Simone Chevalier (PhD)
Professor
BSc, MSc, PhD
Currently supervising students
To establish the clinical and functional significance of protein kinases implicated in the androgen-independent progression of human prostate cancer. Development of new therapeutic modalities for prostate cancer in animal models.
My research focuses on prostatic diseases, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancers (PCa) that spontaneously arise in men 50 years or older. Our mechanistic studies involve the use of diverse in vitro and in vivo approaches to characterise key molecules of signaling pathways mediated by androgens and growth-promoting factors in heterogeneous cell populations of the human and dog prostate cells, tumours and metastases. We also focus on circulatory molecules as potential biomarkers of PCa witnessing tumor cells as they evolve with progression. To translate our findings to patients, we implemented a PCa biobank and adopted a large animal (canine) model of PCa.
- Liquid biopsies to identify new markers of lethal prostate cancer
- Prostate cancer progression.
- Intra-tumoral heterogeneity and diversity of prostate cell subtypes
Prostatic diseases
Dr Chevalier received her degree and post-graduate training in Biochemistry from the University of Montreal and the University of British Columbia, respectively. She started her scientific career of FRQS Scholar (J1 to S2) at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. The team emphasis in Endocrinoloy and Reproduction led her to the so-called “State of the Art” technology in those years of growing human and canine prostatic epithelial cells in primary cultures. She proposed the “still-debated” stem cell concept to prostate cells and continued to fight for it until now. She joined the McGill Surgery Dept in 1994 to direct the newly built Urologic Oncology Research Facilities at the Montreal General Hospital. This allowed her to team with clinician scientists and later with scientists in a unit that continue to flourish until today. Dr Chevalier devoted her whole career to prostate cancer research and still does it today through translational research. Her goal is to bring her lab findings to patients.
