June 2022


Villeneuve lab members Frédéric, Yara, Jonathan, Sophie, Ting and Bery presented some of their recent work at this year’s Québec Bio-imaging Network Scientific Day, held at the Université de Sherbrooke. Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve was awarded the Rising Star in Bio-Imaging in Quebec and gave a keynote lecture on her research goals and recent findings. Her talk is available here. Thank you to the organizing committee for a wonderful conference! [Presentations]
 

New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
September 2021


Julie Gonneaud’s latest paper was published in Nature Communications. Here, we developed a model that predicts brain age across the lifespan from resting state fMRI data using machine learning techniques. In the context of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD), our model revealed that the presymptomatic phase of autosomal dominant AD is characterized by accelerated functional brain aging. [Papers]

 

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Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2021
July 2021


All of us at the Villeneuve Lab enjoyed attending this year’s AAIC. Moreover, Marianne Chapleau and Cherie Strikwerda-Brown were in Denver to give talks on their recent work at the lab. [Presentations]

speaker at AAIC

Dr. Villeneuve receives CIHR project grant
July 2021


We are pleased to announce that Dr. Villeneuve received a 4-year project grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for the Development and validation of blood biomarkers for the detection of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.
Principal Investigator: Sylvia Villeneuve
Co-investigators: Simon Ducharme, Maiya Geddes, Judes Poirier, Nathan Spreng

 

CIHR logo

QBIN Scientific Days
March 2021


Villeneuve lab members Marianne, Cherie, Frédéric, and Hazal presented some of their recent work at this year’s Québec Bio-imaging Network Scientific Days. Many thanks to the organizing committee! [Posters]

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New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
February 2021


Theresa Köbe’s latest paper was just published in NeuroImage. In this study of the PREVENT-AD cohort, we found associations between changes in default-mode network connectivity and vascular risk factors. [Papers]

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Alexa Pichet Binette defends her PhD thesis
December 2020


Alexa successfully defended her PhD thesis “Brain and behavioural factors across the lifespan and Alzheimer’s disease” virtually. Congratulations!

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New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
August 2020


Julie Gonneaud’s paper “Association of education with Aβ burden in preclinical familial and sporadic Alzheimer disease” has been published in Neurology. [Papers]

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Dr. Villeneuve invited speaker at Nilearn Dev Days
May 2020


Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve was invited to Nilearn Dev Days 2020, where she spoke about using machine learning to predict brain age in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Her talk is available here.

 

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QBIN Scientific Day
7 February 2020


Villeneuve lab members Alexa, Frédéric and Hazal presented their recent work at the 12th Annual Québec Bio-imaging Network (QBIN) Scientific Day. [Posters] [Photos]

 

Hazal and poster

New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
7 February 2020


Theresa Köbe’s article “Association of Vascular Risk Factors With ß-Amyloid Peptide and Tau Burdens in Cognitively Unimpaired Individuals and Its Interaction With Vascular Medication Use” has been published in JAMA Network Open. In this cohort study of older adults at higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, we show that vascular medication use moderates the association between vascular risk factors and amyloid burden. [Papers]

 

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New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
6 February 2020


Melissa McSweeney and Alexa Pichet Binette’s article “Intermediate flortaucipir uptake is associated with Aβ-PET and CSF-tau in asymptomatic adults” has been published in Neurology. In this cohort study of cognitively normal older adults at risk of Alzheimer’s disease, we find that relatively low tau (flortaucipir) values measured by positron emission tomography are associated with markers of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. [Papers]

 

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Alexa presents Cerebral Imaging Centre Lecture
22 January 2020


Alexa Pichet Binette gave a talk entitled “Brain and behavioral factors across lifespan and Alzheimer’s disease continuum” as part of the CIC Lecture Series at the Douglas Research Centre.

