Isabelle Ouellet-Morin, a professor at Université de Montréal's School of Criminology, has been elected president of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology (ISPNE). Her election was confirmed Sept. 5 during the organization's annual conference in Erlangen, Germany.
ISPNE brings together scientists who study the interactions among psychological, endocrine and biological processes. Their work focuses in particular on stress and its effects on health at different stages of life.
Holder of the Canada Research Chair in the developmental origins of vulnerability and resilience, Ouellet-Morin studies the effects of maltreatment and bullying on young people's mental health and antisocial behavior. In particular, she examines the hormonal, epigenetic and psychological processes that contribute to their vulnerability or resilience. She is also a researcher at the Research center of the Montreal mental health university institute (CR-IUSMM) and a member of the Royal Society of Canada's College of new scholars, artists and scientists.
A long-standing Montreal tradition
Isabelle Ouellet-Morin will succeed another leading figure in stress research at UdeM. Sonia Lupien, a professor in UdeM's Department of psychiatry and addiction and Department of psychology, served as president of ISPNE from 2017 to 2020.
Her election continues a long tradition of stress research at Université de Montréal. Physician and endocrinologist Hans Selye, considered one of the field's pioneers, conducted much of his research on stress at UdeM, where he founded the Institute of Experimental Medicine and Surgery in 1945.
Montreal to host ISPNE in 2027
The next step in this international collaboration will be organizing ISPNE's annual conference in Montreal in 2027. The organizing team will bring together Ouellet-Morin, Lupien, Robert-Paul Juster, a professor in UdeM's Department of psychiatry and addiction, and Marie-France Marin, a professor in the Department of psychology at UdeM. All four scientists also conduct their research at CR-IUSMM.
