Francine Décary receives Armand-Frappier Award
QUÉBEC CITY, November 8/CNW Telbec/ - Claude Béchard, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Exports, presented the Armand-Frappier Award to Dr. Francine Décary at the Prix du Québec awards ceremony held this afternoon at the Québec National Assembly. The award represents the highest distinction from the Québec Government for the creation or development of research facilities or the administration and promotion of research.
Development of transfusion services
A trained hematologist and research scientist, Dr. Francine Décary has headed Québec transfusion service agency Héma-Québec since 1998. In seven years, Dr. Décary has succeeded in making Héma-Québec one of the world’s most reliable and safest blood banks.
Dr. Décary studied hematology at Université de Montréal. In the mid-70s, after working as a researcher at the New York Blood Center, she went on to study at University of Amsterdam. She obtained a doctoral degree in immunohematology specializing in blood banks and transfusion medicine.
Héma-Québec’s founder then acquired extensive experience as medical director and administrator at the Canadian Red Cross. For twenty years, she pursued her research in transfusion medicine while managing transfusion services for the entire Eastern Canada region. In 1996, she completed her executive MBA at Université de Sherbrooke.
As soon as she took on her duties at Héma-Québec, Francine Décary rallied the Red Cross employees and volunteers around Héma-Québec’s mission. In keeping with her ongoing focus on risk management, she also instilled a unique approach to transfusion services by combining entrepreneurial and scientific cultures. Today, Héma-Québec’s work method attracts specialists from around the world who have been inspired by the model developed by Dr. Décary.
Dr. Décary oversees a team of some forty researchers, located in Québec City, who work in the three following fields: cell engineering, operational research and bioproduction. In the last few years, the agency has also become a supplier of human tissue intended for transplant and created the first public cord blood bank in Québec. In 2005, Héma-Québec set up a research chair in transfusion medicine in partnership with Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal. In addition to her responsibilities as an administrator, Francine Décary also promotes leading-edge transfusion medicine research activities.
Dr. Décary is the first president of the prestigious International Society of Blood Transfusion to hail from Québec. Her administrative skills have been the subject of frequent praise. In 2003, she received the Réseau Femmes d'affaires du Québec award and Women of Distinction Award from the Women’s Y Fondation of Montréal in 2004. She also won the CTSM Ortho Award for her contribution to the Canadian blood system and was awarded the Medal for the International Merit of Blood.
Armand-Frappier Award
Armand Frappier (1904-1991) was a founder of major research facilities in Québec. The award that bears his name highlights the career of scientists who have actively contributed to the creation or development of research facilities or who have dedicated themselves to the administration and promotion of research.
– 30 –
Source: http://communiques.gouv.qc.ca/gouvqc/communiques/GPQF/
Novembre2005/08/c2076.html