MONTRÉAL, May 30, 2017 – The CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, affiliated with the Université de Montréal, announced today the winners of the oral and poster presentation competition that took place this past May 26, 2017 during the 32^nd Research Congress of Graduate and Post Graduate Students in Research at CHU Sainte-Justine. Out of the 156 authors, 22 were attributed an award for their presentation. They were evaluated by a jury of more than 40 members, to which the Research Center wishes to express its heartfelt gratitude.

The prestigious Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) award for the student with the best oral presentation was bestowed on Florian Wünnemann, a doctoral student under the supervision of Gregor U. Andelfinger, M.D., Ph.D, for his presentation entitled “Heart valve dysfunction in men and preclinical models is caused by loss of function mutations in Adamts19, a novel marker for valvular interstitial cells”. The award recognizes the excellence of his scientific work, as well as the clarity and didactic value of his presentation.

Five students received a Network Award for their poster presentation. Rafael Oliveira Fernandes, a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Anne Monique Nuyt, M.D. and Solène Fourdain, a doctoral student under the supervision of Anne Gallagher, Ph.D., were awarded a Cardiometabolic Health, Diabetes and Obesity Research Network award, Rasheda Arman Chowdhury, a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Mathieu Dehaes, Ph.D, was awarded a Québec Bio-imaging Network award, Gwenaëlle Andrea De Clifford-Faugère, a master’s student under the supervision of Marilyn Aita, inf., Ph.D., was awarded a Quebec Rehabilitation Research Network award and Nikita Cobetto, a doctoral student under the supervision of Carl-Éric Aubin, ing., Ph.D., was awarded a Network for Oral and Bone Health Research award. 

“The Research Congress of Graduate and Post Graduate Students in Research at CHU Sainte-Justine is an initiative that encourages the scientific leaders of tomorrow. This event is an opportunity for students, fellows, clinical research nurses and laboratory staff to share the progress of their work in various fields. It is also an excellent way for them to gain experience in communicating their work for national and international scientific forums”, said Carolina Alfieri, Ph.D., Researcher and Associate Director – Academic Affairs at CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center.

The event gathered about 300 people who attended 16 oral presentations and 140 poster presentations.

The Research Center wishes to thank for their support the FRQS, CMDO, RMGA, QBIN, REPAR, RQRD, and RSBO, also BioLegend, FroggaBio, MACS Miltenyi Biotec, PerkinElmer, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Eppendorf, PeproTech, Sony Biotechnology, Bio-Rad, Cedarlane, Diamed, Novus, and Roche.

LIST OF THE WINNERS OF THE PRESENTATIONS

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Front row, left to right: Florian Wünnemann, Rachid Abaji, Safiétou Sankhe, Andrew T. Song and Virginie Bertrand-Lehouillier.
Back row, left to right: Gwenaëlle Andrea De Clifford-Faugère, Rasheda Arman Chowdhury, Junio Dort, Emilie Heckel, Camila de Britto Para de Aragao, Prabhas Chaudhari, Estefania Marin Sierra, Mélanie Girard and Lisa-Marie Legault.