Michel G. BergeronM.D., FRCPC

A medical graduate from Laval University in 1968, then trained in internal medicine at McGill University and in microbiology / infectious diseases at Tufts University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, Dr. Michel G. Bergeron is a professor in the Department of microbiology-infectiology and immunology of the Faculty of Medicine.

In 1974, he founded the Infectious Disease Research Centre (CRI) at Laval University, of which he was the director until recently. He played a major role in the introduction of infectious diseases research in Canada. Being a visionary, innovator and entrepreneur, he assembled a transdisciplinary team of more than 200 researchers at the CRI, which makes it a North American centre of excellence for basic and applied research on HIV / AIDS, viral and bacterial respiratory infections, microbial resistance, tropical diseases (leishmaniasis and malaria), hospital infections, rapid molecular diagnosis (at the point-of-care), the prevention of sexually transmitted infections and vaccinology, all of which is supported by an arsenal of genomics , bioinformatics, and proteomics tools.

As an internationally renowned researcher and the author of over 400 publications, 600 scientific presentations, and 30 patents, Dr. Bergeron has trained more than 80 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. He and his team revolutionized the diagnosis of infections by creating fast, innovative, DNA-based assays that enable rapid and specific identification of microbes responsible for severe infections, as well as their resistance genes, in less than one hour instead of the 2-3 days required by conventional culture methods. Several tests designed at the CRI were transferred and developed by Infectio Diagnostic (IDI) Inc., a company he founded in 1995, and were the first real-time PCR assays cleared by FDA. Since 2006, Becton Dickinson, a company that bought IDI and has established itself in the Metropolitan Quebec Technology Park where it employs more than 300 people in its production and R&D centres, sells these tests in 50 countries. These have generated over $1 billion investment in the region. These tests, which promote the appropriate use of antibiotics, save lives and limit the spread of infections as well as their resistance to antibiotics.

Lately, Dr. Bergeron has been bringing the lab closer to patients with his new generation of FDA, Health Canada and EU cleared, fast, easy-to-use, molecular diagnostic instruments and tests at point-of-care he calls the “Nespresso of Diagnostics”. GenePOC, a company he founded that employs more than 115 people, now sells these devices. In 2019, Meridian Bioscience acquired GenePOC Inc. and established itself in Québec City. They are now co-developing with Dr. Bergeron’s team a SARS-CoV-2 assay. Due to his exceptional professional achievements, Dr. Bergeron, Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America (1989), received, among others, in 2005 the “Wilder-Penfield” Quebec Award. He was invested as an Officer of the National Order of Quebec in 2008, in 2009, he was honoured with the Medal of Service of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), and then as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2011. He received the Ernest C. Manning Innovation Principal Award (the highest Canadian distinction in innovation in all fields), in 2016, prior to being inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2017. The scientific and socio-economic impact of his discoveries is considerable.