Presentation

Chantal Bernier

Chantal Bernier was appointed Assistant Privacy Commissioner of Canada with primary responsibility for the Privacy Act, the federal public sector privacy law. The appointment is effective December 8, 2008.

Prior to this, Ms Bernier was Assistant Deputy Minister, Community Safety and Partnerships Branch, at Public Safety Canada. Previously, she had served as Assistant Deputy Minister, Socio-Economic Policy and Programs, at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada from 1999 to 2002 and Director of Operations, Machinery of Government Secretariat, at the Privy Council Office from 1998 to 1999.

Ms. Bernier is a lawyer who specializes in public law. She started her career in the federal government in the Department of Justice Canada.

She holds a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Sherbrooke and a Masters in Public International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Presentation

Michael Burgess

Michael M. Burgess is Professor and Chair in Biomedical Ethics at the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics and the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. He is also Principal of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies. His undergraduate degree is in philosophy and religion, and his graduate degrees are in philosophy with a concentration in bioethics where he also studied qualitative sociology and feminist theory. Most recently his work has focused on science and technology policy and public engagement based on theories of deliberative democracy.

With Peter Danielson he is PI of the Genome Canada/Genome BC-funded “Building a GE³LS Architecture” and is a collaborator on other genome science projects. He recently completed a deliberative engagement on biobanks in BC, and collaborated on similar events at the Mayo Clinic and in Western Australia. Most recently he and Kieran O’Doherty led a public deliberative engagement related to salmon genomics and another related to the governance of the BC BioLibrary.

Presentation

Gary Catlin

Gary Catlin is the Director General of the Health, Justice and Special Surveys Branch at Statistics Canada. The Branch has an extensive household survey program including the Canadian Community Health Survey, the Canadian Health Measures Survey and the longitudinal National Population Health Survey and the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. There is also a broad program of special projects covering diverse subject matters from education to financial issues and the environment. The program also includes extensive administrative data such as the Canadian Cancer Registry, Vital Statistics and extensive crime and justice statistics collected through cooperative arrangements with federal, provincial, territorial and local jurisdictions. There are regular publications through Health Reports and Juristat.

Presentation

Timothy Caulfield

Timothy Caulfield has been Research Director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta, since 1993. In 2001 he received a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy. He is also a Professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health. Over the past several years, he has been involved in a variety of interdisciplinary research endeavours that have allowed him to publish over one hundred and fifty articles and book chapters. He is a Senior Health Scholar with the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, the Principal Investigator for Genome Canada project on the regulation of genomic technologies, the theme leader for the Stem Cell Network (National Centres of Excellence) and has several projects funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Professor Caulfield is and has been involved with a number of national policy and research ethics committees, including Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee, Genome Canada’s Science Advisory Committee, the Federal Panel on Research Ethics and the Royal Society of Canada’s Expert Panel on the Future of Food Biotechnology (2001). He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He teaches biotechnology in the Faculty of Law and is the editor for the Health Law Journal and Health Law Review.

Presentation

Pierre Charest

Dr. Charest was appointed Director General of the Science Policy Directorate at Health Canada in September 2008. Previously, he was Associate Vice President Science Branch at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency since April 2007 before leaving Health Canada where he was Director General of the Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate and the Director General of the Office of Biotechnology and Science at Health Canada since January 2002. He also held a number of management and science positions with Natural Resources Canada prior to his arrival at Health Canada. He has been active with science granting agencies such as CIHR, NSERC and the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

Dr. Charest has obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at Carleton University in 1988, a Masters degree and a Bachelor degree from Laval University. He has received several awards including three Public Service Awards. He has published 77 scientific publications and presented 112 scientific communications.

Jeremy de Beer

Jeremy de Beer is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa where he specializes in intellectual property law. His research interests range from digital copyrights to biotechnology patents, with particular emphasis on the intersection of technology, intellectual property and international development.

Jeremy has a graduate degree in Law from the University of Oxford, and degrees in business and in law from the University of Saskatchewan. Before entering academia Jeremy practiced law with the Department of Justice, as legal counsel to the Copyright Board of Canada. He currently co-leads the Canada-EU Trade Environment Technology Exchange funded by the European Commission, and the "Open AIR" project, and a $2.8m research and training initiative on open innovation in Africa funded by Canada's IDRC and Germany’s GIZ. His latest books include Access to Knowledge in Africa: The Role of Copyright and Implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization's Development Agenda. Jeremy is also frequent consultant to law firms, technology firms, think tanks, governments and international organizations.

Presentation

Mylène Deschênes

Mylène Deschênes is the Executive Director of the P³G Consortium, an international consortium building tools and a global network to foster collaboration between population-based biobanks and harmonization. She is interested in ethical, legal and social issues related to research with human beings, and in particular with genetic research and biobanks. Lawyer by training, she holds a Master’s degree in Law and Biotechnology from University of Montreal. Her thesis, ‘Mise en marché des tests génétiques : réflexion sur le cadre réglementaire, was published by Les Éditions Thémis, in 2005.

Prior to joining P³G, she worked at CIHR Ethics Office as a senior Ethics Policy Advisor. She was also a Research Agent at the Centre de recherche en droit public, University of Montreal, where she published several papers on biobanks, genetic research, and research ethics in general, and was also a lecturer at the Faculty of Law. She has prepared reports for Governments and governmental organizations including a ‘Survey of National Approaches to the Development of Population Biobanks’ for the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee (2003), and was part of the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) Advisory Group who prepared the ‘Governance Framework for Data Banks and Biobanks used for Health Research’ report (2006).

She currently serves on the Fonds de recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) Ethics Board and the Montreal Heart Institute research ethics Board, and has served on various other research ethics boards over the past years.

Aled Edwards

Aled Edwards, Ph.D., is Banbury Professor of Medical Research at the University of Toronto, visiting professor of chemical biology at the University of Oxford, and chief executive of the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), a public–private partnership that generates reagents and knowledge for human proteins and places its results into the public domain, without restriction on use.

Funded by industry, governments, and charitable foundations, the SGC accounts for more than a quarter of the world’s output of human protein structures and more than 75 percent of the world’s output of proteins from the parasites that cause malaria, toxoplasmosis, and cryptosporidiosis. Edwards believes that the discovery of new medicines would be most efficiently accomplished by performing many aspects of drug discovery research, from discovery to clinical proof of concept, within precompetitive research consortia and by deemphasizing the importance of patents. Edwards was scientific consultant for the Canadian dramatic TV series, ReGenesis, and has founded a number of biotechnology companies.

Presentation

Bernice Elger

Prof. Dr. med. dipl. theol. Bernice Elger (University Centre for Legal Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland) studied medicine and theology at the Universities of Essen, Heidelberg, Bochum, Bethel (Germany), Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University (Houston, Texas). She obtained her medical diploma at Heidelberg, Germany and also a 6 year university degree in protestant theology at Göttingen, Germany.

She has been teaching ethics and health law at the University of Geneva for the past 14 years. In 2004, she obtained a grant for advanced researchers of the SwissNational Science Foundation for research in the US: from 2004 to 2005, Prof. Elger has been Visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Center for Bioethics, Kennedy Institute of Ethics (Georgetown University) and the Department of Clinical Bioethics (NIH, Bethesda) where she conducted research on ethical and legal issues of genetic databases. In 2005, she obtained the Prix Bizot for her work on biobanks (privat-docent thesis) at the University of Geneva (award for the best work of the year related to a subject in medicine or the medical sciences), and in 1999 the “Award of the Medical Faculty at the University of Geneva for the best doctoral thesis in clinical medicine” (Le phénomène du paternalisme médical: Aspects philosophiques et empiriques, Faculté de Médecine de l’Université de Genève 1998). In 1997, she obtained the “Prix Arditi en éthique” for Médecine prédictive et décisions procréatives et prénatales (Médecine et Hygiène, Livres Georg, Geneva 1998). She has widely published in medical and ethical journals about medical ethics in genetics, ethical problems in clinical medicine and research involving biobanks.

E. Richard Gold

E. Richard Gold is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and an Associate Member of the Department of Human Genetics at McGill University and President of The Innovation Partnership (TIP), a non-profit corporation dedicated to helping public and private actors in developing as well as developed countries better manage their innovation systems. He was also the founding director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy.

Richard actively advises a number of organisations on the implications of intellectual property policy including the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Health Organization (WHO), and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Richard’s research centers on understanding the links between biomedical, agricultural and industrial innovation, intellectual property and development. Dr. Gold leads the Value Addition through Genomics and GE³LS (VALGEN) group of investigators in the theme of intellectual property management and technology transfer. He also conducts research with the Structural Genomics Consortium on open access innovation.

Presentation

Jane Green

Dr. Jane Green is a Professor of Medical Genetics, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL. She has worked in medical genetics research in Newfoundland and Labrador for 30 years. Her main research interests are hereditary eye diseases, hereditary cancers and the distribution and frequency of hereditary diseases in Newfoundland. All her research has made use of the unique features of the NL population (eg, large family size and genetic isolates resulting in clusters of genetic disease). She has worked closely with members of many families, documenting the spectrum and variability of disease, identifying the relevant genes with molecular genetics collaborators and using this information to help develop clinical screening and management plans.

She has a strong interest in translating the new genetics information for medical students, physicians, patients and their families, and the general public. This has involved many trips to rural NL. She is a member of the Genome Canada-funded Atlantic Medical Genetics and Genomics Initiative which is working to identify new genes for genetic disorders more common in Atlantic Canada, and of the CIHR-funded Colorectal Cancer research team. In 2008 she received an Honorary Membership with the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists, and she also received the CIHR Regional Knowledge Translation Award for her work in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mauricio Guaragna

Mauricio joined ISIS Sauder School of Business as a research fellow in the VALGEN project. He is a qualified Brazilian lawyer with experience in corporate law and has dealt with issues of technology law, intellectual property rights, licensing and licensing practices.

