Michel Bouvier receives honorary doctorate from the University of Montpellier

This Thursday, April 13, 2023, Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, will present the title of honorary doctor of the University of Montpellier to Michel Bouvier (Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montreal, Executive Director of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer). The ceremony will follow the lecture "A history of GPCR in Montreal and Montpellier" in the Genopolys amphitheatre on the Arnaud de Villeneuve Campus from 5pm, in the presence of Philippe Marin, Director of the Institute for Functional Genomics (IGF).

Michel Bouvier to receive honorary doctorate

Research Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal, and Director General of the Institute of Immunology and Cancer Research (IRIC) in Montreal, Michel Bouvier is a world-renowned researcher in molecular pharmacology in the field of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs).

Major scientific advances in molecular pharmacology

These receptors, whose importance in physiology and pathology is considerable, are the target of over 30% of the drugs on the market. The work of Michel Bouvier and his laboratory has led to major advances in this field, greatly influencing and, in some cases, revolutionizing our understanding of how GPCRs work. These include the concepts of constitutive activity and inverse agonist, biased signaling, GPCR oligomerization and the development of biosensors based on bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET). Many of these discoveries and technologies are now being used by the pharmaceutical industry for drug development. 

Close links with the University of Montpellier

As GPCRs are one of the University of Montpellier's flagship themes, it's only logical that close links have been forged between Michel Bouvier's laboratory and several Montpellier-based teams, in the form of exchanges of technologies, models and biological tools, most often to the benefit of the latter. These collaborations have led to numerous publications in top scientific journals. Many students, researchers and post-docs of all nationalities, including several from Montpellier who now head teams with a high international profile, have also benefited from the exceptional training provided in Michel Bouvier's laboratory and continue to collaborate closely with him. Finally, the IRIC headed by Professor Bouvier is associated with an international Master's project in cancer biology involving the University of Pavia, the University of Montreal and the University of Montpellier.