Remarkable Journeys in Healthcare

CHUS Research Centre Recognition Evening  

The CHUS Research Centre (CRCHUS) recently proudly celebrated the excellence of its researchers, professionals, students, and patient partners during its Recognition Evening 2024-2025.  

Behind every clinical advance lies rigorous research, often overlooked, but absolutely essential. Regardless of the field, research is the foundation of medical progress. It allows for a better understanding of diseases, the development of new treatments, the improvement of care, and ultimately, a better quality of life for patients. The work of researchers is at the very heart of health innovation, and an event like the CRCHUS Recognition Evening highlights their dedication and creativity, although a single evening is not enough to show the full importance of their work.  

Honoring Excellence and Commitment

Twenty inspiring individuals were honored for their remarkable achievements, the quality of their scientific work, or their exceptional contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the service of health. Among the recipients, we highlight the twelve laureates of the CRCHUS internal funding program scholarships, made possible by the CHUS Foundation.

• Alain Piché

• Benoit Paquette

• Catherine Julien

• Chris Edwards

• Janny Mathieu

• Karine Tremblay (2 scholarships)

• Lee-Hwa Tai

• Mathieu Quesnel-Vallières

• Oraly Sanchez-Ferras

• Sophie Roux

• Stéphanie Larrivée Vanier

• Yohann Moanahere Chiu

" Our mission at the CHUS Foundation is to contribute to the continuous improvement of health care and services offered to the population. This mission inevitably involves research. We have a strong partnership with the CRCHUS, and we are committed to supporting its researchers as best we can."

- Martin Clermont, Executive Director of the CHUS Foundation

Promising Research

In total, thirteen grants were awarded for work in various medical fields, including two postdoctoral research grants provided by Desjardins, a generous partner of the CHUS Foundation. " Being healthy is what allows everyone to contribute fully to society, and for prevention, understanding, and healing, research is essential ," says Martin Ratté, General Manager of Caisse Desjardins du Nord de Sherbrooke. " Investing in research means investing in a healthier, more equitable, and more promising future for all. We firmly believe in this. "

Catherine Julien, a speech-language pathologist and recipient of a Desjardins research grant, will be able to focus on her mother-child themed project, titled Parental Leave and Cognitive-Language Development: A Population Study of Mechanisms Involved During the First 1000 Days of Life.

The objective? To better understand the impact of the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) on language development in young children. Although most families have access to this plan, some vulnerable mothers (for example, those with low income or low education levels) benefit little or not at all.  

The researcher, currently undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship at the Université de Sherbrooke, aims to explore whether taking parental leave could improve parents' mental health and thus promote language development in their children.  

« This scholarship is an invaluable stepping stone for my career as a young researcher! I am very grateful to see that the CRCHUS takes seriously the issues surrounding child development, parental mental health, and the impact of public policies—issues that deserve particular attention. The initial hypothesis is that taking parental leave could improve children's language development by promoting better mental health in parents, but this hypothesis remains to be validated. », explains Catherine Julien.

Thanks to the contribution of the Men's Health Fund of the CHUS Foundation, Dr. Lee-Hwa Tai, a professor in the Department of Immunology and Cell Biology at the Université de Sherbrooke, will be able to conduct more in-depth research on bladder cancer, as part of her project titled: Leveraging Patient-Derived Organoids to Develop Personalized Virotherapies Against Non-Invasive Bladder Cancer.

Professor Karine Tremblay, for her part, is interested in genes that influence medication response, including for certain types of diabetes. She received two scholarships at the ceremony, one of which came from the special program on rare pediatric diseases. The latter is offered thanks to the contribution of the CHUS Foundation and the Grand défi Pierre Lavoie Foundation, in collaboration with the CHUS Department of Pediatrics.  

Congratulations to all recipients! And thank you to our partners who tirelessly support health innovation.