Mauricio holds a LLM from the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Law and did his PhD research in law at the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute through the University of London. His thesis is a study on the relationship between intellectual property as legal rights, technology protection measures and alternative intellectual property management strategies. Mauricio’s research activities cover different areas including innovation studies, new technologies and intellectual property management strategies.

Presentation

Pierre Haddad

Pierre Sélim Haddad is a tenured professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the Université de Montréal, where he obtained his PhD degree in 1986. He then carried out two postdoctoral fellowships (University of Vienna, Austria, and Yale University, USA). He has authored over 90 peer-reviewed publications, more than half on Natural Health Products (NHP) in the course of the last 6 years. In 2003, he successfully built the CIHR Team in Aboriginal Antidiabetic Medicines, a multidisciplinary team of researchers studying the antidiabetic potential of plants used by the Cree Nations of Northern Quebec in their traditional medicine, which he still leads today.

Dr. Haddad is also a member of several research center/groups, notably the Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods Institute (INAF) at Laval University and the NCE Advanced Foods and Materials Network. Dr. Haddad was one of the founding members of the Natural Health Products Research Society of Canada (NHPRSC) that was instated in 2003 and acted as Vice-President until 2006. Between 2003 and 2007, he acted as a research consultant in complementary and alternative medicine for the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation, the largest philanthropic organization in Canada. In 2007 and half of 2008, Dr. Haddad was Vice-President Research and Development of the company PharmAfrican Inc., a biotech seeking to develop botanical drugs from African medicinal plants. He also sits on the Research committee of the Guild of Herbalists of Quebec since 2004. On several occasions, Dr. Haddad acted as an expert advisor for the Natural Health Products Directorate as well as for the Office of Biodiversity of Environment Canada. Finally, Dr. Haddad was appointed in 2009 to the Scientific Advisory Board of the CIHR Institute of Aboriginal Peoples Health.

Dr Haddad is recognized nationally and internationally for his work on NHPs and functional foods in the context of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, notably including the Canadian lowbush blueberry Vaccinium angustifolium, Mediterranean black seed Nigella sativa and several plants of the Canadian Boreal forest.

Presentation

Douglas Hedley

Dr. Hedley is a private consultant following many years in the Canadian Public Service in Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. He has also worked in several countries around the world with The Rockefeller Foundation and Winrock International. His overseas work involved farm and experimental farm research, agricultural economic development, development and teaching of postgraduate-level university training in economics, university development, and policy and program development and advice at Ministerial level.

He holds Masters and Ph.D degrees in agricultural economics from Michigan State University and a Bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and business administration from the University of Guelph. During his graduate studies, he was a Rockefeller Foundation Overseas Scholar in Colombia and the USA.

He played a central role in Agriculture and Agri-food Canada throughout the development of farm income stabilization and risk management programs over many years. As well, he worked closely with provinces and industry groups to develop the Agricultural Policy Framework. He received the Head of the Public Service Award in 2004.

His most recent positions within the Canadian Government were: Assistant Deputy Minister, Farm Financial Programs, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, 2001-2004; Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy Branch, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada; Senior Executive Director, Policy Branch, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada

Dr. Hedley has served as Vice-President Program, President Elect, President and Past President of the International Association of Agricultural Economist (IAAE). He was also the Founding Editor of Agricultural Economics, The Journal of the International Association of Agricultural Economists. He was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in the IAAE in 2006.

He was awarded the Outstanding International Alumni, 1992, from Michigan State University. He has served on international boards as a Member and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), located in The Hague, Netherlands, and as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Center for Grains, Pulses Roots and Tubers (CGPRT), located in Indonesia.

Since July 2005, he serves as the Executive Director of the Canadian Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (CFAVM). As well, he continues to work on farm income issues in Canada and the USA, has provided training on governance issues in China and Canada, and explores farm marketing and processing approaches within Canada and North America.

He was a team member of a study commissioned by the US Congress undertaken by the US National Academy of Sciences on the US sheep and lamb industry, with a final report published in September 2008. He also coaches mid-career Public Servants in management and leadership. Finally, he has served on advisory committees at Kemptville Campus of the University of Guelph in development of open learning and new program curricula.

Presentation

Bartha Maria Knoppers

Bartha Maria Knoppers, PhD, is Director, Centre of Genomics and Policy, McGill University, Dept. of Human Genetics, Fac. of Medicine. She is former Chair of the International Ethics committee of the Human Genome Organization, (1996-2004) and was a member of the International Bioethics Committee of the United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization which drafted the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights (1993-1997). Co-Founder of the International Institute of Research in Ethics and Biomedicine, she also served on the Board of Genome Canada, and in 2007, became Chair of the Ethics Working Party of the International Stem Cell Forum as well as founding the international Public Population Project in Genomics and CARTaGENE.

Professor Knoppers has received Doctorates Honoris Causa from the University of Waterloo, Université de Paris V, France and McMaster University, Ontario and the University of Alberta. In 2002, she was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, selected as one of the 50 nation builders in Canada by the Globe and Mail, and named Officer of the Order of Canada. Elected Fellow of The Hastings Center (Bioethics), New York, and member of the International Ethics Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency, she became a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2005. She was elected Governor of the Quebec Bar in 2006 and in 2007 was chosen Advocatus Emeritus. In 2009, was named Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Netherlands Genome Initiative.

Presentation
Podcast

Graeme Laurie

Graeme Laurie is Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the AHRC/SCRIPT research centre which explores the relationship between law and new technologies. It is sponsored by the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council. Graeme is also the current Chair of the UK Biobank Ethics and Governance Council and sits on a number of other bodies, including the British Medical Association's Ethics Committee and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

Presentation

Angus Livingstone

Angus Livingstone is Managing Director of the University-Industry Liaison Office (UILO) at The University of British Columbia (UBC). He is the President of the University's wholly owned subsidiary, UBC Research Enterprises Inc., and co-founder of the Alliance for the Commercialization of Canadian Technology.

Angus serves on numerous boards including the Paragon Testing Enterprises Inc., NeuroDevNet NCE, UBC Research Enterprises, Inc., CDRD Ventures Inc., and Webnames.CA, Inc. He is currently a member of the Association of University Technology Managers and the Licensing Executive Society.

Angus graduated from UBC with a B.Sc. in Computer Science in 1983. In 1988, he joined the UILO where he has held various positions relating to industry sponsored research, technology transfer, and the management of UILO operations. He has played critical roles in the creation of many Canadian technology transfer and commercialization initiatives including: Westlink Technology Commercialization Internship Program; B.C. Advantage Funds (VCC) Ltd.; Flintbox™; Aggregate Therapeutics and the IP Toolkit; The Centre for Drug Research and Development; and the Canada California Strategic Innovation Partnership – IP Protocol.

The UILO conducts the technology transfer and commercialization activities at UBC. UBC consistently ranks among the top ten North American universities for its patenting and commercialization activities. UBC currently has over 250 licenses with companies around the world and has actively supported the creation of over 140 spin-off companies.

Presentation

Emily Marden

Emily Marden is a Senior Fellow at the UBC Faculty of Law, and a practicing attorney in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical arena. Emily leads the Intellectual Property Policy and Research Group (IPPRG). Emily’s focus is on intellectual property, policy and regulatory strategy relating to biotechnology and agricultural innovations. She has written and published widely on issues relating to alternative intellectual property, the regulation of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, and genetically modified foods and agriculture.

Emily completed her undergraduate degree in molecular biology at Harvard University and has graduate degrees in the History and Philosophy of Science from Cambridge and Harvard Universities. She received her law degree with honors, from New York University, specializing in science and policy.

Presentation

Jamie Mills

Jamie Mills is a partner in the Ottawa office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Jamie practises in all areas of IP law, with a primary focus on defending the patent rights of the innovative pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry. Jamie has advised some of the world’s leading innovative pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies in respect of all types of technology.

In this regard, he has appeared before the Federal Courts, the Ontario Courts, the Patent Appeal Board and the Trade-marks Opposition Board. He has also appeared numerous times on behalf of the industry and individual pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies before government agencies and politicians, including committees of Parliament. Jamie has significant experience in providing advice to the industry in respect of pharmaceutical regulatory matters, internet pharmacies, the Patent Register, data protection and Canada’s pricing regime for pharmaceuticals administered by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. Jamie has been recognized by Intellectual Asset Management Magazine as one of the top 250 Life Sciences Patent Litigators in the World and one of the top 250 Patent Litigators in the World (not limited to life sciences).

Jamie is involved with BIOTECanada as the chair of its Legal Advisory Board, and as a member of the Public Affairs Committee and the Subsequent Entry Biologics Taskforce. Jamie obtained a BSc (Honours Life Sciences) from Queen’s University at Kingston in 1990 and his LLB in 1993 from the University of Victoria. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1995 and qualified as a patent agent in 1997.

Presentation

Marshall Moffat

Marshall Moffat is an experienced former Director General in the federal public service. In his public service career he worked in positions of increasing responsibility for two central agencies (Privy Council Office and Treasury Board Secretariat) and four line departments (Industry Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, Public Works and Government Services, and Regional Economic Expansion. At mid-career he accepted a two-year Executive Interchange assignment to work for a private company specializing in international development.

While at Industry Canada he was responsible for proposing new ways to support university research, commercialization and innovation. Over this six-year period the government invested over $10 billion in university research and its commercialization. This work included dealing with intellectual property issues that affect the commercialization of university and government research.

He retired three years ago and has been active in policy consulting for federal and private sector clients in areas where he has strong expertise, and in coaching the new generation of public and private sector managers.

Dr. Moffat earned a PhD in Theoretical Physics and a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Notre Dame in the United States, and pursued post-doctoral research in theoretical physics and micro-economics at the University of Brussels, Belgium as a NATO postdoctoral fellow.

Presentation

Marcel Mongeon

Mr. Mongeon is an independent Intellectual Property Coach assisting governmental, government supported and private sector institutions with devising and implementing strategies to profit from their intangible assets. He is an experienced international speaker and seminar leader in many areas, including business strategy, intellectual property management and negotiations.

