Researcher

Title

• Assistant Research Professor, Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, 2014
• Accredited Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal

Internship opportunity(ies)

• ADN mitochondrial chez les survivants de la leucémie pédiatrique (in French only)
• Projet VIE : Ateliers culinaires et développement d’outils d’évaluation des connaissances (in French only)

• 2008-2013 Post-doctoral Fellowship, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, McGill University
• 2002-2008 Ph.D., Department of Nutrition, Université de Montréal
• 2000-2002 M.Sc., Department of Nutrition, Université de Montréal
• 1996-2000 B.Sc., Department of Nutrition, Université de Montréal

As a researcher and nutritionist, my research interests concern mainly nutrigenomics, lipid metabolism, inflammatory and oxidative processes, cardiometabolic pathologies, inflammatory bowel diseases, genetics, epigenetics, metabolic aspects of complex diseases, as well as the role of nutrition in disease development.

1. One of our main research interest concerns the cardiometabolic late effects afflicting pediatric cancer survivors. As a matter of fact, a large proportion of childhood cancer survivors will develop cardiometabolic complications later in life, partly due to treatment toxicity. Among these secondary effects, we observe a higher risk for obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidemia, all components of the metabolic syndrome. Our team studies these long-term deleterious effects of cancer treatments as well as their underlying mechanisms, namely changes in gut microbiota and their metabolites, in relation with epigenetic processes, inflammation and oxidative stress.
2. We also work at implementing nutritional and nutrigenomic interventions for children with cancer and their family in order to develop personalized therapies that will improve the quality of their diet and prevent long-term cardiometabolic complications.
3. Our laboratory also investigates the involvement of metabolism in the physiopathology of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, a disease for which the cause remains enigmatic. For instance, we work in understanding the role of gastro-intestinal peptides and adipokines in the disease development and evolution, in relation with genetics, intestinal microbiota, oxidative stress, inflammation and vitamins/mineral status.
4. We are also studying the role of oxidative stress in relation to nutrition, in the physiopathology of inflammatory bowel diseases, namely Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. These complex diseases that increase the risk of developing cancer implicate important mechanisms such as changes in gut microbiota and in epigenetic regulations. Hence, our laboratory investigates the impact of diverse nutritional molecules in inflammatory processes and disease evolution in consideration to the patients’ genetic background.

• Nutrition
• Lipid metabolism and absorption
• Metabolic health
• Oxidative stress and inflammation
• Inflammatory bowel diseases
• Pediatric cancer survivors
• Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
• Nutrigenomics
• Genetics and epigenetics
• Gut microbiota

Awards and Distinctions

• Junior 1 Research Scholar, Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS)
• Richard and Edith Strauss Postdoctoral Fellowship in Medicine, McGill University, Faculty of Medicine (2011/09 – 2013/08)
• Poster of Distinction, Digestive Disease Week of the American Gastroenterology Association, San Diego, California (2012/05)
• Prize of Excellence, Foundation of Stars - Post-doctoral Fellow, Montreal Children’s Hospital (2011/09)
• 2010 ACG Presidential Poster Award, American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting, San Antonio, Texas (2010/10)
• 2009 ACG Presidential Poster Award, American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting, San Diego, California (2009/10)
• Prize of Excellence 2009, Category Sciences, College Jean-de-Brebeuf Alumni Association (2009/10)
• Grant for Post-doctoral Fellowship, Canadian Institutes for Health and Research (2008/09 – 2011/08)
• Post-doctoral Fellowship Award, McGill University Health Center Research Institute (declined) (2008/09 – 2009/08)
• Grant for PhD Degree, Canadian Institutes for Health and Research (2002/04–2005/04)

