Principal Investigator
Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve, Canada Research Chair in Early Detection of Alzheimer’s disease
Dr. Villeneuve is an Associate Professor at McGill University in the department of Psychiatry, and a member of the Integrated Program in Neuroscience. She is also an Associate Member of the Neurology and Neurosurgery department, within the Faculty of Medicine. She is Director of the StoP-AD Centre and its PREVENT-AD program at the Research Centre of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. She is also an Associate Member of the McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging. Read More
Dr. Villeneuve did a first postdoctoral fellowship under the supervision of Professor William Jagust at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley. A central focus of her research was to examine the interplay between beta-amyloid deposition, vascular diseases, and cognition in the preclinical phase of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Villeneuve did a second postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University under the supervision of Professor Todd Parrish and in collaboration with the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center. This second training involved the proposing of a multimodal MR-based imaging battery to determine the predictive value of neurovascular insults, such as deterioration of the blood-brain barrier or reduced cerebral vascular reactivity, to detect early changes associated with amyloid pathology. Dr. Villeneuve received her PhD at the Université de Montréal under the supervision of Professor Sylvie Belleville and has been a member of the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec since 2009.
Dr. Villeneuve’s work is currently supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Contact: sylvia.villeneuve(/at/)mcgill.ca
PubMed | Google Scholar | ResearchGate | Twitter
Postdoctoral Researchers
Sofía Fernandez-Lozano
Sofía is a postdoctoral fellow in the Villeneuve Lab. She trained in clinical psychology at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California and in neurobiology at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), where she used functional MRI to study addiction. She then obtained her PhD in Neuroscience from McGill’s Integrated Program in Neuroscience under the supervision of Dr. Louis Collins, developing structural MRI biomarkers to predict progression to Alzheimer’s disease. In the Villeneuve Lab, she uses structural equation modeling to study how cardiovascular risk relates to Alzheimer’s pathology, neurodegeneration, and cognition before symptoms appear. Outside the lab, Sofía collects old film cameras and practices her French by reading women and queer writers.
Contact: sofia.fernandezlozano(/at/)mail.mcgill.ca
Website | GitHub | Google Scholar | ResearchGate
Ting Qiu
Ting completed her PhD in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill in 2026, using PET and MRI to study how amyloid and tau affect brain structure and cognitive resilience. She now integrates neuroimaging, fluid biomarkers, and clinical data to understand why people with similar Alzheimer’s pathology decline differently, and how lifestyle can inform prevention. Outside the lab, she enjoys badminton and exploring new places.
Contact: ting.qiu(/at/)mail.mcgill.ca
Google Scholar | Bluesky | Twitter
Doctoral Students
Yishu Chao
Yishu received her BAs in Cognitive Science and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Under Dr. Lea Grinberg’s supervision, her undergraduate honors thesis examined the correlation between PET and histological tau signals. After graduating, she worked as a staff research associate in Dr. William Jagust’s lab, investigating the role of risk factors in aging and Alzheimer’s disease using multi-modal human neuroimaging methods. In 2026, she began her PhD in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill and will continue studying Alzheimer’s disease using fluid and PET biomarkers, with an interest in clinical trials and early prevention strategies. In her free time, Yishu loves reading and is learning ballet and pottery.
Google Scholar | LinkedIn
Alfonso Fajardo-Valdez
Alfonso earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an MSc degree in neuroscience at the National University of Mexico (UNAM). During his bachelor’s, he investigated the influence of early life stress on the later onset of impulsivity. During his master’s, he examined the correlation between resting-state fMRI functional connectivity and cognitive impairment in temporal lobe epilepsy. Alfonso is interested in cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging analysis, and cross-species comparative studies. During his PhD, he will assess amyloid-beta and tau pathology progression in individuals at risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Alfonso is a lover of coffee and a huge fan of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the Lord of the Rings sagas. During his free time, he enjoys playing chess, hanging out with friends, and reading novels and scientific diffusion books. He also loves programming and coding stuff.
Contact: alfonso.fajardovaldez(/at/)mail.mcgill.ca
ResearchGate | Twitter
Lylou Guilloton
Lylou completed her BA in Psychology with a minor in Linguistics, and MSc in Health Sciences from Concordia University. During this time, her field of interest was sleep and cognitive health in older adults. She joined the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill for her PhD in 2026, and will begin her work investigating how sleep-wake regulation, particularly orexin signaling and sleep physiology, influences the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. In her free time, Lylou can be found sitting with her cats while knitting, watching a movie, or reading.