Mr. Mongeon is a lawyer qualified in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, as well New York State in the USA. He is both a Canadian registered Patent and Trade‐ mark Agent. He holds business, law and science degrees from McGill (BCom, LL.B, BCL), McMaster (MBA), Swinburne Universities (MSc), Strathclyde University, (LL.M.) and is a Fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada.

His work experience includes having been in charge of the technology transfer office at McMaster University, overseeing all sponsored research, commercialization and patenting activities of this comprehensive university from 1997 to 2006. He also has experience in manufacturing, hospitality and information technology industries as well as practising law with major firms in Montreal and Toronto.

Mr. Mongeon has served on the boards of many organizations including the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) and the Canadian University Intellectual Property Group, and was a founding member of the Alliance for Commercialization of Canadian Technology (ACCT Canada), where he was honoured by induction into ACCT Canada’s Order of the Beaver for his service to the Canadian technology transfer community. He has developed and teaches the ACCT Canada’s Basic Course for University Technology Managers and is a frequently sought speaker on the issue of research collaborations and the commercialization of research results. He developed and delivered IP training workshops in Singapore and Brunei through the National University of Singapore, the Knowledge and Commercialisation Administrators (KCA) of Australia, and recently lectured to technology transfer professionals, SMEs, and academic personnel in Thailand, South Africa, Kenya and Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Mongeon has worked with many private and public sector institutions and agencies, including the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Federal Partners in Technology Transfer, the Explosive Free Rock Breakage Consortium, the USPTO, PharmaCan, the Canadian Stem Cell Consortium, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, ACCT Canada, AUTM, and CAURA.

Presentation

Karine Morin

As Genome Canada’s Director, National GE³LS Program, Karine Morin oversees activities related to the ethical, economic, environmental, legal and social (GE³LS) aspects of genomics research.

Prior to joining Genome Canada, she was a Senior Ethics Policy Advisor at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). She also conducted research on ethical, legal and social issues related to genomics at the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Science, Society and Policy.

She worked in the US for several years as the Director of Ethics Policy at the American Medical Association, and previously as an Ethics and Health Policy Associate at the American College of Physicians. Before leaving Canada, she worked for the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada (Krever Commission).

She holds a Masters in Law (LLM) from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of McGill University School of Law, where she obtained a joint degree in civil (B.C.L.) and common law (LL.B).

Over the years, she has published widely in bioethics and law, and has taught as an adjunct at several universities in the US and Canada.

Presentation

Paula Robson

Dr Paula Robson obtained her BSc (Hons) and PhD in Human Nutrition from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Following completion of her PhD, she worked at the Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health where she researched topics related to the effects of diet and physical activity on markers of chronic disease risk. Following her move to Canada in 2004, Paula is now a researcher in the Department of Population Health Research at Alberta Health Services – Cancer Care, and is Principal Investigator of that organization’s longitudinal cohort study, known as The Tomorrow Project. She holds adjunct appointments in the School of Public Health and the Centre for Health Promotion Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Currently, she leads the Coordinating Centre for the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project (CPT Project), which aims to establish a cohort of 300,000 Canadians aged 35-69y. The cohort will form an infrastructure platform to support multi-disciplinary research in cancer and other chronic disease etiology. The CPT Project is a federation of five studies; Alberta’s Tomorrow Project, the Atlantic Provinces PATH study, the BC Generations Project, the Ontario Health Study and Quebec’s CARTaGENE Project. With support from the P3G organization, the cohorts have harmonized their approaches to collection and storage of data and samples. Currently, data and samples collected by each cohort are stored in each cohort’s host institution. Although it is envisaged that a pan-Canadian database and sample repository will be created, many challenges have yet to be overcome.

Presentation

Jennifer Stoddart

Jennifer Stoddart was appointed Canada's Privacy Commissioner by the Governor in Council, effective December 1, 2003, on unanimous resolutions adopted by both the House of Commons and the Senate, for a seven-year term.

Since taking on this role, Commissioner Stoddart has overseen a number of important investigations, including those concerning a massive data breach at U.S. retail giant TJX and one on the disclosure of Canadians’ financial information to U.S. authorities by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.  The Commissioner also led efforts to help private sector organizations understand their obligations under the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in the first years after the legislation came into force. She is working to promote online privacy for young people through the Office’s new website, www.youthprivacy.ca.

Given Canada’s international trade patterns, Commissioner Stoddart has become involved in global privacy issues through her work with international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which are examining ways to protect and enhance privacy rights on a global scale.  In 2007, she hosted the 29th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, which brought together some of the world's foremost data protection experts.

Commissioner Stoddart was previously President of the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec, an organization responsible for both access to information and the protection of personal information. She has held several senior positions in public administration for the Governments of Québec and Canada, including at the Canadian and the Québec Human Rights Commissions. Commissioner Stoddart has been active in the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, and has also lectured on history and legal sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal and McGill University. She is a member of the Québec Bar.

Presentation

Gregory W. Taylor

Dr. Gregory Taylor is the Director General of the Office of Public Health Practice, Public Health Agency of Canada.

Dr. Taylor obtained his MD from Dalhousie University in Halifax where he also completed a family medicine residency. After several years in active primary care in Ontario, he completed a fellowship in Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa and joined Health Canada’s Laboratory Centre for Disease Control. Although his initial responsibilities focused on cardiovascular disease, he has been involved with a wide range of Federal chronic disease activities before joining the Office of Public Health Practice.

He maintains his connection with the University of Ottawa as adjunct professor of Epidemiology and Community Medicine.

Presentation

Nancy Tout

Dr. Nancy Tout is the Head of Regulatory and Biological Development for Syngenta Crop Protection Canada, Inc., an agri-business committed to sustainable agriculture – farming with future generations in mind. With products in crop protection, seed care and seeds aimed at raising farm productivity, Syngenta is helping bring plant potential to life.

Dr. Nancy Tout joined Syngenta in April 1999 working on product registration. She has held several scientific roles ensuring studies into dietary safety, residues and risk assessments were performed to the highest of scientific standards prior to submission to the regulatory authorities within Health Canada.

In May of 2005, she took on additional responsibilities and challenges as Technical Registration Manager in charge of Residue Chemistry to direct food safety studies to support product registration, using strict regulatory guidelines to assess the level of pesticide residues on food. In 2008, she was promoted to her current position as Head of the Regulatory and Biological Development team.

In this role, she has showcased the expertise in her science team to contribute in a meaningful way to the growth of the Syngenta business and to the challenges of modern agriculture, including guest lectures and a passion for educating the general public on the value that science has to offer the world, including children in the school system through her support and personal involvement in Scientists in School.

Nancy holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Guelph and completed post-doctoral training in the Guelph Department of Environmental Biology in methods for the in vitro generation of pesticide-specific antibodies for environmental monitoring.

Nancy also participates as a Special Graduate Faculty Member in the Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, to provide viewpoints outside the University community in the training of future graduate students. She was also appointed to the Science and Innovation Advisory Committee of Bioenterprise Corporation to advise on trends in global research in the agri-technology sectors.

Nancy was born, raised, and educated in Southwestern Ontario and now gives back to her community through her charitable work with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, where once again, science continues to play a central role in her life and her vision of a cure for all children living with Type 1 Diabetes.

Presentation

Christina Wolfson

Professor Christina Wolfson is Director of the Division of Clinical Epidemiology at the McGill University Health Centre and a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Occupational Health and in the Department of Medicine at McGill University. She is an Associate Member in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Division of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University.

Her program of research lies in the epidemiology of neurodegenerative disorders, including dementia, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. She is also co-Principal Investigator on the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, a nationwide 20-year study of 50,000 participants aged 45 to 85. Dr. Wolfson received her BSc in Mathematics and MSc in Mathematical Statistics from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McGill University.

Presentation

Patricia Kosseim, Chief GE³LS Officer

Patricia has joined Genome Canada on a two-year Executive Interchange arrangement to lead a national strategy for addressing ethical, economic, environmental, legal and social (GE³LS) issues related to large-scale genomics research. She joins Genome Canada from her home institution, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), where she has held the position of General Counsel since January 2005, responsible for the activities of the Legal Services, Policy and Parliamentary Affairs Branch.

Before joining OPC, Patricia spent five years building and heading up the Ethics Office of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. During this period, she was briefly seconded to Canada Health Infoway Inc. to advise on privacy issues related to the development of pan-Canadian electronic health record systems.

Patricia worked in Montreal for over six years with the national law firm of Heenan Blaikie, practicing primarily in the areas of health law, human rights, labor & employment law, privacy law, administrative law, professional liability and civil litigation.

Called to the Québec Bar in 1993, Patricia holds degrees in Business (B.Com ’87) and Laws (B.C.L. / LL.B. ‘92) from McGill University, and a Master’s Degree in Medical Law and Ethics (M.A.’94) from King’s College, University of London (U.K.).

Presentation

Patricia Kosseim, Chief GE³LS Officer

Patricia has joined Genome Canada on a two-year Executive Interchange arrangement to lead a national strategy for addressing ethical, economic, environmental, legal and social (GE³LS) issues related to large-scale genomics research. She joins Genome Canada from her home institution, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), where she has held the position of General Counsel since January 2005, responsible for the activities of the Legal Services, Policy and Parliamentary Affairs Branch.

Before joining OPC, Patricia spent five years building and heading up the Ethics Office of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. During this period, she was briefly seconded to Canada Health Infoway Inc. to advise on privacy issues related to the development of pan-Canadian electronic health record systems.

Patricia worked in Montreal for over six years with the national law firm of Heenan Blaikie, practicing primarily in the areas of health law, human rights, labor & employment law, privacy law, administrative law, professional liability and civil litigation.

Called to the Québec Bar in 1993, Patricia holds degrees in Business (B.Com ’87) and Laws (B.C.L. / LL.B. ‘92) from McGill University, and a Master’s Degree in Medical Law and Ethics (M.A.’94) from King’s College, University of London (U.K.).

