Strategic Science Fund: 2021 competition results

Elizabeth Cannon, OC, FRSC, FCAE, has led research at the forefront of global positioning systems (GPS) since 1984, commercializing technology to over 200 agencies worldwide. She is President Emerita and Professor Emerita of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary. Among her many appointments, Dr. Cannon has served on the Minister of Natural Resources' National Advisory Board on Earth Sciences and been president of the U.S. Institute of Navigation and a director on the board of the Canada Foundation for Innovation. She has also served as chair of Universities Canada and co-chair of the Business + Higher Education Roundtable. From 1997 to 2002, Dr. Cannon was the NSERC/Petro-Canada Chair for Women in Science and Engineering for the Prairie Region and worked to raise public awareness about science and engineering careers for women.

Dozie Amuzie, Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation-JLABS, Canada. Dr. Amuzie is responsible for external engagement, innovation sourcing, company onboarding, portfolio management, operational excellence, educational programming and P&L. He is an experienced comparative and translational pathologist and led teams that discovered and developed therapeutics across 10 diverse therapeutic modalities.  He earned a dual Ph.D. in Comparative Medicine and Integrative Toxicological Sciences at Michigan State University and also completed a residency in Veterinary Pathology. He received a D.V.M from University of Nigeria and is a Diplomate with American Board of Toxicology, as well as a Diplomate of American College of Veterinary Pathologists.

Micheline Bouchard is a professional engineer, recognized business leader and experienced corporate director. She served as Global Corporate Vice-President, Enterprise Services at Motorola head office in Chicago after serving as President & CEO of Motorola Canada in Toronto. In addition, Ms. Bouchard served as Vice President of Quebec Operations at Hewlett-Packard Canada after holding various Vice President positions at two International IT Consulting companies, DMR Group and CGI Group. She sat on several corporate boards including Telus, PSP Investment Board and on the board of Canada Foundation for Innovation. She is a former President and a founding leader of International Women's Forum of Canada. Ms. Bouchard holds a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering Physics and a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique, Montréal. She received numerous awards and honors in addition to five honorary doctorates from major Canadian universities. Ms. Bouchard is a Member of the Order of Canada and of the National Order of Quebec. She has been awarded the Grand Prix d'Excellence of the Order of Engineers of Quebec and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Canada's Most Powerful Women.

John Clarkson is the Senior Vice-President, Chief Operating Officer, Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) and is an Officer of the Ontario Brain Institute and Ontario Brain Institute Foundation. The Senior Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) leads the overall development and execution of operational strategies and plans for the organization. Mr. Clarkson holds overall Institute-level accountability for delivering operational results on a day-to-day basis and furthers integrated planning efforts across all core functions and business units, ensuring each function operates in an integrated service model and meets committed deliverables.  He is also the Corporate Secretary to the OBI and OBIF Board. Prior to joining OBI, he held executive positions for 23 years with the provincial government in Manitoba and in healthcare; including being the Deputy Minister of Finance and the Deputy Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines.  He has held many board and committee positions in public/private and not for profit organizations and is a founding Member of the Manitoba Technology Accelerator.

Dr. Imogen R. Coe is a professor of Chemistry and Biology at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and an affiliate scientist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. She is an active researcher and former academic leader, being the founding dean of the Faculty of Science at TMU. Dr. Coe is also an award-winning scholar-activist in Canada with respect to the integration of principles of inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA) into research cultures in science.

Mike DeGagné, PhD, is President of Indspire, a national Indigenous charity which recognizes Indigenous excellence through the annual Indspire Awards, and provides support to Indigenous post-secondary students. He has previously led Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, as well as the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. He is professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and Chair of the Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences. His research interests are in the areas of Indigenous reconciliation and governance. He is a member of Northwest Angle 37 First Nation in northwestern Ontario, and a recipient of the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada.

Nang Jingwas Russ Jones, M.Sc. P.Eng. (retired), is a hereditary chief of the Haida Nation and has worked in the field of fisheries and marine planning for the past 30 years. He has a science and fisheries background and coordinated development of the Haida Gwaii Marine Plan that was approved by the Haida Nation and the Province of British Columbia in April 2015. He is currently a Commissioner on the Pacific Salmon Commission.  He has written papers on a variety of topics including Haida marine planning, Haida ethics and values, First Nations and marine protected area policy, fisheries co-management, policy analysis of Pacific herring fisheries, and reconciliation of Indigenous ocean issues in Canada.

