Portrait of Anne-Laure Ménard, Coordinator of Major Programs

My passion for running has steered my professional research life towards aspects related to sports medicine.

Tell us about you:

I studied engineering at École des Mines (France), specializing in biomedical engineering, and pursued a PhD in biomedical engineering (biomechanics) from Polytechnique Montréal. I then worked as a post-doctoral researcher in collaboration with industry (CCM in the hockey skate’s division) and a clinical environment before joining INÉDI (a college center for technology transfer in industrial design) as head of research. My experience at INÉDI enabled a better understanding of the innovation ecosystem and, as part of a team, to set up multidisciplinary applied research projects, mainly with industry. Always interested in innovation, I returned to the medical field at iTMT as coordinator of special programs.

In parallel, shortly after starting my PhD, I started running competitively and reached a national level in 2015 in cross-country and then in 2016 when I took part in the Olympic trials over 1500m and 5000m. This passion has steered my professional research life towards aspects related to sports medicine. Over the years, I’ve also established a network in the Quebec “running world” and rubbed shoulders with Olympic athletes, but I’ve always maintained my dual life separate as a professional and an athlete.

Today, my sporting activities have become an integral part of my daily life, thanks to my home-to-work commute, running all year round (including in winter!). I still have a taste for performance, and I take part in a few races (mainly road races), without pressure and with pleasure. My running brings balance to my life, as I am also the mother of a baby boy born in 2024, whom I take with me on weekends in the running stroller.

What is your role at TransMedTech Institute

I am coordinator of major programs at TransMedTech Insitute, in the strategy and development unit. My role is to ensure the operationalization of the Innovateurs(trices) en résidence program, which establishes links between clinical needs in the field and innovative start-ups proposing solutions that could meet the identified need. I am also involved in student training through the implementation of supervised projects for Innovateurs en résidence and through the new CREATE-NSERC grant to set up a multidisciplinary enrichment microprogram in innovation for medical technology students. I also contribute on an ad hoc basis to consulting mandates for medical technology companies.

The elements that make me happy above all are interactions with partners I appreciate and with whom a relationship of trust has been established, and the achievement of tangible results giving me the feeling of having contributed to something bigger than myself.

What are your values at work and in life in general?

Had I been asked this question a few years ago, I would have focused on performance and surpassing myself. Now, my approach is much gentler and more sustainable; perhaps (finally?) a glimpse of wisdom (!!). My core values are learning and lifelong learning, whether at work or in life. All situations are opportunities to improve both technical and human (personal and interpersonal) skills. I also attach great importance to perseverance, which enables you to develop specific skills over time and thus dig deeper into an area, becoming an expert in the field. Ideally, this should be driven by an interest or passion that motivates the decision to persevere and learn.

What are your values at work and in life in general?

Finally, over the last few years, I have adopted a “try and dare” mentality, regardless of the result achieved. The latter is only a very small component of success (see next question), because what really counts is the path and the small steps taken daily.

There are different ways of looking at success. What would that be for you?

To differentiate between success and achievement, success is based on the achievement of personal goals, whereas achievement implies the recognition of one’s success by society.

Yet another answer that would have been very different a few years ago, as I would have been in favor of success at all costs, and of taking actions intentionally to lead me to that ultimate societal recognition.

I now consider my greatest achievement to be my ability to maintain a balanced life to enable optimal fulfillment in all spheres of life (professional, family and personal/sporting). It may sound cliché, but what really counts for me on a daily basis is being surrounded/connected with the people I love and doing what I love. As for success, it may come one day depending on the path(s) I have chosen and will choose, but it’s no longer a goal or an end in itself. As Oscar Wilde would say: “Life is too important to be taken seriously.”

As a child, what did you dream of doing?

As a child, I dreamed of becoming a heart surgeon or neurologist, because medicine fascinated me; I read a lot of books about the human body, as well as classical literature. However, I was born in France and, being naturally gifted in mathematics, I chose to study engineering rather than medicine.

Who inspires you and why?

To take a female role model in the sciences, it would be Claudie Haigneré, with her varied career path (doctor, astronaut, French and European minister). Ahead of her time, she represents a field of possibilities for women in science, and the fact that women can change functions throughout her life.