Board of Directors

Heather Chalmers is President and CEO, GE Vernova Canada and President, Global Growth Market. In her role, she is responsible for positioning GE Vernova alongside its businesses and accelerators as a trusted partner to customers, ecosystem partners, and market stakeholders in key markets across the world.

Throughout her extensive career with GE, Heather has consistently developed and led high performing teams that are industry leaders in bringing innovative technology and digital solutions to solve complex challenges in both Canadian and global markets. Heather joined GE Plastics in 1995 and held both engineering and commercial roles. Following that she moved to GE Healthcare and was promoted to President, Canada in 2014. She has had the pleasure of leading the GE Canada team since 2018. A recognized Canadian thought leader, she co-chaired the Canadian Chamber's Net-Zero Council and is solicited by national and global organisations to provide advisory for business, economy, and energy forums. Heather was named 2023 Business Leader of the Year by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and has been awarded the Rotman School of Management’s 2022 Arbor award and Women Leaders in Digital Health 2020 award. She is also a director on the boards of the C.D. Howe Institute, Business Council of Canada and La Vallée de la Transition Énergétique. She holds a Chemical Engineering degree from Queens University and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management.

Sylvie Bove recently retired from her role as Vice President Health and Life Sciences at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, the national research and innovation institute, where she led the strategy and focused activities within the area. Sylvie has a B.SC in Economics and Business Administration from Upsala University (Sweden), an MBA from Copenhagen Business School/SIMI (Denmark) as well as a Master in Coaching Based Leadership. Prior to that Sylvie pursued studies in biology in France and worked in basic research, among other places at The Basel Institute for Immunology. With such a background it was natural for Sylvie to join the Pharmaceutical industry where she held many commercial positions for over 20 years, among others building the female health/infertility business for Ferring Pharmaceutical, as well as Vice President of Urology/incontinence at Coloplast A/S (Medtech).

In the last 10 years, Sylvie’s focus has been accelerating innovation in health, for example building the innovation programme at Lund University Diabetes Center, building a HealthTech cluster in Copenhagen/Denmark as well as EIT Health in Munich where she acted as CEO between 2015 and 2018. For the last 20 years she has held several board positions in biotechs and medtechs, as well as organizations such as Swelife (an organization supporting collaboration within academia, industry, and healthcare, with the goal to strengthen Life Science in Sweden and to improve public health). She is today Chairperson of the board of EIT Health Scandinavia, and Lallianse.com (a private incubator/accelerator in Paris), and sits on the oversight committee of CureHeart, the 30 M GBP project funded by the British Heart Foundation.

Tom Mikkelsen is the President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Brain Institute (2015-present). He received his MD from the University of Calgary and completed clinical training in neurology at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Following this, he did post-doctoral training in tumour and molecular biology at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Montreal and then in La Jolla, California.

In 1992, he founded the brain tumour program at Henry Ford Hospital and was responsible for building the clinical trials unit and laboratory of tumour biology which became the Hermelin Brain Tumor Centre at Henry Ford Health. In 2015, he came to Toronto to lead OBI and refine the organization’s strategy using lessons learned from the field of cancer research in biomarker discovery and validation, evidence generation via clinical trials, and engagement of companies and startups developing novel interventions as well as the community of those living with neurologic disorders and their advocates.

Kevin Canning, Head of Development Engagement Strategy at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, holds a PhD in Physiology from the University of Western Ontario and boasts a dynamic career bridging science with industry. With over 20 years of experience, he is a strategic leader in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, adept at driving drug development and commercialization across diverse therapeutic areas.

Kevin's expertise spans drug development, pre-clinical development, regulatory affairs, clinical development, medical development, and forging external research partnerships. His unwavering commitment lies in merging science and business to pioneer innovative treatments, aiming to enhance the lives of patients globally.

Beyond his work role, Kevin is actively engaged in the life sciences community. He delivers public-speaking engagements, supports education and professional training, contributes to policy creation, and conducts scientific reviews for funding agencies. Additionally, he has authored book chapters and published in peer-reviewed journals, showcasing his dedication to advancing the field.

