The dynamism of Québec researchers in the health sector is indisputable. Through the years, they have made important discoveries that have yielded tangible positive impacts on the health of Québecers and people around the world.

The 1930s
Québec researchers have been pioneers since as early as the 1930s. Wilder Penfield founded the Montreal Neurological Institute in 1934 and developed a surgical method to treat epilepsy. In 1936, Hans Selye, a researcher at Université de Montréal, described stress, or general adaptation syndrome, for the very first time. In 1938, Armand Frappier, a pioneer in the field of vaccines founded the first French-Canadian medical research centre, the Institut de microbiologie et d’hygiène de Montréal, which, in 1975, would become the Institut Armand-Frappier. At the same time, Félix d'Herelle veered off the beaten track and discovered bacteriophages. He is believed by many to be the founder of modern molecular biology and made a world-class contribution to the field.

1950s-1980s
Later in the 1950s at the Montreal Neurological Institute, Brenda Milner demonstrated the important role of the hippocampus (a brain structure located in the temporal lobes) in memorizing new events and past experiences. In 1954, Paul David founded the Montréal Heart Institute – a leading cardiology centre where, in 1968, doctors performed Canada’s first heart transplant. Jacques Genest, who made the greatest contributions to the advancement of biomedical research of the past 40 years founded the Club de recherches cliniques du Québec in 1959, the Conseil de recherches médicales in 1964 (which, in 1981, would become the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec) and the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) in 1967.

In 1961 at Université de Montréal, André Barbeau linked dopamine (a substance found in the brain) deficiencies to Parkinson’s disease. The application of his finding led to the development of the first medication derived from DOPA, a natural dopamine precursor. Barbeau also discovered one of the factors that cause ataxia (biochemical glutamine acid deficiency) and characterized some twenty types of the disease. In 1972 at the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal Hospital, André Roch Lecours founded a research group that would become a beacon for interdisciplinary research into language and the brain.

Certain treatments and processes to enhance human health and which are still in use today stem from discoveries made in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. For example, in 1969, Québec began adding vitamin D to milk based on the research findings of Dr. Charles Scriver at McGill University, and the incidence of rickets plummeted from 1 case in 200 newborns to 1 in 20 000. At Université Laval in 1972, Dr. Jean-H. Dussault developed a screening test for congenital hypothyroidism that is still used around the world. In fact, in 2000, it was estimated that 150 million newborns had undergone the test. In 1989, Bernard Belleau developed 3TC (or lamivudine) – an anti-HIV treatment that is now used in combination with other drugs.

The past 30 years
Researchers have made significant breakthroughs in the past 30 years: the isolation of mutations causing familial hypercholesterolemia in French-Canadians, the development of a theory to better understand pain mechanisms, the discovery of breast cancer genes, a better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, the detection of neural regeneration in the central nervous system, the development of a test for the early diagnosis of scoliosis and of rapid tests to diagnose devastating bacterial infections as well as many more.

Since its creation in 1964, the FRQS has been part of these discoveries through the support it provides to the research centres, groups and networks to which most health researchers belong and the annual attribution of grants and scholarships to some 400 scholars and 500 graduate students. The FRQS also supports over 200 research projects.

The media regularly covers the discoveries made in Québec laboratories. Research centres and universities also publicize their breakthroughs on various channels including their institutional Web sites. Please visit these sites for further details (see the More information section at the top of this page). Here are a few examples:

Discoveries in FRQS centres

-Du laboratoire au patient : 15 percées réalisées dans nos centres de recherche / From the lab to the patient: 15 breakthroughs by our research centres
(Report published in Recherche en santé, n^o.41, November 2008, in French only)

-Pleins feux sur les centres de recherche : percées scientifiques récentes / Research centre spotlight: recent scientific discoveries
(Report published in Recherche en santé n^o 23, June 2000, in French only)

Québec Science’s annual list of health science discoveries

Each year, Québec Science magazine highlights the most significant scientific discoveries made in Québec universities and research institutions between November and October, as selected by a panel of experts. For the finding to be featured, the research results must have been published in a leading journal. Here are the most recent discoveries in the health sciences to have made the annual lists:

2011

2010

2009

2008