Roy Gravel: A stellar career in science

Roy Gravel, PhD, is retiring in June, leaving his mark of excellence on three Canadian universities.

Gravel is a distinguished scientist at the University of Calgary in the faculties of Medicine and Kinesiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and cross-appointed in Medical Genetics. He has been the scientific director for the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) since 2011. 

“ACHRI has benefited tremendously from Dr. Gravel’s time as scientific director," says Dr. Brent Scott, executive director of ACHRI and Husky Energy Chair in Child and Maternal Health. "Roy has generously shared his wisdom and experience and has worked tirelessly to advance the scientific mission of ACHRI and its members. I wish Roy the very best in the future.” 

Gravel was recruited to the University of Calgary in 1999 as holder of the prestigious Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Chair and an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Scientist award. He left a position as scientific director of the McGill University-Montreal Children’s Hospital Research Institute and prior to that, a position at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children.

Gravel has spent his career investigating inborn errors of metabolism, principally vitamin disorders and Tay-Sachs disease. His team investigates the genes involved in vitamin B12 and biotin metabolism to characterize the pathways and subcellular trafficking involved and to probe disease mechanisms in children with genetic blocks in their utilization. 

In Tay-Sachs disease, their research began with identifying the genes and biochemistry associated with catabolism of the brain lipid GM2 ganglioside, with current research focused on development of a drug treatment for the disease. Their research has also included the study of risk phenotypes associated with common genetic variants, leading to the striking observation – recently reported in the journal Cell and co-authored by colleagues Jay Cross and Erica Watson – that folate deficiency triggers abnormalities not just in offspring but also in future generations as a result of abnormal epigenetic processing.

An extremely disciplined scientist, Gravel has played an important leadership role at the Faculty of Medicine, contributing to a formal internal grant review process that has helped increase the number of successful grants to the University of Calgary. With a similar commitment to training, he and colleague Carol Schuurmans were awarded a CIHR Training Program Grant, providing an intense training environment for young scientists.

“The Faculty of Medicine is proud of Dr. Gravel’s many accomplishments, and his hard work and dedication towards improving our research performance,” says Gerald Zamponi, senior associate dean for research, Faculty of Medicine.