Maryann P. Feldman is the Watts Professor of Public Policy and Management at the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions at Arizona State University and research director at the Global Center for Technology Transfer. Prior to this, she was is the Heninger Distinguished Professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina. Her research and teaching interests focus on the areas of innovation, the commercialization of academic research and the factors that promote technological change and economic growth. Dr. Feldman was the winner of the 2013 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, awarded by the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum and the Research Institute of Industrial Economics, for her contributions to the study of the geography of innovation and the role of entrepreneurial activity in the formation of regional industry clusters. Her dissertation, which was subsequently published as a book, was entitled the Geography of Innovation. The work examined the spatial distribution of industrial innovation and provided an empirical model of the factors and resources that affected the production of new product innovation and was published in the American Economic Review, the Review of Economics and Statistics and the Annuals of the Association of American Geographers. This work is noted to be the first time that the term geography was used to describe spatial phenomenon and is now an accepted lexicon. Currently, the geography of innovation is a subject area under the strategy division of the academy of management.

Maryann Feldman’s early work revealed that universities were necessary but not sufficient for technology-based economic development, which launched a new area of investigation into university technology transfer. She has written extensively on the process and mechanics of the commercialization of academic research, publishing in Management Science, Organization Science, Research Policy, and The Journal of Technology Transfer.

Her most recent work is exploring emerging industries, entrepreneurship and the process of regional transformation. This was the topic of the edited book, Cluster Genesis: the origins of technology-based economic development. She has written extensively on the early development and growth of biotechnology, as an example of a transformative technology. She has recently completed a study of the industrial applications of optical science, which will be published in Economic Geography. This work demonstrated typologies of places that were able to sustain industrial optics through a variety of economic development strategies.

While at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, Maryann worked with Roger Martin, a former director of Monitor Company on a series of papers that examine Jurisdictional Advantage. This work, which examines how places construct unique, not easily replicated economic advantage, has been published in The Brookings Papers on Economic Policy and Research Policy. Maryann Feldman was Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation Project (SciSIP 0947814) that examined state economic development policies. This work aims to understand what policies are most appropriate in different ecosystems and under different economic conditions.

Currently Maryann is actively engaged in researching the industrial genesis of the Research Triangle region, in a joint project with Nichola Lowe. The project follows the development of the regional economy over a 50-year time period using a unique database of 3200 entrepreneurial ventures and attempts to understand the institutional dynamics that created a vibrant regional economy. This work provides a replicable template for integrating large datasets to use in the study of regional economies.

Ben Gallacher is a Venture Capital and Private Equity Advisor at Cannonball Capital, a Canadian family office. He is also the the Co-Founder and Chairman at Voxel AI. He serves as a Director at Orthogonal.

He is a co-founder and Chairman of the Cannonball Foundation, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Breakthrough Fund, a Venture Philanthropy initiative through SickKids Hospital. He is also a Director on the UMass Amherst Foundation Board

Drafted to the NHL in 2010, Ben played four years as a scholar-athlete in Division I NCAA hockey, before graduating from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was awarded the Outstanding Young Alumni Award ('21) by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is also a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors where he received his ICD.D designation.

Vincent de Grandpréis a Partner at Bennett Jones LLP and has more than 20 years’ experience in intellectual property and litigation. He serves clients in both English and French in a wide array of areas with a focus on the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, technology, and consumer products industries.

Vincent helps clients launch new products and services, or preserve their market position, by strategically obtaining or litigating intellectual property rights. He also advises on trademark matters and regulatory issues. Vincent is renowned "for his prowess in a range of contentious intellectual property situations, notably in cases alleging infringement of patent rights."

He appears before all levels of Canadian courts including the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal. He is admitted to practice law in Ontario, New York and Québec. From 2000 to 2003, Vincent practised at a leading New York firm as an intellectual property and commercial litigator.

