2024 CAG Visiting Research Professor
JEAN-ERIC GHIA, MSc, DU, PhD, HDR, AGAF, CAGF
Professor and Director, Micro-diploma Science Communication, University of Manitoba
Profile
Dr. Ghia is a Professor at the Department of Immunology with a co-appointment with internal medicine section of Gastroenterology. He obtained his Ph.D. in Neurosciences at the University of Strasbourg, France, under the supervision of Dr Fabielle Angel, studying the physiological role of the Chromogranin A-derived peptides. He was an Institut de France and then a Canadian Association of Gastroenterology—Canadian Institutes of Health Research—Astra Zeneca postdoctoral fellow at McMaster University in the lab of Prof. Stephen M Collins. There, he trained extensively in brain-gut relationship with colitis.
Dr. Ghia has authored/co-authored close to 80 peer-reviewed publications, including research articles, reviews, book chapters and editing comprehensive research books. Over the last 14 years, he secured and managed multidisciplinary projects funded by CIHR, NSERC, CCC, MMSF, CFI, and Research Manitoba.
His current research interests are diverse. Dr. Ghia's team has projects on the impact of Chromogranin-A and its derived peptides on colitis, the sex effect on immune cell activation during the development of colitis, and the impact of non-invasive trans-auricular stimulation on gut inflammation.
Dr. Ghia has also co-edited a medical textbook in gastroenterology and published educational papers and medical textbook chapters. He is the coordinator of four different courses at the University of Manitoba.
Since 2015, he has also made significant contributions to science communication as a co-producer, columnist, host, scientific director, co-author, and curator for over 200 radio segments, magazines, exhibits, and web series in Canada. He established the French 3 Minutes thesis (Ma these ne en 180sec) in Manitoba and is the founder and director of the Micro-diploma of Science Communication at the University of Manitoba. He is the past honorary consul of France in Manitoba and the current president of the Alliance Française du Manitoba.
Throughout his career, he received numerous awards and prizes, such as the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal. Recently, the French government inducted him as a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms.
Potential Topics of Presentation:
Unveiling the influence of colonic sampling location and sex on immune cell activation in a preclinical model of colitis.
A role for chromogranin-A and its derived peptides in colonic inflammation?
Brain-gut axis, manipulation of the vagus nerve.
In addition, Dr. Ghia will give a second presentation on Science Communication:
Effective communication in science (can be tailored according to the need)
Selected Publications (Trainees Underlined):
1. Hesampour F, Bernstein CN, Ghia JE. Brain-Gut Axis: Invasive and Noninvasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Limitations, and Potential Therapeutic Approaches. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2024 Mar 1;30(3):482-495. doi: 10.1093/ibd/izad211. PMID: 37738641.
2. Scavello F, Amiche M, Ghia JE. Recent Advances in Multifunctional Antimicrobial Peptides as Immunomodulatory and Anticancer Therapy: Chromogranin A-Derived Peptides and Dermaseptins as Endogenous versus Exogenous Actors. Pharmaceutics. 2022 Sep 22;14(10):2014. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14102014. PMID: 36297449; PMCID: PMC9608009.
3. Ghia JE, Gaulin S, Ghia L, Garancher L, Flamand C. Informing children citizens efficiently to better engage them in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2020 Nov 4;14(11):e0008828. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0008828. PMID: 33147222; PMCID: PMC7641352.
4. Eissa N, Hussein H, Hendy GN, Bernstein CN, Ghia JE. Chromogranin-A and its derived peptides and their pharmacological effects during intestinal inflammation. Biochem Pharmacol. 2018 Jun;152:315-326. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2018.04.009. Epub 2018 Apr 13. PMID: 29656116.
5. Munyaka P, Rabbi MF, Pavlov VA, Tracey KJ, Khafipour E, Ghia JE. Central muscarinic cholinergic activation alters interaction between splenic dendritic cell and CD4+CD25- T cells in experimental colitis. PLoS One. 2014 Oct 8;9(10):e109272. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109272. PMID: 25295619; PMCID:PMC4190311.
6. Ji H, Rabbi MF, Labis B, Pavlov VA, Tracey KJ, Ghia JE. Central cholinergic activation of a vagus nerve-to-spleen circuit alleviates experimental colitis. Mucosal Immunol. 2014 Mar;7(2):335-47. doi: 10.1038/mi.2013.52. Epub 2013 Jul 24. PMID: 23881354; PMCID: PMC3859808.
7. Ghia JE, Blennerhassett P, Collins SM. Impaired parasympathetic function increases susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease in a mouse model of depression. J Clin Invest. 2008 Jun;118(6):2209-18. doi: 10.1172/JCI32849. PMID: 18451995; PMCID: PMC2350428.