Robert Bonhomme

A partner with Heenan Blaikie, Robert Bonhomme's practice encompasses employment, labour, administrative and civil law. His practice is focused on all aspects of labour relations, both collective and individual, across Canada. He represents clients from both the private and public sectors, in federal and provincial jurisdictions. Throughout the years, he has developed an expertise in compensation and benefits matters (purchase option plan, retirement plan, etc.) and human rights issues.

Mr. Bonhomme is an assistant editor of Canadian Cases on Employment Law. He has co-authored numerous specialized works in the field including Wrongful Dismissal in Quebec, Le congédiement en droit québécois en matière de contrat individuel de travail, Le contrat de travail en vertu du Code civil du Québec, The Employment Contract under the Civil Code of Quebec, 14 Questions Frequently Asked in Quebec Labour & Employment Law and More Questions Frequently Asked in Quebec Labour & Employment Law. He has also written numerous articles on administrative, employment and labour law and is a regular guest speaker in Canada and abroad. For instance, over the past few years, he has written or spoken on issues such as mandatory retirement, privacy legislation and transborder data flows of personal employee information, employers' duty to accommodate or the validity of settlements in labour and employment law.

Mr. Bonhomme is one of the lawyers most frequently recommended by peers in the annual survey conducted for the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and, for several years now, he has appeared in the annual Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, published by Lexpert/American Lawyer. He is rated as a "Leading Lawyer" in labour and employment benefits by Practical Law Company's Which Lawyer? Yearbook. He is also on the list of pre-eminent Canadian lawyers identified by the editors Chambers Global 2010: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business. Mr. Bonhomme is also recognized as a leading lawyer in the areas of labour and employment law in the 2010 edition of Woodward/White's The Best Lawyers in Canada. Mr. Bonhomme has been awarded Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating ("AV") for his skills and ethics.

Presentation

Aart Hendriks

Aart Hendriks is Professor of Health Law at Leiden University/Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC), substitute judge at the District Court of Rotterdam, Member of the Group of specialists on predictivity, genetic testing and insurance of the Council of Europe, advisor to the Dutch Minister of Health on patients' rights, Board Member of various national and international non-governmental organisations (NGO's) working in the field of health, disability and human rights law, and editor of several academic journals. He obtained his Ph.D.-degree from Amsterdam University on a dissertation concerning the right of persons with disabilities to equal access in the employment market.

Hendriks has written extensively on such issues as human rights, minority rights, patients' rights and non-discrimination law. He lectures at such institutes as the European Law Academy (Trier, Germany), the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human and Humanitarian Rights Law (Lund, Sweden) and Copenhagen University/the Danish Institute for Huam Rights, and regularly serves as advisor to such organisations as the Commission of the EU, the Council of Europe, the International Labour Organisation and the European Disability Forum.

Presentation

Trudo Lemmens

Trudo Lemmens is Associate Professor in the Faculties of Law and Medicine of the University of Toronto. He is a member of the University of Toronto's Joint Centre for Bioethics and of the Centre for Ethics. After law studies at the K.U.Leuven in Belgium, Professor Lemmens obtained Master's and Doctoral degrees at McGill University (LLM bioethics, DCL). He has been a member of the School of Social Science of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, a visiting fellow of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, and a visiting professor at the K.U.Leuven and the University of Otago. He is also an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. Trudo Lemmens is currently a member of the World Health Organization Expert Advisory Panel on Clinical Practice Guidelines and Research Methods and Ethics and of the Advisory Committee on Health Research of the Pan American Health Organization, as well as a member of the Advisory Committee on Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. He also has been consulted by various other international and Canadian governmental agencies. His publications include the co-authored book Reading the Future? Legal and Ethical Challenges of Predictive Genetic Testing (Themis, 2007) and the co-edited volume Law and Ethics in Biomedical Research: Regulation, Conflict of Interest, and Liability (University of Toronto Press, 2006) as well as numerous chapters and articles in national and international law, policy, science, medicine and bioethics journals.

Presentation

Angus MacDonald

Angus Macdonald was brought up in Falkirk, Scotland, and graduated in Mathematics from Glasgow University in 1981. He joined Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society, working in Glasgow and Stirling and qualifying as a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries in 1984. In 1989 he became a Lecturer in the Department of Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, obtaining a PhD (on modeling life insurers' solvency) in 1995 and becoming Senior Lecturer in 1996, Professor in 2000 and Head of Department in 2007. He served on Council of the Faculty of Actuaries from 1998 to 2007. Since 1996 his main research interest has been in genetics and insurance. He set up the Genetics and Insurance Research Centre (GIRC) in 1999, with substantial funding from the Association of British Insurers, and since then GIRC has produced most of the quantitative research on this subject in the actuarial literature (see www.ma.hw.ac.uk/ams/girc/publications.php). Two papers (on breast/ovarian cancer and insurance) won the David Garrick Halmstad prize in 2005. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2006.

Presentation

Errol Mendes

Professor Mendes is a lawyer, author, professor and has been an advisor to corporations, governments, civil society groups and the United Nations where he assisted in the development of the UN Global Compact. He has acted as a human rights Tribunal and Boards of Inquiry adjudicator in Canada, acted as an international arbitrator on several occasions, served in the highest levels of the Canadian federal public service and most recently served as a Visiting Professional at the International Criminal Court. He was recently appointed as a Commissioner on the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Professor Mendes is a lawyer, author, professor and has been an advisor to corporations, governments, civil society groups and the United Nations where he assisted in the development of the UN Global Compact. He has acted as a human rights Tribunal and Boards of Inquiry adjudicator in Canada, acted as an international arbitrator on several occasions, served in the highest levels of the Canadian federal public service and most recently served as a Visiting Professional at the International Criminal Court. He was recently appointed as a Commissioner on the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

He has been a Project Leader for conflict resolution, governance and justice projects in China, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, El Salvador, Sri Lanka and India. He has lectured and given media commentaries in his areas of expertise across Canada and the world and has lectured on these topics in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

He is the author, co-author or editor of six books in his area of expertise and is working on his seventh titled "The Court of Last Resort; Peace and Justice at the International Criminal Court." to be published next year.

Born in Kenya, East Africa, Professor Mendes obtained his Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Exeter, England, where he ranked first in his graduating class. He obtained his Master of Laws degree from the University of Illinois in the United States. He became a Barrister and Solicitor in Ontario, Canada in 1986.

Presentation
Podcast

Eric Meslin

Dr. Eric Meslin is Founding Director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics, Associate Dean for Bioethics and Professor of Medicine, Medical and Molecular Genetics, Public Health and Philosophy.

He came to Indiana University in July 2001 from the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC), where he had been Executive Director since 1998. NBAC was appointed by President Bill Clinton to advise the White House and the federal government on a range of bioethics issues including cloning, stem cell research, international clinical trials, and genetics studies. Prior to his work at NBAC, Meslin was Program Director in the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) program at the National Human Genome Research Institute.

A Canadian by birth, Dr. Meslin received his B.A. in Philosophy from York University in Toronto, and both his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Bioethics Program in Philosophy at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. He has held academic positions at the University of Toronto (1988-96) and at Oxford University (1994-95) and in addition to his Indiana University appointments, is also Visiting Professor-at-Large at the University of Western Australia.

He has more than 100 publications on topics ranging from international health research to science policy, including Belmont Revisited: Ethical Principles for Research with Human Subjects (2005) co-edited with James F. Childress and Harold T. Shapiro. He has been a consultant to the World Health Organization, the US Observer Mission to UNESCO, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and sits on several boards and committees including the Stem Cell Oversight Committee of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization, Indiana Public Umbilical Cord Blood Bank (Appointed by Governor Mitch Daniels), and the Board of Directors of Genome Canada. On May 9, 2007 he was appointed a Chevalier de L'Ordre Nationale du Mérite (Knight of the National Order of Merit) by the President of France.

Presentation

Karen Mosher

Karen Mosher was appointed on December 15, 2008 as Secretary General at the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Karen has a background in law, public policy and public sector management. Since joining the federal public service in 1989, she has worked with a number of departments including the Privy Council Office, Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Fisheries and Oceans.

In 1999, she was appointed Executive Director of the Medical Research Council (MRC). She led a transition for the staff and stakeholders of the MRC as that organization was transformed to take on an expanded and more strategic mandate as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), created in June 2000. She continued to serve as CIHR's Executive Director until 2002, when she joined the Treasury Board Secretariat as Executive Director, Leadership Development.

In 2005, she joined Citizenship Branch in Citizenship and Immigration Canada and was appointed as Director General of the newly created Citizenship Branch. This branch provides leadership on Citizenship policy and program design.

Karen is a Member of the Boards of the Elizabeth Bruyère and St. Vincent Hospitals, and the Alzheimer Society of Ottawa.

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Margaret Otlowski

Margaret Otlowski is Law Professor at the University of Tasmania and Deputy Director of the Centre for Law and Genetics. She has been admitted to practice as Barrister and Solicitor and works part-time in quasi-judicial roles, currently as member of the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. She has worked as consultant for key national bodies including the National Bioethics Consultative Committee, the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) (inquiry with the Australian Health Ethics Committee into the protection of human genetic information as well as its more recent privacy inquiry). She chaired the University of Tasmania's Human Research Ethics Committee, is a member of the Royal Hobart Hospital's Clinical Ethics Committee and the Federal Privacy Commissioner's ‘Health Leaders Forum.’ She has been involved as Chief Investigator on a number of Australian Research Council funded collaborative research projects investigating issues of regulation, privacy, consent and discrimination, including a recent biobanking project. She has recently been appointed to two of the NHMRC's Principal Committees as member in common: the Human Genetics Advisory Committee and the Australian Health Ethics Committee.

Presentation

Daryl Pullman

Daryl Pullman is Professor of Medical Ethics in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University where he holds cross appointments with the Department of Philosophy and the School of Nursing. He serves as well as a clinical ethics consultant for Eastern Health. Daryl is a member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Stem Cell Oversight Committee, and is co-Chair of the CIHR Ethics Advisory Committee for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. He is currently the GE³LS lead for the Atlantic Medical Genetics and Genomics Initiative, a large Genome Canada funded project in Atlantic Canada. Other current research includes genetics and privacy, research governance, and the normative role for human dignity as it relates to public policy on reproductive choice. He has published widely on a variety of issues in research and clinical ethics.

