Naguib Mechawar, PhD

Contact
naguib.mechawar@mcgill.ca
6875 Boulevard LaSalle
Montréal, QC
H4H 1R3
Office:F-2101.1, Frank B. Common Pavilion
Office phone: (514) 761-6131 x3365
Lab website: https://mgss.ca/naguib-mechawar
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4960-756X
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/naguibmechawar.bsky.social
Researcher and Leader, Stress, Anxiety, Depression and Suicide Theme-based group
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University
Director, Douglas – Bell Canada Brain Bank
Graduate Program Director, Dept of Psychiatry, McGill University
Co-Director, Réseau québécois sur le suicide, les troubles de l’humeur et les troubles associés – RQSHA
Lab name: Molecular neuroanatomy of mood disorders and suicide
Theme-Based Group: Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and SuicideDivision: Human Neuroscience
Expertise: Glia, neuroplasticity, and neuroinflammation in the human brain
Naguib Mechawar, PhD, joined the Douglas Institute and the McGill Group for Suicide Studies in 2007. He investigates the molecular neuroanatomy of major depression and suicide, with a particular focus on the lasting consequences of childhood adversity.
Different research themes are explored in his laboratory, namely:
- Neuroinflammation in depression and suicide;
- Neuroplasticity in the human brain;
- Astrocytic abnormalities in depression and suicide;
- The lasting impact of child abuse on cerebral oligodendrocytes and myelination.
Dr Mechawar’s research is currently (2024) funded by CIHR, ERA-NET Neuron (FRQ-S).
CIHR New Investigator (2012-17)
Bell Senior Fellow in Mental Health (2012-14)
Lab members:
- Maria Antonietta Davoli (research assistant)
- Reza Rahimian (postdoctoral fellow)
- Christa Hercher (PhD student)
- Kelly Perlman (PhD student)
- Refilwe Mpai (PhD student)
- Candice Canonne (PhD student)
- Sophie Simard (PhD student)
- Elisa Gonçalves de Andrade (PhD student)
- Rebecca Chen (MSc student),
- Clémentine Hosdey (MSc student),
- Dominique Lumley (MSc student),
- Andrew VanderBerg (BSc Honors student)
Alumni:
- Louise Toutée (BSc student)
- Emanuel Curto (BSc Honors student)
- Jamie Marshall (BSc student)
- Gina Abajian (BSc student)
- Lena Hug (BSc student)
- Dongyue (Anne) Xi (BSc student)
- Ally Huang (BSc student)
- Stefanie Netto (BSc student)
- Florence Mechawar (BSc student)
- Roy Khalaf (BSc student)
- Jasmine Kotsiopoulos (BSc student)
- Liam O’Leary (PhD student)
- Marina Wakid (PhD student)
- Claudia Belliveau (PhD student)
- Arnaud Tanti (postdoctoral fellow)
- George Perlman (research technician)
- Emily Clark (undergraduate research student)
- Ashley McFarquhar (undergraduate research student)
- Cynthia McMahan (undergraduate research student)
- Christopher Ma (undergraduate research student)
- Kimiya Adjedani (undergraduate research student)
- Katharine Birkness (undergraduate research student)
- Fanny Denux (undergraduate research student)
- Katie Vandeloo (undergraduate research student)
- John Kim (MSc student)
- Qiyuan Huang (visiting PhD student)
- Madelyn Barton (undergraduate research student)
- Marilyn Cyr (PhD student, co-supervised by M-A Bédard)
- Julia Devorak (MSc student)
- Haseeb Khan (undergraduate research student)
- Alexander Freibauer (undergraduate research student)
- Sandra Yogendran (undergraduate research student)
- Archchun Ariyarajah (undergraduate research student)
- Samuel Comeau (undergraduate research student)
- Diana Elwell (undergraduate research student)
- Erika Freemantle (PhD student, co-supervised by G. Turecki)
- Christa Hercher (MSc student, co-supervised by G. Turecki)
- Alexandra Hoehne (undergraduate research student)
- Masanobu Ito (postdoctoral fellow)
- Donald MacIsaac (undergraduate research student)
- Calvin Qiang (undergraduate research student)
- Adeline Rachalski (postdoctoral fellow)
- Stephanie Tan (undergraduate research student)
- Ian Mahar (PhD student)
- Marissa Maheu (PhD student)
- Susana Gabriela Torres-Platas (PhD student)
- Dominique Mirault (research technician)
Key publications
- Simard S, Rahimian R, Davoli MA, Théberge S, Matosin N, Turecki G, Nagy C, Mechawar N (2024) Spatial transcriptomic analysis of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in the human brain. J Psych Neurosci (in press).
