News
Coup de cœur- September 2026
Published on September 8, 2026
“Jean-René is an extraordinary person. He brings a lot of positivity and good cheer to our lab. He is one of the most considerate people we’ve ever met.He celebrates each of our achievements and organizes activities so we can get together outside the lab. For example, several times a year, he hosts wonderful music quizzes with plenty of prizes for both the winner and the other participants.
He celebrates each of our achievements and organizes activities so we can get together outside the lab. For example, several times a year, he hosts wonderful music quizzes with plenty of prizes for both the winner and the other participants. Jean-René is particularly dedicated to his work; he doesn’t hesitate to put in long hours to complete all sorts of tasks necessary for the smooth running of our lab. He’s also the grandfather of four adorable grandchildren, and he’s proud to share photos and videos of them with us as they grow up! Without him, the lab wouldn’t be the same!”
Tell us about a professional achievement that makes you proud.
The professional achievement I’m most proud of dates back to the very beginning of my career, in the mid-1990s, when I was a veterinary assistant in Trois-Rivières. One day—or rather, one night—we had to perform emergency surgery on a breeding dog who was in shock and unable to contract effectively to give birth. Not only was the surgery risky for the mother, but there was also a high probability that the puppies wouldn’t survive the procedure. As an assistant, I was responsible for administering anesthesia and for caring for the puppies after the cesarean section.
Well, not only did the mother survive, but I managed to resuscitate all four puppies, who were all in respiratory arrest the moment they were delivered from the uterus! It was quite the adrenaline rush! The dog’s owner was so happy that she offered me a puppy for free as a thank-you.
Do you have a memorable anecdote related to IRIC?
As a lab technician, I occasionally encounter urgent situations, such as a -80°C freezer that stops working, hazardous material spills on the floor, or sinks that overflow.
One quiet morning, someone burst into the lab saying they’d heard a loud noise coming from the cell culture room. When I arrived on the scene, I found that all the equipment and surfaces were covered in water and debris, the countertops were dripping… the ceiling had collapsed under the weight of dozens of liters of water from a leak in an automatic washer located on the floor above.
We had to act quickly to unplug everything and relocate whatever we could. The cleanup took almost the entire day. There was water everywhere, even in all the drawers. On the bright side, though: there was no damage to expensive equipment such as fume hoods and incubators. Only one optical density reader didn’t survive the incident; its electronics short-circuited when water flowed over it.
What is your hope for the future of cancer research?
My hope for the future of cancer research is to continue refining current treatments and making them less harmful to patients. I also hope that new treatment approaches will emerge to expand the range of strategies for combating this disease. I would also like the agencies that fund these projects to realize that every major breakthrough begins with basic research. Dr. Marc Therrien’s lab, where I work, is a concrete example of this: the lab’s recent discoveries trace back to Marc’s work on Drosophila during his postdoctoral fellowship in California several decades ago!