On August 1st Ontario Genomics welcomed Bettina Hamelin as its new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Dr. Hamelin joins Ontario Genomics with over 25 years of leadership experience in academia, the biotech and international pharmaceutical industry and the public sector bringing extensive expertise as a biotechnology strategist and a champion of science and innovation. In her previous position as Vice-President of Research Partnerships at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), she spearheaded a 130-member team to lead a $360M/year research and innovation investment strategy, connecting Canadian and global innovation stakeholders to the research enterprise in Canada. Dr. Hamelin joined NSERC after 12 years in Medical R&D leadership roles at Pfizer Inc., where she pioneered novel public-private partnership models that maximized investment outcomes and impact. Dr. Hamelin started her career in academia and was tenured professor and research scholar at Universite Laval’s Heart and Lung Institute, where she broke new grounds into what is now known as personalized medicine by demonstrating the impact of genetic polymorphisms in metabolic enzymes on drug response.
Dr. Hamelin is fluently trilingual, holds an Executive MBA in Healthcare from the University of British Columbia and a Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Kentucky. She has published 35 peer-reviewed articles during her academic tenure and is named co-inventor on five patents. She has also served on numerous Boards and Scientific Advisory Committees, including the BC Clinical Research Infrastructure Network, the Genotype Associated Therapies in Childhood and the Alberta/Pfizer Translational Research Fund.
Dr. Brian Underdown, Chair of Ontario Genomic’s Board of Directors stated that “we are delighted to welcome Dr. Hamelin to Ontario Genomics. We are confident that she will continue to advance genomics research and innovation, and forge collaborative partnerships with the greater research and innovation community in Ontario and beyond.” In addition, Dr. Underdown commented “we are grateful to Dr. Mark Poznansky, outgoing President and CEO, for his passion and unwavering commitment to genomics research and innovation in the province of Ontario, and gladly receive Dr. Hamelin, with her myriad of skills and rich expertise, to the culture of innovation in Ontario.”
Follow Dr. Hamelin on Twitter – @ONGenomicsCEO
