MeDiC  |  Metabolic Disorders and Complications Program

The Metabolic Disorders and Complications Program (MeDiC) is managed by a Program Management Committee that meets at least four times per year and is responsible for developing a strategic research plan for our group of investigators, fostering collaboration, and enhancing funding success as well as organizing scientific activities for staff and trainees. The current Program Management Committee members are:

Dr. Simon Wing, Program Leader

Bertrand Jean-Claude, M.Sc., PhD, Associate Program Leader

Elham Rahme, PhD, Associate Program Leader

Stéphane Laporte, PhD, Associate Program Leader

Dr. Errol Marliss

Elena Torban, PhD

Dr. David Goltzman

Dr. Jean-François Yale

Dr. Suzanne Morin

Dr. Robert Sladek

Rachel Massicotte, PhD, Program Manager

Nazila Hassanabadi and Raymond Milan, Student Representatives, Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE)

Claire Lawson and Hannah Swick, Student Representatives, Centre for Translational Biology (CTB)

Program leaders and manager

Simon Wing, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at McGill University and physician in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the McGill University Health Centre. His research focuses on the physiological functions of the ubiquitin proteasome system, which degrades the majority of cell proteins in a highly regulated and precise fashion. His work has identified genes in this system which play important roles in the protein degradation that leads to muscle wasting, a complication in cancer and many other chronic diseases. He has also identified genes in the ubiquitin system that are essential for sperm development and function and appear to be involved in male infertility. His work has been recognized by election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and is presently funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute. Dr. Wing has served in other leadership roles, including directing the McGill Clinical Investigator Program and the Division of Adult Endocrinology and Metabolism at McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre. He presently chairs the Research Council of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Bertrand J. Jean-Claude, M.Sc., PhD, is Director of the Drug Discovery Platform at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). An Associate Professor of medicine at McGill University, he has received many awards, including the Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC)-Cancer Research Society (CRS) partnered award, the US Department of Defence New Investigator Award and the Fonds de recherche du Québec─Santé (FRQS) Senior Investigator Award. His research program focuses on a novel tumour targeting approach initiated in his Cancer Drug Research Laboratory, termed “the Combi-Targeting concept.” This approach seeks to confer signalling inhibitory properties to potent DNA damaging agents with the purpose of interfering with mechanisms that lead to apoptosis. The first proof-of-concept synthesis of a novel molecule capable of targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and damaging DNA made Dr. Jean-Claude a pioneer in the rational design of dual targeted kinase inhibitors. In addition to directing a research laboratory and a technological platform, Dr. Jean-Claude leads two major training programs at McGill University: the Graduate Diploma in Clinical Research and the McGill-CIHR Drug Development Training Program. His research is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Elham Rahme, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Associate Member in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill University. She is also a Medical Scientist in the Division of Clinical Epidemiology of the McGill University Health Centre. She is a member of the executive committee of the Réseau Québécois de recherche sur l’usage des médicaments and a member of the Réseau Québécois de recherche sur le suicide. She is an Editorial Board member of the Open Rheumatology Journal, BMC Geriatrics and Current Drug Safety. She holds a PhD in statistics and has extensive expertise in pharmacoepidemiology and health services research. Her research interests include the evaluation of the safety, effectiveness, and economic implications of prescribed medications. Dr. Rahme has conducted population-based studies on the utilization, adverse events, and cost of NSAIDs; risks and benefits of extended outpatient anticoagulant use following total hip and knee arthroplasty; home care following hospital discharge from hemiarthroplasty; use of serotonin re-uptake inhibitors in association with suicide; rate of infection and the development of multi-drug resistance in patients undergoing dialysis; estimation of the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes in Quebec; utilisation, safety and cost of anti-TNF-alpha drugs; and assessment and development of biostatistical methods for pharmacoepidemiology research. Stéphane Laporte, PhD, is Director of the Molecular Imaging Platform at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). A Professor of Medicine at McGill University, he has received many awards, including a Canada Research Chair, FRQS scholarships and the CDA/CSEM/Merck Frosst Young Investigator award. His research program focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) responses, a class of receptors involved in many, if not all, physiological responses, with the ultimate goal of improving drug action. He has developed innovative methods for in-cellulo measurement of protein-protein interactions, receptor trafficking and signalling, useful for application in drug discovery programs. His research program also studies the allosteric, biased signalling regulation of GPCR and has contributed to the design and validation of small molecules that block myometrial contraction in pre-term birth. He has contributed to the generation of many intellectual property agreements and patents and published his findings in high-impact journals. The Canadian Institutes for Health Research and March of Dimes currently support his research. Rachel Massicotte, PhD, obtained her doctorate in epigenetics from Université de Montréal and completed postdoctoral training in neuroepigenetics at McGill University. She acquired experience in collaborative projects coordination, grant applications and event management as a research operations manager at Maelstrom Research and project manager of the ReACH Initiative. She brings excellent communication skills and strong leadership and management capabilities to the MeDiC Program, as well as extensive research expertise with 12 years of experience.