Lab Information

Martin Olivier (PhD)

Senior Scientist
Centre for Translational Biology
Department of Microbiology & Immunology (McGill)

Research Profile

 Fundamental: 100%
 Clinical: 0%
 Epidemiology: 0%
 Evaluation: 0%
 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Keywords

Leishmaniasis • malaria • exosome • innate inflammation • signaling

Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding how pathogens can evade the host immune response by manipulating the biochemical cascades involved in the regulation of phagocyte microbicidal functions. My pathogens of interest are protozoan parasites causing malaria, which causes up to two millions deaths annually, and leishmaniasis, which affects more than 250 million individuals worldwide. I have found that leishmania can tame the innate inflammatory response of the host, using its surface protease that can also be contained in microvesicules rapidly released within the host environment. For Malaria, my research revealed that a crystalline metabolic waste (HZ) of the parasite was responsible for a great number of inflammation-related pathologies encountered during this important infection. My lab's findings may lead to the development of new therapies against those infectious agents, which could be applied to others such as tuberculosis. They might also lead to the development of new diagnostic tools based on exo-biomarkers, and potentially to vaccine development.


Team Members

Name Position

Latest Publications

  1. Vucetic, A., Lafleur, A., Côté, M., Kobasa, D., Chan, M., Alvarez, F., Piccirillo, C., Dong, G. & Olivier, M. (2023). Extracellular vesicle storm during the course of Ebola virus infection in primates. Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, vol. 13, p. 1275277.
  2. Nguyen, A. M. T., Shalev-Benami, M., Rosa-Teijeiro, C., Ibarra-Meneses, A. V., Yonath, A., Bashan, A., Jaffe, C. L., Olivier, M., Fernandez-Prada, C. & Lubell, W. D. (2023). Systematic Exploration of Functional Group Relevance for Anti-Leishmanial Activity of Anisomycin. Biomedicines, vol. 11.
  3. Perera, D. J., Domenech, P., Babuadze, G. G., Naghibosadat, M., Alvarez, F., Koger-Pease, C., Labrie, L., Stuible, M., Durocher, Y., Piccirillo, C. A., Lametti, A., Fiset, P. O., Elahi, S. M., Kobinger, G. P., Gilbert, R., Olivier, M., Kozak, R., Reed, M. B. & Ndao, M. (2023). BCG administration promotes the long-term protection afforded by a single-dose intranasal adenovirus-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. iScience, vol. 26, p. 107612.
  4. Vialard, F., Allaeys, I., Dong, G., Phan, M. P., Singh, U., Hébert, M. J., Dieudé, M., Langlais, D., Boilard, E., Labbé, D. P. & Olivier, M. (2023). Thermoneutrality and severe malaria: investigating the effect of warmer environmental temperatures on the inflammatory response and disease progression. Frontiers in immunology, vol. 14, p. 1128466.
  5. Alvarez, F., Istomine, R., Da Silva Lira Filho, A., Al-Aubodah, T.-A., Huang, D., Okde, R., Olivier, M., Fritz, J. H. & Piccirillo, C. A. (2023). IL-18 is required for the TH1-adaptation of TREG cells and the selective suppression of TH17 responses in acute and chronic infections. Mucosal immunology, vol. 16, p. 462-475.
  6. Ibarra-Meneses, A. V., Amin, A., Dong, G., Olivier, M., Langlais, D. & Fernandez-Prada, C. (2023). Identification and analysis of the DNA content of small extracellular vesicles isolated from Leishmania parasites. STAR protocols, vol. 4, p. 102248.
  7. Dagenais, A., Villalba-Guerrero, C. & Olivier, M. (2023). Trained immunity: A "new" weapon in the fight against infectious diseases. Frontiers in immunology, vol. 14, p. 1147476.
  8. Charlebois, E., Li, Y., Wagner, V., Pantopoulos, K. & Olivier, M. (2023). Genetic Iron Overload Hampers Development of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Mice. International journal of molecular sciences, vol. 24.
  9. Lafleur, A. & Olivier, M. (2022). Viral endosymbiotic infection of protozoan parasites: How it influences the development of cutaneous leishmaniasis. PLoS pathogens, vol. 18, p. e1010910.
  10. Guay-Vincent, M.-M., Matte, C., Berthiaume, A.-M., Olivier, M., Jaramillo, M. & Descoteaux, A. (2022). Revisiting Leishmania GP63 host cell targets reveals a limited spectrum of substrates. PLoS pathogens, vol. 18, p. e1010640.
More on PubMed 



See also

Card image
Ciriaco
Piccirillo


See profile
Card image
Michael
Reed


See profile
Card image
Momar
Ndao


See profile