Yves Joanette is a Professor of Cognitive Neurosciences and Aging at the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal, as well as Laboratory Director at the Research Center of the Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal. He is currently Deputy Vice-Principal Research and Director of the Digital Health Consortium at Université de Montréal. He was until recently the Scientific Director of the Institute of Aging of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr Joanette played a major role in bringing Canada as a member of many international initiatives, including three European collaborative initiatives. He also contributed to the World Health Organization efforts, both in relation with the dementia global strategy, as well as the global efforts in healthy ageing. Dr Joanette is Member and former Chair of the World Dementia Council. He has received many distinctions, including the André-Dupont Award, and the Eve Kassirer Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement. His scientific production includes nearly 300 peer-reviewed articles, 150 books and chapters and more than 1,000 oral and poster presentations in meetings, including numerous invited lectures. Dr Joanette has supervised more than 120 PhD and Master students. Dr Joanette has been elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. The Université Lumière de Lyon (France) and the University of Ottawa (Canada) both presented him with an Honorary Doctorate.

Lee Lancashire, PhD, has over 20 years of experience in machine learning and statistics. His early career focused on developing many of the first applications of neural networks to large scale healthcare datasets. Prior to his current role leading as Chief Data and AI Officer at Cohen Veterans Bioscience, where he leads the department of data science, Dr Lancashire established and led the machine learning and statistical data analysis team within the IP&Science business of Thomson Reuters and held global responsibility for managing and delivering analytical projects to top 10 pharmaceutical companies, government, academic and non-profit organizations. These projects focused on utilizing advanced machine learning approaches in the molecular profiling of disease for biomarker discovery, patient stratification and drug target identification.

Megan Leslie is President & CEO of World Wildlife Fund-Canada. Before assuming this role, Ms. Leslie was WWF-Canada's Vice-President, Oceans. Prior to that, she was a Member of Parliament representing Halifax for two terms during which she was deputy leader of the Official Opposition and vice-chair of the government committee on environment and sustainable development. Ms. Leslie is the proud recipient of an Honourary Degree from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax and is a Senior Policy Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

Mina Mawani has more than 15 years of leadership experience in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Currently, Ms. Mawani is the CEO of Dixon Hall, a multi-service agency that serves more than 10,000 people annually, impacting the lives of the most vulnerable and at-risk members of the community. With a strong background in governance, stakeholder relations and fundraising, Ms. Mawani has served as the President and CEO of Crohn's and Colitis Canada, The Canadian Women's Foundation and as CEO of the Aga Khan Council for Canada. She is also adjunct Faculty at the Schulich School of Business. Previously, she held key roles at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ms. Mawani has served on several non-profit boards, including Women's College Hospital, Seneca College and Pine River Institute. She is currently a member of the ICD GTA Chapter Executive and the LCBO Board. In recognition of her remarkable achievements, Ms. Mawani was named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2019 by the Women's Executive Network (WXN). She also received the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award and the ICCC Humanitarian of the Year Award. Ms. Mawani was also selected as a Diversity 50 Member in 2018 by the Canadian Board Diversity Council.

Paula Mendonça is the director of innovation and entrepreneurship at Memorial University. She leads Memorial's Research Innovation Office and is responsible for facilitating and supporting the university's strategic and long-term approach to advancing innovation and entrepreneurship activities across its campuses. Originally from Lisbon, Portugal, Dr. Mendonça has been in Newfoundland and Labrador since 2002 where she completed a Ph.D. in Biology from Memorial. She has been working in intellectual property and research commercialization for more than a decade. In 2022, she was one of the recipients of the Most Inspiring Immigrants of Atlantic Canada award by My East Coast Experience.

Natalia Mishagina is a research director at the Institute for Research on Public Policy. Her work merges research and public policy to improve workforce resilience in the face of ongoing economic, social and technological transformations. She holds a PhD in economics from Queen's University.

