Greater Montreal Metropolitan Area
I hold a PhD in Microbiology & Infectious Diseases from the University of Calgary with international training in France and the USA. I have 20+ years of experience in life sciences doing R&D and project management. The pandemic tought us the critical role of science in decision making and ultimately how research and innovation, past and future, can positively impact our day-to-day 'normal life'. As a Scientific advisor at the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, I combine my scientific knowledges and strong analytical skills to help the life science investment team to financially support innovative companies with the potential to develop new therapeutics as well as creating a strong economy around innovation and biotechnology.
Project manager: Part of research programs targeting the human microbiome as a source of either new chemical entities or probiotic strains with the potential to become new therapeutics. My primary mandate consists in the management of an academic team (~4 - 5 people) within the laboratory of Dr. Michael G. Surette dedicated to a $6 million dollars grant from Genome Canada GAPP project in partnership with Adapsyn Bioscience (URL link of the project provided below). - Liaise projects and report result through meetings with the different partners - Coordinate and manage multiple research projects simultaneously between the different multidisciplinary teams - Write quarterly reports on scientific progress to Genome Canada and Ontario Genomics - Prepare & deliver scientific presentations - Participate in grant writing as opportunities to expand our research arise - Write peer-reviewed manuscripts - Write and participate in filling for intellectual property (IP) on findings with commercial value Scientist: - Develop research projects & conduct experiments - Participate in the culturing of the human microbiome (anaerobic and aerobic) - Generate and organize microbial libraries of pure bacterial isolates - Functional characterization of microbiome isolates in association with the host - Whole genome sequencing and metagenomics - Identification of novel antimicrobials and immunomodulators from human and environmental bacteria
- Awarded over >$150 000 in salary & research funding (Cystic fibrosis Canada) - Developed research projects & conducted experiments to understand at the molecular level competitive interactions between bacterial pathogens (Pseudomonas & Burkholderia) through the exchange of small molecules that led to published peer-reviewed manuscripts (4 research articles, 1 review article, and 1 commentary article) - Supervised, managed multiple projects simultaneously - Mentored and provided constructive feedback to 3 undergraduate students in performing research and data analysis leading to 2 peer-reviewed journal article and poster presentations - Prepared & delivered scientific presentations to various audiences - Provided scientific advice & collaboration to various groups resulting in 4 peer-reviewed journal articles and 10 abstracts at international conferences Michael G. Surette Laboratory (http://www.surettelab.ca/lab/)
- Developed research projects & conducted experiments to understand the nutritional impact on biofilm formation (Pseudomanas) as well as mixed biofilm communities on pathogenesis using a biofilm model system on epithelial cells that led to published peer-reviewed manuscripts (2 research articles) - Supervised, managed multiple projects simultaneously - Mentored and provided constructive feedback to 3 undergraduate students in performing research and data analysis leading to 1 peer-reviewed journal article and poster presentations - Prepared & delivered scientific presentations to various audiences George A. O'Toole's laboratory (https://sites.dartmouth.edu/biofilm/)
- Awarded over >$100 000 in salary & research funding (Canadian Louis Pasteur Foundation) - Developed & performed research to understand at the molecular level effects of biofilm formation as well as the exchange of volatile metabolites on antibiotic tolerance/resistance that led to published peer-reviewed manuscripts (3 research articles) - Supervised, managed multiple projects simultaneously - Mentored and provided constructive feedback to 2 undergraduate students in performing research and data analysis leading to 2 peer-reviewed journal article and poster presentations - Prepared & delivered scientific presentations to various audiences Jean-Marc Ghigo's laboratory (https://research.pasteur.fr/en/team/genetics-of-biofilms/)
- Awarded over >$50 000 in salary & research funding (Cystic fibrosis Canada, University of Calgary, Government of Alberta) - Developed & performed research to understand at the molecular level the pathogenesis of Burkholderia species using plant and rodents as infection models that led to published peer-reviewed manuscripts (5 research articles) - Supervised, managed multiple projects simultaneously - Mentored and provided constructive feedback to several undergraduate students in performing research and data analysis - Prepared & delivered scientific presentations to various audiences Pamela A. Sokol's laboratory