Amelie Metz, FRQS Fellow
Amelie completed her BA in Speech and Language Therapy at LMU Munich, Germany, an MSc in Psychological, Neurological, and Clinical Linguistics at University of Salzburg, Austria, and an MSc in Neuroscience with focus on neural stem cells and nervous system repair at King’s College London, UK. She joined McGill in 2022 as a rotation PhD student. Since September 2023, she is co-supervised by Dr. Villeneuve and Dr. Mahsa Dadar, investigating the relationship between neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular pathologies, specifically white matter hyperintensities, and clinical symptoms in dementia patients. Outside the lab, Amelie enjoys yoga, reading, and attending concerts of the OSM.
Contact: amelie.metz(/at/)mail.mcgill.ca
Google Scholar
Sunanda Somu
Sunanda completed her BTech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering with a minor specialization in signal/image processing from Manipal Institute of Technology, India and a MSc in Electrical Engineering from University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She started her PhD in the Integrated Neuroscience Program at McGill University in fall 2026 under Dr. Villeneuve’s supervision and shall be working with multimodal neuroimaging data in the context of Alzheimer’s disease. Outside the lab, she loves playing badminton, watching TV shows, cooking and reading science fiction.
LinkedIn
Yara Yakoub, QBIN Fellow, 2023-2024 ISTAART Ambassador
Yara is a recent graduate from the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. As a PhD student, Yara will be working on identifying and validating blood plasma Aβ biomarkers in asymptomatic individuals at high-risk of AD. In her free time, Yara enjoys reading, watching football, and exploring new recipes.
Contact: yara.yakoub(/at/)mail.mcgill.ca
Twitter | LinkedIn
Master’s Students
Yasmin Mosconi
Yasmin completed her BSc in Psychology at Concordia University with a specialization in behavioural neuroscience, where she examined the association between multilingual experience and hippocampal volume in individuals with or at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. She is now starting her MSc in Mental Health and will be investigating why individuals with a similar family history and risk for Alzheimer’s disease show different cognitive outcomes. Outside the lab, Yasmin likes reading, cooking, and doing pilates.
Athina Sitou
Following her undergraduate studies in neuroscience at McGill University, Athina is continuing her studies at the same institution. As a master’s student, she will be investigating the association between dietary patterns and Alzheimer’s disease. Outside the lab, Athina enjoys crochet, reading and ice skating.
Contact: Athina.Sitou(/at/)mail.mcgill.ca
LinkedIn
Julien Thériault-Dubé
Julien graduated with a BSc in Honours Psychology from McGill University in summer 2026 and is currently pursuing an MSc in Mental Health under the supervision of Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve. He joined the Villeneuve Lab during his undergraduate studies, where he completed an honours thesis in 2025. His research interests include brain aging, brain structure, and cognitive decline. In his free time, he enjoys watching sports and reading.
Undergraduate Researchers
Anthony Pontbriand
Anthony is currently in the last year of his B.A. in Honours Psychology at McGill University. His research interest focuses on the relationship between sleep disturbances and the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Outside the lab, he enjoys watching football and basketball, and he’s always up for a good meal with friends. After graduating, Anthony plans to pursue graduate studies to continue his research in this area.
Staff
Christine Déry
Christine graduated with a Master’s degree in microbiology at the University of Sherbrooke. Upon landing her second work contract doing genetic testing, she started recruiting and working with research participants. She then realized she had found her calling. She then retired from working with pipets and DNA and changed research field to predominantly work with research participants and administer cognitive testing. She joined the lab in May 2022, as a research coordinator, performing neuropsychological testing on the PREVENT-AD cohort as well as managing part of the Villeneuve lab. When she is not working, Christine is either cooking and baking, or running after her kids.
Contact: christine.dery.comtl(/at/)ssss.gouv.qc.ca
Manon Edde, PhD
Manon is a research assistant at the Sherbrooke Connectivity Imaging Lab (SCIL), led by Professor Maxime Descoteaux at Université de Sherbrooke, and in Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve’s lab at McGill University. Her research focuses on diffusion MRI, myelin imaging, and white matter microstructure to better understand brain changes associated with aging, multiple sclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases. She is also interested in developing reproducible neuroimaging pipelines and harmonization methods to improve the reliability of MRI biomarkers.
Louise Hudon
Retired from the University of Sherbrooke, Louise works as a research assistant, performing neuropsychological tests.
Contact: louise.hudon.comtl(/at/)ssss.gouv.qc.ca
Jordana Remz
Jordana works as a research assistant handling data management and data processing automation. When not learning something new at the lab, she’s learning something new outside the lab.
Contact: jordana.remz.comtl(/at/)ssss.gouv.qc.ca