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PEI BioAlliance hosts 15th Annual General Meeting

During its 2019 Annual General Meeting yesterday, the Prince Edward Island BioAlliance confirmed new and returning executives and members of its Board of Directors. This Annual General Meeting (AGM), held at the Delta Prince Edward on June 12, 2019, marked the 15th AGM for the PEI BioAlliance.

While there were no changes to the slate of directors, the PEI BioAlliance welcomed Dr. Debbie Plouffe and Oliver Technow, as Treasurer and Secretary respectively, to the Executive of the Board of Directors.

“Both Debbie and Oliver further add to the wealth of industry experience within our Board’s executive,” said Russ Kerr, Chair, PEI BioAlliance. “We look forward to having their assistance in advancing implementation of our strategic plan and continuing to shape and enhance PEI’s bioscience cluster.”

The PEI BioAlliance’s Executive of the Board now includes:

  • Chair – Russ Kerr, Research Fellow, Nautilus Biosciences CRODA
  • Vice Chair – Brian Stewart, P. Eng., General Manager, Elanco PEI
  • Treasurer – Debbie Plouffe, Vice President, Research, Center for Aquaculture Technologies Canada
  • Secretary – Oliver Technow, President, BioVectra, Inc.
  • Past Chair – Ron Keefe, President, Regis Duffy Bioscience Fund Inc.

Additionally, 10 voting, ex officio and non-voting members of the Board of Directors were re-confirmed: Dr. Alaa Abd-El-Aziz (President, The University of Prince Edward Island); Ron Atkinson (Economic Development Officer, City of Charlottetown); Patrick Dorsey (Vice President, ACOA PEI and Tourism); Mark Grimmett (Associate Director, RDT, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada); Steve Howatt (President and General Manager, Atlantic AgriTech Inc.); Denise LeBlanc (Director General, Aquatic and Crop Resource Development, National Research Council Canada); Erin McGrath-Gaudet (Deputy Minister, Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture, Government of PEI); Dr. Alexander (Sandy) MacDonald (President, Holland College); Professor Barry Stickings (Independent); and Melanie Wildman (Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Nutracelle).

The Board’s agenda included discussions of priority initiatives to address a serious shortage of incubation and manufacturing space as well as a skills development and training proposal to ensure a pipeline of talent to fill new job opportunities being created. The Board was informed that over 200 new full-time, high-paying positions were created in the past year.

After conducting the business of its AGM, the PEI BioAlliance membership was invited to kick off summer during a social, held at nearby Brackish! on the Charlottetown waterfront. There, more than 150 individuals from across the Island’s bioscience community took time away from labs and offices to socialize and network, sharing news of technology advances, partnerships, hiring, priorities, upcoming opportunities and more.

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