Benoit Labonté

Benoit Labonté is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval. He holds the Research Chair in partnership with Sentinel North for Molecular Neurobiology of Mood Disorders and is a researcher at the CERVO Brain Research Centre. Previously, he was a Pfizer–Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec research chair (2016-2021).

Dr. Labonté's research focuses on understanding the molecular basis of depression and mood disorders with a specific emphasis on sex differences. His groundbreaking work has demonstrated that depression manifests differently at the molecular level in men and women, challenging the notion of depression as a single disease. He employs multidisciplinary approaches including:

• Mouse models of stress (chronic variable stress, chronic social defeat, social isolation)
• Analysis of human post-mortem brain and blood samples
• Viral approaches for neural circuit mapping (optogenetics, DREADDs)
• Genome-wide sequencing methods (RNAseq, ChIPseq)
• Cell-specific molecular analyses (FACS, ribotag)

His research has three primary objectives:

• Determining the prefrontal cortex (PFC) connectome and evaluating sex-specific neuronal contributions to stress responses
• Characterizing transcriptional organization of gene networks across neuronal populations projecting to the PFC
• Identifying epigenetic signatures associated with transcriptional reorganization following chronic stress

Dr. Labonté's publication record shows consistent high-impact research across neuroscience disciplines, with recent publications demonstrating sophisticated integration of molecular, cellular, and behavioral approaches to understand sex differences in depression. His work bridges basic science with clinical applications, aiming to develop more targeted therapeutic approaches.

His research has been recognized with prestigious appointments including:

• Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair in Molecular Neurobiology of Mood Disorders (2019-present)
• Pfizer–Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec research chair (2016-2021)

Dr. Labonté leads a research team at the CERVO Brain Research Centre focusing on molecular neurobiology of mood disorders. His laboratory employs cutting-edge techniques to investigate sex-specific molecular mechanisms underlying depression, with the ultimate goal of developing more effective treatments that account for fundamental biological differences between men and women suffering from mood disorders.