A Department of Health and Society is the recipient of an award from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS).
Assistant Professor Élyse Caron-Beaudoin received the 2022 Prix Lumières Firestarter Award from INRS in recognition of “a promising career debut that has already inspired the student community.”
The Prix Lumières Awards are presented to graduates of INRS whose work demonstrates the importance of science in society, and promote the excellence of research and training at INRS.
Prof. Caron-Beaudoin is an Assistant Professor in environmental health at the Department of Health and Society. She holds a PhD in biology with a specialization in toxicology from INRS in Laval, Quebec.
Her research is focused on the development of transdisciplinary community-based research projects to assess the impacts of anthropogenic pressures on health by combining information from multiple levels of biological organization. From 2018 to 2020, she completed a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the Université de Montreal. During her fellowship, Dr. Caron-Beaudoin investigated the associations between density and proximity to hydraulic fracturing wells and birth outcomes in Northeastern British Columbia.
She is currently investigating gestational exposure to environmental contaminants associated with unconventional natural gas exploitation and their endocrine disrupting potential. She is a collaborator and co-investigator on several other research projects in environmental and Indigenous health, including in the Arctic.
“It was at INRS that I had the privilege of diving head first into the fascinating world of research,” said Prof. Caron-Beaudoin. “This experience really crystallized my desire to pursue on this path and gave me the confidence to be creative with my ideas and the boldness to do research differently, despite the challenges it may bring. I accept this award with great humility and gratitude and I thank the exceptional mentors at INRS that I continue to work with.”