Principal Investigator
Hugo Soudeyns, PhD
Visiting Professor
Pathology Advanced Translational Research Unit
Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
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Dr. Hugo Soudeyns obtained his M.Sc. (1993) and Ph.D. (1997) degrees in Microbiology & Immunology from McGill University, first under the supervision of Dr. Mark A. Wainberg (Lady Davis Institute) and then Dr. Rafick-P. Sékaly (Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal). He also trained under the supervision of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci (NIAID, NIH; 1994-1995) and Dr. Giuseppe Pantaleo (CHUV, Lausanne; 1996-1999). Dr. Soudeyns was mostly active in 3 areas of HIV/AIDS research: a) The testing of antiretroviral drugs, which led to the identification of the antiviral properties of lamivudine; b) The molecular genetics of HIV-1 gene expression, which led to the identification of hormone response elements within the HIV-1 genome; and c) The study of cell-mediated immune responses, which led to the observation of clonal exhaustion of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes during primary HIV infection and to a better appreciation of the compartmentalization of these cells between lymph nodes and peripheral blood. In 2000, Dr. Soudeyns joined Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine, the largest pediatric hospital in Canada, as an independent biomedical investigator. He is Full Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Microbiology, Infectiology & Immunology at Université de Montréal, department which he chaired between 2012 and 2020. His main research interests are focused on viral immunopathology, mother-to-child transmission of HIV and hepatitis viruses, and cell-mediated antiviral immunity during pregnancy and childhood.
He joined PATRU as a Visiting Professor in March of 2023.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Soudeyns continues to investigate the immunovirology of HIV infection in infants, children and adolescents as part of projects that are pursued in collaboration with members of PATRU and the Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine. Concomitantly, he initiated working on antiviral immune responses in people living with Down syndrome. He is also interested in studying a) the persistence of the HIV reservoir in children living with HIV who were treated soon after birth; and b) the development of the immune system and vaccine responsiveness in adolescents with gender dysphoria who are undergoing steps to actualize gender reassignment.