Dr. François Bénard

Dr. François Bénard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Radiobiology at the Université de Sherbrooke and a Clinician-Scientist at the Clinical Research Center of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke. He graduated medical school and completed a residency program in Nuclear Medicine at the Université de Sherbrooke in 1995. He was the recipient of a Clinician-Scientist training Award (phase I, 1995-1998) from the Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC) and underwent research training in cancer imaging with Positron emission tomography at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for three years. Upon his return to the Université de Sherbrooke, he was awarded a Clinician-Scientist salary award (MRC, phase II, 1998-2001) to start his career as an independent researcher. This award has been renewed in 2001 for 3 years by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Under his impulsion, the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke has become the leading institution in cancer imaging with positron emission tomography in the country, providing a unique clinical service in PET imaging to more than 6500 patients while remaining dedicated to basic and clinical imaging research in oncology.

Dr Bénard’s research focuses on the preclinical and clinical evaluation of new diagnostic imaging agents targeting estrogen receptors in breast cancer. While the hormonal status of breast cancers is always determined at the time of initial diagnosis, this information is not always available at the time of recurrence. PET imaging with fluorodeoxyglucose has been shown to be highly sensitive to detect breast cancer metastases, but some slow-growing cancers may fail to show up on this test. With new estrogen-binding radiopharmaceuticals, PET can detect additional lesions that express estrogen receptors and assess the hormone sensitivity of the recurrent cancer.

Dr Bénard uses in vitro studies and animal models of breast cancer to evaluate new diagnostic agents and monitor the expression of estrogen receptors in response to therapy with small animal PET imaging. He also conducts clinical research studies to evaluate patients with recurrent breast cancer with fluorodeoxyglucose and fluoroestradiol PET imaging. Recent projects include the evaluation of drugs binding molecular targets in breast cancer such as sigma receptors and epidermal growth factors.

Dr. Bénard’s work may lead to the discovery of new imaging agents to characterize breast cancers, stage the extent of disease involvement, and guide the choice of appropriate therapy (chemotherapy vs hormone therapy).

He currently holds funds from the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance (managed by the National Cancer Institute of Canada) to conduct his primary research projects and is a co-investigator on a research grant from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research to develop innovative new methods using small animal positron emission tomography. In 2001, he received the Alavi-Mandell prize from the Society of Nuclear Medicine for a research paper published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine and his presentations have been the focus of several highlights at the Annual Meetings of the Society of Nuclear Medicine. Throughout his career, he has published 31 papers in peer-reviewed journals, written 8 book chapters or review articles, given 86 scientific presentations at national and international meetings. He has also been invited to give 52 guest presentations throughout the country and internationally.

For further information, please contact Dr. François Bénard using the Email contact form or by phone at 819 346-1110 ext 11865