- Rahimian R, Perlman K, Fakhfouri G, Mpai R, Richard VR, Hercher C, Penney L, Davoli MA, Nagy C, Zahedi RP, Borchers CH, Giros B, Turecki G, Mechawar N (2024) Proteomic evidence of depression-associated astrocytic dysfunction in the human male olfactory bulb. Brain Behav Immun (in press).
- Simard S, Matosin N, Mechawar N (2024) Adult hippocampal neurogenesis in the human brain: updates, challenges, and perspectives. The Neuroscientist 17:10738584241252581.
- Tanti A, Belliveau C, Nagy C, Maitra M, Denux F, Perlman K, Chen F, Mpai R, Canonne C, Théberge S, McFarquhar A, Davoli MA, Belzung C, Turecki G, Mechawar N (2022) Child abuse associates with increased recruitment of perineuronal nets in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex: a possible implication of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells. Mol Psychiatry 27:1552-1561.
- Perlman K, Chouinard-Watkins R, Tanti A, Cisbani G, Orri M, Turecki G, Bazinet RP, Mechawar N (2021) Fatty acid dysregulation in the anterior cingulate cortex of depressed suicides with a history of child abuse. Transl Psychiatry 11(1):535.
- O’Leary LA, Mechawar N (2021) Implication of cerebral astrocytes in major depression: A review of fine neuroanatomical evidence in humans. Glia 69:2077-99.
- Tanti A, Lutz P-E, Kim J, O’Leary L, Turecki G, Mechawar N (2019) Evidence of decreased gap junction between astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in the anterior cingulate cortex of depressed suicides. Neuropsychopharmacology 44:2099-2111.
- Tanti A, Kim JJ, Wakid M, Davoli MA, Turecki G, Mechawar N (2018) Child abuse associates with an imbalance of oligodendrocyte-lineage cells in ventromedial prefrontal white matter. Mol Psychiatry 23:2018-2028.
- Lutz PE, Tanti A, Gasecka A, Barnett-Burns S, Kim JJ, Zhou Y, Chen GG, Wakid M, Shaw M, Almeida D, Chay MA, Yang J, Larivière V, M’Boutchou MN, van Kempen LC, Yerko V, Prud’homme J, Davoli MA, Vaillancourt K, Théroux JF, Bramoullé A, Zhang TY, Meaney MJ, Ernst C, Côté D, Mechawar N*, Turecki G* (2017) Association of a History of Child Abuse With Impaired Myelination in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex: Convergent Epigenetic, Transcriptional, and Morphological Evidence. Am J Psychiatry 174:1185-1194.
- Mahar I, Labonte B, Yogendran S, Isingrini E, Perret L, Davoli MA, Rachalski A, Giros B, Turecki G, Mechawar N (2017) Disrupted hippocampal neuregulin-1/ErbB3 signaling and dentate gyrus granule cell alterations in suicide. Transl Psychiatry 7:e1161.
- Mechawar N, Savitz J (2016) Neuropathology of mood disorders: do we see the stigmata of inflammation? Transl Psychiatry 6:e946.
- Torres-Platas SG, Nagy C, Wakid M, Turecki G, Mechawar N (2016) Glial fibrillary acidic protein is differentially expressed across cortical and subcortical regions in healthy brains and downregulated in the thalamus and caudate nucleus of depressed suicides. Mol Psychiatry 21:509-515.
