Mathieu Lemaire

Dr. Mathieu Lemaire finished his medical training at McGill University in 2004 and then moved to Toronto to learn Paediatrics at The Hospital for Sick Children. After completing his fellowship in Paediatric Nephrology in Toronto, he went to Yale University (New Haven, CT) to pursue a PhD in Investigative Medicine under the guidance of Dr Richard P. Lifton, with a focus on the genetics of rare paediatric kidney diseases. Dr Lemaire returned to the University of Toronto in 2014 as Assistant Professor of Paediatrics: he joined the Division of Nephrology at The Hospital for Sick Children as a Staff Physician, and the Cell biology Department within the SickKids Research Institute as Scientist-Track Investigator. He was cross-appointed to the Department of Biochemistry and to the Institute of Medical Sciences in 2015. 

Investigating the pathophysiology of atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome caused by DGKE deficiency 

The lab’s main aim is translational research that pertains to rare paediatric kidney diseases using genomic tools for gene discovery followed by careful functional dissection of candidate genes using cutting-edge microscopic, cell biology and biochemical methods. 

The goal is to not only contribute to a better understanding of disease pathophysiology, but also aim to translate these findings into tangible changes in clinical care. 

This work has played a central role in the identification of the first non-complement gene that causes a recessive form of aHUS, diacylglycerol kinase epsilon. His laboratory continues to work on teasing out the mechanisms by which DGKE deficiency causes thrombosis restricted to small blood vessels of the kidneys. His team continues to do gene discovery on a variety of rare paediatric kidney diseases using whole-exome sequencing: functional work is on the way for yet another novel gene that causes complement-independent aHUS. 

Appointments, Cross Affiliations, Memberships 

Assistant Professor of Paediatrics 
Assistant Professor, Institute of Medical Sciences 

Courses Taught 

BCH2104H The Biochemistry of Translational Medicine
BCH449H Medical Biochemistry