Dr. Elsa Gomez-Escobar obtained her PhD in Life Sciences with a specialty in Virology from the University of Tours (France) in 2021. Her PhD project was performed under the supervision of Prof. Philippe Roingeard and Dr. Elodie Beaumont, and it consisted of the optimization of a bivalent HBV-HCV vaccine. Because of her keen interest in vaccine development and understanding how infections/vaccines trigger protective immunity, she joined Dr. Naglaa Shoukry's laboratory at the Centre de Recherche du CHUM (CRCHUM) as a Postdoctoral Fellow in early 2022. The main topic of her research is the study of immune responses in HCV infection and, specifically, the evaluation of the impact of DAA-based treatment on the restoration of T and B cell responses in drug users at high risk of reinfection. When a vaccine against HCV is available, drug users may be a priority target of vaccination. Thus, the outcomes of this project will inform us about whether drug users after a DAA-mediated cure may be able to develop protective immunity upon vaccination.
Dr. Julie Bruneau is a Full Professor at the Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Université de Montréal. She is the Canada Research Chair on Integrated Care for People Who Use Drugs. Dr. Bruneau's research focuses on the individual and contextual factors involved in the transmission of HIV and the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) among injection drug users (IDUs), with a view to identifying strategies for preventing new infections. These studies are conducted by monitoring a prospective IDU cohort that are seronegative for HIV and/or HCV. This cohort is linked to a geographic information system that makes it possible to study environmental and individual factors recorded during biannual meetings with participants. She is also interested in access to health care by drug addicts, in particular the evaluation of the impact of treatments for recent HCV infection among drug users on drug consumption and quality of life.
Dr. Naglaa H. Shoukry is a Professor of Medicine at Université de Montréal and Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal Research Center (CRCHUM), Canada. She obtained her Pharmacy degree from Cairo University, Egypt and her Ph.D. in Immunology from McGill University, Canada. Her postdoctoral research has established the essential and complementary roles of CD8 and CD4 T lymphocytes in resolution and protection from hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Since joining the Université de Montréal and CRCHUM in 2005, she has established a translational research program focused on studying immunity to HCV, immunological mechanisms of liver fibrosis progression, and liver cancer. She has published over 90 articles in high impact journals. She has maintained uninterrupted funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She has served on various review committees at a national and international level including CIHR, FRQS, Canada Research Chairs, NIH, DFG, and the Wellcome Trust. She is an Academic Editor for PLoS ONE, and Frontiers in Immunology. In recognition, CIHR profiled her achievements on World Hepatitis Day in 2013 and 2017. She is the recipient of an inaugural Rosalind Franklin Award in Science (2021) that recognizes outstanding contributions from women and minorities and the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL) Distinguished Service Award (2023).
