Nathalie Arbour is a full professor for the Department of neuroscience and an accredited professor for the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of Montreal's University. She is a researcher and the person in charge for the neuroscience axis at the research centre of the Montreal's university hospital centre (CRCHUM). She is also chairholder for the University of Montreal's neurosurgery Claude Bertrand's chair.

Her research program aims to characterize and understand the interaction between the immune and the central nervous system, particularly the role of the T cells in the context of multiple sclerosis, to identify and characterize molecules and expressed mediators by the central nervous system's cells that contribute modulating immune responses as well as the mechanisms used by T lymphocytes contributing at the pathogenesis of auto-immune diseases particularly multiple sclerosis.

Nathalie Arbour published more than 56 articles that are based on data coming from human and mice's systems. Her research program is funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.