Dr. Éric Boilard, Ph.D., is Full Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunity at the Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval, and a researcher at the Center de Recherche du CHU de Québec. He is also co-founder and co-director of the ARThrite Research Center (Arthrite-Research-Treatment) at Université Laval, Director of the Cytometry Platform of the Center de Recherche du CHU de Québec, and is a consulting member of the group International Systemic Lupus Collaborating Clinics (SLICC).
He obtained his doctorate in Microbiology and Immunology at Université Laval (2003) and pursued postdoctoral trainings at the Université de Nice-Sophia-Antipolis (2003-2006) and at Harvard University at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (2006-2010). It was during his studies at Harvard that Dr. Boilard shed light on the role of platelets in rheumatoid arthritis (Boilard et al. Science 2010).
His work aims to better understand the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, notably rheumatic diseases, and to improve the development of new therapies through the development of biomarkers. He examines how platelets and the cells that produce them, called megakaryocytes, contribute to the inflammatory responses in place in rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and cases of overwhelming inflammatory responses during microbial infections. For his work, he is also considering the extracellular vesicles produced by these cells using advanced technologies. He carries out his research in the clinic through the precious involvement of patients and with the help of mouse models of disease.
Quebec, Canada
Professor
Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec-Universite Laval