5 June 2014

Dr. Jean-Charles Pasquier, researcher at the Centre de recherche du CHUS (CR-CHUS – Research Centre) and professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Université de Sherbrooke, has been awarded a grant of $112 000 from Grand Challenges Canada for a clinical research project in Haiti.

The goal of this Sherbrooke clinician-scientist’s work is to adapt and validate the use of the pessary, a silicone ring, to the prevention of spontaneous prematurity. Placed around the cervix in the vaginal fundus, the pessary alters the angle of the cervix in relation to the uterus, and may reduce the risks of premature births.

“There are no neonatology units in developing countries. We must thus focus, above all, on prevention. The use of a pessary may prove to be a simple, low-cost, and suitable innovation for Haiti” and elsewhere, noted Dr. Jean-Charles Pasquier, who is also an obstetrician/gynecologist at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke.

The grant was presented at the “Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach” event, a world summit on maternal, newborn, and child health held in Toronto from May 28 to 30, 2014. Grand Challenges Canada allocated a total of $12 million to 65 projects on this occasion.

Sources: CR-CHUS and Grand Challenges Canada