25 years of history and addiction research!

Photo, left to right (front row): Marie-Christine Fortin (coordonnatrice du RISQ), Jacques Bergeron, Serge Brochu, Michel Landry et Louise Nadeau (cofondateurs du RISQ), Jean-Marc Ménard et Joël Tremblay (directeurs actuels du RISQ).
Also in the photo: Geneviève Demers-Lessard, Catherine Arseneault, Marie-Anik Gagnon, Kristelle Alunni-Menichini, Lise Dassieu, Jessica Turmel, Ana Cecilia Villela Guilhon, Nadia L'Espérance, Valérie Hourdeaux, Alexandre Ratté, France Fortin, Karine Bertrand, Jorge Flores-Aranda, Natacha Brunelle, Jean-Sébastien Fallu, Lisa Massicotte, Lyne Desjardins, Valérie Aubut, Karine Gaudreault, Nadine Blanchette-Martin, Serge Maynard, Véronique Landry, Vincent Marcoux, Chantal Plourde, Magali Dufour, Sylvia Kairouz, Francine Ferland, Annie-Claude Savard, Rosalie Genois, Adèle Morvannou, Myriam Laventure et Christophe Huynh.

RISQ (Recherche et intervention sur les substances psychoactives – Québec) grew out of concerns expressed by a group of researchers, in cooperation with Domrémy-Montréal and Québec’s addiction treatment centres. The aim was to find new ways to support individuals with alcohol and drug problems, as well as to design interventions for this population. In light of clinicians’ perspectives that this clientele was changing and growing in numbers, it had become clear that additional investment in research was needed to better adapt interventions to those changes. In 1990, following a parliamentary committee debate on the Bertrand report, Minister Bacon acknowledged that it was important for Québec to develop knowledge in the field of addiction. It was on the heels of this event that RISQ got its first team grant, awarded by what was then the Conseil québécois de la recherche sociale. It was 25 years ago (1992) that RISQ lay the foundations for its first research program focused on alcoholism and addiction and directed toward improving knowledge and finding solutions.

From the start, RISQ’s four founding members shared a concern for the psychosocial aspects of the use and abuse of psychoactive substances. Twenty-five years later, they are still motivated by this issue and continue to be engaged in developing new knowledge.

Jacques Bergeron

Jacques Bergeron, PhD, is Honorary Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of Laboratoire de simulation de conduite at Université de Montréal. He is an international expert in the field of impaired driving and sits on several boards and committees, including the Association québécoise des transport’s Table d'expertise sur la sécurité dans les transports. His expertise in the field of impaired driving is also recognized by the courts, where he is regularly called upon to testify during coroners’ inquests. He continues to lead research projects on relationships between alcohol or cannabis use and risky driving. He is also interested in test validation, therapeutic effectiveness and motivation for change.

To find out more about Jacques Bergeron and his career, click here

Serge Brochu, PhD, is a specialist in social and legal control of drug addiction. Part of his career has been dedicated to research on addiction treatment and optimal use of psychotropic drugs in prisons and Québec youth protection centres, as well as in justice settings. In addition to co-directing RISQ for over 20 years, he also established the Groupe d'experts internationaux sur les trajectoires déviantes. In 2007, he was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada in recognition of his work. In 2014, he was named honorary president of the International Society for Criminology. In 2013, the Association des centres de réadaptation en dépendance du Québec (ACRDQ) granted him a lifetime achievement award for his exceptional contributions to the field of addiction. Today, Serge Brochu is Scientific Director of Institut universitaire sur les dépendances du CIUSSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, and Professor at the School of Criminology at Université de Montréal.

To find out more about Serge Brochu and his career, click here.

Serge Brochu

Michel Landry

Michel Landry, PhD, was co-director of RISQ for over 20 years. His work has resulted in the development of several evaluation and screening instruments and intervention programs for adults and young people dealing with alcohol or drug problems. One example is Alcochoix+, a controlled drinking program that he co-authored. A number of instruments he developed are now widely used in Québec and around the world. He has written many publications on addiction, and also founded and then directed for over a decade the e-journal Drogues, santé et société. In 2011, a few years before Serge Brochu received the same award, ACRDQ gave him a lifetime achievement award for his exceptional contribution to the field of addiction.

To find out more about Michel Landry and his career, click here.

Louise Nadeau, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Université de Montréal. Her expertise in interactions between mental health problems and addiction is recognized internationally. She has been on the board of directors of Éduc’alcool since 1992 and Chair of the Board since 2007. Over the past 30 years, she has worked to counter prejudices about women who use alcohol and other psychoactive substances. Since the beginning of her career, she has received numerous prestigious honours. In 2006, the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS) awarded her the Marcel Vincent prize, and in 2011, the Women’s Y Foundation granted her a Women of Distinction Award – Education. In 2012, she was awarded the Marie-Andrée-Bertrand prize (science category). In 2013, she was presented the Prix ACFAS Pierre-Dansereau, in recognition of the excellence and impact of her work. She is also an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2015) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2016). In 2017, she was appointed to the National Order of Québec.

Pour en apprendre davantage au sujet de Louise Nadeau et de sa carrière, cliquez ici.

Louise Nadeau