Nicolas Cermakian
Associate Professor
Psychiatry
McGill University
Canada
Biography
Dr. Nicolas Cermakian is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University and the Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Chronobiology in the Research Centre of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. He conducts research on circadian rhythms and on the “internal clocks” that generate these rhythms. People tend to become aware of their internal clocks in special situations, such as when experiencing jet lag. With chronic disruptions to a person’s internal clock (which can be caused, for example, by shift work) severe sleep or mood disorders may emerge, but also cancer, increased susceptibility to infections, metabolic syndrome, and other diseases. Nicolas Cermakian is studying the molecular mechanisms underlying circadian rhythms, how these clocks control physiology, including immune responses, and how clock dysfunction leads to disease.
Research Interest
Chronobiology, Molecular biology
Publications
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Skin Temperature Rhythms in Humans Respond to Changes in the Timing of Sleep and Light. Cuesta M, Boudreau P, Cermakian N, Boivin DB.
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PRL2 links magnesium flux and sex-dependent circadian metabolic rhythms. Uetani N, Hardy S, Gravel SP, Kiessling S, Pietrobon A, Wong NN, Chénard V, Cermakian N, St-Pierre J, Tremblay ML.
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The circadian clock in immune cells controls the magnitude of Leishmania parasite infection. Kiessling S, Dubeau-Laramée G, Ohm H, Labrecque N, Olivier M, Cermakian N.
