Professor Marie-Élise Parent, award co-recipient of the Prix Acfas for inter-order collaboration

The cancer epidemiology specialist received this award alongside three colleagues from the fields of chemistry, physics, and didactics. 

Marie-Élise Parent. Crédit photo : Hombeline Dumas / Acfas

Professor Marie-Élise Parent, a researcher at Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), has just been awarded the Prix Acfas in the “Collaboration interordre – collégial et universitaire” category.  

She received this distinction at the 81st Acfas Gala, alongside her colleagues professors Martin Aubé and Johanne Roby from Cégep de Sherbrooke, and Professor Pierre Chastenay from Université du Québec à Montréal.

“This Acfas award is very special to me, because I sat on selection committees for awards presented by this association for several years. And we always evaluated nominations of the highest calibre,” recalled Professor Parent. “I was initially surprised to learn that we had been selected, but then I realized that our team truly embodied the philosophy behind the award: to highlight fruitful scientific exchanges between people from different backgrounds, and on top, from different disciplines.” 

Marie-Élise Parent, professor and cancer epidemiology specialist

An expert in cancer epidemiology, Professor Parent holds the Canada Research Chair in Environmental Epidemiology of Cancer. In this capacity, she analyzes lifestyle habits, environmental and occupational exposures, and genetic factors linked to the development of this disease. 

Through their close collaboration, the four researchers were able to conduct an in-depth study on light pollution and its effects on human health. The team examined how artificial light at night may be associated with cancer risk by combining data from satellite photos with data from a large-scale study conducted on the Québec population. This joint research project also includes an innovative educational dimension, by allowing college students to participate in a real-life research setting. 

“I hope this recognition will inspire other researchers to engage further in inter-order collaborations. We tend not to involve scientists in our colleges as collaborators as much as we could. Yet, this is extremely beneficial for science. We need to encourage this reflex and broaden our horizons,” said the expert based at the INRS Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie Research Centre.  

“The Prix Acfas inter-order collaboration award illustrates how essential collaboration across orders  is, both to advance scientific research and to provide the next generation of scientists with a solid education to tackle important scientific issues. Congratulations to Professor Marie-Élise Parent and her colleagues for their remarkable work and for pooling their expertise,” said Isabelle Delisle, Scientific Director of INRS.