This text is part of the special section Relève en recherche
Over the decades, more than 70 student researchers have settled in the laboratory of Trang Hoang, professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal (UdeM) and researcher at the Research Institute. in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC), in order to benefit from its vast experience. Mme Hoang has just won the 2021 Scientific Mentor Award from the Quebec Clinical Research Club.
“I am always available for young people,” says Trang Hoang. My goal is to support them so that they can achieve the best of themselves. Often, they have talents that they do not know. It is by giving them experiences that they discover new possibilities and gain confidence. “
She gives them a lot of time to discuss, especially to identify issues to focus on. “Then when we have results, we have to keep thinking about what they mean. We always want to go further. This is how we discover new things and have fun! “
If Trang Hoang gives so much of her time to young people, she mentions that she wishes to give back after having received a lot from Quebec, where she was able to develop fully, as a scientist and as a human, after having lived in Switzerland, in England, in Ontario and the United States.
Early in his career, in the mid-1980s, Trang Hoang was recruited by the Dr Michel Chrétien at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM). “I was very lucky: he placed a lot of importance on equity and inclusion,” she says. I was the first woman recruited as a laboratory director at the IRCM. “
At that time, she learned a lot from the researchers around her. From Dr Christian of course, but also, of his office neighbor, the Dr Jacques Genest. “It was not organized mentoring, but learning in osmosis,” says the researcher. There were many informal discussions and the Dr Chrétien organized retreats to promote exchanges between researchers and, thus, to bring out ideas. “
Today, in her laboratory at IRIC, where she works to target the vulnerability of preleukemic stem cells to develop a new therapeutic approach against leukemia, she tries to highlight mentorship.
“I try to quickly show young researchers the importance of being able to benefit from the experience of the most experienced. Research is teamwork, no one is alone in their corner trying to find solutions. Quickly, the more experienced must learn to support the young, ”she says.
Science in a pandemic
It is moreover from this desire to work as a team and unite multidisciplinary forces to better advance research in immunology and oncology that in 2003 Trang Hoang created IRIC with several colleagues.
“To work on a question, seeking colleagues who bring knowledge to which we have not been exposed is very enriching”, indicates the one who was also able to help train the new generation of researchers by leading the programs from 1997 to 2013. graduate studies in molecular biology at UdeM, the first in Quebec to be created from this multidisciplinary perspective.
However, the pandemic slowed down the activities of his laboratory at IRIC. For example, she explains that it was difficult to stock up on equipment, whether it was pipettes or antibodies. Then, several large charities that fund cancer research had stopped fundraising because their cause was no longer a priority for people in the pandemic context.
“It has been more difficult to obtain research funds and to hire students, but fortunately, it is starting again,” says Trang Hoang, who has been appointed Commander of the Order of Montreal and Officer of the National Order of Quebec. in 2019.
The one who, as a child, had fun with test tubes to make chemical reactions rather than with toys notices that the pandemic has opened our eyes to the importance of science.
“It is research that has enabled us to find vaccines so quickly and if we had not had this ability, we would still be at home to avoid human contact. “