In Canada and around the world, Vincent is recognized as a leader in IP law. He is consistently ranked in Chambers Canada, Chambers Global, and The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory for intellectual property and intellectual property litigation. He is included in Lexpert's special edition on technology and health sciences. Intellectual Asset Magazine's Patent 1000 cites him as one of the world’s leading patent litigators. Vincent is ranked as a global leader by World Intellectual Property Review.

After graduating from law school, Vincent served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Antonio Lamer of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Michael Horgan recently retired from a position a Senior Advisor with the law firm Bennett Jones LLP. He provided clients with advice on a range of economic, financial sector, energy and environment issues. Mr. Horgan had a 36-year career in the Public Service of Canada where he served as Deputy Minister of four Departments, including the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Indian and Northern Affairs, and Environment Canada. He retired from the Public Service in April 2014 after five years as Deputy Minister of Finance.

He has also held the positions of G7/G20 Finance Deputy for Canada and Executive Director for Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean on the board of the International Monetary Fund. He has also served on a number of Crown corporation boards, including the Bank of Canada, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Export Development Canada. Mr. Horgan is currently a Director of the Canadian Ditchley Foundation, the Gairdner Foundation, and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Mr. Horgan is a recipient of the Prime Minister's Outstanding Achievement Award for Public Service and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has a B.A. in economics from Concordia University (Loyola College) and M.A.'s in economics from Queen's University and Princeton University.

Mike Kessel is the President and CEO of Cleveland Clinic Canada and is responsible for the growth of the Canadian facilities, strategic partnerships, and enterprise value creation. Under his leadership, he has expanded care nationally and patient experience and employee engagement scores have reached record highs. His career has been fueled by a passion for healthcare with over 25 years of experience in strategy, finance, organizational behavior, operations, and entrepreneurial ventures.

In addition to his work at Cleveland Clinic Canada, Mr. Kessel is active in the Toronto community. As a former board member of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, he was awarded a Tony Graham Outstanding Board Member Award. Mr. Kessel created the largest corporate philanthropic table tennis tournament in Canada, which currently takes place in three cities (Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal), and raises $300k annually for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. He also holds board member positions at Unyte, a Toronto-based brain health company; Biomendics, an Ohio-based wound care organization; VIQ, a Toronto-based audio-visual capture company; Solve.care, a health tech company leveraging blockchain to reduce administrative costs; and the Ontario Brain Institute, a non-profit organization that accelerates discovery and innovation, benefiting both patients and the economy. Mr. Kessel is a former committee member of the Conference Board of Canada. He is an active member of Young Presidents Organization and serves on the Maple Leaf chapter’s New Member Committee.

James McGuire is retired from his position as SVP Global Operations & Chief Procurement Officer at Manulife. He has over 30 years of financial services experience and in his last role at Manulife before retiring he was responsible for Manulife’s Global Resourcing business and was Manulife’s Chief Procurement Officer.

In this role James was responsible for the Manulife Business Processing Services team of 7,000 people with locations in Manilla, Cebu and Chengdu supporting many of Manulife’s businesses and functions. He also had responsibility for the Global Resources team and the Strategic Procurement Office. James has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario. Prior to joining Manulife, McGuire was with RBC, where he led the Strategy & Payment Solutions team. In this role, he was responsible for the strategy and execution of next-generation payment solutions, as well as the highly personalized myOffers platform. His prior roles at RBC included VP, Digital Channels and before that President & CEO, RBC Direct Investing. He also has extensive experience in technology, operations and finance, having managed RBC's North American and Caribbean ATM business and the TeleMarketing Sales & Service Centre along with a number of other finance, operations and human resource roles throughout his tenure

Dr. Diane McIntosh is the founder and CEO of an innovative mental health solution, RAPIDS, and is the Chief Neuroscience Officer at TELUS.

