Researcher

Title

• Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Concordia University
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University

• Postdoctoral research fellow, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, 2005-2009
• Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, University of Leiden, the Netherlands, 2001-2005
• Masters in Research Methodology and Statistics, University of Leiden, 1996-2001
• Masters in Clinical Psychology, University of Leiden, 1997-2000

My research program is about the neurobiological mechanisms of psychopathology. My current research examines the impact of early adversity and serotonergic genes on the development of the serotonin system, functioning of the frontal-limbic neural circuitry and risk for mental disorders (in particular, mood and impulse control disorders as well as eating disorders).

My other research interests involve the role of serotonin in emotional processing and in cognitive vulnerability to depression. The methods I use in my research program are a combination of epidemiology and experimental research and include neuroimaging (fMRI/PET), genetics, epigenetics and behavioural/cognitive measures.

Awards and Distinctions

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research - New Investigator Salary Award, 2014-2018
• Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology - Young Investigator Award, May 2013
• Marie Gaumond award for young researchers working on affective disorders, 2011
• Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé - Research Scholar career award, junior 1, 2011-2015
• Narsad- Brain & Behavior Research Foundation - Young Investigator Award, 2013-2015
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Operating grant, 2010-2015
• H.F. Guggenheim Foundation, Research grant, 2010-2014.
• Quebec Brain Imaging Network-Pilot project competition, 2010

Presentations

• Grand rounds, Dept. of Psychiatry, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, April 10 2015. The role of Serotonin in psychopathology: Lessons from developmental neuroscience.
• Cercle d’étude, Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université de Montréal, April 17 2015. The role of early stress in physical and mental health problems: underlying biological mechanisms and relevance for oral health problems.
• Ontario Association for Children rehabilitation services, Toronto, November 3 2014. Epigenetic mechanisms in child development.
• Brain Research Foundation Symposium 2014: Gene-Environment transactions in developmental psychopathology: Role in intervention research, United States, Illinois, September 11-12 2014. What is the current knowledge about chronic physical aggression with respect to both Gene-environment interactions and interventions?
• 29th World Congress for Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP), Vancouver, June 25 2014. Peripheral SLC6A4 methylation: relevance for brain development and risk for depression. Symposium: Serotonin, stress and depression: Genetic and epigenetic factors.
• World Congress on Brain, Behavior and Emotions, Montreal, April 7 2014. Early environmental influences on the development of the brain: role of epigenetic processes and risk for psychopathology.
• Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre. August 15 2013. The role of serotonin in mental health problems: lessons from developmental neuroscience.
• Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology, May 2013. Young Investigators Award lecture. Genetic and Early Environmental Influences on the Serotonin System: Consequences for Brain Development and Risk for Mental Illness.

Selected Publications

• The impact of the in utero and early postnatal environments on grey and white matter volume: A study with adolescent monozygotic twins. Lévesque M, Fahim, C, Ismaylova E, Verner MP, Casey KF, Vitaro F, Brendgen M, Dionne G, Boivin M, Tremblay RE, Booij L. Developmental Neuroscience, In Press.
• The developmental origins of chronic physical aggression: Biological pathways triggered by early life adversity. Provençal N, Booij L, Tremblay RE. The developmental origins of chronic physical aggression: Biological pathways triggered by early life adversity. Journal of Experimental Biology 2015; 218(1): 123-133.
• Genetic and early environmental influences on the serotonin system: Consequences for brain development and risk for psychopathology.  Booij L, Tremblay RE, Szyf M, Benkelfat C. Genetic and early environmental influences on the serotonin system: Consequences for brain development and risk for psychopathology. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience 2015; 40(1): 5-18.
• DNA methylation of the serotonin transporter gene in peripheral cells and stress related changes in hippocampal volume: a study in depressed patients and healthy controls. Booij L, Szyf M, Carballedo A, Frey E-M, Morris D, Dimov S, Vaisheva F, Ly V, Fahey C, Meaney J, Gill M, Frodl T. PlosOne, 10(3): e0119061- e0119061.
• DNA Methylation of serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) is associated with brain function involved in processing emotional stimuli. Frodl T, Szyf M, Carballedo A, Ly V, Dymov S, Vaisheva F, Morris D, Fahey C, Meaney J, Gill M, Booij L. (2015). Journal of psychiatry and neuroscience. 31(40(2)): 140180-140180.
• DNA methylation in individuals with Anorexia Nervosa and in matched normal-eater controls: A genome-wide study. Booij L, Casey K, Antunes J, Szyf M, Israel M, Steiger H. DNA methylation in individuals with Anorexia Nervosa and in matched normal-eater controls: A genome-wide study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2015 Mar 23. doi: 10.1002/eat.22374. [Epub ahead of print]
• Brain serotonin synthesis in MDMA (ecstasy) polydrug users: an α-[11C]-methyl- L-tryptophan study. Booij L, Soucy JP, Young SN, Regoli M, Gravel G, Diksic M, Leyton M, Pihl RO, Benkelfat C. Brain serotonin synthesis in MDMA (ecstasy) polydrug users: an α-[11C]-methyl- L-tryptophan study. Journal of Neurochemistry 2014; 131(5): 634-644.
• Genome-wide DNA methylation variability in adolescent monozygotic twins followed since birth. Lévesque ML, Casey KF, Szyf M, Ly V, Ismaylova E, Verner MP, Suderman M, Brendgen M, Vitaro F, Boivin M. Tremblay RE, Booij L. (2014). Genome-wide DNA methylation variability in adolescent monozygotic twins followed since birth. Epigenetics 2014; 9(10): 1410-1422.