Dr Charles Gauthier was born in Péribonka (Canada), which is a little town of no more than 500 people in the North of Quebec Province. In 2000, he attended the Université du Québec a  Chicoutimi (UQAC) to study chemistry at BSc level. After a summer work placement in polymer chemistry (Alcan) he discovered the field of natural products chemistry in the LASEVE laboratory, UQAC. He then pursued his graduate education (MSc and PhD) in the same university under the guidance of Prof Dr André Pichette, chemist, and Prof Dr Jean Legault, clinical pharmacologist. His PhD studies (2005-2008), funded by the Fonds Québécois de Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies (FQRNT), were focused on the synthesis of lupane-type triterpenoid saponins as a novel class of non-haemolytic anticancer agents. His MSc and PhD results have been published in ten peer-reviewed papers and two international patent applications. In 2009, Charles left the Canada and moved to France to undertake a postdoctoral fellowship (Fondation Canadienne Louis Pasteur and Bourses Roux) at the Institut Pasteur in Paris under the supervision of Dr Laurence A. Mulard. He worked there on the synthesis of acetylated decasaccharides as mimetic fragments of the Shigella flexneri serotype 2a antigen-O. The aim of his studies was to prepare a glycoconjugate vaccine in order to prevent shigellosis infections caused by S. flexneri 2a in developing countries. Funded by the FQRNT (2010-2012), he then came to the University of Oxford, UK, to undertake a second postdoctoral position within the Benjamin G. Davis group. His research focuses on the preparation of chemically modified adenovirus vectors in collaboration with the Dept of Clinical Pharmacology. When outside the lab, Charles enjoys cycling, hiking, fishing, and watching movies with his wife.

Last updated: 06-07-10