Community Relations

At the Canada-Wide Science Fair, Wei Zhang and Yang Li, students at the Sir Winston Churchill High School in Calgary, won the Merck Frosst Award for their project on the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease.

Elizabeth Cyr Marcotte and Éveline Arpin from École secondaire Fernand-Lefebvre, in Montérégie, won a gold medal and a $1,500 bursary for their project on smokers entitled Quand la santé part en fumée!

Stéphanie Brisson from École La Courvilloise in Quebec City, won a silver medal accompanied by a $700 bursary for her project related to the origin of the universe.

Group picture of Merck Frosst employees who took part in the jury of the Super Expo-sciences Bell.

Dr. Daniel Bouthillier, Executive Director, Global Site Services at Merck Frosst, judging the project of two participants to the Super Expo-sciences Bell 2008.

Dr. Sylvain Foucart, Director, Scientific Affairs, listening to explanations from a participant to the Super Expo-sciences Bell 2008.

The 40 winners of the Super Expo-sciences Bell, 2008, Quebec Final,who will make up the delegation representing Quebec during the pan-Canadian final, accompanied by Ms.Geneviève Tanguay, Deputy Minister from the Province of Quebec Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Exportation, and Mr.Vincent Lamoureux, Senior Manager, Communications, Merck Frosst.

The delegation to the pan-Canadian final is sponsored by Merck Frosst, the Province of Quebec Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Exportation and by the Réseau CDLS-CLS

The Merck Frosst Award, accompanied by a $1,000 bursary, is awarded for the best experiment or design project with a focus on the preservation and improvement of human health.

Anne-Marie Pilote and Sophie Tremblay, from the Cégep de Jonquière, won the Merck Frosst Award for their project entitled: La protéomique: second souffle! They are accompanied by Mr. Vincent Lamoureux, Senior Manager, Communications at Merck Frosst.

Merck Frosst Awards granted at the regional finals of the Bell Science Fair.

Project summary

"In my experiment, I tried to find the best disinfectant in its commercial form, but I did not change the concentrations. I went through my school and targeted the places most likely to contain bacteria. Using blood agar, I made a culture of these bacteria and was thus able to test my products."

Mr. Jacques Gagnon, Chief Auditor at Expo-sciences and teacher at Commission scolaire du Lac-Saint-Jean, with Jean-Philippe Desbiens, winner of the Merck Frosst Prize.

Project Summary

Since several problems are related to bacterial biofilms, it would be innovative to develop ways of fighting them. This is why I have attempted to prevent their formation with cranberry components.

Mr. Buron, Director of Services at the housekeeping services company For-Net, with Camille Salvas, winner of the Merck Frosst Prize.

Project Summary

"My project is on the two cerebral hemispheres and their characteristics. I have drawn up a questionnaire to determine the dominant hemisphere within a group of students. Afterwards, I focused on 12 students to find out if it is possible to improve one side of the brain."

Claudine Ferland,  winner of the Merck Frosst Award in the Eastern Townships, receiving the award from Julie-Andrée Turgeon, president of the Conseil du loisir scientifique de l'Estrie.

Project Summary

"According to some scientists, the presence of stimuli in an environment plays an essential role in the development of the brain and intelligence during childhood. We have tried to demonstrate this in an experiment that involves stimulated against non-stimulated rats."

Jean-Pierre Bourassa, president of the Conseil du Loisir scientifique Mauricie, Centre-du-Québec, accompanied by Laurie Lebel-Damphousse and Laurence Dumont-Delorme, winners of the Merck Frosst Prize.

Project Summary

"An experiment that aims to prove the effectiveness and importance of washing your hands to prevent infections. I also compare the effectiveness of two soaps (antiseptic soap vs. liquid soap). The technique used for the experiment is based on microbiology."

Marthe Poirier, national coordinator of the science fair, accompanied by Phébé Gagnon-Courville, winner of the Merck Frosst Award.

Project Summary

"We tested the effectiveness of various soaps and antibacterial agents in eliminating bacteria present on the hands. To do this, we produced a culture of bacteria on nutrient geloses and identified them using the Gram staining method."

Lorraine Normand-Charbonneau, president of the Association des directions scolaires de l'Ouest du Québec, accompanied by Jennifer Simard and Valérie Levert-Gagnon, winners of the Merck Frosst Award.

Project Summary

"Hypertension affects close to five million people in Canada. My project is an experiment to determine whether garlic has an antihypertensive effect. There is also a section explaining hypertension, its causes, and how to prevent it."

Joël Leblanc, science teacher at Boîte à science, accompanied by Réda Bensaidane, winner of the Merck Frosst Award.