(OTTAWA CHAPTER) Trends in Cancer Research: Career Journeys and Opportunities

Event Description:

This event is intended to provide graduate-level scientists and trainees in Ottawa and those HQPs attending the Canadian Cancer Research Conference (CCRC) an opportunity to better understand career opportunities in immunization and public health, the Ottawa Chapter of the Science to Business Network (S2BN; www.s2bn.org) in collaboration with the CCRC is hosting a panel discussion and networking event around the theme of “Trends in Cancer Research: Career Journeys and Opportunities". Briefly, the S2BN is a national Canadian non-profit organization founded in 2011 that aims to connect academics, researchers, government and industry to enhance the innovation ecosystem in Canada and provide opportunities for professional development for graduate-level scientists and highly qualified personnel.

This event is sponsored by BioCanRx (https://biocanrx.com), Canada's Immunotherapy Network.

The objectives of the panel discussion are to:

·         Provide an overview of the Canadian trends and current issues around cancer research

·         Discuss the career paths of a panel of professionals working in industry, government and academia

Panelists:

1) Dr. Marni Williams

Dr. Marni Williams is currently a Consultant at Shift Health, a strategy consulting frim based in Toronto that focuses on the healthcare and life sciences sectors. Prior to Shift Health, Marni completed an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. She was also a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University where she worked on novel approaches to drug discovery against infectious diseases. Marni graduated with both her PhD and MSc degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Pretoria in South Africa.  

2) Dr. Elizabeth Douville

Dr. Douville is Managing Partner and Co-founder of AmorChem, a Québec-based seed venture fund dedicated to financing and commercializing university-based life sciences technologies. Launched in 2011 with capital of $41,25M, the AmorChem fund model uniquely combines access to financial resources with a virtual incubator structure that enables the rapid development and commercialization of life science technologies. The first fund successfully built a portfolio of 24 technologies, leveraged its initial capital to close to $76M with non-dilutive sources, transacted three pharma exits and spun out six biotech companies. The AmorChem II fund was launched in September of 2017 and now has $53.7M in capital under management with a mandate to invest in both the provinces of Québec and Ontario.

Elizabeth brings to AmorChem a deep and long-standing experience in venture capital investing having been General Partner of GeneChem, a leading North American life sciences venture capital fund manager. She joined GeneChem in 1997, moving rapidly from Manager to Partner with the different funds under management. Elizabeth is a sough-after participant in the life sciences industry, providing guidance and expertise on several boards of notable pan-Canadian organisations. In recognition of this leadership, she was named Chairperson of Genome Canada in 2019. Genome Canada is the premier federal catalyst for exploiting the country’s recognised strengths in genomics research to the benefit of Canadians. For the past four years, she has also been an active member of the board of BioCanRx, a Network of Centers of Excellence for biotherapeutics and a Member of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. More locally, she contributed for five years to the board of BioQuébec, the provincial umbrella organisation of the biotechnology industry. In addition to these industry organisations, and as part of her functions as an investor, she is also currently a board member for AmorChem’s promising emerging small biotechnology companies such as Corbin Therapeutics and Fairhaven Pharma.

Elizabeth trained as a biochemist, obtaining her PhD from the University of Ottawa and a post-doctoral fellow from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, UK. She also has a business degree from CIREM/HEC.

3) Mr. Ken Lawless

Mr. Ken Lawless has been very active in promoting investment in, and commercialization of, life sciences companies and technologies in Canada throughout his extensive career. He currently serves as President and CEO of Epitope Capital Corp., a privately held consulting company. He has held a number of executive positions including CEO of BioDiesel Reactor Technologies Inc. and was President and CEO of the Ottawa Life Sciences Council (OLSC) from its inception in 1994 until 2006. Mr. Lawless was also a Founding Director of the Ottawa Biotechnology Incubation Centre and served as the Interim President of the Ottawa Life Sciences Technology Park and was Bioscience Development Officer for the City of Ottawa.

During his career, he has served on numerous private and not-for-profit boards, expert panels, task forces and government research and development funding selection panels. He is a former Vice-Chair of the Health Standards Organization and is currently a Board Member of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and FACIT (Fight Against Cancer Innovation Trust). He is also a company mentor with L-Spark, an Ottawa based company accelerator. He graduated from the University of Ottawa with an M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1986, and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry in 1983.

4) Dr. Betty Zou 

Betty Zou, PhD, is the manager, research communications at the Canadian Cancer Society where she works to enhance the profile of CCS by promoting its research activities. Prior to this position, she was a communications officer at Sunnybrook Research Institute. Betty completed her PhD in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto and her BSc at Western University.

5) Dr. Abigail Mateo 

 Abigail Mateo has 8 years of experience as a biomedical and clinical researcher and research grants administrator in the academic, healthcare, and non-profit sectors. Currently, she is Senior Manager, Research Programs at the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). In this role, she is responsible for the management of all operational aspects of CCS’s research funding programs. Abigail has a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of Toronto and she completed the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology program at the Hospital for Sick Children.  

Moderator: 

1) Dr. Sara Urowitz

Dr. Sara Urowitz is the Executive Director of the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (CCRA) and the Director of Research at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer.  The pathway through her career until this point has not been straight but has been one that is strongly rooted in healthcare, with a passion for understanding and improving health care systems to benefit patients and the public. Sara has a doctorate in Health Policy and Bioethics, a Masters of Social Work and a Masters of Arts in applied ethics/bioethics.  She’s studied in Toronto, Charlottesville, Virginia, Philadelphia Pennsylvania and spent a year in Washington, DC working in the Department of Health and Human Services as a Presidential Management Intern. Prior to joining the CCRA, Sara was the Manager of Palliative Care and the Ontario Palliative Care Network at CCO in Ontario.  Prior to assuming managerial roles at the Provincial and then pan-Canadian level, she managed a cancer survivorship research centre at the University Health Network in Toronto, where she conducted research on the use of innovative approaches both based in technology and not, as a means for educating and empowering cancer survivors to become active participants in their own care and improving the patient experience.  Sara has also held an Assistant Professor position at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto where she supervised master’s level students and co-designed and then taught a course in evaluation of Health Information Systems. 

Event details: 

Date: Monday, November 4th, 2019

Time: 6:30pm - 9pm:

                6:30 - 7:00 – Registration

                7:00 - 8:00 – Panel Discussion

                8:00 - 9:00 – Networking

Venue: Metropolitain Brasserie, 700 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON 

Food/Drink: Light appetizers provided, cash bar.

Format: One hour panel discussion with 3 panelists who’ll provide an overview of their career journeys with a moderator posing questions and facilitating questions from the audience.

Registration Fee: $10 (includes light appetizers, cash bar available)