On August 19, Dr. Michel G. Bergeron, director of the Centre de recherche en infectiologie (CRI) of Laval University, will receive the 2009 Canadian Medical Association’s (CMA) Medal of Service. This medal is being presented in recognition of Dr. Bergeron’s outstanding contribution to the medical profession, medical and research organizations, the Canadian health care system, and the well-being of patients around the world.

The CMA Medal of Service is awarded to an individual who has made an exceptional and outstanding contribution to the advancement of health care in Canada. Dr. Bergeron is an internationally renowned clinical researcher and specialist in infectious diseases.

“Thanks to Dr. Bergeron’s remarkable work, thousands of patients have benefited from an improved quality of life. He has contributed concretely to the prevention and diagnosis of infectious diseases. Dr. Bergeron’s accomplishments deserve our admiration,” says CMA President Dr. Robert Ouellet.

“I wasn’t expecting such an honour. I’m very proud, and I must thank all those who have always believed in me and supported me in my personal life, medical practice and research,” says Dr. Bergeron.

After obtaining his medical degree at Laval University in 1968, Michel Bergeron completed his residency in internal medicine at McGill and went on to a research fellowship in infectious diseases at the New England Medical Centre Hospital, Tufts University in Boston. He then returned to his hometown of Quebec City. In 1974, he was appointed assistant professor of microbiology at Laval. That same year, he founded the university’s laboratory in infectious diseases research, later named Centre de recherche en infectiologie (CRI), which today ranks as the largest infectious disease research centre in Canada. Dr. Bergeron teaches at Laval University and internationally as a visiting professor.

An outstanding career path

Early in his career, Dr. Bergeron focused his research on the treatment of infectious diseases. A direct product of his work is the first-line treatment of severe pyelonephritis with intravenous aminosids, which reduced treatment time from 14 to 3 days.

Over the years, Dr. Bergeron has turned his attention to the development of new preventative approaches to infectious diseases. His main area of interest is increasing the rapidity of microbiological diagnosis using DNA analysis of microbial genes.

With his team at the CRI, Dr. Bergeron developed the first rapid, real-time tests to detect certain disease-causing microbes in less than one hour, instead of the 48 hours usually required.

Keenly interested in the transfer of technology, Dr. Bergeron created Infectio Diagnostic Inc. in 1995, to develop and market rapid diagnostic tests. Today the company, which was acquired by Becton Dickinson & Co. in 2006, employs several hundred people in Quebec City and promises continued growth and technological advances.

“My greatest passion and my greatest dream are to discover new technologies and simple and rapid new tests that can be administered at point of care, such as doctors’ offices, emergency and intensive care departments, pharmacies and even, one day, in developing countries. This would revolutionize medical practice by making it possible for medical staff to diagnose infectious diseases, in real time, and thus save countless lives,” says Dr. Bergeron.

One of Dr. Bergeron’s priorities is the fight against HIV-AIDS. A few years ago, he and his colleagues began work on developing an “Invisible Condom®” or vaginal gel formulation that women could use to protect themselves against AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and cervical cancer. Phase I and II trials have been completed and the product, which is entering the Phase III clinical trial, is of enormous importance to women around the world.

Involvement

Dr. Bergeron’s busy laboratory pursuits have not kept him from being actively involved in Canada’s research community, including the:

• Scientific Advisory Board of the Canadian Space Agency and the Global Health Initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (committee member)

• Scientific Advisory Board of the Council of Canadian Academies (member)
• Scientific Advisory Board of Infectiopole Sud in France (chair)
• Canadian Association for HIV Research and the Canadian Foundation of Infectious Diseases (co-founder)
• Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation and the Canadian Association of Medical Microbiologists (former chair)
• National Advisory Committee on SARS and the Standing Committee on Sciences and Research of the Medical Research Council of Canada (former member).

