Over 200 students attended, on June 8, 2011, the XXVIth annual congress of graduate and post-graduate students of the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center. This annual event is a special occasion for students to present their work to the scientific community of the Research Center in the form of oral presentations or posters. To conclude this special day, Dr. Claude Roy gave a much appreciated lecture on the history of CHU Sainte-Justine and its Research Center. For those who could not attend, a DVD is available at the CHU Sainte-Justine librairy.

We thank the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), the Quebec Rehabilitation Research Network (REPAR), the Réseau de médecine génétique appliquée (RMGA), the Respiratory Health Network (RHN), the Vision Research Network, the Network for Oral and Bone Health Research (RSBO), the Quebec Pain Research Network (QPRN) and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center for their financial support. Finally, we extend our special thanks to the members of the jury, without whom we could not have presented these awards.

The prestigious award from the FRSQ, valued at CDN $1,000, which was presented by Dr. Guy Rouleau, Director of the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, was awarded to Ms. Mariève Blanchet, PhD student under the supervision of Dr. François Prince and Dr. Julie Messier. This award is given to the student with the highest scores collected in all categories for oral presentations. It also highlights the excellence of the scientific work, as well as the clarity and the didactical quality of the presentations.