Pioneer, builder and innovator, Professor Park has made significant progress on several fronts of cancer research in the 30-plus years of her career. She has built a program of sustained excellence in research, developing technology that is now essential to precision medicine for numerous cancers. Her innovative approach and discoveries have made it possible to identify the molecular mechanisms at the origin of multiple types of cancer and thus deepen our understanding of many of the crucial processes that underlie the development of cancer with a longstanding focus on hard to treat and therapy resistant breast cancer.
As primary co-researcher of a Quebec cancer biobank network, Professor Park has also established research programs that stand out at a global level. These projects are based on a multidisciplinary collaboration between core and translational research teams. Her work has also shed new light on the role of non-tumour cells in the context of breast cancer, a concept that has now been accepted for numerous types of cancer. More recently, “living biobanks” developed under the direction of Professor Park have made it possible to create tumour models derived from patients, in order to understand why certain patients do not respond to treatment, and to develop new treatment strategies.
Building on her leadership and her expertise in aligning laboratories with the clinical setting, Professor Park has played a leading role in corporations wanting to improve results for patients dealing with cancer, by broadening the scope of personalized healthcare. Her scientific excellence, her respect for others, and her leadership style are characterized by the values of mutual respect, acknowledging others’ viewpoints, equity, inclusion, and integrity.
