Being a scientist can mean more than working in a lab. Come and hear first hand from speakers that speak to their unique experiences in new fields. From an expert in patenting innovations to an executive director of a global organization, these individuals began as scientific trainees, and became leaders in careers across the science spectrum.

Cost: There is no cost for attendance. 

For more information please contact Ema Rosa by email at ema.rosa@sickkids.ca.

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Speakers:

Dr. Alan Bernstein, Executive Director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise

Dr. Alan Bernstein is the inaugural executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, a global alliance of organizations committed to accelerating the search for a preventative HIV vaccine.  Dr. Bernstein oversees the Enterprise’s activities to support the goals and mission of the Enterprise, including the development and implementation of its Scientific Strategic Plan. 

Prior to leading the Enterprise, Dr. Bernstein served as the founding president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada’s federal funding agency for health research. 

Dr. Bernstein has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications.  For his contributions to cancer research, stem cells, and hematopoiesis he has received many honors and awards, including the 2008 Gairdner International Wightman Award and appointment to the Order of Canada in 2002.

Dr. Deanna Church, Staff Scientist at NCBI/NLM/NIH

Deanna Church, Ph.D. has been a staff scientist at the NCBI for the last ten years. Her group works on a variety of projects relating to genome assembly, analysis and visualization. These projects include software development for the Genome Reference Consortium (GRC), overseeing the human and mouse reference genome assemblies, the development of a new structural variation database known as dbVar and the creation of genome data visualization tools such as Map Viewer. She also coaches the American University Women's Rugby team.

Dr. Jonathan Pearce, Program Manager, Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme, Medical Research Council, United Kingdom

Dr Jonathan Pearce joined the MRC's Translational Research Team in 2008. Prior to joining the MRC, Jonathan undertook academic research at Cambridge, Oxford and Toronto, followed by roles in life sciences venture capital and strategic consulting. Jonathan is the Programme Manager for the Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme, which supports the translation of basic and clinical research findings towards the clinic.

Dr. Fil Randazzo, Senior program officer, Global Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dr. Randazzo received his PhD in 1991 from Indiana University, where he trained in genetics, molecular, cellular and developmental biology in the laboratory of Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Dr. Thomas C. Kaufman. As an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Randazzo trained in the laboratory of Dr. Janet Rossant, at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute in Toronto, and then in the laboratory of Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Dr. Gerald R. Crabtree at Stanford University.

In 1994, Dr. Randazzo joined Chiron Corporation where he served in roles of increasing responsibility from Scientist to Associate Director. During his tenure at Chiron, he established, managed, and led multidisciplinary scientific teams, serving Biopharma, Vaccines and Diagnostic divisions, developing and implementing programs in animal model development, DNA microarray technology, proteomics, statistics and applied mathematics, pharmacogenomics, oncology target discovery, and colon cancer biology. His team was integral in enabling and supporting the pioneering reverse vaccinology effort at Chiron Vaccines. Technologies developed by his groups led to technology out-licensing and collaborations that produced over $27 million in revenue for Chiron. He was involved in business development as a member of the Chiron Ventures management team as well as a number of technology assessment and in-licensing teams, and he has served on the scientific advisory boards of several biotech start-up companies.

Dr. Randazzo joined the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2005 as a Senior Program Officer for Global Health and helped to launch the Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative. Over his tenure at the foundation he had managed  a portfolio of $270M in grants. . As a Discovery Lead, he presently manages a team within Global Health Discovery and is currently a member of the Malaria, Nutrition and Reproductive Health  Strategic Program Teams.  

Dr. Lori Regenstreif, Medical Director of the Hamilton Shelter Health Network

Dr. Lori Regenstreif is the Medical Director of the Hamilton Shelter Health Network. She was a Masters student with Dr. Janet Rossant from 1986-1989. Then, following a brief stint in Stockholm, she got her medical degree in Toronto but she has the midwives of Kumbo, Cameroon to thank for teaching her fundamental obstetrics.  A family practice residency in Vancouver and Vancouver Island led to extended locums in rural BC and Inuvik, NWT.

After some interesting positions with the Himalayan Rescue Association in Manang, Nepal she eventually settled down briefly on Manitoulin Island before giving up obstetrics and returning to urban Canada.

Dr. Andrew Reaume, PhD, MBA, President and CEO, Co-Founder, Melior Discovery

Dr. Reaume is President, CEO and co-founder of Melior Discovery, Inc., an emerging biopharmaceutical company dedicated to in vivo drug profiling and drug repositioning.  In addition to building a robust, proprietary, clinical candidate pipeline, the Company has attracted the partnership of many of the leading global pharmaceutical companies through its capabilities with in vivo profiling.

Dr. Reaume was previously a Senior Business Analyst at Pfizer, Inc. in the department of genomics and proteomic sciences.  While at Pfizer, he conceived of the idea to create a platform for comprehensively characterizing (phenotyping) genetically modified mice and spearheaded the search and identification of a third party collaborator to build the platform in partnership with Pfizer.

From 1993 to 1999 Dr. Reaume worked in R&D at Cephalon where he was principally involved in creating animal models of neurodegenerative disease.  In addition to Dr. Reaume’s research activities, at Cephalon he identified and helped coordinate in-licensing opportunities.  

In 2003, he received his MBA from the Wharton School where he graduated with honors in Entrepreneurial Management.  He received his PhD in genetics from the University of Connecticut in 1990.  

Dr. Carol Miernicki Steeg, Vice-President, Intellectual Property, PARTEQ Innovations, Queens University

Dr. Carol Miernicki Steeg holds the position of Vice President, Intellectual Property at PARTEQ Innovations, the technology transfer arm of Queen’s University.  She is registered as a patent agent in both Canada and the United States.  Her responsibilities at PARTEQ include assessing the patentability of inventions, drafting patent applications, prosecuting patent applications in the U.S. and Canadian Patent Offices, giving validity and infringement opinions, managing the university=s extensive foreign patent portfolio, heading PARTEQ’s patent group and overseeing the patent portfolios of several of PARTEQ’s spin-off companies.  A significant portion of her practice involves inventions related to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.  

Prior to coming to Queen’s, Dr. Steeg was a member of the Intellectual Property Group of Blake, Cassels & Graydon in Toronto, a scientific liaison for the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and a post-doctoral fellow at the Mount Sinai Hospital Research Institute in Toronto.  She received a B.Sc. with Distinction in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a PhD in biochemistry from Cornell University.  Dr. Steeg is a Fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada.  Some of her past responsibilities include Member of the Selection Panel for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Proof of Principle Grant Program (2001-2002 and 2002-2003), and Chair of the Intellectual Property Program Committee for BIO 2002 (the annual conference of the Biotechnology Industry Organization).

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