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Malika Oubaha, Ph. D.

Chaire de recherche du Canada sur la sénescence et le développement vasculaire
Professeure au Département des sciences biologiques
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM)
Centre d’Excellence pour la recherche sur les maladies orphelines
Fondation Courtois (CERMO-FC)

Montréal, Québec, CANADA
courriel: oubaha.malika@uqam.ca

Biographie/Biography

Dr. Oubaha is a molecular and cellular biologist with specific training and expertise in vascular biology. Her work led to significant findings on the role of cellular senescence in vascular remodeling in retinopathies. Since June 2019, Dr Oubaha is a professor at biological science department at Université du Québec à Montréal and a member of Center of Excellence in Orphan Disease Research, Courtois Foundation (CERMO-FC). She recently was awarded the Canada Research chair in senescence and vascular development from the Canadian Institutes of Health research

Dr Oubaha’s translational research program on Senescence and Vascular Development focuses on understanding endothelial cell function in retinopathies to find effective and streamlined therapeutic strategies not only for vascular eye diseases but also for other vascular-associated pathologies like atherosclerosis and cancer.

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Résumé/Abstract

Titre: Cellular Senescence and Endothelial Cell Function in Retinopathy

A functional vascular network is a prerequisite for normal embryonic development, tissue repair and engineering. Deciphering the cellular and molecular mechanisms that initiate and regulate blood vessel growth and regression in the retina in homeostatic conditions is key to understand vascular retinopathies. We use unbiased high-throughput screening methods of Single cell RNAseq, combined with microscopy imaging and biochemical analysis to identify angiocrine factors regulating different aspects of vessel remodeling in the eye. We found recently that cellular senescence can occur from the earliest stages of embryonic development and influence endothelial cell’s function. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of developmental senescence and the identification of new molecular signatures regulating endothelial cell plasticity and specification is of great interest in order to manipulate theses pathways to counteract retinopathy.

Source(s) de financement / Funding

NSERC, CRC-IRSC, VHRN, FCI.

Mots-clés / Keywords

Angiogenesis, endothelial cells, senescence, retina, blood vessels.

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