Feb 9, 2023 | News
February 9, 2023 — [HALIFAX]— Today, Sean Awalt, CEO of BioNova announced the appointment of Doris Grant as Vice President of Business Development and Strategy. BioNova is Nova Scotia’s health and life sciences industry association. We are committed to driving broader sector success by supporting companies in pursuing growth and development throughout all stages of commercialization.
In this executive role, Doris will lead the development of BioNova’s member and partner value proposition, revenue generation model and recruitment & retention strategy. Doris will also lead the business development strategy for partner collaborations with key stakeholders to enable commercial development that will lead to jobs, exports and economic growth for the province.
For over 20 years, Doris has led commercialization, intellectual property protection and industry business development initiatives. She brings a proven track record of attracting and building impactful partnerships and securing transformational funding to advance diverse innovation mandates along with extensive business experience in global markets.
“Nova Scotia has tremendous assets and unparalleled opportunity in this sector and now is the time to maximize our growth potential,” said CEO Sean Awalt. “BioNova is ready to contribute to this important provincial mandate and the addition of Doris Grant signals our commitment to bring deep experience and a partnership mentality to the table”.
Most recently Doris served as Senior Director of Innovation at Nova Scotia Health where she, as part of the Health Innovation Hub and the Research, Innovation & Discovery portfolio, led and co-led working with key partners the implementation of multiple high-priority, transformative and innovative initiatives to enhance healthcare and health of Nova Scotians. Key initiatives include the launch of the Strategic Partnership Office (SPO), VirtualCareNS and the newly established Care Coordination Center (C3), Virtual Emergency Nova Scotia, and the Oncology Transformation Project (OTP). She was also instrumental in the establishment of the Innovator in Residence Program and the Innovation Catalyst Fund. This work is making a difference for patients and providers today and sets the stage for a better system tomorrow.
“I am so pleased to join BIONOVA at a time of renewal. This new role will allow me the opportunity to continue to impact the health and life sciences agenda of our Province. I look forward to continuing to work with local, regional, national and global stakeholders in this new capacity,” said Grant.
Prior to this role, Doris served as a Director within the Dalhousie University Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement where she was responsible for growing the research enterprise by partnering with industry in the life, health, and agricultural sectors. Doris also brings biopharma industry experience having served in the business development and intellectual property departments within Biogen Inc. where she introduced, evaluated, and executed business deals for biopharma therapeutics and managed intellectual property portfolios for several research and development stage programs.
Doris holds an MSc. Agriculture from Dalhousie University and BSc. Agriculture from Nova Scotia Agricultural College. Doris will begin her new role on March 6, 2023.
About BioNova
BioNova leads the Health and Life Sciences sector in Nova Scotia and the BioPort Conference. Our industry-led sector growth plan, BioFuture 2030, has made us the fastest-growing sector in Atlantic Canada. We represent over 150 companies in Nova Scotia that have raised over $73 million in investment dollars since the beginning of 2020. Visit our website at www.BioNova.ca.
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Jan 25, 2022 | Members, Workinsights
“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.”
We founded WorkInsights in 2017 to understand how we work and develop analytics that quantifies and maps the productive energy of a company to highlight how the working environment limits or leverages the capacity for change, productivity, innovation, and growth. With the incredibly fast pace of change today, we need to lead and work together in ways to be ready for and responsive to change, and capable of thinking about what will come next, and innovating to take advantage of the opportunity.
We are disrupting our approach to work and performance. We are not afraid to push boundaries. Founded in our desire to have a positive impact and make change happen for the better so entrepreneurial companies can innovate and grow, we apply our curiosity to ask and listen, to understand and learn. Energy moves people to take action. The working experience affects whether that energy will be positive or not. And energy can be changed for the better. How people approach their work, the relationships between teams – from the frontline to management to leadership – can be positive, strained, or even fearful. This flow of energy affects an organization’s ability to succeed. If the energy is blocked at a level or team, it affects the organization’s ability to reach the potential to be creative, innovative and productive, and make change or growth happen. We need to measure the mindset – how people think, feel and act – of an organization to optimize the approach to work, top-down and bottom-up, we identify how to support people to function at their best. By asking questions, listening to the responses, we gain insight to work together to achieve more while building healthier working environments for healthy people and healthy businesses.
Nov 8, 2021 | News
November 8, 2021 — [HALIFAX]—MycoFutures North Atlantic from Newfoundland was named the winner of BioNova’s Eleventh annual BioInnovation Challenge (BIC) business pitch competition at BioPort 2021. The company is leveraging the complexity and sustainability of mycelium, the root system of fungi, to create a luxurious leather alternative that will help alleviate the environmental impact of natural and synthetic leathers currently on the market.