Alexa presenting lecture

New Article from the Villeneuve Lab
21 January 2020


Pierre-François Meyer’s article “Characterization of Alzheimer Disease Biomarker Discrepancies Using Cerebrospinal Fluid Phosphorylated Tau and AV1451 Positron Emission Tomography” has been published in JAMA Neurology. In this cohort study, we find that Alzheimer’s disease-related tau abnormality may be detected earlier in cerebrospinal fluid than by positron emission tomography, before apparent cognitive decline. [Papers]

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Human Amyloid Imaging conference 2020
15-17 January 2020


Dr. Villeneuve, along with Alexa Pichet Binette, Hazal Ozlen, and Pierre-François Meyer, attended this year’s Human Amyloid Imaging conference (HAI 2020) in Miami. Dr. Villeneuve presided over a didactic session; Pierre gave a talk; Alexa, Hazal and Pierre presented posters of their recent work. [Presentations] [Photos]

HAI2020

 

Goodbye to Theresa, our postdoctoral student
3 January 2020


Theresa Köbe has completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Villeneuve Lab. Keep an eye out for publications of her research on vascular risk factors in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.
Theresa will continue her research at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Dresden, Germany, in the lab of Dr. Miranka Wirth. She will further investigate vascular mechanisms in healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease, with a goal of identifying interventional strategies to maintain a healthy brain in older age and reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

group photo

 

Pierre-François Meyer defends his PhD thesis
4 November 2019


Pierre-François successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “Immune mechanisms as predictors of cognitive impairment and therapeutic targets in pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease.” Congratulations!

group photo

 

Découverte
6 October 2019


The Canadian television series Découverte featured Dr. Villeneuve and the work of the PREVENT-AD research group in an episode about Alzheimer’s disease. This episode aired on October 6, 2019 on ICI Radio-Canada Télé and can be watched online here.

Sylvia appears on episode of Découverte

 

Farewell to Our First Graduating Master’s Student
1 September 2019


The Villeneuve Lab team bids farewell to Melissa McSweeney, our first graduating Master’s student. Melissa joined our lab in August 2017 and has been a Master’s student for the last 2 years. Melissa has contributed significantly to the lab and has helped manage the lab. We wish her all the best with her new career.

MelissaMelissa

 

Healthy Brains for Healthy Lives (HBHL) Fellowships
15 August 2019


Congrats to Alexa, Hazal and Pierre on receiving Healthy Brains for Healthy Lives (HBHL) Fellowships for the upcoming year.

HBHL logo

 

A warm welcome to Frédéric and Jordana, our new lab members!
15 August 2019


We would like to give a warm welcome to two new lab members: Frédéric St-Onge and Jordana Remz. Frédéric joined us from Quebec City as our new doctoral student. Frédéric will aim to predict, as early as possible, cognitively healthy individuals who will develop cognitive impairment over time, using a combination of clinical and neuroimaging variables. Jordana is currently working on different modalities in neuroimaging and focuses her efforts on the automation of data processing. You can read more about Frédéric and Jordana, including their previous work and some of their interests, on our lab members page.

The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2019
14–18 July 2019


The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2019 conference took place in Los Angeles from July 14–18. Dr. Villeneuve, along with Julie Gonneaud, Alexa Pichet Binette, Theresa Köbe, and Pierre-François Meyer attended the AAIC to present some of their recent work. Alexa, Julie, and Theresa presented their posters at the conference and Pierre-François gave a talk about his work. [Photos]

Douglas Research Day
11 June 2019


2019 Annual Research Day of Douglas Hospital Research Centre and McGill Department of Psychiatry was on Tuesday, June 11, 2019. This is an important event, which highlights the vital contributions of our students and postdocs to the Douglas and McGill communities. Pierre-François Meyer gave a presentation, while Theresa Köbe and Melissa McSweeney presented their posters. [Photos]

OHBM
9 June 2019


The Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) 2019 conference took place in Rome from June 9 – 13. OHBM brings together researchers from all over the world who have made cutting-edge neuroscientific discoveries with the use of neuroimaging. At OHBM, Alexa Pichet Binette presented her poster “Gray matter volume and whole-brain pattern organization across the lifespan and Alzheimer’s disease”.

First Annual Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform (CONP) Meeting
29 April 2019


The Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform (CONP) is a large open data pool where researchers can publish, share, and access neuroscience research data. It improves the accessibility of data with the goal of collaboration among researchers, research efficiency, and rapid scientific discovery. The first annual meeting of CONP took place at the end of April in Toronto. Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve and Jennifer Tremblay-Mercier took part in the two-day conference which featured talks about open neuroscience’s role in accelerating scientific breakthroughs and how researchers can maintain the accessibility of freely available data.

Découverte
16 April 2019


In April 2019, the Canadian television series Discovery visited 3 laboratories at the Douglas for their segment covering Artificial Intelligence and new discoveries in the field of Alzheimer’s research. Dr. Judes Poirier and Dr. Villeneuve’s lab took part in this filming session as well as Dr. Mallar Chakravarty, a PREVENT-AD collaborator. We would like to extend a special thanks to the participants who generously agreed to be in the eye of the camera, and were filmed during their PET scan, MRI scan, and while playing with the crew to enact “fake” memory testing. The episode will air on SRC in September. We will keep you posted on the air date and time!

