Executive Committee

Jacques Gagné

 

Chairman (interim) and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Montréal In-Vivo, Dr. Jacques Gagné is President of the Quebec Biotechnology Innovation Centre (QBIC) and President of Prix Galien Canada.

 

Dr. Gagné is also a Founding Director General of the Institute for Research in Industrial Pharmacy (IRPI) and Chairman of the scientific committee of the Fête champêtre de la Fondation Armand-Frappier.

 

Dr. Gagné has enjoyed a long and distinguished career, first as a Director and Vice President of the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, then as Chairman of the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy and of the Association of Deans of Pharmacy.  He has been Secretary-Treasurer of PharmaVision Québec and a Consultant to the Québec Ministry of Health and Social Services.  Dr. Gagné was the founding Executive Director of the Frosst Health Care Foundation and Chairman of the Board of Pharmagène.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of Warnex Inc.

 

Dr. Gagné earned a B.Sc. in Pharmacy, then an M.Sc. in Pharmacology at the Université de Montréal.  He completed his Ph.D. in Pharmacology in the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal. He later became a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of California in San Francisco.  Returning to Montreal, Dr. Gagné was Associate Professor then Vice Dean and Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Université de Montréal.

 

He is an active member of numerous professional and scientific organizations, has organized many conferences worldwide, and is a consultant to public and private companies, notably in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.

 

 

 

Yves Cornellier

 

Mr. Cornellier is a seasoned management professional with more than 30 years experience in the healthcare industry and has extensive experience negotiating licensing and collaborationagreements with large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and institutions.

 

Mr.Cornellier currently holds the position of President & CEO at Alethia Biotherapeutics Inc. since July 2005, a biotech company involved in the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of certain types of cancers. Prior to joining Alethia, he held the position of Senior Vice President, Business Development at LAB International Inc. subsequent to the acquisition of Seyvika Pharmaceuticals in October 2003, a biotech company founded by
himself.

 

During his career, he also had the opportunity to hold the positions of Vice-President,Business Development and Commercialization at Theratechnologies , the position of Director of Business Development and Senior Marketing Manager, Pharmaceuticals Product Division, at Abbott Laboratories Ltd., as well as the pleasure of working for Glaxo Canada and Miles Laboratories Canada (Bayer Diagnostic division) in management positions of increasing responsibility including sales management, marketing, business unit management and strategic development.

 

Mr. Cornellier is a member of the Board of Directors of Montreal In-Vivo, the life sciences and healthcare technologies cluster of Metropolitan Montreal and also acts as a business
advisor for several privately held biotechnology companies.

 

 

Martin Leblanc

 

President and CEO, Caprion Proteomics Inc.

 

A co-founder of Caprion, Martin led the development of Caprion’s leading proteomics technology and of its profitable and rapidly growing service business in the field of drug discovery and personalized medicine, by building successful customer relationships and strategic alliances with over 30 major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as with leading government agencies and academic institutions.

 

Prior to Caprion, Martin began his professional career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He then initiated his career as a biotech entrepreneur at Advanced Bioconcept, initially as Vice-President of Sales & Marketing and then as General Manager following the company’s acquisition by NEN Life Sciences (now part of Perkin-Elmer).

 

Martin is currently a member of the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and of the Board of Directors of Victhom Human Bionics (TSX: VHB), Soricimed BioPharma, Montreal In-Vivo and the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute.

 

Martin earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Moncton prior to completing an M.A. in Economics and Politics at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

 

 

 

Vassilios Papadopoulos

 

Director of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Associate Executive Director for Research at the MUHC, Dr. Vassilios Papadopoulos oversees one of Canada’s largest research centres.  He is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill and holds a Canada Research Chair in Biochemical Pharmacology and the Phil Gold Chair in Medicine at McGill/MUHC.

 

A graduate of the School of Pharmacy of the University of Athens, Dr. Papadopoulos completed his PhD in Health and Life Science at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris.  He continued as a post-doctoral researcher in France and Australia. In 1988, he joined the Faculty of Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington D.C and, in 2004, was appointed Associate Vice President for Research and then Director of the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization at Georgetown University Medical Centre.

 

Dr. Papadopoulos’ research includes endocrine pathologies, male reproductive disorders, aging-related diseases and cancer.  He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and holds numerous patents. He is the recipient of numerous awards and an elected member of the National Academies of Pharmacy and Medicine in France and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in the USA. He has served on the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of biotechnology companies and is a regular consultant for the pharmaceutical industry. 

 

Dr. Papadopoulos is a member of the Executive Committee of InVivo’s Board of Directors.

 

 

 

 

Michelle Savoie

 

Mrs. Michelle Savoie MBA, MPH, PhD, LL.M is the Chief Executive Officer of Montréal InVivo.

 

Mrs. Savoie brings to the organization over 20 years of experience in the health field and pharmaceutical sector. She has held strategic positions at various Pharma companies, including Schering Canada, Eli Lilly Canada and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

 

In addition, she has sat on several strategic committees at Canada’s Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies, at Université de Montréal and in several groups and associations in the health sector.

 

Mrs. Savoie was actively involved in the creation of the Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery as well as the Quebec Personalized Health Care Strategy.

 

Since 2004, she has been teaching at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Université de Montréal.

 

A biochemist by training, Mrs. Savoie also holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa, a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from Boston University and a PhD in biomedical sciences from Université de Montréal as well as a Masters in Law and Health policy (LL.M.) from the Université de Sherbrooke.