Invited Speakers

Keynote Speaker (2026)

Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université Laval

Researcher at the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute (IUCPQ)

Canada Research Chair in NeuroMetabolic Pharmacology

Director of the Quebec Metabolic Phenotyping Core (QMPC)

Co-Director of the international associated laboratory LIA-SYNAPSE between Université Laval and Université Côte d’Azur.

Presentation title: "Inside the hungry brain: the biology of appetite and metabolic health"

Biography: 

Dr. Alexandre Caron is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université Laval and a researcher at the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute (IUCPQ), where he holds the Canada Research Chair in NeuroMetabolic Pharmacology. He is also Director of the Quebec Metabolic Phenotyping Core (QMPC) and Co-Director of the international associated laboratory LIA-SYNAPSE between Université Laval and Université Côte d’Azur. He completed his PhD in Physiology-Endocrinology at Université Laval before joining the Center for Hypothalamic Research in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center for his postdoctoral training. During this period, he was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from Diabetes Canada and the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2019, he received an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award and was appointed Instructor at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

In 2020, Dr. Caron returned to Université Laval to establish his independent research program. His laboratory investigates the neurobiological and pharmacological mechanisms that regulate energy balance, body weight, and glucose homeostasis, and how their dysregulation contributes to obesity and type 2 diabetes. His work focuses particularly on how the brain communicates with peripheral metabolic organs through the autonomic nervous system to control whole-body metabolism. His research also seeks to understand the mechanisms of action of anti-obesity and glucose-lowering medications, including incretin-based therapies, and the biological factors that contribute to variability in treatment response. His research program is supported by national agencies including CIHR, NSERC, CFI, Diabetes Canada, and Brain Canada.

His contributions have been recognized with several distinctions, including the CMDO Jean-Davignon Award for outstanding contributions by an emerging researcher in cardiometabolic health, Université Laval’s Impulsion Award recognizing the achievements and impact of early-career faculty, and the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Pythagore Award recognizing exceptional career achievements among its graduates. In 2026, he was also named one of Canada’s Top 20 Under 40 in Life Sciences. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Edna Park Speaker (2026)

Professor/Chairholder, Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands

Presentation title: "TBD"

Biography: Dr. Ciarán Forde leads research on how the sensory properties of foods influence calorie selection, eating behaviour and energy intake and metabolism in adults and children. In 2015 he established and led the ‘Sensory and Ingestive Behaviour’ at the Clinical Nutrition Research Center in Singapore. From mid-2021 he joined Wageningen University and Reserach as a Professor and Chair in Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour in the Division of Nutrition and Health. Dr. Forde has published over 100 scientific articles and book chapters, and presented his research at over 180 national and international scientific meetings. He is currently Executive Editor for the journal Appetite, a Section Editor in ‘Nutrition Behaviour and Food Intake Regulation’ for the European Journal of Nutrition, and an Editorial Board member for Nutrition Bulletin, Journal of Future Food and Journal of Texture Studies. Dr. Forde has previously spent over 11 years in food research roles in the UK (GSK), Australia (CSIRO) and Switzerland (Nestlé Research). He received his BSc in Food Chemistry and a PhD in Sensory Science from the Dept. Nutrition at University College Cork in Ireland.