QBIN Scientific Day
29 March 2019


Villeneuve lab members Theresa, Pierre, and Alexa presented their recent projects using poster and video presentations at the 11th Quebec Bio-Imaging Network (QBIN) Scientific Day.

New CIHR grant for the Villeneuve lab
23 January 2019


We are happy to announce that Dr. Villeneuve have received a 5-year grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for the project entitled “Preventing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease pathology by targeting the effects of lifestyle factors and personality traits.

Principal Investigator: Villeneuve, Sylvia C
Co-Investigators: Breitner, John C; Collins, D. Louis; Poirier, Judes; Rajah, M. Natasha N; Soucy, Jean-Paul; Vachon-Presseau, Etienne

Read Abstract

Abstract:
There are over half a million Canadians living with dementia, the leading cause being Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Amyloid and tau are the pathological hallmarks of AD. They start to accumulate between one and two decades before memory impairment. We know that the apolipoprotein (APOE) 4 allele, the main genetic risk factor for AD, influences amyloid and tau accumulation. It is unclear if other factors, such as lifestyle factors (e.g. education and cognitive activity) or personality traits (e.g. optimism and neuroticism), can also modify amyloid and tau accumulation and/or if these factors can buffer the deleterious effect of APOE4 on AD pathology accumulation. Lifestyle and personality traits are of interest because they are modifiable (particularly lifestyle) and, therefore, could be prime targets for prevention efforts. The first objective of this proposal is to determine the lifestyle factors and personality traits that are associated with amyloid and tau burden in cognitively normal older adults at risk of developing AD dementia. The second objective is to determine if some lifestyle/personality factors can counteract the negative effects of APOE4 on AD pathology accumulation. Finally, we want to test if the lifestyle/personality factors can delay the clinical onset of the disease by buffering the negative impact of AD pathology on cognition. Finally, we will test if the factors influencing AD pathology differ between men and women, since we know that women are at increased risk of developing AD dementia. This work will be done in collaboration with the PREVENT-AD, a cohort of almost 400 cognitively normal or very mildly impaired older adults who have a parental history of AD-like dementia. It will focus on 120 individuals that did a brain scan to quantify amyloid and tau in vivo. This multidisciplinary study will give insights about new, sex-specific prevention strategies.


Human Amyloid Imaging conference 2019
16-18 January 2019


Dr. Villeneuve, along with Theresa, Alexa, Pierre, and Melissa attended this year’s Human Amyloid Imaging (HAI) conference in Miami to present some of their recent work. You can check their posters here: [Posters]



[photo gallery]

Villeneuve lab welcomes Anne Maass
7 January 2019


Anne is a post-doctoral researcher at DNZE Magdeburg Site, Germany. She will collaborate with the Villeneuve lab to study the relations between memory dysregulation and amyloid and tau proteins using task-fMRI data from Prevent-AD.

MAIN 2018 and McConnell BIC Retreat
10 December 2018


Congratulations to Julie Gonneaud for receiving best poster and best abstract prizes from the Montreal AI & Neuroscience (MAIN) conference 2018 and McConnell BIC retreat event for her recent project entitled “The preclinical phase of autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by accelerated brain aging.” [poster]


Lab’s Christmas dinner
6 December 2018


A very warm Merry Christmas to all, from the Villeneuve lab team.


NeuroQAM 2018
22 November 2018


Alexa presented her research entitled “Behavioral factors are differentially associated with amyloid and tau burden in older adults with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease” at the NeuroQAM Science day 2018 for which she received the best oral presentation award.


PREVENT-AD Gala 2018
15 November 2018


On November 15, the annual gala event was held for the participants of the PREVENT-AD study. The day was punctuated by presentations by Drs. Judes Poirier and Sylvia Villeneuve on the latest advances in Alzheimer’s disease research and future developments in the study. During the meal, participants, researchers, and students were able to talk together. A huge thank you to our participants who, as always, showed much dedication and involvement this year. [Photo gallery]

 


Douglas Research Blitz
14 November 2018


Villeneuve lab members Mari-Elise, Theresa, Morteza, and Kaitlin presented the progress of their research projects to other students and faculty at the Douglas Hospital Research Blitz event.