Honours

Dr. Bergeron’s scientific discoveries and involvement have earned him numerous honours, including the:

• Quebec Wilder-Penfield Award

• Order of Quebec
• “Medecins de merite de l’Actualite Medicale, 20th anniversary” Henry Friesen Award co-sponsored by CSCI and RCPSC
• Laval University award “Grands Diplômes”
• CIHR Synapse award for the CRI’s weekly “Researcher for a day” program (introducing high school students to sciences)
• Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada
• Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences

Dr. Bergeron is the 39th recipient of the CMA Medal of Service. The medal will be presented at a special ceremony, which will take place at TCU Place in Saskatoon during the 142nd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Medical Association.

Source:
Sarah Sanchez

Universite Laval

A study by a bi-national team of global health researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, examining HIV infection among male clients of female sex workers in Tijuana, has found that over half of male clients had recently had unprotected sex. They also reported a high prevalence of drug use.

“Targeted intervention among male clients is necessary to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections - intervention that doesn’t solely place the onus on female sex workers,” said lead author Thomas L. Patterson, of UC San Diego’s Department of Psychiatry and the Veterans Administration Health Care System, San Diego.

Tijuana, located in Baja California, directly across the border with San Diego, has a thriving sex industry and is a popular destination for U.S. and foreign sex tourists. While the city’s health service does license female sex workers, on condition that they are regularly tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STIs), only about half of them are indeed licensed. In addition, Baja California has the second highest cumulative AIDS incidence of any Mexican state and, in 2006, the HIV prevalence among female sex workers in Tijuana was six percent. It has been estimated that as many as one in 112 persons aged 15-49 living in Tijuana is HIV-infected.

“Male clients of female sex workers in the San Diego-Tijuana border region act as a bridge that can potentially transmit HIV and other STIs to sex partners, including their wives,” said co-author Manual Gallardo, M.D, Patronato Pro-COMUSIDA in Tijuana. “However, given that only 59% of clients reported regularly using condoms with a female sex worker, there appears to be some level of complacency that urgently needs to be addressed.”

The study, published in the current on-line issue of the journal AIDS, looked at 400 clients - about half residents of San Diego and the remainder from Tijuana. Their average age was 36.6 years, with the majority Mexican or Hispanic (about 80%) and single, never married or divorced (57.5%). During the past year, clients had sex with an female sex worker an average of more than 25 times and over half of them reported having unprotected sex during the past four months.

While only half of clients reported having been tested for HIV, 14.2% tested positive for at least one STI (Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis or HIV). The prevalence of HIV infection among clients was similar to that of female sex workers in Tijuana. The risk of contracting HIV was highest for those who lived in Mexico, used methamphetamines or had tested positive for syphilis.

“Of those we interviewed, nearly nine out of 10 reported having used illicit drugs during their lifetime,” said Patterson. Many were binge drinkers, and one-third said they were frequently high on drugs when with a female sex worker. This profile of substance abuse - especially methamphetamine use - likely contributes to high-risk sexual behavior.”

Earlier reports by UCSD researchers suggested that interactions with clients can be a critical barrier to the adaptation of safe sex practices among female sex workers, who reported that some clients are willing to pay double for unprotected sex.

“Our new data suggests an urgent need to develop behavioral interventions to improve the clients’ knowledge of the risk of HIV,” said co-author Steffanie Strathdee, PhD, associate dean for Global Health Sciences at UC San Diego. “Intensified efforts to ‘test and treat’ should reach out to this high-risk group in ways that are culturally sensitive, recognizing that some men fail to realize that sexual health is a shared responsibility.”

Additional contributors to the study include Remedios Lozada, Patronato Pro-COMUSIDA, Tijuana; Shirley J. Semple, Prisci Orozovich and Daniela Abramovitz, UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry; and Shira Goldenberg of the joint Doctoral Program in Global Health, San Diego State University and UC San Diego.

This research was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, through the UCSD Center for AIDS Research, and by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Source:
Debra Kain

University of California - San Diego