Moutih Rafei, McGill University

Research

Ageing Basic Research Cancer Cytokines Immune Response Infectious Diseases Inflammation Novel Therapies

Latest papers

Nociceptor neurons suppress antitumor immunity in breast cancer.
Research square · 2026
Nociceptor neurons control pollution-mediated neutrophilic asthma.
eLife · 2026
Basophils activate oncostatin M receptor-expressing vagal sensory neurons.
The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2026

All 51 publications

Latest funding

CIACCO-2023 (10th Annual symposium on Cytokines in Inflammation, Ageing, CanCer and Obesity)
CIHR · 2022 · Principal investigator
$10,000
CIACCO-2019 (8th Annual symposium on Cytokines in Inflammation, Ageing, CanCer and Obesity)
CIHR · 2018 · Co-investigator
$10,000

All 2 grants and awards

51 publications.

01

Nociceptor neurons suppress antitumor immunity in breast cancer.

Wu Y, Ahmadi M, Bogoslowski A, Brabenec L, Abbadi J, Doyle A, Rocha BGS, Nikpoor AR, Nikoofal-Sahlabadi S, Thiel V, Preto E, Sulaiman SO, Tsamchoe M, Bednova O, Dory A, McIlvried LA, Eichwald T, McErlain T, Balood M, Boutopoulos C, Rafei M, Vermeer P, Chang A, Sloan E, Amit M, Penninger J, Saragovi HU, Trumpp A, Scheff NN, Dixon K, Cox M, Birbrair A, Talbot S, Borniger J

Research square2026

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9927184/v2 PMID: 42326509

02

Nociceptor neurons control pollution-mediated neutrophilic asthma.

Wang JC, Kulle A, Crosson T, Reza Nikpoor A, Gupta S, Roger A, Rafei M, Thanabalasuriar A, Talbot S

eLife2026

DOI: 10.7554/elife.101988 PMID: 41891831

03

Basophils activate oncostatin M receptor-expressing vagal sensory neurons.

Wang JC, Park K, Roger A, Nikpoor AR, Crosson T, Sunwoo HJ, Kaufmann E, Rafei M, Chang EH, Talbot S

The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology2026

DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2025.10.027 PMID: 41207641

04

Nociceptor neurons shape antiviral immunity.

Thomas I, Roger A, Rafei M, Gee K, Talbot S, Basta S

Journal of neuroinflammation2026

DOI: 10.1186/s12974-026-03817-z PMID: 42015248

05

A Spike-Accum bioconjugate protein vaccine confers potent SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity.

Pierre Bikorimana J, Caveney NA, El-Hachem N, Mandl GA, Capobianco JA, Stanga D, Abusarah J, Hancock MA, Farah R, Gonçalves MP, Falzarano D, Liao M, Hamonic G, Liu Q, Beaudoin S, Talbot S, Rafei M

iScience2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113314 PMID: 41054531

06

OPIOID-EXPRESSING B CELLS SILENCE TUMOR-INFILTRATING NOCICEPTOR NEURONS.

Eichwald T, Ahmadi M, Matos AM, Nikpoor AR, Roversi K, Balood M, Obuekwe F, Nilsen ML, Ruffin AT, Pinheiro G, Brabenec L, Rafei M, Vermeer P, Bruno TC, Scheff NN, Talbot S

Research square2025

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7389517/v1 PMID: 40951290

07

Mesenchymal stromal cells 2.0: thinking outside the box.

Mandl GA, Lahrichi M, Matar P, Abusarah J, Farah R, Bikorimana JP, Cisse A, Rafei M

Frontiers in immunology2025Senior author

DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1657048 PMID: 40909281

08

ARM-X: an adaptable mesenchymal stromal cell-based vaccination platform suitable for solid tumors.