Presentation

Peter Ray

Dr. Peter N. Ray is a Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto and Head of Molecular Genetics, Lab Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children. He earned his PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto for his work on the regulation of gene expression in the bacteriophage lambda. After completing post-doctoral training at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California Dr Ray returned to Toronto and joined the Department of Medical Genetics where he began the study of human genetics. He moved to the Department of Genetics at the Hospital for Sick Children in 1980 and began work on Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in collaboration with Dr. Ronald Worton. This work resulted in the discovery, of the gene responsible for this common, lethal genetic disorder. In 1987 Dr. Ray established the molecular genetics diagnostic laboratory at the Hospital for Sick Children to provide carrier testing and prenatal diagnosis for families with DMD and cystic fibrosis. The laboratory has rapidly expanded and is now the largest in Canada offering genetic testing for a wide variety of genetic disorders to families across Canada and the US. The laboratory has developed several of the molecular diagnostic tests that are used by diagnostic laboratories in North America.

Dr. Ray is a senior scientist in the Research Institute at the Hospital for Sick Children and a scientific director of The Centre for Applied Genomics. He has published extensively in the areas of molecular genetics and molecular diagnosis.

Dr. Ray is a Fellow of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists, a Founding Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics and a Founding member of the National Laboratory Network for Rare Disease Testing. Dr Ray is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Ontario Genetics Secretariat, serving in an advisory role to the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

Presentation

Paul Schulte

Paul A. Schulte, Ph.D., Director of the Education and Information Division and Manager of the Nanotechnology Research Center, is an epidemiologist with interests in quantitative risk assessment, health communication, and use of biological markers in epidemiologic research, intervention research, and genetics. Dr. Schulte has conducted extensive research on occupational cancer and the role of genetics in occupational safety and health. He is the editor of the textbook entitled, "Molecular Epidemiology: Principles and Practices." He has served as guest editor of the Journal of Occupational Medicine and the American Journal of Industrial Medicine and was on the initial editorial board of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. He has served as a consultant to various organizations such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Academy of Sciences, the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the Department of Energy.

Presentation

Jo Anne Watton

Jo Anne Watton has been the Director of Individual and Family Service with the Huntington Society of Canada since 2007. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Business) from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and a Masters degree in Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University in Community Development and Social Policy. Jo Anne has worked in various aspects of health care including government, not-for-profit, for-profit and research. She has spent much of her career supporting people living with a variety of disabilities, in her national role with the Huntington Society of Canada, she provides leadership to 23 Social Workers, advocates for improved services and supports for people living with HD, promotes education and resource development.

Since 2008, Jo Anne has been active in advocating for the development of genetics non-discrimination legislation in Canada. She has represented the Huntington Society of Canada as one of the founding members of both the Canadian Coalition for Genetic Fairness and the Neurological Health Charities Canada. She has been effectively working to raise the importance of genetic discrimination and neurological diseases with the Federal government and community at large.

Presentation

Gregor Wolbring

Dr. Wolbring, PhD, holds a diploma in Biochemistry from the University Tubingen, Germany. He performed his diploma thesis at the University College London, UK. He did his PhD biochemistry thesis at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt a.M. and the University of Frankfurt a.M. Germany under the supervision of Prof. Hartmut Michel (Nobel Laureate), Germany. He was an externally funded biochemistry research associate at the University of Calgary from 1992-2008 with the last 12 years the focus being the mechanism of thalidomide and thalidomide derivatives. Since Aug 2008 he is an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary. He is an Affiliated Scholar, Center for Nanotechnology and Society at Arizona State University, USA; Part Time Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa Canada and Adjunct Faculty Critical Disability Studies York University, Canada. He is among others President elect of the Canadian Disability Studies Association; Chair of the Bioethics Taskforce of Disabled People's International; Member Review Board of the journal Review in Disability Studies; Member International Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Studies in Ethics, Law and Technology; Member Editorial Review Board of the International Journal of Nanotechnology and Molecular Computation (IJNMC). He is the GE³LS leader of the Genome Canada grant "Metagenomics for Greener Production and Extraction of Hydrocarbon Energy: Creating Opportunities for Enhanced Recovery with Reduced Environmental Impact", where the GE³LS component of this project will explore public conceptions around energy and investigate issues linked to this project in the areas of; a) metagenomics, b) water use, c) greenhouse gas emissions, d) bioremediation and e) manipulation of microorganisms to enhance hydrocarbon recovery and f) regulatory issues pertinent to the project. He also holds a SSHRC grant with Prof. Ian Kerr University of Ottawa, "Building Better Humans? Health, Enhancements and Human Rights." He contributed to the Intellectual Muscles podcast series, which was developed by Vancouver 2010 (organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics) and the University of British Columbia, in collaboration with universities across Canada and The Globe and Mail with the Title "Who will be the future Olympic and Paralympic Athlete Subtitle Advances in science and technology, bodily assistive devices and the future face and purpose of Sport.

His article list: http://www.bioethicsanddisability.org/articles.htm

Frank Zinatelli

Frank Zinatelli is the Vice President, Legal Services, and Associate General Counsel, of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc.

Mr. Zinatelli obtained an Honours Bachelor of Arts, in Economics and Political Science, from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1976. He then received his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario in 1979 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1981.

Following a number of years in private practice, Mr. Zinatelli became involved in the area of financial services: first, with a consulting firm; then with a trade association representing consumer loan and sales finance companies; and at present, with the CLHIA, the Canadian trade association for life and health insurance companies. His practice focuses on financial services regulation.

Presentation

Patricia Kosseim

Patricia has joined Genome Canada on a two-year Executive Interchange arrangement to lead a national strategy for addressing ethical, economic, environmental, legal and social (GE³LS) issues related to large-scale genomics research. She joins Genome Canada from her home institution, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), where she has held the position of General Counsel since January 2005, responsible for the activities of the Legal Services, Policy and Parliamentary Affairs Branch.

Before joining OPC, Patricia spent five years building and heading up the Ethics Office of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. During this period, she was briefly seconded to Canada Health Infoway Inc. to advise on privacy issues related to the development of pan-Canadian electronic health record systems.

Patricia worked in Montreal for over six years with the national law firm of Heenan Blaikie, practicing primarily in the areas of health law, human rights, labor & employment law, privacy law, administrative law, professional liability and civil litigation.

Called to the Québec Bar in 1993, Patricia holds degrees in Business (B.Com '87) and Laws (B.C.L. / LL.B. '92) from McGill University, and a Master's Degree in Medical Law and Ethics (M.A.'94) from King's College, University of London (U.K.).

Presentation

Darren Platt

Darren Platt PhD, has spent his career working with the Human Genome. His dissertation work in Computer Science was on physical genome mapping after a poorly labeled Petri dish became the decisive factor in his decision to pursue the computational side of biology. He spent 2 years at the Sanger Institute working on the early Human Sequencing efforts developing image processing algorithms, joined Exelixis as a founding member of the Computational Biology group which built a 1.5 million line software suite for gene discovery and analysis over 7 years. He led a 65 person Bioinformatics team at the DOE's Joint Genome Institute where he developed novel methods for assembling DNA sequence from next generation sequencing technologies including a 38,000 year old Neanderthal. He worked with modern human DNA specimens at 23andMe where he was Senior Director of Research and is currently Director of Scientific Computing at Amyris Biotechnologies which develops next generation biofuels. He and 11 family members have looked at their genotype data through 23andMe.

Presentation

Edna Einsiedel

Edna Einsiedel is University Professor and Professor of Communication Studies in the Department of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary. Her research interests are on the social issues around genomics and biotechnology applications, including direct-to-consumer advertising of genetic tests. She has investigated approaches to public engagement and participation on these technologies and public representations of science and technology. She is currently co-leader on a GE³LS project (Genomics, Ethics, Economic, Environmental, Legal and Social studies) on Genomics and Knowledge Translation in Health Systems, supported by Genome Canada. She is also a co-Principal Investigator on a project funded by the Stem Cell Network on the "Stem Cell Research Environment: Drawing the Evidence and Experience Together". Her research has also been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. Her publications have appeared in diverse journals such as Science, Nature Biotechnology, Public Understanding of Science, Science Communication, and Science and Engineering Ethics. She served as editor from 2004-2009 for the international journal Public Understanding of Science published by Sage. She is also a member of the Board of Governors for the Council of Canadian Academies of Science.

Presentation

Nola Ries

Nola M. Ries, MPA, LLM, teaches with the Faculty of Law and School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, and is also a research associate with the Health Law Institute, University of Alberta. Nola also provides consulting services to clients in health, government, academic and not-for-profit sectors. Her research, teaching and consulting focuses on public health law, privacy law, research ethics, regulation of new health technologies, and legal aspects of health system reform. She has authored over 50 articles, book chapters and major reports and is co-editor of Public Health Law and Policy in Canada. Nola is a member of the Bar of British Columbia and has practiced in areas of constitutional, administrative and human rights law.

Presentation

David Fewer

David Fewer joined the Faculty as Legal Counsel to the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, Canada's only technology law clinic, in November, 2004. Since 1997, Mr. Fewer has practised intellectual property and technology law, first with national law firms and, since 2003, with his own firm, Fewer & Company. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Fewer completed an LL.M. at the University of Toronto, where he wrote on intellectual property policy and the application of the Charter to copyright law. Mr. Fewer also clerked with the Federal Court of Canada, where he had the opportunity to work with a number of judges at both the Court of Appeal and Trial Division on intellectual property and related matters. He has taught and written extensively on intellectual property and technology law issues.

Mr. Fewer leads advocacy on intellectual property-related matters at CIPPIC and is now the Director of the clinic. Mr. Fewer's work at CIPPIC focuses on training students in effective advocacy, producing relevant online resources, and articulating a public interest perspective in government policy development and law-making processes.