 

Lab Retreat 2018
22-25 October 2018


The annual Villeneuve lab’s retreat took place at La Conception, Quebec. For three days, the team explored novel research ideas through brainstorming sessions and hackathons, while enjoying the picturesque nature and home-cooked foods together. [Photo gallery]

 

 

[Photo gallery]

Dr. William Klunk lecture at MNI
15 October 2018


Dr. Villeneuve alongside Julie, Alexa, and Morteza attended Dr. William E. Klunk’s lecture on “Amyloid Imaging: Influence of Very Advanced Age and Genetic Alterations” at Montreal Neurological Institute.
Dr Klunk is one of the most renowned researcher in the field of amyloid PET imaging. In 2001, Dr. Klunk and colleagues created the PiB tracer, allowing for the first time a non-invasive method for quantifying Alzheimer’s pathology in humans.

 

 

 

Sixth Biennial Conference on Brain Connectivity
24-29 September 2018


Villeneuve Lab members: Julie, Theresa, Alexa, Morteza, and Melissa attended the educational course organized alongside the 6th Biennial Conference on Rest State and Connectivity that was held in Montreal this year. They learned more about cutting-edge structural and functional connectivity analyses, as well as the utility of machine learning algorithms in neuroimaging.
Julie and Alexa also attended the main conference. Julie presented her most recent project, a predictive model of age based on functional connectivity to then look at differences in the preclinical phase of AD [poster].


Group photo recreated in the style of brain connectivity artwork using the DeepArt machine learning algorithm.

Sander Verfaillie defends his thesis
12 September 2018


Dr Villeneuve has been invited to the VU University of Amsterdam in Netherlands as an external member of the Sander Verfaillie thesis defence committee. Sander was a Ph.D. candidate at the Alzheimer Center of the VU University Medical Center and worked on subjective memory complaints by integrating PET and MRI imaging. He joined Villeneuve lab in 2016-17 for a research project. The results of his project were recently published [Paper].
Sander defended his thesis entitled “Neuroimaging in subjective cognitive decline: incipient Alzheimer’s disease unmasked” with great success. Congratulations!

 

 

 

AAIC 2018 presentations & posters
19-25 July 2018


Dr. Villeneuve, along with Julie Gonneaud, Alexa Pichet Binette, Theresa Köbe, Melissa McSweeney, Pierre-François Meyer and Etienne Vachon-Presseau attended this year’s AAIC conference in Chicago to present some of their recent work. Alexa, Melissa, and Pierre gave a talk about their work, and Theresa and Julie presented their posters at the conference. [Photos]

 

CSHRF 2018
12-15 Jun 2018


Alexa presented her work on associations of neuropsychiatric and personality factors with amyloid and tau PET measures. An insight into how these characteristics may shape AD risk. Pierre presented work showing that CSF protein markers of key AD-related biological pathways may indicate resilience to Alzheimer pathology. Alexa and Pierre received a CIHR Honorable Mention and Gold award respectively for their presentations at CSHRF 2018! Congratulations to you both!

Neurosymposium
22 Jun 2018


Last week, on Friday, June 22th, the Villeneuve lab students attended the 3rd edition of the NeuroSymposium. This symposium is an inter-university initiative whose aim is to build an active community of young neuroscientists across Quebec. This great initiative is organized by students across the province, and Alexa is among to co-founders of the event. Melissa presented her work and other lab members helped during the day.

Douglas Research Day
5 Jun 2018


2018 Annual Research Day of Douglas Hospital Research Centre and McGill Department of Psychiatry was on last Tuesday, June 5, 2018. This is an important event, which highlights the vital contributions of our students and postdocs to the Douglas and McGill communities. Julie and Pierre gave a presentation, while Alexa and Melissa presented their posters. Prizes were awarded for the best oral and poster presentations and Alexa won the prize for “Best Poster Presentation”. [Photos]

 

“Biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases” course at the University of Gothenburg
26 Apr 2018


Pierre and Alexa attended the graduate course “Biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases” at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, organized by Drs. Michael Schöll, Henrik Zetterberg, Kerstin Heurling & Kaj Blennow. The week was filled with talks related to CSF and PET biomarkers by leading experts in the field. It was a fun and productive week in the beautiful city of Gothenburg!

