May 29, 2019

Audacious 2019

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Great collaborations benefiting cancer research

Since 2014, IRIC has been hosting Audacious, its annual flagship event to raise funds to support promising discoveries. Led by devoted Co-chairs and a Financing Committee, Audacious brings together close to 500 guests every year from the business sector, as well as partners and Investigators.

The event also provides an opportunity to underline its scientific progress and to honour the people who, through their commitment, make a difference in the fight against cancer. Thus, year after year, IRIC highlights the exceptional work of its Investigators and the tremendous generosity of its donors.

So far, Audacious has raised more than $6M to support cancer research efforts. These sums have notably enabled the Institute to recruit Matthew Smith, Principal Investigator of the Cancer Signalling and Structural Biology Research Unit, to award approximately 50 scholarships to the next generation of Investigators, to fund the innovative chemolibrary project and to acquire a great deal of equipment, including a plate reader and a mass spectrometer.

Close to 400 guests were on hand at the Gare Windsor for the 6th edition of the Audacious fundraising event, hosted by Ève Laurier, General Manager, Edelman Montréal. As a result of their precious contribution, as well as that of the event’s partners and sponsors, a total of $1M was raised to support oncology research efforts carried out at the Institute.

A tribute to great collaborations

For its 6th edition, Audacious celebrated the strength of collaborations, embodied by the work of Susan McPeak and Anne Marinier, who personify the mobilizing power of a concerted effort in the fight against cancer.

Susan McPeak, co-founder of the McPeak-Sirois Group for Clinical Research in Breast Cancer

In 2015, after waging a long battle against metastatic breast cancer, Susan McPeak, whose remission was the result of a research protocol, co-founded the McPeak-Sirois Group for Clinical Research in Breast Cancer, along with her husband, Charles Sirois. The charity organization is a voluntary union of 6 hospitals research centre supported by a private contribution from the McPeak-Sirois family. The purpose of the union is to increase the number of clinical research protocols available in Quebec and to promote research that cures by enabling more patients to have access to these leading-edge treatments.

Anne Marinier, Principal Investigator at IRIC

In 2007, Anne Marinier knocked on IRIC’s door with the idea of creating a medicinal chemistry core facility that is now considered to be the country’s largest of its kind in a university setting. In 2016, in collaboration with Dr. Guy Sauvageau’s team, she discovered and developed the UM171 molecule, which possesses the unique property of inducing the proliferation of the stem cells present in cord blood. Following clinical trials, this molecule discovered at IRIC has resulted in leading approximately twenty leukemia patients with a poor vital prognosis towards the road to recovery.

Take a look at photos taken at the event

Acknowledgements

An event as important as Audacious and a fundraising campaign that produced such remarkable results would not be possible without the contribution of our many partners and sponsors. The IRIC community would like to thank them for their support, as well as the support of the event’s Co-chairs, the members of the Financing Committee and all of our many volunteers.

Co-chairs of the 2019 edition

Madeleine Féquière, Corporate Credit Chief, Domtar

Ève Laurier, General Manager, Edelman Montréal

Louise Roy, Chancellor Emerita, Université de Montréal and Chair of the Board, CIRANO

Members of the Financing Committee of the 2019 edition

Nadine Beauger, Ph.D., MBA, Chief Executive Officer, IRICoR

Jacques Bernier, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Teralys Capital

Michel Bouvier, Ph.D., FCAHS, FRSC, Chief Executive Officer, Principal Investigator, IRIC

Steven J. Klein, Ph.D., MBA, Vice-President, Business Development, IRICoR

Robert Tessier, Chairman of the Board, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

Gold Partners

Silver Partners

Bronze Partners

Service Partners

Previous editions