Prof. Francesca Cicchetti

Dr. Cicchetti obtained her PhD in neurobiology at Université Laval in Québec (Canada) in 1998. In 2002, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in the field of cell replacement therapy for neurodegenerative disorders. She is now professor at the department of Psychiatry & Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine of Université Laval in Québec and her laboratory is most recognized for its contribution to: (1) the development of animal models of Parkinson’s disease, (2) the identification of new pharmacological approaches to treat Parkinson’s disease and (3) for shedding light on the role of various proteins in the dissemination of pathology in Huntington’s and Parkinson's diseases. She has published over 130 manuscripts in various high impact journals and has received numerous awards and distinctions in the course of her career (Canadian Institute of Health Research New Investigator Award, the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ) Junior Research Awards, the Young Investigator Award from NARSAD and Parkinson Society Canada, the National Researcher award as well as a Research Chair from FRQS). As a testament of her significant scientific contributions, she was just recently appointed Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.