Student and postdoctoral space

Vue sur ma Science contest - 2025 edition

The Vue sur ma Science competition is dedicated to images resulting from research carried out across all CRCHUM research themes (cancer, cardiometabolic, health innovation and evaluation hub, imaging and engineering, immunopathology, and neuroscience).

The artworks will be available for purchase, and all the proceeds collected will be donated to the students and interns of CRCHUM through the Student Committee.

Virtual gallery

At the heart of the moment

Description: People with anxiety often have difficulty controlling their worries, thoughts, or fears, disrupting their daily lives. Although many use cannabis to relieve these symptoms, its day-to-day effects remain unclear. Our study aimed to capture the heart of these moments—the vulnerable experiences reflected in this image. In the Real-time Evaluations of Anxiety Levels (REAL) study, participants completed several daily assessments on their phones for a week, allowing us to examine the evolution of anxiety before and after cannabis use in everyday life.

(Annie Pelekanakis, Health Innovation and Evaluation Hub – 2024)

Annie Pelekanaki

Endomosaic

Quadriptych: Human pancreatic islands illustrating four fundamental values of the CRCHUM.
A) Transparency: Original image of human pancreatic islets observed under a confocal microscope. Blue: cell nuclei; yellow: pancreatic beta cells; red: proliferating cells.
B) Creativity. Artistic interpretation of the original image, inspired by Van Gogh's style.
C) Audacity. Futuristic version of the image, symbolizing the desire to explore beyond established boundaries.
D) Collaboration. Like a puzzle, this composition embodies the result of teamwork between students, researchers and donors. Tools used: Artguru, Fotor and Picture to people.

(Clara Goubault, Cardiometabolic research theme – 2025)

Clara Goubault

The hippocampus of the intestinal depths

This immunofluorescence reveals a slice of the sigmoid colon of a patient living with HIV. The cell nuclei appear in blue, while the areas in red mark the CCR4 receptor. This receptor could reflect the presence of T lymphocytes and/or macrophages. The circular structures observed are cross-sections of the intestinal villi, resulting from the cutting of the tissue. This work illustrates the impact of HIV on intestinal tissue, where CCR4, overexpressed, becomes a silent witness to the immune disruptions induced by the virus. A microscopic dive into the intimacy of the immune system, where the pathology takes unexpected forms

(Florent Bertrand, Immunopathology research theme – 2025)

Florent Bertrand

The Great Wall of the Brain

This fluorescence microscopy image captures human primary endothelial cells in the brain, forming a complete network of tight junctions in bright red, essential to the blood-brain barrier. A true protective wall, this ultra-selective structure prevents the intrusion of pathogens and toxins while regulating molecular traffic to the brain parenchyma. In multiple sclerosis, these junctions deteriorate, facilitating the entry of pro-inflammatory immune cells and compromising neuronal function. The image celebrates the resilience and complexity of this vital barrier, highlighting its fundamental role in maintaining the health and balance of the central nervous system.

(Hamza Mechchate, Neuroscience research theme – 2025)

Hamza Mechchate

Starry Nuclei

Noyaux étoilés est une fenêtre sur l’univers intérieur d’une patiente atteinte d’un cancer de l’ovaire. À travers le microscope, les cellules deviennent ciel, les marqueurs biologiques se transforment en pigments, et la maladie esquisse malgré elle une œuvre d’art. Inspirée par la Nuit étoilée de Van Gogh, cette image réinvente la tumeur en tableau céleste, où les noyaux brillent comme des astres dans la nuit. C’est une invitation à voir la science autrement : non pas froide ou distante, mais profondément humaine, lumineuse, et parfois, étrangement belle.

(Jade Montpetit, Cancer research theme – 2025)

Jade Montpetit

Where’s islet?

Pancreatic beta-cells produce and secrete the key hormone “insulin” to control our body glucose levels. Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys the pancreatic beta-cells. This disease starts with the generation of auto-antibodies against beta-cells, and it progress to the direct attack of the immune system to the pancreatic beta-cells. This eventually depletes the pancreas from beta-cells. In this image, in green we can observe the beta-cells in a normal islet, an islet under attack, and finally an islet in which only 3 cells remain. In magenta we can observe the blood vasculature.

(Luis Delgadillo, Shadai Salazar, Priscila Carapeto, Cardiometabolic research theme – 2025)

Shadai Salazar

Smiling through pain

Despite cellular stress and an underlying genetic defect, these fluorescently labeled cells appeared to be smiling under my microscope. The vivid colors reflect the cells’ tireless effort to form stress granules in response to toxic conditions. Captured during my research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), this image serves as a reminder that resilience can be found within everyone — and everything — even at the cellular level.

(Mariam CHOUGHARI, Neuroscience research theme – 2025)

Mariam Choughari

Paths of Fear

This photo is from a coronal brain slice preparation artificially kept alive after extraction and imaged with our 2-photon microscope. The marking we can observe is the result of gene expression of a new type of fluorescent lactate biosensor in pyramidal neurons in the lateral amygdala of the brain. This region is involved in the processing of emotions as well as in the creation of memories associated with fear. In the photo, we are able to distinguish the pyramidal cell bodies of neurons as well as their complex branching including incoming and outgoing projections.

(Mathias Guayasamin, Cardiometabolic research theme – 2024)

Mathias Guayasamin

The true face of cancer

At the heart of this striking image is a group of ovarian cancer cells, forming a strangely familiar structure, a face. Behind its troubling contours lies a story of struggle, but also of resilience. If this "face" seems disturbing, it also symbolizes our piercing gaze, our advanced tools and our unwavering hope, because behind each cell studied, there is a life to save, a light to rekindle, a humanity to protect. This face, which is worrying today, will tomorrow become the mask of a human victory.

(Raphaël Cafaro, Cancer research theme – 2025)

Raphaël Cafaro

A shower of cellular comets

This meteor shower is actually an image of cancer cells being treated with radiotherapy. It is taken from what is known in radiobiology as a COMET assay or comet test, which quantitatively assesses the response to treatment at the cellular level. Each comet head is a cell nucleus and each comet tail is the cell's DNA, now fragmented by radiation therapy. To put it simply, the longer the comet's trail and the brighter the head, the more damaged the cell's DNA was and therefore the more the radiotherapy worked.

(Rodin CHERMAT, Cancer research theme – 2025)