Nic Moitessier - The Man, The Myth, The Legend

1994
Maitrise - Université Nancy I, France
1995-1998
Ph.D. - Université Nancy I, France
1998-2000
Postdoctoral Fellow - Université de Montréal, Canada
2001-2003
Chargé de Recherche - CNRS, Nancy, France
2003-2009
Assistant Professor - McGill University, Canada
2009-2019
Associate Professor - McGill University, Canada
2019-present
Full Professor - McGill University, Canada
2009-present
Co-Founder and CSO - Molecular Forecaster
2016-present
Associate Editor - Eur. J. Med. Chem.




Biography

    He received his undergraduate training and his Ph.D (1998) from Université Henri Poincaré-Nancy I (France) under the guidance of Dr. Yves Chapleur (carbohydrate chemistry) working in close collaboration with a theoretical chemistry group (Dr. Maigret). His PhD was followed by post-doctoral studies with Prof. Shephen Hanessian (1998-2000, medicinal chemistry, asymmetric synthesis).
    In 2001, he moved back to Nancy to start an academic career (Chargé de Recherche, CNRS) then back to Montréal in 2003 (Assistant Professor, McGill University). In 2009, he was promoted to Associate Professor and in 2019 he was promoted to Full Professor.

Research Interests

  • design, synthesis and evaluation of potential drugs with a focus on Alzheimer's disease and cancer;

  • development of novel methodologies for the synthesis of chiral cyclic and bicyclic scaffolds;

  • design, synthesis and evaluation of asymmetric catalysts;

  • development of a fully integrated computer-aided drug design platform Forecaster and computational catalyst/biocatalyst platform Virtual Chemist;

  • development of a novel molecular mechanics method - H-TEQ;

  • development of computational tools for reactive metabolite predictions Impacts, for drug-drug interactions and covalent drug binding;

  • Prizes and Publications

  • In 2008, Moitessier received the first Reginald Fessenden Professorship in innovation for the development of the Forecaster platform in drug discovery.
  • In 2009, he was awarded the AstraZeneca Award in Chemistry.
  • In 2010, he co-founded Molecular Forecaster, a company distributing the developed software and providing service and consulting to local and international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
  • He received the Fessenden Prize in Innovation in 2016 and the Fessenden Professorship Award in 2020 for the development of the Virtual Chemist platform.
  • In 2016 he was appointed as Associate Editor of the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (IF 5.6).
  • Nicolas is author or co-author of over 100 publications, 2 registered copyrights, and co-inventor of 2 patents and 4 reports of invention.
  • Contact

    Office 216

    Chemistry Department

    801 Sherbrooke St. West

    Montreal, QC, Canada

    H3A 0B8

    Tel: 514-398-8543

    Fax: 514-398-3797

    Email: nicolas.moitessier[at]mcgill.ca