Natalie E. Dakers
CEO
Centre for Drug Research and Development
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada

Ms. Dakers is a leading figure in the Canadian biotechnology industry and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), an innovative organization in British Columbia with a mandate to address the commercialization gap between early-stage technologies arising out of university-based research and investment opportunities. Under Ms. Dakers' leadership, CDRD has signed affiliation agreements with all of BC's major research institutions and forged important strategic relationships with Pfizer Canada and Genome British Columbia. With its specialized lab space and more than $12 million invested in state-of-the-art equipment, CDRD has attracted over 69 employees and 240 investigators. To date, CDRD has raised and secured approximately $74 million in funding and was named a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR).

Ms. Dakers brings to CDRD many valuable years of experience in the commercialization of technology, licensing, and intellectual property protection. Previously, Ms. Dakers was President & CEO of Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company developing drugs for chronic pain, anxiety, epilepsy and cardiovascular diseases. As co-founder and CEO, Ms. Dakers built the company from inception and raised three rounds of venture financing totaling approximately $70M. Prior to this, Ms. Dakers was a senior manager for life sciences technology transfer at the University Industry Liaison Office (UILO) at the University of British Columbia, where she was involved in the creation and spin-off of more than a dozen start-up high-tech and biotech companies.

Ms. Dakers is active in a number of business and scientific organizations, including Past Chair of BC Biotech (now LifeSciences British Columbia), the association supporting and representing the province's biotech, medical device and life sciences community. Currently, Ms. Dakers is a board member of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Genome BC, Genome Canada, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Ms. Dakers is also an Adjunct Professor in UBC's Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a member of the Council of Canadian Academies' Expert Panel on Business Innovation. Ms. Dakers received a Peak Award for Performance and Excellence in 2004. More recently, she was the recipient of BIOTECanada's 2009 Gold Leaf Award for Industry Leadership.

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