Dr. Geneviève Bernard directs the MyeliNeuroGene Lab, where she has developed a comprehensive research program on leukodystrophies, taking a "bedside to bench and back to bedside" approach. Her work specifically focuses on hypomyelinating leukodystrophies, including POLR3-related or 4H leukodystrophy, EPRS1-related disease, and VARS1-related neurodegenerative disease where she has made significant progress to advance discovery and improve patients lives.​ Dr. Bernard and her team, together with her international collaborators, discovered four of the genes responsible for 4H leukodystrophy, the causal genes for EPRS1-related leukodystrophy and VARS1-related neurodegenerative disease and contributed to the discovery of the causal gene for HEMS (Hypomyelination of Early Myelinating structures). 

 

​​She also directs the first of its kind and largest leukodystrophy clinic in Canada (Leukodystrophy and Neurometabolic Disorders Clinic, Montreal Children's Hospital), garnering international recognition and referrals. ​​​

 

Dr. Bernard is extensively involved in the local, national, and global leukodystrophy and rare disease community, serving as a co-director of RARE.QC, a network focused on promoting and facillitating collaborative research on rare diseases in Quebec, and RareKids-CAN, the newly CIHR funded Pediatric Rare Disease Clinical Trials and Treatment Network. She is also the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the United Leukodystrophy Foundation, and is the Canadian representative on several international consortia, including the Global Leukodystrophy InitiAtive (GLIA).​​