Dept. of Biochemistry
McGill University
Montreal, Canada
Dr. Langlais completed his Ph. D. with honours in Molecular Biology in 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Jacques Drouin at Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Canada and is currently pursuing postdoctoral research in Dr. Philippe Gros laboratory at McGill University. He is now studying the role of the transcription factors IRF8 and IRF1 in the interferon gamma (IFNg) response to infection. Dr. Langlais and colleagues have demonstrated that IRF8 is critical to mount an appropriate inflammatory response, as the mice are susceptible to M. tuberculosis infections but are resistant to neuroinflammation induced by the cerebral malaria model, P. berghei ANKA. Dr. Langlais is now exploring the relative role of IRF8 and its binding partner proteins (IRF1 and PU1) in the macrophage transcriptional response to IFNg. He is also evaluating the role of these transcriptional networks in human tuberculosis and malaria infections, still two of the most deadly diseases world-wide. This work may pave the way toward the identification of novel therapeutic targets against these infections.
Dr. Rathinam received his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Madras Veterinary College, India and PhD from Michigan State University in 2009.
Dr. Sonnenberg completed his doctoral research training at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine in 2011, focusing on mucosal immunology.