Presentation

Chris MacDonald

Chris MacDonald teaches in the Philosophy Department at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Duke University's Kenan Institute for Ethics. He has held visiting appointments at Duke University, the University of Toronto, the Keck Graduate Institute, and the University of Montreal. He has published widely in both scholarly journals and trade publications. His scholarly articles range across the fields of business ethics, bioethics, professional ethics, the ethics of technology, and theoretical moral philosophy. His recent research has been on such topics as the labelling of genetically modified foods, conflict of interest, greenwashing, and corporate moral motivation. MacDonald is the author of a forthcoming book, entitled Biotech Ethics: Responsible Commerce in Cutting-Edge Science. His research has been supported by major grants from both the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He is a Past President of the Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics. For over four years now he has also been sole author of The Business Ethics Blog, work that has earned him a place on Ethisphere Magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics" for both 2008 and 2009.

Presentation

June Carroll

Dr. June C. Carroll holds the Sydney G. Frankfort Chair in Family Medicine and is an Associate Professor and Research Scholar in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at University of Toronto. She is a family physician member of the Mount Sinai Academic Family Health Team and practices in the Granovsky Gluskin Family Medicine Centre in the Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Her research interests lie in primary care genetics, maternity care and new models of primary care delivery, with a particular focus on the integration of new genetics discoveries into primary care. She is involved in studies designing and evaluating educational tools for primary care providers and the public on topics related to genetic predisposition to common diseases as well as prenatal and newborn screening for genetic disorders. She is also exploring new ways of delivering genetic services in primary care. Dr. Carroll is a member of the Ontario Clinical Advisory Committee on Colorectal Cancer Screening and the Ontario Provincial Prenatal Screening Sub-Committee.

Presentation

Christina Honeywell

Christina Honeywell is a Genetic Counsellor with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa. She was the President of the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors (CAGC) from 2007-2008 and currently serves as a Past President on the CAGC Board of Directors. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Ottawa, and an Associate Investigator with the CHEO Research Institute. Ms. Honeywell has an interest in Cardiogenetics and developed the emerging field of cardiac genetic counselling both in Canada and abroad through research, health service development, and educational initiatives.

Ms. Honeywell received her Master of Science in Genetic Counselling from the University of Toronto, Bachelor degrees in Biology and Psychology from Queen's University at Kingston, and is certified by the CAGC. In 2005, she spent a year as a Genetic Counsellor and Researcher at the University of Oxford with the Oxford Genetics Knowledge Park.

Presentation

Carman Baggaley

Carman is a Senior Policy and Research Analyst with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada where he provides strategic policy advice on domestic and international privacy issues.

Prior to joining the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in 2000, Carman spent almost ten years with PricewaterhouseCoopers as a management consultant. One of his assignments while with PricewaterhouseCoopers involved working with a multi-stakeholder committee to draft the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information. The Model Code now forms the basis for the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

Presentation

Mohamed Karmali

Mohamed Karmali is Director-General of the Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses and the Office of Biotechnology, Genomics, and Population Health (OBGPH) in the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). He is also Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health University of Toronto.

Scientific endeavours at OBGPH include (a) research to identify biomarkers for the early detection of disease or disease risk in type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases, (b) investigation of genetic and environmental risk factors for adverse outcomes of selected infectious diseases such as influenza and tuberculosis, (c) role of vitamin D and other micronutrients in mitigating severe manifestations of both infectious and chronic disease, (d) utility of the family history tool in assessing genetic and environmental influences on health outcomes, and (e) exploring the impact on public health practice of developments in personalized medicine and direct-to-consumer marketing of genetic tests.

Presentation

Irit Weiser

Irit Weiser is currently Senior General Counsel and Head of Legal Services at Health Canada. She has worked with the Department of Justice since 1985 and from 1998-2003 was General Counsel and Director of the Human Rights Law Section. She obtained an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School following which she worked with the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in New York. She has also taught International Human Rights at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa and written various articles on this subject, as well as on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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Brent Homan

Brent Homan is currently an Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Competition for the Fair Business Practices Branch of the Competition Bureau. Mr. Homan joined the Bureau in 1999 with the Mergers Branch, taking a senior position with the Fair Business Practices Branch in 2002 to lead misleading advertising investigations in the areas of price representations, E-Commerce and Health Fraud. Mr. Homan spearheaded Project FairWeb, an award winning enforcement program aimed at combatting misleading representations found on the Internet. In the area of price representations, Mr. Homan oversaw inquiries into the practices of Suzy Shier and Forzani, which resulted in consensual resolutions with both companies. In the area of health, in addition to developing and overseeing the Health Fraud program, Mr. Homan led the Tobacco Inquiry into the use of Light and Mild descriptors, achieving a resolution that resulted in the removal of Light and Mild descriptors from cigarette packaging across Canada.

In 2007 Mr. Homan assumed the position of Assistant Deputy Commissioner for the Prairie and Northern Region where he was responsible for various initiatives including: the Bureau's Multi-Level Marketing and Scheme of Pyramid Selling program, and the development of the "Fraud Awareness for Commercial Targets" (FACT) Outreach Campaign. In July of 2009 Mr. Homan assumed a position in Ottawa as the Assistant Deputy Commissioner partially responsible for the Competition Bureau's Misleading Advertising Program. Mr. Homan holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Political Science from Carleton University, and a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Ottawa.

Presentation

Pascal Borry

Pascal Borry, PhD, is post-doctoral research fellow at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, Faculty of Medicine, K.U.Leuven (Belgium). His research interests are in the areas of the ethical, legal and social aspects of genetics and genomics. His main publications focus on genetic testing and screening relevant to newborn, children, and adolescents; biobanking; direct-to-consumer genetic testing; and the relation between empirical and normative approaches in bioethics. He worked in the ethics unit of the E.U.-funded Network of Excellence Eurogentest and was workpackage leader in the research project Genebanc (Genetic bio and dataBanking: Confidentiality and protection of data. Towards a European harmonisation and policy). He acts as the programme coordinator of the Erasmus Mundus Master of Bioethics. Since 2009 has been a member of the Professional and Public Policy Committee of the European Society of Human Genetics. In 2006, Pascal Borry received the triennal prize for biomedical ethics 'Professor Roger Borghgraef'. He has been a visiting scholar at the Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio, US), Université de Montreal and McGill University and is collaborating with the VU Amsterdam.

Presentation

Heidi Carmen Howard

Dr. Heidi Carmen Howard received her undergraduate and doctoral degrees in Biology from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) where she trained with Dr. Kurt Sittmann and Dr. Guy Rouleau respectively. The focus of her Ph.D. was neurogenetics and it culminated in the cloning of the gene for ACCPN. As a CIHR and Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellow she then continued her training in psychiatric genetics at the Centre for Genomic Regulation with Dr. Xavier Estivill (Barcelona, Spain) and at the Douglas Hospital with Drs. Ridha Joober and Howard Steiger (Montreal, Canada). With an Erasmus Mundus fellowship, she completed the Erasmus Mundus Master of Bioethics programme in 2008. Presently, as the recipient of a Marie Curie award (2009-2011) she is pursuing her training as a postdoctoral fellow in bioethics with Drs. Herman Nys and Pascal Borry at the K.U.Leuven (Leuven, Belgium). Her main areas of interest are direct-to-consumer genetic testing services, public health genomics, genomic medicine, and genetics education.

Presentation

Sarah Botha

Sarah Botha is a staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Advertising Practices within the Bureau of Consumer Protection, where she focuses on enforcing laws and developing policy related to the advertising of food, drugs, dietary supplements, and other consumer products. Ms. Botha contributed to the FTC's recent study entitled, "Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities, and Self-Regulation." Currently, she serves as an Ex Officio member of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society. Ms. Botha graduated from Columbia Law School in 2003. Prior to joining the FTC in 2006, Ms. Botha worked in private practice, focusing on issues related to the advertising of food and drugs, prescription drug approval and regulation, and consumer product safety.

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Podcast

Amy McGuire

Amy L. McGuire, J.D., Ph.D. is an associate professor of medicine and medical ethics and associate director of research with the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. She received her B.A. in psychology, summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, her J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Houston, and her Ph.D. in medical humanities from the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Dr. McGuire's research focuses on legal and ethical issues in genetics and genomics, with a particular interest in genetic research and personalized genomic medicine. She is currently studying participant attitudes toward broad data sharing in genome-wide association studies, ethical issues in human microbiome research, and consumer expectations regarding the clinical integration of direct-to-consumer personal genome testing services. Her research is funded by the NHGRI-ELSI program and the Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics.

Jennifer Stoddart

Jennifer Stoddart was appointed Canada's Privacy Commissioner by the Governor in Council, effective December 1, 2003, on unanimous resolutions adopted by both the House of Commons and the Senate, for a seven-year term.

Since taking on this role, Commissioner Stoddart has overseen a number of important investigations, including those concerning a massive data breach at U.S. retail giant TJX and one on the disclosure of Canadians' financial information to U.S. authorities by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The Commissioner also led efforts to help private sector organizations understand their obligations under the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in the first years after the legislation came into force. She is working to promote online privacy for young people through the Office's new website, www.youthprivacy.ca.

Given Canada's international trade patterns, Commissioner Stoddart has become involved in global privacy issues through her work with international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which are examining ways to protect and enhance privacy rights on a global scale. In 2007, she hosted the 29th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, which brought together some of the world's foremost data protection experts.

Commissioner Stoddart was previously President of the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec, an organization responsible for both access to information and the protection of personal information. She has held several senior positions in public administration for the Governments of Québec and Canada, including at the Canadian and the Québec Human Rights Commissions. Commissioner Stoddart has been active in the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, and has also lectured on history and legal sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal and McGill University. She is a member of the Québec Bar.

Presentation

Yann Joly

Yann Joly, Ph.D. (DCL) is a Lawyer and an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Human Genetics at McGill University, as well as an ethics and legal consultant in the private sector. He is the North American coordinator of the Association de recherche et de formation en droit medical (ARFDM) and the Data Access Officer of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC).

