“What I’m looking forward to at the Summit is to be surrounded by open-minded experts in the clinical trial ecosystem, having thought-provoking conversations and exchanging ideas, to foster innovation in how we deliver training,” says CANTRAIN Chief Transformation Officer Julie Dessureault. The 2025 Clinical Trials Training Summit, organized by four clinical trials training platforms  (CTTPs) – CANTRAIN, StrokeCog, CAN-TAP-TALENT and, CBITN, takes place on February 24-26 in Vancouver, BC. This year’s Summit is focused on how to make clinical trials more efficient and equitable, so we are better prepared in the future.

A major theme of the Summit – collaboration – is central to CANTRAIN’s ethos, and its mission to improve the health and well-being of the Canadian population and beyond, through innovative clinical trial training programs. Whether it’s about working in conjunction with other, more specialized CTTPs, or through public and private partnerships, such as with pharmaceutical and biotech companies and organizations which have generously supported the Summit activities – “It’s about sharing and understanding each other’s reality, so we can work together in synergy.”

Ms. Dessureault’s key challenge, since joining CANTRAIN as a strategic planning consultant in Fall 2023, has been to transform CANTRAIN into an independent, fully-fledged organization, able to continue its important work of increasing  the quality and quantity of clinical trials in Canada, through training. “The challenge involves having a solid organization and unifying people for a common purpose: we need everybody working together in order to make that happen.”  

For this purpose, Ms. Dessureault draws on her extensive background in marketing, management, philanthropy, and her work as a certified coach. She also teaches Sustainable Marketing at HEC Montreal: “A principal goal of sustainable marketing is that you reach out to people, profit, and the planet: to get to that sweet spot illustrated in the Venn diagram we all need to be involved. If we make it happen seamlessly, CANTRAIN has the potential to become an example for other such organizations.”  

Central to Ms. Dessureault’s approach is also a creative spirit which derives from her interest in art, including owning a gallery in Montreal: “I curate art to connect people: it expands the mind, and helps to grasp the essence of a subject from many perspectives, whether consciously or not,” explains Ms. Dessureault. When we look at a work of art, it is not just art. It is anchored in history, in the reality of the moment, or even in future trends. It is rooted in the artist—their personal context and experiences—and then “When you look at a piece of art, it’s not just art. It’s grounded in history, in the reality of the moment, or even in future trends. It’s grounded in the artist —their personal context and experiences— and  in the viewer, shaped by their own perception. It shows us something that we don’t see. If we stay curious, open to anything – and art does that to us– we will be somewhere else, the conversations will be different and foster innovation.”