Conference & Meetings World Supplements Canada Supplement | Page 13

Montréal
centre of its kind in the world dedicated to
the principles of Open Science, an initiative
to make all data and research available on
a global level
• Montréal was first in mapping the Primary
Somatosensory Cortex
• First city to develop a comprehensive
repository of brain imaging, cellular, clinical,
demographic, genetic and clinical data
and samples from patients with neurological
disorders
• First city to offer a Neuroscience Nursing
programme
• First to introduce and develop
Electroencephalography (EEG)
• Major neuroimaging technologies
including CAT, PET and MRI were first used in
Canada at the Neuro.
A champion of pharmaceutical R&D
A subsidiary of the world’s largest
biopharmaceutical company, Pfizer
Canada employs 2,300 individuals across
Canada and, since 2000, Pfizer Canada
has invested CAD$1bn in R&D.
“Even though Pfizer Canada focuses
on R&D, it has never maintained its own
research centres. We have always preferred
conducting studies in partnership
with specialised public and private sector
organisations, an approach that has lately
become the industry standard. I believe
that this is an effective model that ensures
the relevance and durability of Greater
Montréal’s ecosystem,” said Ghislain
Boudreau, the company's Vice-President of
Public Affairs and Stakeholder Relations.
Montreal has clearly leveraged the
thinking and mentality of the start-up sector
to neuroscience research to advance
research and accelerate breakthroughs.
Coming conferences
In the neuroscience field alone, there is an
impressive array of big conference business
lined up for the city, including:
• The Cognitive Science Society’s 41st
Annual Meeting, 2019, 1,200 delegates
• The International Society for
Neurochemistry’s 27th ISN Congress 2019,
1,200 delegates
• The North American Neuroendrocrine
Tumour Society’s 2020 NANETS Annual
Multidisplinary NET, 300 delegates
• The Organisation for Human Brain
Mapping’s 2020 Annual Conference, 2,500
delegates
• The Canadian Neurological Sciences
Federation’s 2022 Annual Congress, 500
delegates
• The Canadian Association for
Neuroscience’s 2023 Annual Meeting, 700
delegates
Greater Montréal’s LSHT
industry represents:
Montréal has accumulated a
critical mass of Life Science and
Health Technology (LSHT) leaders
and students, as well as:
World-class companies
operating in four subsectors:
pharmaceuticals, health
technologies, biotechnology and
contract manufacturing/research
45,000 jobs in 600 facilities
6th among North America’s
largest metropolitan areas in LSHT
job concentration in 2011
27,000 students enrolled in
LSHT-related university programmes
in 2010 (Fall semester) and there
were 6,300 graduates that year
Research and development
expertise (R&D):
Above:
The Montr é al McConnell Brain
Imaging Centre
Over 12,000 researchers and
specialists working in approximately
300 public research organisations
in 2011
Internationally recognised
areas of excellence: aging,
neuroscience and mental health,
cancer, cardiovascular and
metabolic disease, genetics,
genomics, proteomics, etc.
Above:
Ghislain Boudreau, Pfizer Canada
Vice-President of Public Affairs and
Stakeholder Relations
CAD$1.8bn in awards and
grants from the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research (CIHR) and
Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada
(NSERC) between 2006 and 2011 –
the highest in Canada.
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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