David Newhouse is Onondaga from the Six Nations of the Grand River community near Brantford, Ontario. He is a Professor of Indigenous Studies and Chair since 1993 of the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies and was the first Principal of the new Peter Gzowski College at Trent University. Professor Newhouse is Co-Chair of the Trent Indigenous Education Council. In 2016, he received the Trent Award for Education Leadership and Innovation and in 2022 a 3M National Teaching Fellowship. His research interests focus on the emergence of modern Indigenous society. He is the founding editor of the CANDO Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development the first peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to Aboriginal economic development issues and a founding editorial board member of aboriginal policy studies, an academic journal focussing on urban Aboriginal issues. He served from 2005 to 2022 as the Science Officer for the Aboriginal Peoples Health research adjudication committee for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He is currently National Director for the SSHRC 'Urban Aboriginal Research Network' project and was the Ontario lead for a 5-year CIHR research project entitled the Poverty Action Research Project on Aboriginal health, economic development and poverty with the Eabametoong First Nation and the Assembly of First Nations.

Proudly Franco-Albertan, Mr. Odenigbo is passionate about the ways in which the environment impacts human health and the role of justice in our understanding of how our societies function. As a result of this passion, he is very active in changemaking spaces in both Canada and at an international scale. His educational background centres the domains of environment science, chemistry, public health and medical geography. In his work as one of the founding directors of Future Ancestors Services, he focuses on environmental and climate justice, and outside of this work, he is involved in several boards, committees, conferences and movements to reimagine and recreate societal structures and systems for the well-being of all of our kin, human and non-human.

Krista Outhwaite has held senior positions within the ranks of the public service of Canada, most recently the President of the Public Health Agency of Canada, where she worked to advance Canada's domestic and international public health priorities with provinces and territories and with the World Health Organization. Prior to her time with the Public Health Agency, Ms. Outhwaite was an Assistant Secretary to the Operations Committee of Cabinet, Privy Council Office, and an Assistant Deputy Minister with responsibilities for international trade at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Her experience in government included policy, regulatory and trade files in public health, agriculture, food safety and fisheries. She received Government of Canada Public Service awards in policy and program delivery, and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal.

Baljit Singh is a highly accomplished researcher, educator and administrator in the field of veterinary medicine, with specific expertise in lung biology and anatomy. He began his role as Vice-President Research at the University of Saskatchewan in 2021, after serving as Dean of the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (2016 – 2020), and as Associate Dean of Research at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan (2010 – 2016).  Dr. Singh's formal education includes a Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry (BVSc and AH) and Master of Veterinary Science (MVSc) from Punjab Agricultural University in Punjab; a PhD from the University of Guelph; post-doctoral training at Texas A&M University and Columbia University, New York.  Dr. Singh's research has focused on cell and molecular biology of lung inflammation. He is the author or co-author of more than 135 peer-reviewed journal articles and books including the Textbook of Veterinary Anatomy (Elsevier), and has supervised the research training of more than 100 undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students. Dr. Singh has received the 3M National Teaching Fellowship, University of Saskatchewan Master Teacher Award, and the Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teacher Award. He is a fellow of the American Association of Anatomists and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Gisèle Yasmeen was appointed Associate Vice-President, International at University of Ottawa on February 2nd, 2023.  She was previously Senior Fellow at the University of British Columbia's School of Public Policy and Global Affairs' Institute of Asian Research since fall 2014. Her expertise is on food-systems in Asia, on which she has published and consulted widely both domestically and internationally since the early 1990s. Dr. Yasmeen is also the former Executive Director of Food Secure Canada – a pan-Canadian bilingual organization with policy influence. In addition, she is a former senior federal government executive – most notably seven years as Vice-President of Research and Partnerships at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council – and has advised numerous Canadian and international clients and has served, and continues to serve, on numerous boards of directors. Dr. Yasmeen provides regular media commentary in English and French and has studied Spanish, Thai, Urdu and Mandarin. She has a Ph.D. from UBC, a master's from McGill and a BA Honours from the University of Ottawa.

Shawna Young is a passionate educator and the former Executive Director of Scratch, the world's largest and most diverse coding community for kids, where she guided the organization through a period of organizational change and leading efforts to increase its reach to diverse learners who have been excluded from creative computing. Before joining Scratch, she served as the Executive Director of the Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP). At Duke TIP, she directed one of the largest academic talent searches, with over 450,000 K-12 students and over 3 million alumni. Prior to Duke TIP, Ms. Young spearheaded the expansion of the Office of Engineering Outreach Programs (OEOP) at MIT, serving as the executive director for eight years.