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| > Sophie Roy, 1977 |
| > Marc Ouellet, 1980 |
| > Sabrina R. Perri, 1991-1996 |
| > David Laflamme, 1996-2000 |
| > Frédérick Moreau, 1997-2000 |
| > Francis Boulva, 1997-2001 |
> Alexis Lussier-Desbiens,
1997-2001 |
| > Romina Perri, 1998-2001 |
> Alexandra Sorocéanu,
1998-2001 |
> Marie-Claude Bilodeau and
Sébastien B.Bergeron,
1999-2000 |
| > Cédric Houdayer, 1999-2000 |
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Sabrina R. Perri, 1991-96 Science Fair |
|
The following information is taken from Portraits
de lauréats created by the Conseil du loisir scientifique
in partnership with the ministère de la Recherche, de la Science
et de la Technologie du Québec.
Sabrina Perri knows all about success. She was
named person of the week for the week of April 30, 1995, by the newspaper
La Presse. Sabrina, who is only 21, has already won a number
of prizes and received many honours, for which she worked very hard.
"As early as high school, I saw the positive side of things and was
able to motivate myself. I even participated in two regional Science Fairs
before managing to qualify for the Super Science Fair. I just remained
persistent."
A series of honours
In 1991, Sabrina, who was in Secondary I at Villa-Maria, participated
in her first Science Fair with an experiment. "My girlfriend
and I tried to find which fruit and vegetable contained the most water.
It turned out to be melon and cucumber." The following year,
she entered a solo project. She manufactured alcohol from organic
waste.
After the regional Science Fair, she submitted her project to the
Thomas Edison and Max McGraw Foundation in Chicago. Each year, this foundation
considers projects submitted by participants from different countries
and selects the ten most innovative. Sabrina was selected in the junior
category. It was the first time that a finalist had been chosen from Canada.
"I received my prize, a cheque for $1000, at a gala organized by
the American Order of Engineers, which comprises more than a thousand
professionals."
With her third project, comparing the different ways that men and
women think, Sabrina was chosen to represent Montreal at the Bell
Super Science Fair in Saint-Jérôme.
In 1994, she presented the Biolumiscan, a quick method for detecting water
contamination and the effectiveness of antibiotics in humans. "I
wanted to develop my own method without copying others. At first, I hardly
understood anything. I picked a book, the easiest one I could find, and
I started reading. Then, I found another book that was a little more complicated
and I proceeded that way until I really understood my topic. I worked
evenings and weekends, and over the summer holidays. If it's important
enough, you find the time."
With this innovative project, Sabrina went from one success to another.
She won first prize ($1000) at the Quebec finals of the Bell Super
Science Fair, the Irma-LeVasseur Prize for the best female project
(a $1000 scholarship) and a chance to participate in the Canada-wide
Science Fair in Guelph, Ontario. At the Pan-Canadian competition,
she received an honourable mention.
"Presenting your research to the public is the ideal conclusion to
a project. It's important to be able to explain your findings to people
in simple terms and that's what the Science Fair allows you to do."
MicroBiolumiscan
The following year, she returned with the MicroBiolumiscan. She
developed a device to accompany her method. "It's a medical and environmental
device. It's portable, reusable and accurate. It uses genetically engineered
bacteria that exist in the McGill University laboratories as a probe.
The device detects biopollutants and warns us when the toxicity levels
are dangerous for living cells. It can also be used to verify an antibiotic's
effectiveness before it is prescribed to a patient and to determine bacterial
growth."
She ran off with first prize in the regional competition. At the
provincial level, for the second year in a row, she received the Irma-LeVasseur
Prize and the Bell Super Science Fair prize for the best overall project.
She was also chosen to represent Quebec at the International Science Fair
in Kuwait and the Pan-Canadian Science Fair in Whitehorse, Yukon. "Julie
Payette joined our delegation in Kuwait. She is a very sociable and friendly
person."
In the Yukon, she won a bronze medal and the Manning Prize for the
most innovative project. She was selected to be a member of Team Canada
'96, which would represent the country at the International Science
& Engineering Fair in Tucson, Arizona, in the spring of 1996.
At this international competition, where more than a thousand projects
from some 40 countries were presented, Sabrina won first prize in the
engineering category ($5000), as well as the Intel Fellowship Award of
$2000, awarded for the most innovative project. "I was so happy and
proud that I cried." These prizes confirmed that, when you work hard,
you are rewarded beyond your expectations." The Prime Minister of
Canada sent her a letter of congratulations.
Business dealings
As a student in health science at Marianopolis College, Sabrina continued
to work on her MicroBiolumiscan. In the summer of 1996, she was accepted
into the Shad Valley summer program in Nova Scotia. She returned from
there with ideas about patenting and marketing her project. "It's
a very long and expensive process. Unfortunately, governments don't
have programs to help young people manufacture a prototype. These
types of programs exist only for universities, which isn't really
fair for the next generation."
Sabrina wanted to market her idea. She wanted to be involved in the
process and participate in the development of her project, not just
sell it. She visited trade shows and made contacts with representatives
of Canadian and foreign companies working in the biotechnology field.
Negotiations got underway with a company from England that was interested
in doing a market study. "It's a really long process! It's been
a year since our initial contact and not much has happened since."
In 1997, she participated in the YTV Achievement Awards. She submitted
her MicroBiolumiscan project, the result of three years of work. She won
in the Innovation, Science and Technology category. The astronaut, Dr.
Roberta Bondar, presented Sabrina with her prize.
In the fall of 1998, Sabrina started her B.Sc. at McGill University in
the department of microbiology and immunology. "At McGill, there
are no well-established joint programs with the pharmaceutical industry
and I wanted the experience of doing research in a pharmaceutical laboratory
to better orient my career." A resourceful Sabrina knocked on the
door at Merck Frosst. "This company supports the Science Fair and
I asked them if I could work as a student trainee over the summer. They
agreed."
 |
Sabrina R. Perri |
Sabrina spent the summer of 1999 in the laboratory
at the Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research in pharmacology. She
spent four hours every day travelling to and from Merck Frosst, where
she worked on developing different models of neurological degeneration.
"I found it easier to work with bacteria than with animals."
This practicum enabled her to realize that the work of a researcher
is largely solitary. "I am self-motivated and persistent, but
I like being with people." For now, she's not sure what career
path she will choose. The thought of being a doctor and working with
children who have cancer or being an entrepreneur are both interesting
prospects.
Sabrina offers the following advice to young people: "Believe in
yourself when you do something. The only obstacles are the ones you create.
Anything is possible. If you have a dream, just keep trying to make it
come true."
|
© 2002, Conseil de développement du loisir scientifique
(CDLS). This document is distributed by the Conseil de développement
du loisir scientifique.
For more information, visit our Web site at www.cdls.qc.ca. |
The opinions
expressed in this section are those of the authors and do not
necessarily
reflect the opinions of Merck Frosst or its employees. |
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