 

A warm welcome to Morteza, our new rotation program Ph.D. student!
23 Apr 2018


We would like to give a warm welcome to our new lab member Morteza Pishnamazi. Morteza joined us from Tehran, Iran as a Rotation program Ph.D. student in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill University. At Villeneuve Lab, he will study the association between baseline Aβ and tau deposition loads and temporal changes in gray matter volume in pre-symptomatic senile individuals at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
You can read more about Morteza, including their previous work and some of their interests, on our people page.

 

Congratulations to Melissa, Alexa, Julie, Pierre, and Theresa!
29 Mar 2018


Their abstracts got accepted and they will be presenting their work at Villeneuve Lab at both Alzheimer’s Imaging Consortium (AIC) and Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) which will take place in Chicago on July 2018.
Melissa: “Early Increase in Tau-PET Signal Is Associated with Aβ Burden, CSF p-Tau Levels, and Cognition in Cognitively Normal Late-Middle-Aged Adults
Alexa: “Neuropsychiatric Burden Is Related to Increased Amyloid but Not Tau Deposition in Late-Middle-Aged Cognitively Normal Individuals with a Family History of Alzheimer’s Disease”
Julie: “Genetic and Environmental Factors Are Differentially Related to Aβ Burden in the Presymptomatic Phase of Autosomal Dominant and Sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease”
Theresa: “Cerebral GABA, resting-state functional connectivity and memory function in Alzheimer’s disease”
Pierre: “CSF Immune Markers Predict Decreased AD Symptom Severity and Progression”

 

A warm welcome to Theresa, our new postdoctoral student!
15 Mar 2018


We would like to give a warm welcome to our new lab member Theresa Köbe. Theresa joined us from Berlin, Germany as a Postdoctoral Student. Her project here focuses on the impact of vascular burden on preclinical Alzheimer’s disease pathology.
You can read more about Theresa, including their previous work and some of their interests, on our people page.

Villeneuve Lab in Media
12 Mar 2018


The Alzforum weekly newsletter featured an article by Madolyn Bowman Rogers covering Dr. Villeneuve’s paper. You can read the article here.26 Feb 2018Dr. Villeneuve and her team had the chance to be interviewed by TVA and Radio Canada on February 26th. The interviews are about Dr. Villeneuve’s recent publication on the link between amyloid accumulation and proximity to parental symptom onset in individuals with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease. You can watch the interview with TVA here and the one with Radio-Canada here. You can also access the press release published by McGill University on this study here.

 

New Article by Sylvia Villeneuve
26 Feb 2018


A new article by Dr. Villeneuve: “Proximity to parental symptom onset and amyloid burden in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease”, has been published in JAMA Neurology. This study shows that as individuals with a family history of sporadic AD approach the age of their parent at symptom onset, they are more likely to show amyloid burden. This finding was confirmed in three different cohorts and was independent of their biological age.

Human Amyloid Imaging Conference 2018
17-19 Jan 2018


Dr. Villeneuve, along with Julie Gonneaud and Alexa Pichet Binette attended this year’s HAI conference in Miami to present some of their recent works. Julie gave a talk comparing sporadic AD and autosomal dominant AD, and Alexa presented her poster at the conference. [Photos]

 

New Article by Villeneuve Lab alumnus Sander Verfaillie
14 Dec 2017


A new article by Sander Verfaillie, “Subjective cognitive decline is associated with altered default mode network connectivity in individuals with a family history of Alzheimer’s Disease” published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging feature research on the subjective cognitive decline, brain connectivity pattern and family history of dementia.

 

Happy New Years! Our Lab Christmas Party 2017
7 Dec 2017


The Villeneuve Lab wishes everyone a happy new year! Photos

Human Amyloid Imaging Conference
2 Dec 2017


Congrats to Julie on receiving Human Amyloid Imaging conference travel fellowship to attend at the conference that will be held in January 17-19, 2018 in Miami, FL.

 

Réseau De Bio-Imagerie Du Québec Scholarship
2 Dec 2017


Congrats to Julie and Melissa on receiving Réseau De Bio-Imagerie Du Québec scholarship (RBIQ-QBIN) for the upcoming conference. Julie was ranked first amongst 57 participants.


Julie Gonneaud

Melissa McSweeney
New Article in Journal of Neuroscience
30 Oct 2017


A new article “White matter structure in older adults moderates the benefit of sleep spindles on motor memory consolidation” published in Journal of Neuroscience features research on memory, brain structure, and sleep.