- Torres-Platas SG, Cruceanu C, Chen GG, Turecki G, Mechawar N (2014) Evidence for increased microglial priming and macrophage recruitment in the dorsal anterior cingulate white matter of depressed suicides. Brain Behav Immun 42:50-59.
- Maheu M, Davoli MA, Turecki G, Mechawar N (2013) Amygdalar expression of proteins associated with neuroplasticity in major depression and suicide. J Psych Res 47:384-390.
Recent Publications
2025
Evidence of microglial involvement in the childhood abuse-associated increase in perineuronal nets in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex Journal Article
In: Brain Behav Immun, vol. 124, pp. 321–334, 2025, ISSN: 1090-2139.
2024
Exploring PDE5A upregulation in bipolar disorder: insights from single-nucleus RNA sequencing of human basal ganglia Journal Article
In: Transl Psychiatry, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 494, 2024, ISSN: 2158-3188.
Altered m6A RNA methylation profiles in depression implicate the dysregulation of discrete cellular functions in males and females Journal Article
In: iScience, vol. 27, no. 12, pp. 111316, 2024, ISSN: 2589-0042.
Evidence of altered monoamine oxidase B, an astroglia marker, in early psychosis and high-risk state Journal Article
In: Mol Psychiatry, 2024, ISSN: 1476-5578.
Proteomic evidence of depression-associated astrocytic dysfunction in the human male olfactory bulb Journal Article
In: Brain Behav Immun, vol. 122, pp. 110–121, 2024, ISSN: 1090-2139.
Multi-omics profiling of DNA methylation and gene expression alterations in human cocaine use disorder Journal Article
In: Transl Psychiatry, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 428, 2024, ISSN: 2158-3188.
Perineuronal Net Alterations Following Early-Life Stress: Are Microglia Pulling Some Strings? Journal Article
In: Biomolecules, vol. 14, no. 9, 2024, ISSN: 2218-273X.
In: Glycobiology, vol. 34, no. 8, 2024, ISSN: 1460-2423.
In: bioRxiv, 2024, ISSN: 2692-8205.
In: Cereb Cortex, vol. 34, no. 5, 2024, ISSN: 1460-2199.
Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis in the Human Brain: Updates, Challenges, and Perspectives Journal Article
In: Neuroscientist, pp. 10738584241252581, 2024, ISSN: 1089-4098.
MAPT H2 haplotype and risk of Pick's disease in the Pick's disease International Consortium: a genetic association study Journal Article
In: Lancet Neurol, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 487–499, 2024, ISSN: 1474-4465.
SNORA69 is up-regulated in the lateral habenula of individuals with major depressive disorder Journal Article
In: Sci Rep, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 8258, 2024, ISSN: 2045-2322.
Profiling Small RNA From Brain Extracellular Vesicles in Individuals With Depression Journal Article
In: Int J Neuropsychopharmacol, vol. 27, no. 3, 2024, ISSN: 1469-5111.
Enhancing HIF-1α-P2X2 signaling in dorsal raphe serotonergic neurons promotes psychological resilience Journal Article
In: Redox Biol, vol. 69, pp. 103005, 2024, ISSN: 2213-2317.
Spatial transcriptomic analysis of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in the human brain Journal Article
In: J Psychiatry Neurosci, vol. 49, no. 5, pp. E319–E333, 2024, ISSN: 1488-2434.
In: Eur Neuropsychopharmacol, vol. 78, pp. 54–63, 2024, ISSN: 1873-7862.
2023
Universal method for the isolation of microvessels from frozen brain tissue: A proof-of-concept multiomic investigation of the neurovasculature Journal Article
In: Brain Behav Immun Health, vol. 34, pp. 100684, 2023, ISSN: 2666-3546.
SNORD90 induces glutamatergic signaling following treatment with monoaminergic antidepressants Journal Article
In: Elife, vol. 12, 2023, ISSN: 2050-084X.
In: Nat Commun, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 2912, 2023, ISSN: 2041-1723.