Jean-Claude Forest

Dr. Jean-Claude Forest is a clinician-researcher and member of the Reproduction, Mother and Youth Health axis at the CHU de Québec-Université Laval Research Center. He is a full professor of medical biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine of Université Laval and a member of the Laboratory Medicine Department at the CHU de Québec. He served as the director of the Research Center of the Université Laval University Hospital Center (CHUQ) from 2004 to 2011 and as the Deputy General Director for Medical and Academic Affairs at the CHU de Québec from 2010 to 2017.

His primary research interests focus on the development of biological markers for screening and diagnosing fetal abnormalities and pregnancy-related diseases, such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. He is the author or co-author of over 600 articles, book chapters, scientific communications, and invited lectures. His work has contributed, among other things, to the establishment of prenatal screening programs for trisomy 21.

Furthermore, he chairs the coordinating committee of the Quebec program in which he actively participated in its deployment. From 1994 to 2006, he was successively a member, vice-president, and president of the Scientific Division of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC). From 2006 to 2009, he chaired, within the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, the committee on metrological traceability in laboratory medicine, and from 2005 to 2010, he served as a delegate to the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Biological Standardization. Dr. Forest is a member of numerous medical and scientific associations.

He has received numerous awards and distinctions, both nationally and internationally. For example, in 2017, he was the recipient of one of the highest honors from the Canadian Medical Association, the Service Medal, and the “IFCC-Abbott Visiting Lecturer Award” from the IFCC.