Lab members

Current members

Gabriel is first generation university graduate from a small farming town in Bas Saint-Laurent.  He did his graduate studies at the Université Laval with Martin Simard where he studied the regulation of the microRNA pathways with the nematode C. elegans. After completing his PhD, he was interested in developing novel behaviour base assays to study neuronal function and disease modelling. He chose to join the Peterson lab with the hope of combining such assays with unbiased screening approaches such as small molecule screening. Given the ongoing crisis with opioid abuse, he set out to develop the first self-administration model using zebrafish as a model. This unique assay allows him to study the impact of different small molecules on opioid self-administration and to investigate important biological pathways regulating this behaviour.

I recently moved back to Québec city to open my own research group to study neurobiological mechanisms involved in addiction and in regulating behaviour. 

I started my studies in Neuroscience in France being mainly interested in behavioural studies and the influence of gut microbiota on them.

Then, after going back and forth in the corridors of research labs, I came across beautiful images of fluorescent neurons. So I started thinking that I too wanted to see this with my own eyes and that it would be really interesting to study how their activities and connections are able to produce behavioural responses.

I am now a PhD student at the CERVO research center. The objective of my thesis project is to understand how the neural circuits that govern social behaviour are established during the development of the larval zebrafish. I also aim to investigate the impact of a modulation of the exposome (gut microbiota, drug exposure) on the connection between these networks.

I am currently in my third and last year of my bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences at Laval University.

Since I started my studies, I have mainly worked with cell culture. Other than that, I am  interested in the neurobiological mechanisms of addiction and the option of treatment that could come from the research made around this subject. I am also interested in the use of psychedelics drug as a way of treatment for neurological and mood disorders.

Now being an intern at Dr. Bossé’s laboratory, I have the chance to study behavior and brain imaging in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) to better understand the mechanisms involved in addiction.

Current intern

2023

Nesrine Imloul- Bio-informatic 

Alumni

2023

Master 1 internship- Juliette Boudet-Duc (Université de Rouen)

Undergrad internship- Estelle Dezelus (Université Laval- Med school student)

Research internship- Léa Voyer (Cégep de Garneau-Baccalauréat international)