Hélène Decaluwe

Dr. Hélène Decaluwe is a Canadian immunologist based in Montreal, Quebec.

Decaluwe graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University and completed her residency in pediatrics at the CHU Sainte-Justine in partnership with the University of Montreal.

She then completed her training in pediatric clinical immunology at the Necker Enfants-Malades Hospital in Paris, France with Professor Alain Fischer. Her research training includes a Master and a PhD degree in immunology at Pierre and Marie Curie University carried out in the laboratories of Professor Jean-Laurent Casanova and Professor James Di Santo respectively.

Associate Professor in the Immunology and Rheumatology Division of the CHU Sainte-Justine since 2010 and Clinician Scientist and outgoing Deputy Head of the Immune Diseases and Cancer Research Axis at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center.

Decaluwe is a member of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).¹⁾

Decaluwe was invited in April 2021 by Eli Lilly to a Scientific Advisor Board on the role of baricitinib and monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of COVID-19.

Decaluwe has dedicated her career to resolving the mechanisms of T cell differentiation in health, infection and primary immune deficiencies. The primary focus of her research is to better understand the role of cytokines in the differentiation of T cells in health and disease, and to develop novel immunotherapeutic approaches that target cytokine-dependent pathways and inhibitory receptors expressed on T cells, to cure chronic viral infections and cancer.

She is funded by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec en Santé (FRQS), Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institutes of Health, Canadian Cancer Society, Cole Foundation, Charles Bruneau Foundation, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada, and the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force.

She has also receiving funding from Sobi for a study on a drug called Emapalumab.²⁾

Decaluwe is a co-investigator on a research grant titled “Deciphering the immunopeptidomic landscape of COVID-19 disease” funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through a COVID-19 project grant.³⁾

She has applied for the CIHR-CEPI Leadership Award for Excellence in Vaccine Research for Infectious Diseases of Epidemic Potential, administered by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).⁴⁾

Decaluwe is a co-investigator in the REinfection in COVid-19 Estimation of Risk (RECOVER study), alongside Caroline Quach-Thanh. The study is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Public Health Agency of Canada through the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force.^{5) 6)}

Decaluwe is a co-Principal Investigator in the Persistence of T cell Immunity in Children with SARS-CoV-2 and Household contacts (PITCH Study), funded by the Children's Hospital Academic Medical Organization (CHAMO) innovation fund and the PSI Foundation.⁷⁾

Decaluwe is a Principal Investigator in the Children and Older Teens Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 in Montreal (CHOIR study) alongside Caroline Quach-Thanh and Jesse Papenburg, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.⁸⁾

Decaluwe presented at the 76th Annual Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Scientific Virtual Meeting on the topic of hyperinflammation and targeted immunotherapies in hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.⁹⁾