From left to right: Jean-François Côté (President and Scientific Director of the IRCM), Marie-Bénédicte Pretty (Executive Director of the Foundation), Ginette Paquin (President of the Annual Gala Ambassadors Committee), André Couillard (President of the Foundation) and Luc Rodier (Honorary President of the event, President and CEO of Guillevin International).
Health research was the big winner at the IRCM Foundation Annual Gala. Thanks to the generosity of guests from the business and scientific communities, gathered for the occasion at the Grand Quai du Port de Montréal, the event raised $815,000, an all-time record.
The previous year's event had already surpassed all expectations, raising $700,000, again in support of health research conducted in the laboratories of the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM).
Held for a third year under the honorary presidency of Luc Rodier, President and CEO of Guillevin International, the gala was also an opportunity to launch IRCM's ambitious RNA therapeutics initiative, a promising field for the development of innovative therapies for a constellation of diseases, from cancer to immune disorders.
"The generosity of our donors never ceases to amaze us," enthused André Couillard, Chairman of the IRCM Foundation, adding, "The results show that our partners understand the importance of unequivocally supporting basic and clinical research, which is at the origin of all medicines; This gives us hope for the future. With the help of such committed individuals and companies, anything becomes possible.
This event is an important support for the health research carried out at the IRCM, in connection with some of the most common and serious diseases, such as cancer, metabolic diseases and diabetes, among others.
"This third gala under my presidency confirms the strength of our business community, which rallies behind the noble mission of seeking to cure," said Luc Rodier.
During the evening, the IRCM Medal of Merit, awarded by the Institute to personalities who show outstanding support to the development of biomedical sciences, was posthumously awarded to Dr. Sidney Altman, recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and father of RNA therapy, whose links with the IRCM remain an inspiration, embodied in the new RNA hub announced on the sidelines of the gala.