Yann Joly is also a member of the international editorial board of the Current Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine journal. His research activities lie at the interface of the fields of intellectual property, health law (biotechnology and other emerging health technologies) and bioethics. He is the co-author of a recent report for the WIPO entitled “Exclusions from Patentability and Exceptions and Limitations to Patentees’ Rights.

Presentation

Angus Livingstone

Angus Livingstone is Managing Director of the University-Industry Liaison Office (UILO) at The University of British Columbia (UBC). He is the President of the University's wholly owned subsidiary, UBC Research Enterprises Inc. and co-founder of the Alliance for the Commercialization of Canadian Technology. He is currently a member of the Association of University Technology Managers and the Licensing Executive Society.

Angus graduated from UBC with a B.Sc. in Computer Science in 1983. In 1988, he joined the UILO where he has held various positions relating to industry sponsored research and technology transfer. He has played critical roles in the creation of many Canadian technology transfer and commercialization initiatives including: Westlink Technology Commercialization Internship Program; B.C. Advantage Funds (VCC) Ltd.; Flintbox™; Aggregate Therapeutics and the IP Toolkit; The Centre for Drug Research and Development; and the Canada California Strategic Innovation Partnership – IP Protocol.

The UILO conducts the technology transfer and commercialization activities at UBC. UBC consistently ranks among the top ten North American universities for its patenting and commercialization activities. UBC currently has over 250 licenses with companies around the world and has actively supported the creation of over 140 spin-off companies.

Presentation

Edward S. Dove

Edward Dove is a Research Assistant at the Centre of Genomics and Policy (CGP) in Montreal. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) in Political Science and a Civil Law and Common Law degree (BCL/LL.B.) from McGill University. A dual U.S. and Canadian citizen, he has past work experience in law firms in Montreal and Toronto, as well as public policy think tanks in Washington, D. C. His primary research interests at the CGP are in the areas of bioethics, genetic privacy, and genomics public policy.

Presentation

Heather Davis

Dr. Davis serves as Executive Director, Vaccine Research Unit, as well as Site Head for Pfizer’s Ottawa location. Dr. Davis was a scientific co-founder of Coley (1996) and served as Managing Director of Canadian operations and Senior Vice President, Pharmacology R&D until Coley was acquired by Pfizer in 2008. She previously held academic positions at University of Ottawa (Professor) and McGill University, Montreal and carried out pioneer work with DNA vaccines and CpG adjuvants. Dr. Davis holds a PhD in Anatomy from the University of Western Ontario.

Presentation

Jeremy Hall

Jeremy Hall (D.Phil., University of Sussex) is a Professor at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. His research interests include innovation dynamics, the social impacts of innovation & entrepreneurship, sustainable supply chains and strategies for sustainable development innovation.

His recent work has been published in Energy Policy, Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice, Journal of Cleaner Production, International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Operations Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, Research Policy, Revista de Administração de Empresa (RAE), and Technological Forecasting & Social Change, with support from Genome Canada and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council among others.

Presentation

Denis J.Garand

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Associate professor at Université Laval (Québec City), Dr. Garand holds a Ph.D. from Metz U. (France, 1999) and M.Sc. from UQTR (1992). He has given since 1990 numerous lectures in academic and professional meetings, published peer-reviewed articles and research reports. Congress organizer, CCSBE President (2002-03), former AIREPME and ASAC board member, reviewer for various conferences and journals, he is Associate Editor at ‘Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship – JSBE” and “Revue internationale P.M.E.   RIPME”. His research interests include HRM in SMEs (highly-qualified personnel), entrepreneurial vision, intent and strategies, cross-campus entrepreneurship education and coaching in UK, in Western Europe and North-America. Since 2002, he has created and implemented the Entrepreneurial Profile at Laval U., giving undergraduates enrolled in 35 programs the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial competences and realistic project before they graduate. As an entrepreneur in the academia and an entrepreneur in the private sector, he always maintains strong ties with the entrepreneurial life of his students and research subjects. As visiting professor in 2010 at Queen’s University Belfast (Northern Ireland) and at Guadalajara (México), he is now sharing with several institutions his expertise in developing entrepreneurship among all disciplines. For the next three years, he will be leading an innovative pilot study funded by Genome Canada, Genome Québec and several institutional and private partners : Boosting Entrepreneurial Skills & Training : BEST in genomics!

Presentation

Glen E. Schuler

Glen Schuler has been the Managing Director of the University of Saskatchewan Industry Liaison Office since December 2008. His group is responsible for commercialization of the University of Saskatchewan researchers’ new technologies and ideas. In 2000 Glen joined the Economics Faculty and was the Director of the MBA program for the University of Tennessee. During this time he globalized the MBA program, reinitiated the entrepreneurship concentration and helped develop a relationship with the local incubator whereby teams of MBA students assisted scientists to commercialize new technologies. He also worked in private industry for 20 years with Tenneco and Columbia Natural Gas where he served in various senior-level positions. He also taught economics and has done energy-related research at the Universities of Houston and Tennessee. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin and Masters and PhD in economics from the University of Houston.

Anita Nador

Anita Nador is a partner at McCarthy Tetrault Law Firm.

She is involved in all areas of intellectual property law, life sciences regulatory matters with a focus on chemical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical areas, including patents, plant breeders’ rights, trade-marks, advertising, due diligence, strategic intellectual property, scientific and commercialization planning, regulatory approval, litigation, license agreements and other intellectual property-related transactions. Ms. Nador's clients include large international companies, and academic and research institutions, start-up companies and commercial investors and researchers. Before law school, she conducted research at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts and at Allelix Biopharmaceuticals in Mississauga, Ontario.

Ms. Nador is actively involved in several professional organizations. She is currently a director of the Toronto Biotechnology Initiative (TBI) and is co-chair of the Toronto chapter of the Licensing Executives Society. Ms. Nador also regularly speaks, teaches and writes on topics related to intellectual property and technology transfer issues.

Ms. Nador is listed in the 2011 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, a guide to the leading law firms and practitioners in Canada, as a leading lawyer in the area of biotechnology. Ms. Nador received her BA in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University and her LLB from the University of Toronto. She was called to the Ontario bar in 1995. Ms. Nador is a registered patent agent in Canada and the United States, and a registered Canadian trade-mark agent.

Presentation

David T. Dennis

David Dennis is President of “Crops for the Future Inc.”, a company he established for the promotion of plant biotechnology. He obtained both his BSc in botany and PhD in biophysics at Leeds University in the UK. After completing postdoctoral training at the National Research Council in Ottawa and at UCLA, he returned to the UK as a Scientist at Unilever Inc., in Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire. In 1968, he accepted a position of professor of plant science in the Biology Department of Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada. David’s research at Queen’s was on the biochemistry and molecular biology of plant enzymes. He demonstrated the presence of plastid and cytosolic isozymes of glycolytic enzymes and elucidated the importance their compartmentation and role in the control of plant metabolism. He served for eight years as Head of Biology at Queen's. In 1996, he co-founded a plant biotechnology company, Performance Plants, and served as President and CEO until 2008. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

David K. Lee

David Lee is the Director of the Office of Legislative and Regulatory Modernization, Health Canada.

The mandate of the Office of Legislative and Regulatory Modernization is to modernize the Canadian Food and Drugs Act and corresponding regulatory frameworks. The modernization of these regulatory tools will focus on food safety frameworks and the implementation of a life-cycle approach to the regulation of health products, including pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices.

Formerly, Mr. Lee was the Director of the Office of Patented Medicines and Liaison which administers the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations and provides liaison for Therapeutic Products Directorate litigation under the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations along with the Department of Justice. The scope of proceedings managed under the Food and Drug Regulations has included judicial reviews in the Federal Court of Canada, actions and class actions relating to drug injury and alleged regulatory negligence and coroner's inquiries.

Mr. Lee received his law degree at Queen's University at Kingston Ontario, and articled at the Federal Court of Canada. He worked in private practice until joining Health Canada in 1999. He has lectured extensively on intellectual property law and pharmaceuticals law both nationally and internationally.

Presentation

Eileen Raymond

Ms. Eileen Raymond is currently Director of Industrial Affairs at the National Research Council's Biotechnology Research Institute (NRC-BRI). Her major responsibilities include preparation of business plans and programs, technology transfer, marketing, intellectual property portfolio management and the organization of special events.

Ms. Raymond joined NRC-BRI in 1992 as manager in business development. Since 2000, she is involved in major strategic initiatives pertaining to the Institute. Before joining NRC-BRI, Ms. Raymond was active during many years in consultation as well as at Nalco Canada in the industrial field.

Ms. Raymond holds a Master Degree and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemical and Chemical Engineering from Université Laval. She further specialized in Technology Management and acquired hands-on experience at Pugh Roberts in Boston, USA.

Presentation

Maureen O’Connor-McCourt

Maureen O’Connor-McCourt is a Principal Research Officer and Group Leader at the National Research Council’s Biotechnology Research Institute in Montreal. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Biochemistry Department of McGill University. She has published over 90 papers and reviews, which have contributed to her reputation as an expert in the analysis of protein-protein interactions, and the development of inhibitors of growth factor receptors as candidate therapeutics. Over the past 12 years she has served as Scientific Leader of NRC's Genomics and Health Initiative Cancer Program. This program, which involves 10-12 research labs at 4 NRC institutes (located in Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax), has developed a strong track record in the area of identifying and developing new therapeutics (biologics) for the treatment of cancer, and of effectively managing related industrial interactions. She also represents the National Research Council at the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (CCRA) and acts as a member of the CCRA.

Presentation

Siddhartha Mookerjea

Siddhartha is a senior policy advisor at the Cabinet and Policy Advocacy Office in Ottawa with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).

