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Professor Mona Nemer
(Vice-President)

Mona Nemer is the University of Ottawa’s Vice-President, Research and a researcher in molecular biology.

Dr. Nemer has a PhD in bio-organic chemistry from McGill University. Prior to her arrival at the University of Ottawa, she was Professor of Pharmacology at the Université de Montréal and Director of the Cardiac Development Research Unit at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM).

Dr. Nemer’s research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms involved in cellular growth and differentiation, particularly as this relates to heart failure and congenital heart diseases. She is renowned, amongst other things, for her pioneering work on the regulation of natriuretic heart hormones and the identification of several genes essential for heart development. To date, she has published more than 100 articles in prestigious scientific journals and has participated in editing several book chapters. She has also been involved in organizing numerous international gatherings, particularly in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology. Since 1995, she has been invited to speak at over one hundred conferences around the world. During her career, she has worked in several different research areas including chemistry, cellular/molecular biology, pathophysiology and clinical studies.

In addition to her scientific achievements, Mona Nemer has demonstrated a strong commitment to the education of the next generation through both her supervision of graduate and post-graduate students as well as her contributions to numerous community services. Beyond her participation in various peer committees, including the interdisciplinary committee of the Canada Research Chairs Program, the National Research Council’s strategic biosciences committee and the multidisciplinary committee of the Human Frontier Science Programme, Dr. Nemer was a member of several executive boards, including that of the MRC/CIHR, and has sat on several national and international advisory committees. As Director of Academic Affairs and Executive Director of Planning and Development for the IRCM, she has contributed to enhancing the reputation of this renowned health research centre.

Dr. Nemer’s research accomplishments have brought her a large number of awards, including the Leo Pariseau Prize in Biological Sciences and Health Sciences from ACFAS in 2003 and the Jeanne Manery Fisher Award from the Canadian Society of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology’s in 2002. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and held a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Cell Differentiation.

On April 23, 2009, Academician Nemer was knighted (Chevalier de l'ordre National du (Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite) by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

Sample of Academician's Research

(Double-click on image to enlarge)
Ventricular hypertrophy is the enlargement of ventricles (lower chambers) in the heart.

Professor Nemer has identified doxorubicin-induced down regulation of human gene GATA4, a transcription factor known to play critical roles in cardiac development and ventricular hypertrophy, as a major mechanism underlying doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. She then went on to demonstrate that infusion of the alpha-adrenergic agent, phenylephrine, prevented doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, apparently by preventing the down-regulation of the GATA4.

Her findings have major implications for the treatment of patients receiving anthracyclines, as well as of the use of alpha-adrenergic blockers in these patients.
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