 

New Article in Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals
5 Oct 2017


A new article “Highly efficient solid phase-supported radiosynthesis of [11 C]PiB using tC18 cartridge as a “3-in-1” production entity.” published in Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals features research on Amyloid imaging and Positron Emission Tomography.

 

A warm welcome to Melissa, our new lab member
25 Sep 2017


We would like to give a warm welcome to our new lab member Melissa McSweeney. Melissa joined us from Chicago as a master’s Student. Her project here focuses on the roles of sleep and cognitive fluctuations in Alzheimer’s disease. Melissa already presented her previous work during Integrated Program in Neuroscience Retreat with Alexa. We are excited to work with her and know she will contribute significantly to our lab’s growth.
You can read more about Melissa, including their previous work and some of their interests, on our people page.

Lab Retreat 2017
17-20 Aug 2017


The Villeneuve Lab enjoyed a retreat at Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs. The team worked on the upcoming projects. We also enjoyed the beautiful nature and some delicious food afterward!

AAIC 2017 posters
20 Jul 2017


The posters, which were presented by Dr. Villeneuve, along with students Alexa Pichet Binette and Pierre-François Meyer, and consultant Etienne Vachon-Presseau at this year’s AAIC conference in London, are now available on our website [link to posters].

 

Villeneuve Lab attends AAIC 2017
20 Jul 2017


Dr. Villeneuve, along with students Alexa Pichet Binette and Pierre-François Meyer, and consultant Etienne Vachon-Presseau attended this year’s AAIC conference in London to present some of their recent work [link to posters]. Villeneuve Lab alumnus Sander Verfaille was also in attendance, and gave a talk on subjective cognitive complaints; a project he worked on during his time in the lab.

Alzheimer’s Association Travel Awards
17 Apr 2017


Congrats to Pierre et Alexa who received travel awards from the Alzheimer’s Association to attend/assist at the international Alzheimer’s Conference (AAIC) that will be held in July in London.

 

Welcome to new lab members Julie and Sander
26 Sep 2016


We would like to give a warm welcome to two new lab members: Julie Gonneaud and Sander Verfaillie. Julie comes to us from France as a postdoctoral researcher. Her project here focuses on the detection of early biomarker changes in asymptomatic individuals with a familial risk of Alzheimer’s Disease. Sander hails from the Netherlands and is here as a graduate researcher. His Ph.D. project aims to investigate the earliest brain changes leading to Alzheimer’s Disease in cognitively intact individuals.
You can read more about Julie and Sander, including their previous work and some of their interests, on our people page.

Julie Gonneaud

Sander Verfaillie

 

Villeneuve Lab at the AAIC Alzheimer’s Imaging Consortium
02 Sep 2016


A recent article on Alzforum noted the presence of the Villeneuve Lab at the AAIC, particularly Jake Vogel’s presentation. The article is entitled “Amyloid and Neurodegeneration Have Different Underlying Genetics.”
Jake Vogel gave his AAIC talk on AD-like patterns of gray matter volume, default mode network connectivity and their association with time till parental symptom onset in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.
Alexa Pichet Binette also presented a poster at AAIC 2016, relating high CSF tau to reduced hippocampal volume and subjective cognitive decline in healthy elderly with amyloid pathology.You can find more Villeneuve Lab posters and presentations under the Publications heading above.

 

Jake Vogel presenting at AAIC

Jake Vogel presenting at AAIC

Alexa Pichet Binette presenting her poster at AAIC

Alexa Pichet Binette presenting her poster at AAIC

 

Dr. Villeneuve received two project grants from the CIHR
17 Jul 2016


Dr. Villeneuve received one of the grants as a principal investigator, and the other as a co-investigator – both from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
The first project aims to establish a better understanding of the impact of vascular health on Alzheimer’s disease pathology and clinical expression.

Principal Investigator: Villeneuve, Sylvia C
Co-Investigators: Breitner, John C; Evans, Alan C; Gauthier, Serge G; Hoge, Richard D; Poirier, Judes; Rosa-Neto, Pedro

