| Michel Bouvier | |
| Birth Date: | 14 September 1958 |
| Citizenship: | Canadian |
| Fields: | Biochemistry and molecular pharmacology |
| Awards: | Fellow of the Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Canada[1] / Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences / Canada Research Chair in Signal Transduction and Molecular Pharmacology[2] |
Michel Bouvier (born September 14, 1958) is a Canadian biochemist and molecular pharmacologist. He is a professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine at Université de Montréal; a principal investigator and the chief executive officer at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer; and an associate vice-president in Research, Scientific Discovery, Creation, and Innovation at Université de Montréal. His work focuses on the study of cell signaling towards the discovery of new pharmaceutical drugs.[3]
Michel Bouvier earned a B.Sc. in biochemistry (1979) and a Ph.D. in neurological sciences (1985) from Université de Montréal, and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship (1985-1989) at Duke University under the supervision of Robert Lefkowitz (2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry[4]). Bouvier is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Université de Montréal and a principal investigator at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at Université de Montréal.[5]
He is a world-known expert[6] [7] in cell signaling and drug discovery, notably in the field of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs),[8] which constitute the largest single protein family involved in the transduction of hormonal signals and neurotransmitters. Their physiological significance makes them prime targets in drug development, and over a third of existing drugs use GPCRs as their target site of action. Bouvier's work in the regulation of receptors led to new paradigms (inverse agonism; pharmacological chaperones; receptor polymerization; and pluridimensionality of signaling), which, coupled with the development of bioluminescence resonance energy transfer-based methods, have a direct impact on drug discovery.[9] He has authored over 260 scientific articles,[10] filed 36 patent applications, and delivered over 400 lectures as a guest lecturer. Bouvier holds the Canada Research Chair in Signal Transduction and Molecular Pharmacology.[11]