Gustavo Turecki is a Canadian psychiatrist, suicidologist, neuroscientist, and professor at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair Tier in Major Depressive Disorder and Suicide. He is the sitting Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, the Scientific Director of the Douglas Research Centre, and the Psychiatrist-in-Chief of the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, which includes the psychiatric departments of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, St. Mary's Hospital, Lakeshore General Hospital, and Ste. Anne's Hospital. He works at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, where he heads both the McGill Group for Suicide Studies and the Depressive Disorders Program, and is the co-director of the Douglas Bell-Canada Brain Bank. As a clinician and neuroscientist, his research focuses on examining the influence of life experiences on brain function, and their relationship to depression and suicide risk. Among his major contributions, published in over 500 peer-reviewed publications and 30 book chapters, is the first description of the long-term impact of childhood abuse on the brain, particularly how it affects the activity of key genes involved in the stress response.
Scientific contributions
Turecki's neurobiological work has focused strongly on the processes underlying depression and suicide. A defining moment in his career came from a collaboration with Michael Meaney and Moshe Szyf, in which they uncovered that early-life adversity epigenetically regulates the glucocorticoid receptor gene, a key component of response to stress. This groundbreaking study helped to reconcile the longstanding debate about the relative influences of genes and environment on behaviour, and garnered international attention, leading to Turecki's selection as the scientist of the year by Radio Canada/Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 2009, along with Meaney and Szyf. Turecki's further research on the human brain explored the epigenetic control of genes related to stress-response systems, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, particularly in association with childhood abuse and suicide. The promising results obtained in studying the epigenetic control of the HPA axis prompted Turecki to expand his interest in the epigenetic regulation of the brain, focusing on mechanisms that may explain what happens when individuals are exposed to traumatic experiences early in their lives, as well as what epigenetic processes are involved in depression and suicide. In addition, his work has focused on epigenetic mechanisms explaining response to antidepressants. Turecki also conducts work aiming at refining the depression and suicide phenotype. His clinical work focuses on depression. He leads the Depressive Disorders Program, a clinical group that treats patients affected with major depression and integrates research projects into clinical practice. Two key aspects of this work are exploring how impulsive-aggressive behaviours contribute to suicide risk, and implementing novel protocols and standards in the field.
