Sheila A. Brown and Louise Proulx appointed to the Board of Directors of the Canada Foundation for Innovation

Ottawa, September 8, 2009 — Dr. William Leggett, Chair of the Board of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), is pleased to announce the appointments of Dr. Sheila A. Brown and Dr. Louise Proulx to the CFI Board of Directors.

“I would like to congratulate these exceptional new Directors who bring dedication and expertise in their respective fields to this position,” said Dr. Leggett. “I am confident they will be effective advocates for the CFI. I look forward to working with them to uphold the CFI’s mission to fund research infrastructure and to continue to help the Government of Canada achieve its science & technology objectives.”

The CFI is governed by a Board of Directors that makes final decisions on the projects it funds and sets strategic objectives in the context of its funding agreement. Directors are appointed for a three-year term. The Board approves annual plans and objectives, and reviews their outcomes.

Dr. Sheila Brown is the Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Public Affairs (CCEPA), a joint initiative between Halifax-based Saint Mary’s University and the Atlantic School of Theology that provides an arena for critical thinking, public discussion and research into current ethical challenges in society. From 1996 to 2006, she was the President and Vice-Chancellor of Mount Saint Vincent University, as well as a Professor of Business. She has been honoured with the Queen’s Jubilee Medal and the Distinguished Member Award of the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, and was selected five times as one of Atlantic Business magazine’s “Top 50 CEOs in Atlantic Canada.”

Dr. Louise Proulx is the Vice President, Product Development, at ViroChem Pharma Inc. She holds a PhD in physiology from Université Laval and pursued post-doctoral studies at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. She has close to 30 years experience in research and science management. Dr. Proulx focused on prostate and breast cancer at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université Laval between 1977 and 1985, and from 1985 to 2001, she held a number of scientific positions with several organizations. Throughout her career, Dr. Proulx has been a member of several boards of directors, and is currently Director of GeminX Pharmaceuticals Inc., Alethia Biotherapeutics, Inc. and Diagnocure Inc. She has also recently been elected to the board of Génome Québec. 

A complete list of the CFI Board of Directors, along with biographical information, is available here.

The CFI is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians.

For more information:  

Yves Melanson
Coordinator, Media Relations
Canada Foundation for Innovation
Tel.: 613-996-3160
Cell.: 613-447-1723