Dr. Christine Vande Velde is Full Professor in the Department of Neurosciences at the Université de Montréal and Université de Montréal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM). Her research interests are centered on understanding the underlying pathological mechanisms that lead to the fatal neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Her team uses a broad range of models, ranging from iPSC-derived neurons to post mortem human material to rodent models, and approaches, spanning molecular biology to neuroscience, in order to uncover mechanisms that can be developed as therapeutics and/or biomarkers for ALS and FTD.
She obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Manitoba and subsequently pursued post-doctoral studies at the University of California, San Diego/Ludwig Institute where she developed an expertise in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Her work has been funded by CIHR, ALS Association, ALS Canada, Brain Canada, MDA, US DoD, and Target ALS. Dr. Vande Velde serves on a number of grant review panels both nationally and internationally, has served as a Director of the Board of the ALS Society of Canada, and as Co-Chair of their Scientific and Medical Advisory Council, and is the newly appointed Scientific Director of the Packard Center for ALS Research.