Diane is extensively involved in providing continuing medical education programs to colleagues, nationally and internationally, with a focus on safe, rational prescribing and knowledge translation- sharing the science underlying psychiatric disorders. Whatever her role, her core message remains consistent: we must strive to improve the quality of care and the treatment options available for people diagnosed with a mental illness.

A respected psychiatrist, author, and educator, Dr. Diane McIntosh is a passionate advocate for better mental health care and a tireless champion for Canadians suffering from mental illnesses and their families.

Throughout her career, Diane has worked to raise the profile of mental health issues in Canada and around the world. She has established medical education and advocacy programs, published numerous blogs and op-eds, and lectures widely on mental health issues.

Diane obtained an undergraduate degree in pharmacy before completing her medical school training, two years of a pediatric residency and then an adult psychiatry residency. She is a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia and has a community psychiatry practice.

Diane is the co-founder of SwitchRx, an online medication switching tool for prescribers and pharmacists. She has her own continuing medical education program, PsychedUpCME . Diane’s book, This is Depression: A comprehensive and compassionate guide for those who want to understand depression, is written for those who have depression, for those who love someone who is depressed, and for anyone who wants to better understand the disorder. Diane was recognized with the 2020 Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award by the Women's Executive Network.

Steve Orsini has extensive experience in senior executive leadership positions. He is currently the President and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU). Prior to this role, Steve held several leadership positions in the Ontario Public Service, including Secretary of the Cabinet, Deputy Minister of Finance and Secretary of the Treasury Board, and Deputy Minister of Revenue. Steve also held several leadership positions at the Ontario Hospital Association, including Vice-President of Policy and Public Affairs.

Steve is a member of the Fiscal Federalism Policy Network, a Senior Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute, a Board Member of the Canadian Ditchley Foundation, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.

Steve holds a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Urban and Regional Planning and a Master’s in Environmental Studies.

David Sharma is a global leader with more than two decades of executive and board of director experience.

As the former President of TELUS Enterprise & Partner Solutions, David supported a multi-billion-dollar B2B P&L responsible for the digital transformation of public and private enterprises, SMB, global telecom providers, cloud and content companies.

Prior to this role, David’s multi-dimensional experience included Chief Procurement Officer & Global Head of Supply Chain at TELUS responsible for >$6B in annual spend.

David supported passionate team members as the President of TELUS Employer Solutions (TELUS HR BPO business unit) and TELUS Financial Solutions (TELUS Fintech business unit).

As President of TELUS Partner Solutions, David supported global telecom, cloud and content providers.

David was a co-founder of GoCo, which was born through the acquisition of 6 technology companies focused on the SMB marketplace driving SDWAN, Security and UC Solutions.

David received a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and ACC.DIR designation from the Chartered Governance Institute. David has been recognized with multiple global awards including Global Telecom Business Magazine Top 40 under 40, Women of Influence Diversity Champion and the TELUS Legend award which is TELUS’ most prestigious recognition award.

Mike Van Soelen, Partner, Oyster Group levers 20 years of journalism, political and public affairs experience to help organizations and individuals manage their reputations through periods of change and crisis. Mike also provides strategic counsel and campaign management for organizations biggest public affairs needs. His track record speaks to his unique understanding of how messages properly delivered can facilitate concrete, measurable outcomes.

Mike brings his passion for entrepreneurship and 20 years of experience in politics and communications to Oyster Group. As an advisor, Mike’s reputation is built on providing business leaders smart strategies to solve their biggest challenges.

Before establishing Oyster Group, Mike served as managing principal for one of Canada’s most well-known crisis communications firms, which acquired the strategic communications firm Mike previously built with talented team members in Toronto and Ottawa.

Prior to this, Mike worked in journalism, communications and government. He began his career in the grassroots of Canadian journalism at two regional daily newspapers, winning several awards for his writing. He moved from journalism to politics, where he served on countless political campaigns. His posts in government have included Chief of Staff to an Ontario Minister and Director of Communications in Ottawa. Mike also worked at one of the country’s largest public relations agencies, supporting clients in the finance, health and technology sectors.

