Our Achievements

Thanks to our founders, our thousands of partners and a growing number of volunteers, Quebec pediatric researchers have made enormous strides and given us many victories to celebrate. For example, the survival rate of children with lymphoblastic leukemia has gone from 20% to 80%; four children in five now survive this terrible disease.

• Using innovative, high-density DNA micro-chip technology, researchers have identified a fifth gene of the 15 genes suspected of being related to Type 1 diabetes.
• Establishment of the first umbilical cord blood blank in Quebec in 2003. Umbilical cord blood transfusion allows the replacement of blood cells for individuals suffering from otherwise incurable diseases, such as certain forms of leukemias.
• In the past 45 years, the median life expectancy of children suffering from Cystic Fibrosis has risen from 4 to 37 years.
• Combination therapies have effectively eliminated the transmission of HIV from mother to infant during pregnancy, reducing the transmission rate from over 30% in 1993 to 0% today.
• The discovery of new vaccines has dramatically decreased the spread of contagious diseases such as meningitis and rubella (German measles).
• Research now allows doctors to save the lives of premature babies weighing as little as 500 grams at birth.
• The success rate of pediatric liver, heart and lung transplants has increased markedly. The kidney transplant success rate now exceeds 85%!
• There has been a 50% reduction in sudden infant death syndrome.