This text is part of the special Acfas awards
He discovered how many pathologies related to the digestive system work, including several cardiovascular problems. He has forged close relationships between experts in the Francophonie and transferred his passion to the next generation. Recipient of the 2021 Acfas Adrien-Pouliot prize for cooperation with France, Émile Levy continues to devote his life to the service of medicine.
With a warm smile, Émile Levy asks for news and apologizes for his lack of availability over the past few days – he was caught in a whirlwind of events in France. The researcher, reached by videoconference, presents a disconcerting humility and accessibility given his impressive resume and busy schedule.
Émile Levy is a full professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of Montreal and Scientific Director of the Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Unit at CHU Sainte-Justine. Since 2016, he has held the JA DeSève Research Chair in Nutrition. In total, he has nearly ten professional titles. Likewise, the Acfas prize is the last of the long list of excellence prizes awarded to the researcher. But it is above all for his ability to create partnerships that he believes he has won this new distinction.
“In the past, a researcher could stay on a subject or on a disease throughout his career; today, we no longer have the time and the right to do that, he believes. If we seek cooperation, we can activate and accelerate research and, already, after a few years, we have results for patients. “
Facilitate knowledge transfer
Émile Levy notably co-created a network which includes nearly twenty French-speaking mother-child hospitals. He founded the international network EPODE (Together, let’s prevent childhood obesity), which has propelled the adoption of healthy eating in several cities around the world, for example through partnerships with supermarkets to reduce the price of fruit. and vegetables. These cities had significantly reduced their obesity rate, says Dr.r Levy. “This is an example where a person alone in his corner could not have made progress of this scale,” observes the instigator of the network.
Émile Levy has also worked in the organization of numerous conferences and symposia to facilitate the transfer of knowledge between experts from Quebec and Europe. According to the expert, pooling efforts also makes it possible to make rapid breakthroughs in medicine and to compensate for a reduced investment in research in the country.
“We know that there are children who are eight or nine years old and who look like they are three; they have stunted growth and neurological issues, and it was not clear why. With French colleagues, we understood that there was a blockage in the intestines and we were able to identify the disease, which is now called chylomicron retention disease, ”he says. Understanding this pathology now makes it possible to diagnose and treat patients early by counteracting the effects of lipid malabsorption on child development.
Demystifying the role of lipids
“Today, we know that the intestine is the host of several functions: digestion, absorption. The toughest immune system is in the gut, observes the specialist. But 30 years ago, the scientific community did not understand how the gastrointestinal tract could cause cardiovascular disease ”, he is surprised, adding that it was then difficult to publish scientific articles going in that Sens.
He explains that the nutrients must pass through the blood circulation to be delivered to each of the organs in order to give them energy to work. Likewise, lipids carry essential vitamins for the brain. Absorption problems can thus result in several cardiovascular or metabolic diseases. Throughout his career, the researcher has shed light on the role of malabsorption, as well as the genes and mechanisms associated with it. It has also demonstrated the therapeutic role of various nutrients in protecting against chronic disease. The expert has written nearly 500 scientific articles and book chapters in prestigious journals. A good popularizer, he gave 177 lectures and trained more than 160 graduate students and interns.
“The things I am most proud of are community work and succession,” concludes Émile Levy, specifying that some of his former students are now at the head of research departments or pharmaceutical companies. “It is this succession who will, in turn, try to learn more about new pathologies and contribute to the well-being of society. “