Read Abstract

Abstract:
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting nearly 50% of Canadians over 80 years of age. With the aging of the population, the prevalence of dementia is expected to increase dramatically, generating major social and economic costs. Currently, Alzheimer’s disease has no known cure, and by the time a person meets the clinical diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease, brain and cognitive changes related to the disease are already probably irreversible. It is therefore essential to find ways to delay, slow down, or even prevent this devastating disease. Amyloid and tau are the pathological hallmarks of the disease. Vascular risk factors (i.e. hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes) are well-known risk factors for Alzheimer’ disease in addition of being risk factors for vascular brain injuries, which also increase the likelihood of dementia. The advent of amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) imaging now allows for assessing the interplay between vascular risk factors and Alzheimer’s pathology in-vivo. Amyloid PET imaging has helped establish that vascular risk factors can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease via pathways that directly related to amyloid pathology. The current research proposal will explore mechanisms by which vascular factors may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. More specifically we propose a series of experiments to explore mechanisms by which genetic (e.g. ApoE and other genes related to both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular health) and lifestyle risk factors (e.g. hypertension and diet) may impact brain change and memory deficits. This study will be conducted in cognitively normal and mildly impaired individuals with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease. The overall goal is to identify new preventive strategies that may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

The second project aims to investigate the distinctive neuropathology underlying abnormal cognitive decline in remotely concussed former athletes.
Principal Investigator: De Beaumont, Louis
Co-Investigators:
Evans, Alan C; Gauthier, Serge G; Henry, Luke C; Poirier, Judes; Tremblay, Sébastien; Villeneuve, Sylvia C


Read Abstract

Abstract:
The annual prevalence of sports concussion has reached epidemic proportions, making any long-term consequence of the injury sizable in both human and economic terms. Important questions regarding susceptibility and resistance to the long term effects of sports concussion and precisely what they are and how they evolve atop the dynamic substrate of the brain abound. Any discussion of these downstream consequences inevitably leads to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the neurodegenerative disease that is widely believed to be the signature pathology of injuries involving recurrent blows to the head occurring during the practice of contact sports. However, from a scientific standpoint, there are several important gaps in what is known about CTE, making causal links premature, to say the least. Typically, when a new disease/pathology is discovered, the natural progression is to move toward prospective research designs where covariates are accounted for. The current research program proposes a longitudinal investigation aiming to assess the predictive value of in vivo markers of neurodegeneration in the rate of progression and specificity of cognitive/behavioral decline in remotely concussed former athletes. This proposal aims to establish the distinctive neuropathology underlying abnormal cognitive functioning in remotely concussed former athletes. Knowing about the signature pathology of the long term effects of concussion will ultimately help us design optimal treatment and prevention strategies aiming to maintain/restore the quality of life of millions of former athletes with a history of remote concussions.

 


Dr. Villeneuve in the office
Three New Grants for the Villeneuve Lab
25 Jun 2016


Congratulations to Alexa Pichet Binette and Jake Vogel, both of whom received grants this month. Alexa received an Alzheimer’s Society of Canada doctoral scholarship of $60,000 to study the early vascular brain changes and related protective factors in elderly at risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Jacob received an Alzheimer’s Imaging Consortium travel scholarship and an Alzheimer’s Association International Conference travel scholarship.
Dr. Villeneuve also received the Biomedical New Investigator Grant this month, jointly funded by the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada and Brain Canada. The grant consists of $225,000, for tracking Alzheimer’s disease progression at the earliest stages using amyloid and tau PET scans.

Identifier/Provincesbc

 

The PERFORM committee’s first methodological workshop
20 May 2016


The PERFORM Applied Bioimaging Centre, run out of Concordia University, is a unique facility that aims to improve health through prevention. The centre hosted their first Methodological Workshop on May 20th, 2016, on the topic of “Longitudinal Analysis with Neuroimaging Data”. Dr. Villeneuve was an invited speaker, giving a talk on Imaging Amyloid Proteins in Aging and Dementia. The inaugural event was a great success!

PERFORM Committee(from left to right)
Louis Bherer, Pedro Antonio Valdés-Sosa, Sylvia Villeneuve, Alan C. Evans, Felix Carbonell, Mallar Chakravarty, Habib Benali, Pierre Bellec, Christophe Grova
Dr. Villeneuve received an Alzheimer’s Association Research Grant
24 Apr 2016


The grant was for $100,000 to develop an online platform to assess health and lifestyle habits in a cohort of ~300 cognitively normal individuals with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease.

 

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Dr. Villeneuve received funding from the John R. Evans Leaders Fund
Feb 2016


The John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) is described as a “strategic investment tool designed to help institutions attract and retain the very best of today’s and tomorrow’s researchers funding”. The funding is associated with a Canada Research Chair amounting to $250,000.

 

Dr. Villeneuve received a Canada Research Chair
Jan 2016


The chair is in Early Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease and consists of $500,000.