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The community also welcomes a new
Commercialization Specialist who will help to launch new life
sciences companies.
September 30, 2011
 Today,
the medical research community in the Northwest welcomes two
new recruits to the region: Dr. Mitchell Albert is the first-ever
Lakehead University/Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute
Research Chair; and Mr. Scott Gillis holds a dual role as
Director of Business Development and Commercialization for
TBRRI and MaRS Innovation.
Dr. Albert holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry and was a faculty
member at Harvard Medical School. He moved to Thunder Bay
from Boston earlier this summer. He is an expert and specialist
in hyperpolarized (HP) noble gas MRI: an advanced MRI technique
used to image the brain and lungs. Hyperpolarized gas MRI
is safe, and has proven extremely effective for diagnosing
diseases of lungs, including asthma and Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease (COPD). As a joint Lakehead University/TBRRI
Research Chair, Dr. Albert is continuing to develop and optimize
hyperpolarized gas MRI technologies, including hyperpolarized
xenon MRI which can be used to image stroke and cancer in
addition to the lungs. Dr. Albert is a full-time faculty member
in the Department of Chemistry at Lakehead University and
will be making both research and teaching contributions to
the new PhD program in Chemistry and Materials Science.
Scott Gillis has over 21 years of experience in the pharmaceutical
and health industry, having spent most of his career in management
working at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. Mr. Gillis
moved to Thunder Bay last month from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In his new role, Mr. Gillis will work to commercialize leading
research projects evolving out of TBRRI and from other Innovation
member institutions, including the commercialization of Dr.
John Rowlands’ X-ray Light Valve (XLV) technology that
produces higher quality, less expensive digital x-ray images
than present-day digital medical devices. He’ll also
be working on the medical isotopes program coming from the
new cyclotron.
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“This is certainly
an exciting moment for Thunder Bay. Not only are we
recruiting doctors and nurses to our region, we are
also seeing leaders in medical research, science,
and healthcare commercialization coming to our community,”
says Keith Hobbs, Mayor of Thunder Bay.
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“Today is another example of how key partnerships
between Lakehead University, the Health Sciences Centre,
and Thunder Bay’s medical industry are attracting
scientists and business leaders to the North,”
says Michael Power, CEO, TBRRI. “Both Dr. Albert
and Mr. Gillis recognize the new opportunities that
exist in our growing scientific and medical research
economy, and we are honoured to have them in Thunder
Bay.”
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Dr. Umed Panu, Associate
Vice-President (Research, Economic Development and
Innovation) at Lakehead University, says this joint
announcement is one of many future ones to come: “Dr.
Albert is one of the first of a group of new Research
Chairs and academics who are being jointly recruited
to Thunder Bay. Geography is not a barrier when research
and academic organizations pool resources to attract
leading minds to our community for the benefit of
advanced student training, patient care, and the knowledge
economy.”
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“TBRRI recently joined MaRS Innovation to accelerate
the commercialization of technologies flowing out of the institute,”
says Dr. Andrew Sinclair, Senior Director, Medical Devices
and Physical Science of MaRS Innovation. “Our first
commercialization target is Dr. Rowlands and his X-ray Light
Valve, a platform x-ray imaging technology, which has been
spun-out as a company called XLV Diagnostics. We have hired
a Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Vlad Sukhovatkin, who has
moved from Toronto to Thunder Bay and Mr. Scott Gillis will
be a key resource on the Business Development side for XLV
and will help us raise capital and look for larger and resource
rich partners.”
Mr. Scott Gillis will be instrumental in the commercialization
process as an integrated employee of TBRRI and MaRS Innovation.
MaRS is a non-profit organization based in Toronto helping
to commercialize new medical-related technology. Mr. Gillis
will bring forward the most promising research projects developed
by TBRRI Scientists and assist them with the business expertise
required.
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“Recruiting a Director
of Business Development and Commercialization brings
us closer to advancing TBRRI’s missions to deliver
world-class care to patients in the Northwest and
contribute to innovative health technology in Canada,”
says Dr. Michael Julius, Member of the TBRRI Board;
Vice-President, Research, at Sunnybrook Research Institute
and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; and leader
of the international search committee.
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Bio Dr. Mitchell Albert ::
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Bio Scott Gillis ::
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back to Media Releases ::
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