Nominations are now open for the Scientific Distinction award, the National Bank – Innovation and Support award and the Young Reseacher award!   

The Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation’s Awards of Excellence celebrate each year inspiring individuals who contribute to scientific advances and innovation in the field of breast cancer in Quebec.   

Don’t hesitate to share with your network if you have any candidates in mind! 

Guide and submission forms

Honors an individual for the scope and impact of his or her career. The scientific quality of the research carried out must have led to major advances in the fight against breast cancer. The award is accompanied by a $25,000 bursary. 

Awarded to an individual whose work has led to the introduction of a remarkable innovation or contributed to the significant improvement of practice for the benefit of breast cancer patients. The prize is accompanied by a $25,000 bursary.  

Awarded by the Foundation to young student researchers (PhD/Post-Doc) who have distinguished themselves by the quality of their research work in breast cancer. The prize is accompanied by a complementary grant of $5,000.  

Awards of excellence Our 2024 winners

Pr. Jacques Simar

Scientific Distinction award | Jacques Simard

Jacques Simard is a full professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval, and a researcher since 1990 at Université Laval’s Centre de recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU). From 2001 to 2022, he held the Canada Research Chair in Oncogenetics. He is also currently Vice-Dean of Research and Innovation at Université Laval’s Faculty of Medicine. He is the author of over 525 scientific publications and more than 600 abstracts. His work has been cited by the scientific community more than 45,000 times.

Professor Simard has devoted his career to genetics and breast cancer, playing a leading role in the discovery of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in the mid-1990s. And for over a decade, he has co-directed a major international study aimed at discovering hundreds of breast cancer susceptibility genes and calculating breast cancer risk in order to personalize screening, a project financially supported from the outset by the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.

He has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including the Richard E. Weitzman Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award from the Endocrine Society in 1999, induction into the Royal Society of Canada’s prestigious Academy of Science in 2021 and the Académie des Grands Québécois in 2023, and, in November 2023, the Wilder Penfield Award, the highest distinction awarded by the Government of Quebec in the biomedical field.

National Bank award | Lymphedema Support Centre

Specialized in the assessment and management of cancer-related lymphedema, led by Dr. Anna Towers, the Lymphedema Support Centre of the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation of the MUHC boasts expertise that is unique in Canada and Quebec, and benefits the community every day.
It is the only Canadian center to be accredited as a “Centre of Excellence” by the international LE&RN (Lymphatic Education & Research Network).

Its interdisciplinary services and innovative research program are key to improving quality of life and front-line assessment for lymphedema patients. It also plays a key role in the training of lymphedema professionals and therapists, both nationally and internationally.

Thanks to the center, more than 1,100 breast cancer patients are seen each year.

Prizes awarded
Nina_Morena

Young Researcher Award | Nina Morena

Nina Morena is a doctoral student in Communication Studies at McGill University.

Her work focuses on the social media practices of young women with metastatic breast cancer, whose experiences are still poorly understood today. It bridges the gap between two very different fields, medicine and the social sciences, to try to improve understanding of cancer beyond the traditional biomedical perspective. This work will help healthcare professionals to better support today’s young, “connected” patients in finding the information they need about their disease.

With more than 25 abstracts accepted at national and international conferences, including five oral presentations, and four scientific articles as first author, she also won the “Short Presentation” prize at the 2023 annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Surgical Oncology, as well as first place in the “E-poster Presentation” competition at the Canadian Surgery Forum.

Ms. Morena is certainly among Quebec’s promising new generation of scientists in the field of breast cancer.

Volunteer Engagement Award | Marie-Ève Julien

Marie-Ève Julien has been a volunteer with the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation for many years, including more recently her involvement with the Foundation at education and awareness events such as the National Women’s Show and the QBCF’s Breast Health Forum.

She also played a key role in the December 2023 fundraising campaign, sharing with us her sincere and heartfelt testimonial on the realities of living with metastatic breast cancer.

This year, the FCSQ wanted to highlight her engagement and her desire to give back to the cause.

Prizes awarded