Olivier BIROT

Faculty & School/Dept.

Faculty of Health - School of Kinesiology & Health Science

Degrees

Habilitation (dr. habil., HDR) - 2009
Université Claude Bernard
Lyon, France

Postdoctoral Fellowship completion - 2006
Karolinska Institutet
Stockholm, Sweden

PhD - Doctoral degree in Physiology - 2003
Université Claude Bernard
Lyon, France

MSc (DEA) - Integrative Physiology in Extreme Environments - 1999
Université Claude Bernard
Lyon, France

Maîtrise Cellular biology and Physiology - 1998
Université Claude Bernard
Lyon, France

Licence Cellular biology and Physiology - 1997
Université Claude Bernard
Lyon, France

Biography

Dr. Olivier BIROT is a professor of physiology in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University.  His research and teaching focus on exercise and muscle physiology with a particular interest in skeletal muscle angioadaptation in the context of exercise, extreme environments exposure (altitude, cold, air pollution), and chronic pathological conditions (diabetes, obesity). His research program has been funded by NSERC since 2007.

Bio - Dr. Birot graduated from University Claude Bernard (Lyon, France) with a Master degree in Extreme Environmental Physiology (First in class 1998-1999) and a PhD degree in Physiology in 2003. His MSc/PhD work investigated skeletal muscle angioadaptive responses to exercise and altitude hypoxia. Dr. Birot completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cancer Center Karolinska Intitute (Stockholm, Sweden) where he studied tumor and retinal angiogenesis. In 2006, he got appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Montreal, and in 2008 he joined the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University. Dr. Birot served as a Defense Scientist (1999-2000) investigating the impact of extreme environments and exercise on skeletal muscle and cardiac capillarization. He also obtained his research Habilitation (HDR, dr. hab.) from University Claude Bernard in 2009.   

Aside the lab - Growing up in the Alps, between France, Italy and Switzerland, Dr. Birot has always been an outdoor enthusiast. This has greatly stimulated his interest to study exercise and extreme environmental physiology. He enjoys hiking, trail running, climbing, mountaineering, backcountry skiing, and paddling his canoe! During his undergraduate and graduate studies, Dr. Birot also served for 6-7 years as a volunteer firefighter, which has also contributed to his interest for exercise physiology in extreme environments.

What is muscle angioadaptation? Capillaries are our smallest blood vessels. They supply muscle cells with oxygen and nutrients, and represent a key determinant of skeletal muscle function. In healthy tissues, capillaries usually form a well-organized network, which is very plastic and adaptable. In response to various physiological or pathological conditions (such as exercise training, altitude, physical inactivity, obesity, diabetes...), capillaries can either stabilize, grow, or regress. The concept of  "angioadaptation" refers to the coordinated molecular, cellular, and tissular events that regulate the formation (or regression) of muscle capillaries. To study skeletal muscle angioadaptation, Dr. Birot and his team use a very integrative approach, from muscle biopsy analysis to primary muscle and endothelial cell cultures.

Teaching 

• KINE 4442, Advanced Exercise Physiology: Exercising and Surviving in Extreme Environments (Present).
• KINE 4443, Living and performing at high altitude: The physiology of human adaptation to hypoxia (Present).
• KINE 4449, Advanced Human Physiology: The respiratory system in health and disease (Present).
• KINE 4060, Independent studies and honour thesis (Present).
• KINE 4450, Advanced Exercise Physiology: The cardiovascular system (2008-2017).
• KINE 2011, Human Physiology I (2009-2018).
• KAHS 6300, The cardiovascular system.
• PKIN 0409, Modern Self-Defense

 

Selected Publications

Full list on PUBMED:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=birot+o&sort=date

Selected publications:

Hancock, Yavelberg, Gledhill, Birot, Gledhill, Jamnik. Performing one or more verification VO2 workload(s) immediately after an incremental to maximal graded exercise test significantly increases the proportion of participants who meet the job-related aerobic fitness standard for structural firefighters. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2023.

Lemieux P, Roudier E, Birot O. Angiostatic freeze or angiogenic move? Acute cold stress prevents angiokine secretion from murine myotubes but primes primary endothelial cells for greater migratory capacity. Front. Physiol. 2022

Lemieux P & Birot O. Altitude, exercise, and skeletal muscle angio-adaptive responses to hypoxia: A complex story. Front. Physiol. 2021

Aiken J, Mandel ER, Riddell MC, Birot. Hyperglycaemia correlates with skeletal muscle capillary regression and is associated with alterations in the murine double minute-2/forkhead box O1/thrombospondin-1 pathway in type 1 diabetic BioBredding rats. Diab. Vasc. Dis. Res. 16(1): 28-37, 2019.

Aiken J, Roudier E, Ciccone J, Drouin G, Stromberg A, Vojnovic J, Olfert IM, Haas T, Gustafsson T, Grenier G, Birot O. Phosphorylation of murine double minute-2 on Ser166 is downstream of VEGF-A in exercised skeletal muscle and regulates primary endothelial cell migration and FoxO gene expression. FASEB J. 30(3): 1120-34, 2016.

Egginton S & Birot O. Angiogenesis: growth points. Microcirculation 21(4); 276-277, 2014.

 Roudier E, Aiken J, Slopack Dara, Gouzi F, Mercier J, Haas TL, Gustaffson T, Hayot M, Birot, O. Novel perspective:  Exercise training stimulus triggers the expression of the oncoprotein Human Double Minute-2 in human skeletal muscle. Physiological Reports 1, 2013.

Gouzi F, Prefaut C, Abdellaoui A, Roudier E, de Rigal P, Molinari N, Laoudj-Chenivesse D, Mercier J, Birot O, Hayot M. Blunted muscle angiogenic training-response in COPD patients versus sedentary controls. European Respiratory Journal 41: 806-14, 2013. 

Roudier E, Forn P, Perry ME, Birot O. Murine Double Minute-2 is required for capillary maintenance and exercise-induced angiogenesis in skeletal muscle. FASEB Journal 26: 4530-4539, 2012.

Olfert IM & Birot O. Importance of anti-angiogenic factors in the regulation of skeletal muscle angiogenesis. Microcirculation 18(4): 316-30, 2011.

 Roudier E, Gineste C, Wazna A, Dehghan K, Desplanches D, Birot O. Angio-adaptation in unloaded skeletal muscle: New insights into an early and muscle-specific dynamic process. Journal of Physiology (London) 588: 4579-4591, 2010.

Holmgren L, Ambrosino E, Birot O, Tullus C, Veitonmäkii N, Carlson L-M, Forni G and Kiessling R. A DNA vaccine targeting the angiostatin receptor angiomotin inhibits angiogenesis and suppresses tumor growth. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 9208-13, 2006.

 

Partnerships

Research collaboration with University of Corsica Pasquale Paoli

Supervision

Currently available to supervise graduate students: Yes

Currently taking on work-study students, Graduate Assistants or Volunteers: No

Available to supervise undergraduate thesis projects: No

Current Research

 

Cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating tissue angio-adaptation under physiological and pathological conditions (exercise training, altitude, cold exposure, obesity, diabetes). Integrative approach from primary cell culture (muscle and endothelial cells) to muscle biopsy analysis.

Key words: Vascular biology, angiogenesis, micro-RNA, skeletal muscle, cell culture, exercise, extreme environments, air pollution, altitude, cold and heat exposure

Research Projects

Investigating the impact of muscle contractile activity and environmental stressors on the biogenesis of micro-RNAs and their contribution to skeletal muscle angioadaptation
Role: Principal Investigator
Year Funded: 2023
Duration: 5
Funded by: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council