The Ernst lab expertise is in stem cell modelling of neurological disease and genetic engineering. As such, we recruit subjects and their families with rare neurological disorders and make stem cells and brain like cells from these individuals. Our short term goal is to perform functional genetic experiments to better understand disease mechanism, while our long term goal is to use genetic models of disease to test and develop mutation-specific treatments suitable for use in humans.

2017
Department of Human Genetics Graduate Teaching Award

2012
Canada Research Chair (Tier 2)
Tier 2 Chairs, tenable for five years and renewable once, are for exceptional emerging researchers, acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to lead in their field.

2011
AFSP Young Investigator Award
This award is given by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to encourage talented new investigators to enter the field of suicide research through grants that provide training support and mentoring.

2009
CIHR Bisby Award

Bell S, Rousseau J, Peng H, Aouabed Z, Priam P, Theroux JF, Jefri M, Tanti A, Wu H, Kolobova I, Silviera H, Manzano-Vargas K, Ehresmann S, Hamdan FF, Hettige N, Zhang X, Antonyan L, Nassif C, Ghaloul-Gonzalez L, Sebastian J, Vockley J, Begtrup AG, Wentzensen IM, Crunk A, Nicholls RD, Herman KC, Deignan JL, Al-Hertani W, Efthymiou S, Salpietro V, Miyake N, Makita Y, Matsumoto N, Østern R, Houge G, Hafström M, Fassi E, Houlden H, Klein Wassink-Ruiter JS, Nelson D, Goldstein A, Dabir T, van Gils J, Bourgeron T, Delorme R, Cooper GM, Martinez JE, Finnila CR, Carmant L, Lortie A, Oegema R, van Gassen K, Mehta SG, Huhle D, Abou Jamra R, Martin S, Brunner HG, Lindhout D, Au M, Graham JM Jr, Coubes C, Turecki G, Gravel S, Mechawar N, Rossignol E, Michaud JL, Lessard J, Ernst C*, Campeau PM*. Mutations in ACTL6B Cause Neurodevelopmental Deficits and Epilepsy and Lead to Loss of Dendrites in Human Neurons. Am J Hum Genet. 2019 May 2;104(5):815-834.

Bell S, Maussion G, Jefri M, Peng H, Theroux JF, Silveira H, Soubannier V, Wu H, Hu P, Galat E, Torres-Platas SG, Boudreau-Pinsonneault C, O’Leary LA, Galat V, Turecki G, Durcan TM, Fon EA, Mechawar N, Ernst C. Disruption of GRIN2B Impairs Differentiation in Human Neurons. Stem Cell Reports. 2018 Jul 10;11(1):183-196.

Bell S, Peng H, Crapper L, Kolobova I, Maussion G, Vasuta C, Yerko V, Wong TP, Ernst C. A Rapid Pipeline to Model Rare Neurodevelopmental Disorders with Simultaneous CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing. Stem Cells Transl Med. 2017 Mar;6(3):886-896.

Ernst C. Proliferation and Differentiation Deficits are a Major Convergence Point for Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Trends Neurosci. 2016 May;39(5):290-29

Chen ES, Gigek CO, Rosenfeld JA, Diallo AB, Maussion G, Chen GG, Vaillancourt K, Lopez JP, Crapper L, Poujol R, Shaffer LG, Bourque G, Ernst C. Molecular convergence of neurodevelopmental disorders. Am J Hum Genet. 2014 Nov 6;95(5):490-508.

Talkowski ME, Maussion G, Crapper L, Rosenfeld JA, Blumenthal I, Hanscom C, Chiang C, Lindgren A, Pereira S, Ruderfer D, Diallo AB, Lopez JP, Turecki G, Chen ES, Gigek C, Harris DJ, Lip V, An Y, Biagioli M, Macdonald ME, Lin M, Haggarty SJ, Sklar P, Purcell S, Kellis M, Schwartz S, Shaffer LG, Natowicz MR, Shen Y, Morton CC, Gusella JF, Ernst C. Disruption of a large intergenic noncoding RNA in subjects with neurodevelopmental disabilities.Am J Hum Genet. 2012 Dec 7;91(6):1128-34. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2012.10.016.