Bikorimana JP, El-Hachem N, Mandl GA, Stanga D, Abusarah J, Farah R, Gonçalves MP, Matar P, Lahrichi M, Talbot S, Rafei M

Stem cell research & therapy2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1186/s13287-025-04465-5 PMID: 40660347

09

NOCICEPTOR NEURONS CONTROL POLLUTION-MEDIATED NEUTROPHILIC ASTHMA.

Wang JC, Kulle A, Crosson T, Nikpoor AR, Gupta S, Roger A, Rafei M, Thanabalasuriar A, Talbot S

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2025

DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.22.609202 PMID: 39229121

10

A1-reprogrammed mesenchymal stromal cells prime potent antitumoral responses.

Gonçalves MP, Farah R, Bikorimana JP, Abusarah J, El-Hachem N, Saad W, Talbot S, Stanga D, Beaudoin S, Plouffe S, Rafei M

iScience2024Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109248 PMID: 38433914

CIACCO-2023 (10th Annual symposium on Cytokines in Inflammation, Ageing, CanCer and Obesity)

Principal investigatorCIHR2022Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Principal investigators: Fritz, Jorg H; Del Rincon, Sonia V; Ferbeyre, Gerardo; Ilangumaran, Subburaj; Lee, Seung-Hwan; Menendez, Alfredo; Rafei, Moutih; Ramanathan, Sheela; Rodrigue-Gervais, Ian Gaël; Saucier, Caroline

Keywords: Ageing; Basic Research; Cancer; Cytokines; Immune Response; Infectious Diseases; Inflammation; Novel Therapies; Obesity; Translational Medicine

$10,000

CIACCO-2019 (8th Annual symposium on Cytokines in Inflammation, Ageing, CanCer and Obesity)

Co-investigatorCIHR2018Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Principal investigators: Fritz, Jorg H

Keywords: Aging; Basic Research; Cancer; Cytokines; Immune Response; Infectious Diseases; Inflammation; Novel Therapeutics; Obesity; Translational Medicine

$10,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Moutih Rafei

Physiology and Pharmacology

51 shared papers, latest 2026

Sébastien Talbot

Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

12 shared papers, latest 2026

Claude Perreault

Institut de recherche en immunologie et cancer

4 shared papers, latest 2013

Jerry Pelletier

Biochemistry

2 shared papers, latest 2021

Sébastien Talbot

Pharmacology

2 shared papers, latest 2025

Ajitha Thanabalasuriar

Medicine

2 shared papers, latest 2026

Julia Burnier

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2009

Eva Kaufmann

Biomedical and Molecular Sciences

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Eva Kaufmann

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2026

Kolja Eppert

Pediatrics

1 shared papers, latest 2019

Rikard Blunck

Physique

1 shared papers, latest 2024

Benjamin Haibe-Kains

Radiation Oncology/Medical Physics

1 shared papers, latest 2020

Nathalie Labrecque

Medicine

1 shared papers, latest 2011

Louis-Eric Trudeau

Pharmacology

1 shared papers, latest 2021

Pnina Brodt

Surgery

1 shared papers, latest 2009

Martin Olivier

Medicine

1 shared papers, latest 2021

Lee-Hwa Tai

Immunology

1 shared papers, latest 2023

Michael Downey

Cellular and Molecular Medicine

1 shared papers, latest 2019

Mark Basik

Social Studies of Medicine

1 shared papers, latest 2009

Trang Hoang

Pharmacology

1 shared papers, latest 2019

Darryl Falzarano

Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Hugo Wurtele

Centre de recherche

1 shared papers, latest 2020

Josef Penninger

Medical Genetics

1 shared papers, latest 2026

François Mercier

Pharmacology and Therapeutics

1 shared papers, latest 2021

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2022

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Ageing Dear Professor Rafei, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Nociceptor neurons suppress antitumor immunity in breast cancer." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "CIACCO-2023 (10th Annual symposium on Cytokines in Inflammation, Ageing, CanCer and Obesity)" (2022), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]