The 12th edition of the RQR Symposium was held on November 5th and 6th, 2019 at Centre des Congrès in Québec. The Pre-Symposium Workshop held on November 4th on “Single-Cell Technologies in Reproduction and Development” drew 84 participants who attended 4 seminars by guest speakers Dr. Sophie Petropoulos of Université de Montréal, Dr. Éric Paquet from Université Laval, Dr. Frédérique Ruf-Zamojski of the Mount Sinaï School of Medecine and Dr. Edward Grow from the University of Utah.
To open the Symposium, RQR director Dr. Daniel Bernard presented in his introduction the achievements of the RQR in 2018/2019 and the challenges we will face in 2020, including the nominations of new Axis leaders and the recomposition of the committees. At the Symposium, 2 awards were presented for knowledge translation, along with 3 prizes for best oral presentations and 3 prizes for best poster presentations. In addition to seminars by our four guest speakers, participants were able to attend 15 oral and 59 poster presentations by RQR trainees.
To open the Symposium, RQR director Dr. Daniel Bernard presented in his introduction the achievements of the RQR in 2018/2019 and the challenges we will face in 2020, including the nominations of new Axis leaders and the recomposition of the committees. At the Symposium, 2 awards were presented for knowledge translation, along with 3 prizes for best oral presentations and 3 prizes for best poster presentations. In addition to seminars by our four guest speakers, participants were able to attend 15 oral and 59 poster presentations by RQR trainees.
In addition to the conferences from our four guest speakers, participants attended 15 platform presentations and 58 posters. Here are the students who particularly distinguished themselves:
Winners best oral presentations
- Aleksandar Mahjovic, Université de Montréal (1st prize – $500)
- Laurie Pinel, INRS Institut Armand-Frappier (2nd prize – $300)
- Maïra Bianchi Rodrigues, Université Laval (3rd prize – $100)
Winners best poster presentations
- Laura Girardet, Université Laval (1st prize –$500)
- Fatma Kharrat, INRS Institut Armand-Frappier (2nd prize – $300)
- Keerthana Harwalkar, McGill University (3rd prize – $100)
As for all RQR Symposia, two RQR members were honored for their knowledge translation efforts, highlighting the links they have built with reproductive research end-users and the general public. Here are the recipients of the 2019 RQR KT Awards:
- Researcher award : Dr. Jocelyn Dubuc, Université de Montréal
- Student award : Josiane Bienvenue-Pariseault (phD student), INRS-Institut Armand Frappier.