Siddhartha is an economist by training with 20 years of experience working in various policy roles with ACOA, the Privy Council Office, the Department of Finance with the federal government and the Ministries of Energy and Environment, and Economic Development and Trade with the Ontario Government. His areas of expertise include science and technology policy (including innovation and commercialization policies), energy and environmental policies. Over the years, he has worked on several interesting and some not so interesting files. The highlights include: the deregulation and privatization of the Ontario electricity system, forecasting the economic implications of reducing GHG emissions, developing Canada's negotiating position on elements of the Kyoto protocol, providing policy advice on resolving the Marshall aboriginal fishery conflict, implementing a cod fishery moratorium and advocating for policies and programs to support the growth of an innovative economy in the Atlantic provinces.

Presentation

Andrew W. Torrance

Andrew Torrance joined the Kansas University Law faculty in 2005 and, in 2009, was named a Docking Faculty Scholar, a university-wide program to honour faculty members who have distinguished themselves in their early careers. He was also a 2009-10 Fellow in Law, Innovation and Growth at the Searle Center at Northwestern University Law School. In August of 2010, Torrance was invited by Google Inc. to give a TechTalk, “The Patent Game: Experiments in the Cathedral of Law,” now available in its entirety on the YouTube Google TechTalk channel.

He received his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University in 1997 and is a 2000 graduate of Harvard Law School. He earned his Bachelor of Science from Queen’s University in Canada. In 2003, he was named the Hrdy Visiting Professor of Conservation Biology at Harvard University and taught Biodiversity: Science, Policy, and Law at Harvard University from 1999 until his arrival at KU.

He practiced biotechnology patent law at Fish and Richardson PC, the world’s largest intellectual property law firm. He served as inhouse patent counsel at Inverness Medical Innovations, a global biotechnology company with headquarters in Boston, and helped start Stirling Medical Innovations, a cardiac diagnostics biotechnology company based in Scotland. He has presented his research across the United States, as well as in Canada, and across Europe. Several of his articles have been listed on SSRN (Social Science Research Network) Top Ten Lists. In the spring of 2009, Torrance was invited to present his research to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) at Headquarters in Paris.

Since 2007, Torrance has run Biolaw: Law at the Frontiers of Biology, an annual conference that gathers leading scholars at KU Law to present their insights on the latest developments in biolaw. His interests in biology have led to research expeditions in remote areas of the world. He has served as chairman of the Scientific and Creative Board of the Darwin Project, a major biodiversity institution planned for downtown Boston, is a member of the board of East Wind Power, and has assisted the BioBricks Foundation (BBF).

Torrance's research interests include intellectual property, patent law, innovation law, biotechnology, biolaw, food and drug law, biodiversity law, climate change law, and international environmental law. He teaches classes in intellectual property law, patent law, food and drug law, and biodiversity law.

Karine Morin

As Genome Canada‘s Director, National GE³LS Program, Karine Morin oversees activities related to the ethical, economic, environmental, legal and social (GE³LS) aspects of genomics research.

Prior to joining Genome Canada, Karine was a Senior Ethics Policy Advisor at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). She also conducted research on ethical, legal and social issues related to genomics at the University of Ottawa‘s Institute of Science, Society and Policy.

Karine worked in the US for several years as the Director of Ethics Policy at the American Medical Association, and previously as an Ethics and Health Policy Associate at the American College of Physicians. Before leaving Canada, she worked for the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada (Krever Commission).

Karine holds a Masters in Law (LLM) from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of McGill University School of Law, where she obtained a joint degree in civil (B.C.L.) and common law (LL.B).

Over the years, she has published widely in bioethics and law, and has taught as an adjunct at several universities in the US and Canada.

Anne-Christine Bonfils

Anne-Christine Bonfils is a research manager at the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) of Natural Resources Canada where she chaired (until 2008) the CFS Biotechnology Management Committee mandated to advise on strategic research directions. Her involvement in interdepartmental activities and her role in the preparation of documents for Cabinet and the Treasury Board of Canada contributed to the allocation to the CFS of an additional $34.2 million towards forest biotechnology research between 1998 and 2011.

Since November 2008, she has been on assignment with the National Research Council of Canada to coordinate the development of a renewed interdepartmental Genomics R&D Initiative involving eight federal science departments and agencies.

Before joining the CFS in 1997 as science advisor, she received a PhD in plant biotechnology in 1992 and then spent five years at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, where she participated in the development and early implementation of regulations related to the environmental assessment of plants with novel traits under the Seeds Act.

Kari Doerksen

Kari Doerksen is a Project Manager at Genome Prairie and is currently the manager of Value Addition through Genomics and GE³LS (VALGEN). VALGEN is a Genome Canada project which responds to the governance challenges and opportunities for genomics-based bioproducts and crops. In this role, Kari is responsible for all financial, operational, communications and human resource management and in the liaison between the project leaders and Genome Prairie. In addition, she supports strategic decision making as a member of the Science Management Executive Committee. Prior to joining the VALGEN team in 2009, Kari was fermentation scientist and project manager for eight years at a contract research and development (CRO) organization, where she worked with government and private sector clients to develop processes for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, veterinary biologics, biopesticides, biofuels and various other bioproducts. Kari has a M.Sc. in Applied Microbiology and is a certified Professional Project Manager (PMP).

Adrian Mota

Adrian Mota is the Manager of KT Initiatives at CIHR. He is responsible for all KT funding opportunities and initiatives. Adrian has been at CIHR since 2005, previously with the KT Branch as a KT Specialist responsible for the branch's IKT and MPD programs as well as leading the development of numerous KT Initiatives. Adrian has a BSc. in Biochemistry from the University of Ottawa.

Bruce G. Doern

Dr. Bruce Doern is the author of over 70 books and monographs and numerous other articles and studies on Canadian and comparative public policy and regulatory governance in areas such as food and health, biotechnology, science and innovation policy, government labs; environmental policy; energy policy; and consumer policy. He has recently completed a book (with Prof. Michael Prince) on Three Bio-Realms: Biotechnology and the Governance of Food, Health and Life in Canada (University of Toronto Press, in press).

He is presently the co-editor of How Ottawa Spends, the Carleton University School of Public Policy and Administration’s annual review of national priorities and fiscal policy (McGill-Queen’s University Press). He recently served as the CIBC Scholar-in-Residence at the Conference Board of Canada. He also served as Director of the Carleton Research Unit on Innovation, Science and Innovation (CRUISE) at Carleton University.

He is a consultant and advisor to numerous federal and provincial departments and to international bodies such as the OECD on innovation, science, regulatory and other governance issues. He was an advisor to the 2004 federal External Advisory Committee on Smart Regulation. As Emeritus Professor, he teaches global governance in the Politics Department at the University of Exeter in the UK and he is Distinguished Research Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University.

Dr. Peter W.B. Phillips

Dr. Peter Phillips is Professor of Public Policy in the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, Canada. He earned his Ph.D. in International Political Economy at the London School of Economics and practiced for 13 years as a professional economist and senior policy advisor in Canadian industry and government.

At the University of Saskatchewan he has held the Van Vliet Research Chair, created and held an NSERC-SSHRC Chair in Managing Technological Change, was a founding member and director of the virtual College of Biotechnology and was founding director of the graduate school of public policy. He has had visiting appointments at the LSE, the OECD, the European University Institute and the University of Western Australia, is associate editor of AgBioForum, a leading on-line journal, was a member of the NAFTA Chapter 13 expert panel on GM maize in Mexico and was a founding member of the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Agri-food Policy Institute, the Estey Centre for the Study of Trade, Law and the Economy, and Ag West Bio Inc., which operates a biotech venture fund. His current research focuses on governing transformative innovation, including regulation and policy, innovation systems, intellectual property management, trade policy and decision systems. He is co-lead and principal investigator of a $5.4 million Genome Canada project entitled Value Addition through Genomics and GE³LS (VALGEN) which runs 2009-13 and has been an applicant and investigator on more than 15 peer reviewed grants worth more than $150 million. He has been author or editor of eight books—his latest, Governing Transformative Technological Innovation: Who’s in charge? was published by Edward Elgar in 2007—and more than 70 journal articles and book chapters.

Kwasi A. Nyarko

Kwasi A. Nyarko is currently Regulatory Science Advisor, Office of Policy and International Collaboration, Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate, Health Canada. At Health Canada he has also worked with the Marketed Health Products Directorate with a unit responsible for post-market surveillance for biological products, including blood. Dr. Nyarko obtained his doctorate in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Kwasi has extensive experience in the development of science-based policies, guidance documents for industry, as well as development of national standards and regulations related to biologic and genetic therapies for human use. Dr. Nyarko is actively involved in the development of regulatory frameworks for a wide range of biological products regulated by BGTD such as the regulatory frameworks for vaccines, radiopharmaceuticals, pharmacogenomics, and plant molecular farming products. Dr. Nyarko has been involved in projects at the national and international levels and was instrumental in the development of the regulatory framework for subsequent entry biologics (biosimilars).

Erika van Neste

Innovation and Growth Policy Division
Strategic Policy Branch
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Vratislav Hadrava

Vratislav Hadrava obtained his MD diploma at Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic and PhD degree from Department of Medicine, Division of Experimental Medicine at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He completed his postgraduate research training at the Neurobiological Psychiatry Unit at Department of Psychiatry, McGill University. He has published articles in peer reviewed journals in the domain of hypertension, vascular smooth cell proliferation, mechanism of action of antidepressants and anxiolytics and clinical psychopharmacology.

Vratislav Hadrava initiated his career in pharmaceutical industry in 1995 at Pfizer Canada and has held positions of increasing responsibilities in areas of Medical Affairs, Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs. He is currently Director, Regulatory Affairs at Pfizer Canada.

Vratislav Hadrava collaborated in numerous projects with clinical researchers from academia and Pfizer international, mainly in the area of mental health disorders. He acquired broad experience in clinical development and commercialization of new medicines and has developed a particular interest in the regulatory and pharmacovigilance aspects of pharmaceutical medicine.

Over the last years he has participated in several initiatives such as Health Canada/CIHR sponsored National Placebo Working Committee (2002-2004), Expert Advisory Committee on the Vigilance of Health Products (2007-2009) and Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network Advisory Committee (2009-2010).