“The BioInnovation Challenge provided us with invaluable investment attraction training and resources to launch our startup with the right business plan and strategy,” said Stephanie Lipp, CEO & Co-founder, MycoFutures North Atlantic. “It was an incredible opportunity and we look forward to building a successful company right here in Atlantic Canada.”
This year, the top three BIC finalists all had a focus on sustainability, producing high value products that are beneficial to human health and the environment. From Newfoundland came winners MycoFutures North Atlantic, competing beside finalists Bactana Canada Corp. and Au Naturel Solutions Inc. both from Prince Edward Island.
The goal of the competition is to help ease the transition from research laboratory to market. MycoFutures North Atlantic will receive a prize package that includes $25,000 in seed funding and an advisory services package worth more than $30,000.
“Our competition provides high-potential startups coming from the regions health and life sciences sector with sector specific mentorship and resources they need to attract investment and bring their products to market,” said Scott Moffitt, Executive Director, BioNova. “We hope to see continued support from our regions government, academia, healthcare, and others for this high-value accelerator.”
The Judging Panel:
Jennifer Chan – Executive Director, Policy and Government Affairs Merck Canada Inc.
Jennifer Hamilton, PhD– Senior Director, New Ventures (Canada) and Advisor, Impact Investing, J&J Global Community Impact
Doris Grant – Senior Director, Innovation at Nova Scotia Health Authority
About BioNova
BioNova leads the Health and Life Sciences sector in Nova Scotia and is the host of the BioPort Conference, the BioInnovation Challenge and BIC Junior. Our industry-led sector growth plan, BioFuture 2030, has made us the fastest growing sector in Atlantic Canada. We represent over 150 companies in Nova Scotia who have raised over $73 million in investment dollars since the beginning of 2020. Visit our website at www.BioNova.ca
About BioPort
BioPort provides a forum to educate, inform and inspire the health and life sciences community to develop their ideas, commercialize their technologies and build links within the region and with guests brought in from the U.S. and from around the world. For more information visit www.bioportatlantic.ca. | https://bioport-2021.heysummit.com/
Nov 2, 2021 | News
Halifax, NS – November 2nd, 2021 – BioPort 2021, Atlantic Canada’s largest health and Life Sciences industry conference, kicks-off today and is set to explore the health and life sciences sector’s focus on ‘Thinking Bigger’ as the industry has become a turning point for health systems, and economic and societal recovery from COVID-19. The conference will also highlight the newest and most innovative health trends and technologies, and will take place virtually November 2-5, 2021.
BioPort will be featuring a talk from the Hon. Stephen McNeil, who will be speaking on Atlantic Economic Recovery on November 3 at 1:00 p.m. There will also be sessions focusing on the Atlantic Investment Bubble, investing in women in the sector, the impending east coast talent shortage, and a session on the rapidly growing fermentation sector among others.
“Our focus this year is ‘Thinking Bigger’, with a plan to drive economic growth for Atlantic Canada using the Health and Life Science sector. We’re providing a hub for industry leaders and innovators to collaborate on a plan of action forward.” said Scott Moffitt, executive director of BioNova.
BioPort 2021 will also showcase seven of Atlantic Canada’s best health and life sciences innovators in its BioInnovation Challenge (BIC) business pitch competition. The BIC Semi-final live pitch competition, happening on Nov. 3rd (2-5pm), is 100% free and open to the public! Tickets for the BIC Finals, happening on Nov 5th (11-12pm), are available for a discounted price and registered attendees will be able to vote for the final winner.
A full copy of the program can be found here.
About BioNova
BioNova leads the Health and Life Sciences sector in Nova Scotia and is the host of the BioPort Conference and the BioInnovation Challenge. Our industry-led sector growth plan, BioFuture 2030, has made us the fastest growing sector in Atlantic Canada. We represent over 200 companies in Nova Scotia who raised over $75 million in investment dollars during the pandemic in 2020. Visit our website at www.bionova.ca
About BioPort
BioPort provides a forum to educate, inform and inspire the life sciences community to develop their ideas, commercialize their technologies and build links within the region and with guests brought in from the U.S. and from around the world. For more information visit www.bioportatlantic.ca
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For all media questions or information about accessing the conference please contact:
Shana Cristoferi
Marketing Manager, BioNova
902-830-9193
[email protected]
