Dr. GPCR Podcast

About Dr. Antony A. Boucard Jr.

Dr. Antony Boucard joined the Université de Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada) as a B.S. student of the Biochemistry program in 1994 from which he graduated in 1997. It is then that his interest bloomed for the study of GPCRs while joining the group of Dr. Richard Leduc and Dr. Gaetan Guillemette in the Pharmacology department at the Université de Sherbrooke. He completed a master’s degree in 2000 and a Ph.D. degree in 2003 with a particular interest in the cardiovascular system by investigating the structure of the Angiotensin and Urotensin receptors through various biochemical approaches centered in the elucidation of ligand binding pocket determinants.

Motivated by a new ambition to study the nervous system, Dr. Boucard pursued postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas where he joined the group of Dr. Thomas Südhof. In this institution dear to the heart of GPCR enthusiasts given that its faculty personnel included Dr. Alfred Gilman, Nobel Laureate for his discovery of G proteins, Dr. Boucard ventured into the field of synaptic adhesion molecules which would eventually prompt him to investigate the role of a peculiar family of GPCRs belonging to the Adhesion subgroup. After a relocation to Stanford University where he pioneered work on ligand discovery for then orphan adhesion GPCRs, Dr. Boucard moved to Mexico City to establish himself as an independent investigator integrating the department of Cell Biology at the Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Cinvestav-IPN).

Dr. Boucard´s lab focuses on molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the function of adhesion GPCRs in the formation of synapses. Having a particular interest for a three-member family named latrophilins, his lab seeks to decipher the molecular code instructing adhesion events mediated by these GPCRs. The pharmacology of latrophilins brings about a great deal of challenges given that they are highly polymorphic proteins expressed as various alternatively spliced isoforms thus potentially resulting in differential modulation of cell signaling pathways. His lab highlighted the importance of splicing events in biasing latrophilins’ regulation of cyclic AMP pathways and for determining the magnitude of ligand selectivity. Additionally, his team is also interested in understanding the pathophysiological relevance of latrophilins’ function in neuropsychiatric disorders given their association with genetic susceptibility to the neurodevelopmental disorder known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but also to a comorbid clinical manifestation linked to addiction.

He also actively volunteers as an Associate Professor of the non-governmental organization Institut des Sciences, des Technologies et des Etudes Avancées d’Haïti (ISTEAH) to help consolidate higher education in Haiti.

Dr. Antony A. Boucard Jr. on the web

• Website

• LinkedIn

• Researchgate

• Loop

• Academia

• Pubmed

• Adhesion GPCR Consortium

• University of Haiti

• Dr. GPCR Ecosystem