Past Lectureships

Simon-Pierre Noël, a native of Quebec, received his undergraduate education in Biochemistry at the University of Montreal in 1971. First introduced to the lipoprotein field by his brother, a cardiologist, Simon-Pierre was a summer student in the lab of Yves Marcel at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, who encouraged him to continue in the field and do a PhD in Biochemistry under the supervision of David Rubinstein, then, professor of Biochemistry at McGill University, whom he had met at CLC meetings. His thesis described the catabolism of lipoproteins in the perfused liver. During his studies he became friends with Peter Dolphin, who was a postdoctoral fellow in David’s lab. After graduating, Simon-Pierre was awarded a fellowship by the Medical Research Council of Canada to do his postdoctoral training in the lab of Richard Havel, Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California at San Francisco.

Simon-Pierre returned to Montreal in 1979 and was appointed assistant professor in Biochemistry at the University of Montreal. He continued to work on the hepatic catabolism of lipoproteins and contributed to the training of young scientists, including Louise Brissette and Paul Roach. Simon-Pierre was recognized for his work on lipoprotein metabolism and for his support and mentoring of students. While coaching them in science, he would also introduce them to the cuisine of different countries, his personal hobby. Simon-Pierre was quiet and poised by nature, but at the CLC, he would engage in passionate scientific debates, that often ended in the bar in the company of Peter Dolphin and others. Simon-Pierre died on the 5th of February 1987 after a short illness. The Simon-Pierre Noel Memorial Lecture was instituted by the CLC membership to commemorate his contributions to lipoprotein science and to the Canadian Lipoprotein Conference. His named lectureship is awarded to emerging scientists , who like him are becoming recognized for their scientific discoveries, as well as to established scientists recognized for the importance of their work.