Cristian O'Flaherty

Dr. Cristian O’Flaherty is a professor in the Department of Surgery (Division of Urology) at McGill University and a medical scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. He is also an associate member of the Departments of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Experimental Medicine, McGill University. Dr. O’Flaherty was Co-Director of the McGill Centre for Research in Reproduction and Development during 2018-2021. He is an associate editor of Andrology, Human Reproduction, and Antioxidants Journal and a member of the Editorial Board of the Biology of Reproduction.

With a background in the biology of reproduction, he holds a D.V.M and Ph.D. in animal physiology and biochemistry degrees from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He completed his postdoctoral studies in sperm physiology and toxicology at the Urology Division and the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University. He was awarded the Chercheur-boursier (Junior 2) award from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ), and his research program has been and is currently funded by different agencies including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, FRQS and the Fonds de Recherche Nature et technologies. His research program focuses on male reproduction particularly on the molecular mechanisms involved in the production and function of healthy spermatozoa, sperm activation and the role of reactive oxygen species in sperm physiology and toxicology. His current work includes the use of mouse models and clinical studies in infertile men to elucidate the role of the antioxidant enzymes called peroxiredoxins in the regulation of sperm function using genomic, proteomic and biochemical approaches. Moreover, Dr. O’Flaherty’s laboratory is working on the molecular mechanism that regulates sperm activation and developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic tools for infertile men.