VALIDATE Seminar: Leveraging synthetic carbohydrate chemistry to develop glycoconjugate vaccines against melioidosis
https://www.youtube.com/embed/0X86TEPkfXk?si=aXFre0D93mPURhbr
Burkholderia pseudomallei, the etiologic agent of melioidosis, causes severe diseases in both humans and animals. Due to its potential misuse as a biological warfare agent, high mortality rates, and resistance to antibiotics, significant efforts have been made in the past decade to develop vaccines against melioidosis. B. pseudomallei produces several polysaccharides on its surface that are important virulence factors and major targets of the immune response. Leveraging their expertise in synthetic carbohydrate chemistry, Charles Gauthier and Maude Cloutier’s group has been at the forefront of developing mimics of the main polysaccharides produced by B. pseudomallei, namely lipopolysaccharide O-antigen (LPS OAg), capsular polysaccharide, and exopolysaccharide.
In this seminar, Charles and Maude describe their endeavor toward the development of semi-synthetic glycoconjugate vaccines against melioidosis, focusing on our most promising results involving B. pseudomallei LPS OAg mimics.
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About the Speakers
Dr Charles Gauthier completed his PhD in natural products chemistry at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (2008), followed by postdoctoral fellowships in carbohydrate chemistry at the Institut Pasteur in Paris (2010) and in chemobiology at the University of Oxford in United Kingdom (2011). After a stint as Maître de Conférences at the Université de Poitiers in France (2011-2016), Dr. Gauthier joined the Centre Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) as Assistant Professor in 2016. He was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2020 and Full Professor in 2023. His research program mainly focuses on the synthesis of microbial glycans for the development of prophylactic and therapeutic approaches. Dr. Gauthier has published over 55 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters since the start of his career and has supervised/co-supervised the work of over 55 students, trainees, and postdocs. Dr. Gauthier’s research program is funded by several national and international granting agencies, including NSERC, CIHR, NIH, and the Pasteur Network. He has received FRQS salary support as a Junior 2 and Senior Scholar. Dr. Gauthier is an active member of several national and international learned societies, including Oxford University’s VALIDATE network, GlycoNet, CRIPA, RISUQ, CISD, and CERMO-FC.
Dr Maude Cloutier obtained her BSc in chemistry from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) in 2018 working under the guidance of Pr. Gervais Bérubé in the aim of developing new therapeutic compounds against pathological inflammation. Maude was awarded MSc scholarships from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Nature et Technologies (FRQNT) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) allowing her to pursue her studies in Pr. Gauthier’s group at Institut national de la recherche scientifiques (INRS) in Laval, Canada. In 2023, she completed her PhD as a Vanier Scholar in Pr. Gauthier’s group and is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow. Maude's work focuses on the total synthesis of bacterial mono- and oligosaccharide mimics as potential therapeutics and prophylactics.
