Pierre Moffatt
Assistant Professor, Department of Human Genetics
Dr. Moffatt received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Université de Montréal in 1996. He then pursued post-doctoral studies at the Centre de Cancérologie de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Québec and then at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Montreal.
My research focuses on the functional characterization of genes encoding secreted and membrane proteins that are specifically expressed in bone cells (chondrocytes and osteoblasts). We are using both in vitro (cell culture) and in vivo (genetically modified mice) models to explore the roles played by those proteins in bone biology. Functional studies involve the use of various biochemical and molecular biology tools and techniques to overexpress or knock down the genes of interest. Currently my laboratory is studying osteogenesis imperfecta caused by mutations in the IFITM5/BRIL gene. Genetically engineered mouse models are being analyzed to help decipher the pathophysiologic effects of two different mutant BRIL proteins in vivo.
