JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMPE
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor
Dept of Pharmacology & Therapeutics
McGill University
Jean-Francois Trempe obtained his doctorate degree from the University of Oxford in 2007. After postdoctoral training at McGill and the Montreal Neurological Institute, he obtained a Faculty position at McGill in 2013. His goal is to elucidate the function of proteins implicated in Parkinson’s disease (PD) through 3D structure determination and proteomics studies, as well as design small molecules to modulate their activities. In collaboration with the Michael J. Fox Foundation and the SGC, his lab aims to design and characterize small-molecules targeting Parkin and PINK1. He previously held a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Structural Pharmacology (2014-2024) and has received the New Investigator Award from Parkinson Canada in 2014. He has published a total of 81 articles during his career (H-index 37, 6500 citations), on the topics of ubiquitin and neurodegenerative diseases. His most important contribution to date are the structure determination of Parkin, which revealed the mechanism of action of this important PD target (Trempe, Sauvé et al. Science 2013), and the elucidation of the structural basis for PINK1 activation (Rasool et al. EMBO Rep 2018; Mol Cell 2022)
NATHALIE CROTEAU
Lab technician
Ms Nathalie Croteau is a laboratory technician who’s been working at McGill for more than 30 years. She obtained a BSc degree in Biochemistry from McGill in 1987, after which she started to work as a technician at McGill, in the labs of Drs Andrew Bateman and Samuel Solomon (1987-1994). In 1994, she joined the lab of Dr Alice Vrielink (McGill Biochemistry). After the departure of Dr Vrielink from McGill in 2001, Ms Croteau joined the lab of Prof James Coulton in the department of Microbiology & Immunology, where she worked until his retirement. She joined Dr Trempe in November 2013, and has since been the cornerstone of the laboratory.
SIMON VEYRON
Research Associate
Simon obtained a PhD under the direction of Jacqueline Cherfils, at the CNRS Laboratoire de Biologie et Pharmacologie Appliquée, ENS Paris-Saclay, France. His project consisted of elucidating the structure and mechanism of action of FIC proteins. He joined the Trempe lab in November 2018. His project, funded by the Michael J Fox Foundation, is to design and optimize small-molecule activators of Parkin, using NMR and X-ray crystallography.
TARA SHOMALI
PhD student
Tara obtained her BSc in Pharmacology at McGill in 2020. She started working in the lab as a summer student in 2019, and then as a PHAR 599 student. She completed her MSc project in 2022. As of January 2023, she is now a PhD student in the lab! She works on the pharmacology and biochemistry of the protein PINK1 and small molecule inhibitors. Tara currently holds the PhD Graduate Student Award from Parkinson's Canada.
SABRINA ROMANELLI
PhD student
Sabrina obtained her undergraduate degree from McGill University in Honours Pharmacology in spring 2022. During her undergraduate training, she participated in research projects in the domains of reproductive immunology and toxicology. In Fall 2022, she started her master’s degree in Pharmacology, excited to join the world of structural biology research. Her research will focus on better understanding the relationship between PINK1 and the TOM complex. Sabrina holds both a CIHR and FRQS master's award.
DANIELLE SIMONS
PhD Student
Danielle earned her BSc in Honours Biochemistry (Co-op) from the University of Waterloo in 2023. She joined the lab as a Master’s student in Fall 2023 and subsequently fast-tracked to PhD for Winter 2025. Her research aims to uncover novel functions of the mitochondrial processing peptidase, a protein crucial for regulating mitochondrial protein import with implications in cerebellar ataxia and childhood neurodegeneration. Danielle currently holds an NSERC Canadian Graduate Scholarship and FRQ-NT training scholarship.
LUCA LAZZARI
PhD Student
Luca obtained his BSc in Honours Pharmacology from McGill in 2023. He started working in the lab as a PHAR 598 student during his undergraduate studies and then as a Master's student in Fall 2023. He subsequently fast-tracked to PhD for Winter 2025, co-supervised by Dr. Maria Vera Ugalde. His research aims to understand the role of PINK1 mRNA in mitochondrial quality control. Luca currently holds a CIHR Canadian Graduate Scholarship and FRQS training scholarship.
Alexandra Dimitrov
MSc student
Alexandra obtained her BSc Honours Pharmacology in 2025. She started to work in our lab in the summer of 2024, after which she carried out a PHAR 598 project. She started a MSc degree in September in our lab. Her research aims to determine the molecular mechanism of MAPL, an E3 ligase implicated in mitochondrial regulation.
Joyce Choi
BSc student
Joyce is currently doing a BSc degree in Pharmacology. She started working in our lab in the summer of 2025, and then started an independent research project on PINK1 as part of the PHAR 599 course.