Dr. Marie-Josée Hébert

Holder of the Shire Chair in Nephrology and Renal Transplantation and Regeneration
at the Université de Montréal

Dr. Marie-Josée Hébert is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine of the Université de Montréal, a researcher at the CHUM research centre and a nephrologist-transplant physician at the CHUM.

Dr. Hébert completed her medical studies and training in internal medicine and nephrology at the Université de Montréal. She went on to complete a research fellowship under the direction of Dr. Barry Brenner at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University.

Upon her return to Université de Montréal in 1998, she embarked in a research career, first at the Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont and then, in 2001, at the CHUM research centre. She has developed an innovative research theme aimed at characterizing the paracrine mediators produced during programmed cell death of endothelial cells. Her group uses cellular and, molecular biology in association with proteomic to characterize the paracrine loop induced by endothelial apoptosis. Their findings are leading to the characterization of new mediators and genes involved in vascular remodelling. They also contribute to a better understanding of fibrogenesis mechanisms induced by endothelial insult. Dr. Hébert’s work helps to better characterize endothelial and vascular damage mechanisms induced by new immunosuppressive therapies used in transplantation and in association with chronic renal failure.

Since spring 2005, Dr. Hébert has also been directing a multidisciplinary research team working on characterizing rejection predictors. The team, funded by the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), includes biomedical, clinical, bioethical and psychological researchers.

Dr. Hébert has benefited from the support of prestigious organizations, both in the form of grants and for training young researchers. She was a founding member of the Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training (KRESCENT) program, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Kidney Foundation of Canada (KFOC) and the Canadian Society of Nephrology (CSN). She is Vice-chair of the KFOC biomedical scientific committee, a member of the KFOC research council and a member of the CSN governance council. Dr. Hébert’s work is presently funded by the CIHR, the KFOC and the FRSQ.

She has published over 38 articles in peer-reviewed journals and, during her short career, has already directed the work of some fifteen students. Dr. Hébert has received more than $3 million in personal and group research grants.

Many of her articles have been published in the profession’s leading journals, including FASEB Journal, Journal of Immunology, Journal of Experimental Medicine and Kidney International. Dr. Hébert has also served as a guest speaker at many national and international forums.

At the Université de Montréal, Dr. Hébert has been active in the question of balancing work and family life for professors in the Faculty of Medicine. She founded and chaired the work-family life balance committee in the Department of Medicine at the University.

Photo Credit: Luc Lauziere, CHUM

For further information, please contact Dr. Marie-Josée Hébert using the Email contact form or by phone at 514 890.8000 ext 28479