Meet the Principal Investigators
A Principal Investigator (PI) is the physician who leads the conduct of a clinical trial at a study site. The PIs who lead trials at the CRU are physicians working at or affiliated with The Neuro and the MUHC.
Dr. MASSIMO PANDOLFO
Dr. Pandolfo is the medical director of the Clinical Research Unit at The Neuro. An international collaboration led by Dr. Pandolfo was the first to identify the Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA) gene in 1996.
He has been the coordinator of the European Friedreich’s Ataxia Consortium for Translational Studies (EFACTS) and is currently on the Board of the Ataxia Charlevoix-Saguenay Foundation.
Dr. OLIVER BLANCHARD
Oliver Blanchard is a neurologist and Adjunct Professor in McGill’s Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery.
He has a sub-specialty interest in myopathies and muscular dystrophies and is a member of The Neuro’s neuromuscular program.
Dr. CHARLES COUTURIER
Dr. Couturier is a neurosurgeon and scientist. His research dissects brain tumour dynamics into tissue, cellular, and molecular processes to uncover the determinants of pathological behaviors. By integrating advanced single-cell and spatial-omics technologies, imaging modalities, and clinical data, Dr. Couturier studies how tumour microenvironments drive cancer heterogeneity, immune interactions, and therapeutic resistance.
Dr. SIMON DUCHARME
Dr. Simon Ducharme is a neuropsychiatrist and a clinician-scientist at The Neuro and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. Dr. He leads several clinical trials on Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, and related dementias. He is also co-chair of the American Neuropsychiatric Association committee on research and also an associate member of the McGill Centre for Studies in Ageing.
Dr. ANGELA GENGE
A leading expert on ALS, Dr. Genge has been the director of the ALS Centre of Excellence in Research and Patient Care at The Neuro since 1998. Â
She was the director of the Clinical Research Unit (Neuro CRU) from 2004 to 2023, working to greatly expand the unit in that time. She is currently the executive director of the Centre for Innovative Medicine at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC).
Dr. E. DE VILLERS-SIDANI
Dr. Étienne de Villers-Sidani is a neurologist specializing in cognitive disorders and an associate professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery. He has a particular interest in understanding the role of sensory experience and brain plasticity in the emergence and remediation of cognitive impairments.
He also led the development of a device that improves the diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis (ETNA-MS) by using eye movements to assess the progression of the disease.Â
Dr. ADIL HARROUD
Dr. Adil Harroud is a neurologist specializing in multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuroimmunology. His research centers on understanding the mechanisms that underlie MS susceptibility and progression, with a focus on genetics. He has contributed to the identification of the first genetic modifiers of disease severity in MS. His research combines genomics, bioinformatics and epidemiology in large international cohorts and biobanks.
Dr. A-L LAFONTAINE
A recognized national speaker in Parkinson’s disease and movement disorders. She has a strong interest in education and ethics and served as the Program Director of the neurology residency training program at McGill.
Dr. RAMI MASSIE
His area of research is mainly clinical. In addition to participating in clinical drug trials in the fields of ALS and peripheral neuropathies, he supervises fellow and resident research projects in neuromuscular disorders. He has led clinical trials for Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MNM).
Dr. AIMEN MOUSSADDY
Dr Moussaddy is a neurologist who specializing in vascular neurology. He is an attending physician at The Neuro and at the McGill University Health Centre and an associate professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University where he became the fellowship director of the McGill Neurovascular Program in 2018.
His research interests include hyperacute stroke therapy: thrombolytics, thrombectomy and acute-stroke imaging and analysis. He serves as site principal investigator in several ongoing international multi-centre clinical trials in vascular neurology.
Dr. ERIN O'FERRALL
Dr. O’Ferrall is a neurologist specializing in neuromuscular disorders and rare muscle diseases. She oversees clinical trials on Myotonic Dystrophy (DM1), Myasthenia Gravis (gMG), fascioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD), myositis, and muscular dystrophies. A dedicated physician, she is also the recipient of the Outstanding Healthcare Partner Award from Muscular Dystrophy Canada.Â
Dr. KEVIN PETRECCA
Dr Petrecca is a world-leading neurosurgeon specializing in brain tumours. He is the at chief of the Department of Neurosurgery at McGill University and the director of the Brain Tumour Research Centre at The Neuro. As a clinician-scientist he is both an attending physicians and a researcher. His lab has generated game-changing innovations, including a surgical probe capable of differentiating healthy and cancerous tissue in real-time.
Dr. RON POSTUMA
A clinical researcher and movement disorders neurologist treating patients with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. His research interest focuses upon Parkinson’s disease, particularly on detecting early stages of disease, examining the impact of non-motor symptoms on disease subtype and prognosis, and testing new treatments for non-motor manifestations such as sleep disorders.
Dr. SIMON THEBAULT
Dr. Simon Thebault is a neurologist specializing in multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuroimmunology. His research focuses on developing and translating actionable soluble and immune cell biomarkers to improve patient outcomes. Bridging the gap between laboratory innovation and clinical care, his lab employs advanced detection technologies and multiomic approaches to analyze biospecimens from well-characterized clinical cohorts.
Dr. Jeanne Teitelbaum
Her research focuses on severe neurological injury such as ischemic strokes, sub-arachnoid hemorrhage and brain hemorrhage.  Dr. Teitelbaum also investigates assessment, treatments and prognosis of vasospasm in subarachnoid hemorrhage in both human and animal models, as well as prevention of intracerebral hemorrhage expansion.