❮ Back to Researchers

Gaspard Montandon

PhD

Scientist and interim director of the Drug Discovery and Zebrafish Facility

Email: Gaspard.Montandon@unityhealth.to
Tel: 416-864-5924
Other: flow - Drug Discovery & Zebrafish Facility

Labs

Brain & Breathing Science ❯

Biography

Dr. Gaspard Montandon is a Scientist in the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science of St. Michael’s Hospital, the director of the Zebrafish Facility at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Respirology, Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Montandon combines biomedical and clinical research to understand the neural control of breathing and disorders such as respiratory depression by opioid drugs and sleep-disordered breathing. His main research focuses on understanding how opioid drugs affect breathing and to find novel therapies to prevent respiratory depression without reducing opioid analgesia using rodent and zebrafish models.

As a Parker B. Francis Fellow, along with support from the Canadian Lung Association, the Ontario Thoracic Society and CIHR, Dr. Montandon has developed a strategic research program that aims to understand opioid-induced respiratory depression and to identify new therapies to prevent it.

Recent Publications

  1. Montandon, G. The pathophysiology of opioid-induced respiratory depression. Handb Clin Neurol. 2022;188 :339-355. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-91534-2.00003-5. PubMed PMID:35965031 .
  2. Zaig, S, da Silveira Scarpellini, C, Montandon, G. Respiratory depression and analgesia by opioid drugs in freely behaving larval zebrafish. Elife. 2021;10 :. doi: 10.7554/eLife.63407. PubMed PMID:33720013 PubMed Central PMC8060028.
  3. Ahmad, A, Ahmad, R, Meteb, M, Ryan, CM, Leung, RS, Montandon, G et al.. The relationship between opioid use and obstructive sleep apnea: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2021;58 :101441. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101441. PubMed PMID:33567395 .
  4. Aggarwal, JA, Liu, WY, Montandon, G, Liu, H, Hughes, SW, Horner, RL et al.. Measurement and State-Dependent Modulation of Hypoglossal Motor Excitability and Responsivity In-Vivo. Sci Rep. 2020;10 (1):550. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-57328-4. PubMed PMID:31953471 PubMed Central PMC6969049.
  5. Montandon, G, Horner, RL. Electrocortical changes associating sedation and respiratory depression by the opioid analgesic fentanyl. Sci Rep. 2019;9 (1):14122. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-50613-2. PubMed PMID:31575947 PubMed Central PMC6773755.
  6. Montandon, G, Slutsky, AS. Solving the Opioid Crisis: Respiratory Depression by Opioids as Critical End Point. Chest. 2019;156 (4):653-658. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2019.05.015. PubMed PMID:31194974 .
  7. Satkunendrarajah, K, Karadimas, SK, Laliberte, AM, Montandon, G, Fehlings, MG. Cervical excitatory neurons sustain breathing after spinal cord injury. Nature. 2018;562 (7727):419-422. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0595-z. PubMed PMID:30305735 .
  8. Nagappa, M, Weingarten, TN, Montandon, G, Sprung, J, Chung, F. Opioids, respiratory depression, and sleep-disordered breathing. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2017;31 (4):469-485. doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2017.05.004. PubMed PMID:29739536 .
  9. Montandon, G, Wu, H, Liu, H, Vu, MT, Orser, BA, Horner, RL et al.. δ-Subunit Containing GABAA Receptors Modulate Respiratory Networks. Sci Rep. 2017;7 (1):18105. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-17379-x. PubMed PMID:29273726 PubMed Central PMC5741762.
  10. Salam, MT, Montandon, G, Genov, R, Devinsky, O, Del Campo, M, Carlen, PL et al.. Mortality with brainstem seizures from focal 4-aminopyridine-induced recurrent hippocampal seizures. Epilepsia. 2017;58 (9):1637-1644. doi: 10.1111/epi.13846. PubMed PMID:28691204 .
Search PubMed

Affiliations & Other Activities

  • Assistant Professor, Division of Respirology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
  • Interim Director, Drug Discovery & Zebrafish Facility, St. Michael’s Hospital
  • iBest member, St. Michael’s Hospital & Ryerson University
  • IMS member. Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
  • Collaborative Program in Neuroscience member