Presentations

• Marcil V, The role of gut hormones in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis pathophysiology: a pilot study, Fondation Yves Cotrel, Institut de France, Paris, November 2016.
• Marcil V, Challenging cardiometabolic complications in cancer pediatric survivors: Reasons for better treatments?  2^nd Symposium of J.A. DeSève Research Chair in Nutrition, Montreal, May 2016.
• Marcil V, Morel S, England J, Bazinet C, Samoilenko M, Lefebvre G, Laverdière C, Krajinovic M, Sinnett D, Levy E, Microbiota-related acute phase proteins are predictors of cardiometabolic complications in survivors of pediatric leukemia, Digestive Disease Week 2016 of the American Gastroenterology Association in San Diego (USA), May 2016.
• Marcil V, Nutrition and energy metabolism in complex diseases: a working hypothesis, Fondation Yves Cotrel – Institut de France, Paris, November 2014.
• Marcil V, Les maladies cardiométaboliques chez les survivants de la leucémie lymphoblastique aiguë pédiatrique, Rendez-vous d'hémato-oncologie pédiatrique: Guérir d’un cancer pédiatrique, quelle vie après ? CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, November 2014.
  
  (in French only)
  
   
• Marcil V, Morel S, Spahis S, Mankour H, Bertout L, Drouin S, Krajinovic M, Laverdière C, Sinnett D, Levy E, Long-term late effects of acute lymphoblastic childhood leukemia: cardiovascular risk factors among French Canadian children and young adults. The European Symposium on Late Complications After Childhood Cancer 2014 (ESLCCC). Edimburgh, Scottland, September 2014.
• Marcil V, Maladies cardiométaboliques: une autre réalité de la leucémie de l'enfant, Congrès conjoint de la SQLNM et du CMDO, Quebec city, Quebec February 2014.
• Marcil V, Amre DK, Mayeur S, Spahis S, Lamarche B, Pouliot Y, Seidman EG, Levy E, Lactoferrin polymorphism associated with metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents, Digestive Disease Week of the American Gastroenterology Association, Chicago, Illinois, May 2014.
• Marcil V, Seidman E, Lamantia V, Garofalo C, Montoudis A, Spahis S, Sane A, Levy E, The small GTPase Sar1b: expression profile in different organs and regulation by dietary lipids in animal and cell models, Digestive Disease Week of the American Gastroenterology Association, Orlando, Floride, May 2013.
• Marcil V, Seidman EG, Sinnett D, Emonot L, Garofalo C, Spahis S, Sane AT, Levy E, Modulation of the Expression of Sarb, a Key Regulator of COPII Transport Vesicles, in Intestinal Caco-2/15 Cells, Digestive Disease Week of the American Gastroenterology Association, San Diego, Californie, May 2012.
• Marcil V, Amre DK, Seidman EG, Bitton A, Sinnett D, Lambert M, Levy E, Hnf4 Alpha: A Gene at the Crossroads Between Crohn's Disease, Plasma Glucose and LDL-Cholesterol Levels, Digestive Disease Week of the American Gastroenterology Association, Chicago, Illinois, May 2011.

Publications

• Normand E, Franco A, Moreau A, Marcil V. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: expression in osteoblasts, Scientific Reports, 2017.
• Marcil V, Mayeur S, England J, Henderson M, Delvin E, Amre D, Levy E, Cardiometabolic risk factors and lactoferrin: polymorphisms and plasma levels in a French-Canadian pediatric population, Pediatric Research, 2017.
• Morel S, Leahy J, Fournier M, Poulain F, Laverdière C, Krajinovic M, Sinnett D, Marcil V, Levy E, Characterization of the lipid and lipoprotein profile of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors. Journal Lipid Research. 2017 May;58(5):982-993.
• Marcoux S, Drouin S, Laverdière C, Alos N, Andelfinger G, Bertout L, Curnier D, Levy E, Lippé S, Marcil V, Robaey P, Sultan S, Krajinovic M, Sinnett D. Adverse effects and biomarkers in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors: introducing the PETALE Study. Pediatric Blood Cancer. 2017 Jun;64(6).
• Costea I, Mack DR, Lemaitre RN, Israel D, Marcil V, Ahmad A, Amre D, Interactions between the dietary polyunsaturated Fatty Acid ratio and genetic factors determine susceptibility to pediatric Crohn's disease, Gastroenterology 2014 929-931.e3.