Mike appears regularly as a commentator for media outlets such as Global TV, AM 640, CP24 and Newstalk 1010. He also serves as an executive on the board of the Empire Club of Canada.

Mr. Rotman was Chairman of Roy-L Capital Corporation, a privately-held family investment company. He launched his business career in 1962 after receiving his B.A. from the University of Western Ontario in 1957; M. Comm. from the University of Toronto in 1960; during 1960-61 he studied at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business in the Ph.D. program. In 2012, Mr. Rotman was appointed as Chancellor of Western University for a four-year term. He was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Toronto (1994), Western University (2009), and Memorial University (2013).He was made Officer of the Order of Canada in 1995. Mr. Rotman has been involved in establishing private and public companies and in contributing to advancing Canadian life sciences research; the development of Canada’s innovation and commercialization capacity; and related public policy at the federal and provincial levels. He led the creation of the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care affiliated with the University of Toronto, and served two three-year terms on the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), 2000-2006. In 2009, Joseph Rotman was appointed Chair of Grand Challenges Canada, a new global health organization funded by the Federal Government to deliver the Development Innovation Fund announced in the 2008 Budget. Grand Challenges Canada is dedicated to supporting bold ideas with big impact in global health. In 2009, along with Dr. Joseph Martin, Dean Emeritus of Harvard Medical School, Mr. Rotman co-led a major review of the state of brain research in Ontario (2008-09), which led to the recommendation to the Provincial Government that it create the Ontario Brain Institute. In 2013, he was reappointed for a 2nd consecutive five year term as Chair of Canada Council for the Arts. This Crown corporation has for over half a century been the principal conduit of federal support to Canada’s professional artists and organizations by grants, endowments and prizes that celebrate creativity by recognizing exceptional Canadians in the arts, humanities and sciences. He has served as a Director on corporate boards including the Bank of Montreal, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Northwest Energy Ltd., Masonite International, and TrizecHahn Corp. He served as Chair of the Board as Founder of Tarragon Oil and Gas, Geocrude Energy, and PanCana Resources, amongst others. He is also Founder and Director of Clairvest Group Inc. He was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame as a Companion in May 2009; presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Life Sciences Ontario in February 2012; presented with the Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award from Ernst & Young in October, 2012.

Donald T. Stuss, O.C., O. Ont., PhD, FRSC, FCAHS, ABPP-CN, is the Founding President and Scientific Director (2011- 2015) of the Ontario Brain Institute. He is an adjunct (on leave of absence) Senior Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest Centre; University of Toronto Professor of Medicine (Neurology and Rehabilitation Science) and Psychology; founding Director of the Rotman Research Institute, from 1989 to 2008, Reva James Leeds Chair in Neuroscience and Research Leadership 2001-2009, and Vice-President Research, at Baycrest, 1991-2004, 2006-2009; Vice-President Academic Education at Baycrest 2006-2008; interim Director and CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery 2008-2009. Honors: Fellow of CPA, APA (Divisions 3, 6, 20, 40), APS, American Heart and Stroke Association, AAAS; University of Toronto Faculty Award (2004); University Professor status, University of Toronto (2004); APA/APF FJ McGuigan Lecture on Understanding the Human Mind (2007); Michener Institute Honorary Diploma (2008); Dr. Gonzalo Rodriquez Lafora Lecture, Spanish Neurological Society (2010); National Academy of Neurosciences 2011 Lifetime Contributions to Neuropsychology Award: 3rd Annual Charles Branch BrainHealth Award, University of Texas at Dallas (2012); Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012); International Neuropsychological Society Lifetime Achievement Award (2013); Gold Key Award American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (2014). His research focuses on understanding and treating the cognitive functions and personality changes associated with the frontal lobes as they occur after stroke, normal elderly, and in those with traumatic brain injury or dementia. He has one co-authored book, and four co-edited books; over 205 publications and 50 chapters; and presented over 270 invited scientific lectures and workshops. His publications have been cited over 18,000 times.