All through my Shad-related experiences, everything had been shrouded in mystery: and my internship was no exception. Even the company's name, "The Centre of Excellence in Personalized Medicine" left me with more questions than answers. However, with some research and reading materials, I felt more informed and ready to tackle the tasks set before me.
CEPMED focuses largely on promoting and supporting personalized medicine through research, commercialization, and education. It also funds clinical trials that incorporate personalized medicine. It is located inside the Montreal Heart Institute and shares space with the Pharmacogenomics Centre.
My days started fairly early and I would be one of the first people to arrive in the morning. While at CEPMED, I worked on a couple of different projects, all of which involved intellectual property, and more specifically, patents incorporating personalized medicine. This work included patent searches, ensuring their relevance, and classifying them into different groups. It was difficult work, but I learned something new every day.
Today was a special day as I got a tour of the Pharmacogenomics Centre's labs upstairs. It was interesting to see the technology and processes that I read about in these patents, and it really helped me understand the complexity of what all three institutions do.
I am so thankful for everything I've learned at CEPMED (a lot), as well as for the opportunities that both Shad and CEPMED have opened me up to.
Pia Dimayuga
CEPMED
Montreal, QC