Judes Poirier, PhD, has attained international recognition for his scientific contributions towards understanding two prominent diseases afflicting the elderly Alzheimer Disease and Parkinson's Disease. Recruited in 1989, by both the McGill University and the Douglas Institute Research Centre, Judes Poirier is now full professor of psychiatry and medicine at McGill University.

Judes Poirier and his team achieved an important scientific breakthrough in 1993. They discovered that a novel genetic risk factor was involved in the common form of Alzheimer Disease.

In 1995, his team revealed that drug responsiveness to memory enhancer medication used for Alzheimer Disease was highly dependent upon specific genes inherited from our parents. While people suffering from Alzheimer Disease who do not carry the abnormal ApoE4 gene respond quite well to cholinomimetic drugs - a group of medications that improve memory - those carrying the abnormal gene tend respond poorly or not at all.

In 1996 , L'Actualité magazine named Judes Poirier Scientific Personality of the Year - one of five leading personalities in the field of science in Quebec.