Marie-Josée Brouillette
Associate Professor
MD, FRCPC
HIV and cognition, Rasch analysis, Interferon-alpha and depression
Marie-Josée Brouillette is an Associate Professor of psychiatry whose primary area of interest is the psychiatric care of medically ill patients, more specifically those infected with HIV. Her research spans the full spectrum from basic science to applied research. Her research studies are concerned with regulation of both cognition and mood. Currently, her main study in the area of HIV and cognition involves comprehensively characterizing 900 HIV+ individuals across Canada who will be followed for 2.5 years to elucidate the factors that contribute to the development of cognitive decline, with interventional trials being conducted in selected sub-groups of individuals. Other projects include improving cognition in HIV+ individuals reporting cognitive decline through a personalized change in antiretroviral medication informed by analysis of the fluid that bathes the brain; and developing a computerized tool that can measure cognitive ability in the clinical setting. All these studies involve inter-disciplinary collaborations (neurology, neuropsychology, epidemiology, HIV clinicians and community groups) and aim to develop innovative solutions to complex problems that can be applied in the clinical setting.