Naguib Mechawar

Dr. Mechawar joined the Douglas Institute and the McGill Group for Suicide Studies as an independent investigator in 2007 and is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University. He is also the Director of the Sam Lal Douglas Institute Brain Bank, the oldest and most important brain bank in Canada. Dr. Mechawar is mainly interested in the cellular neuroanatomy of major depression and suicide. Different projects are currently underway in his laboratory to investigate the fine neuroanatomical manifestations of altered plasticity in postmortem brains from individuals having suffered from mood disorders. These studies are focused on limbic brain regions, namely, the hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex, which are well-known for their implication in emotional processing. A related focus of Dr. Mechawar’s research is to investigate how adult neurogenesis in the limbic brain is affected in mood disorders and by drug exposure (antidepressants, nicotine, growth factors). These projects are funded by CIHR, CFI, NSERC, FRSQ, AFSP, and the FFCR.