Montreal, March 22, 2018 – The Oncopole and IRICoR have joined forces to launch the Scholarship Competition – Entrepreneurship in Oncology (CEO), offering the next generation of scientists an opportunity to take part in the first cohort of the new Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Development Program.
This practical and immersive program was launched by Montréal InVivo, Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Concordia University’s John Molson Executive Centre, in collaboration with IRICoR, for the purpose of developing entrepreneurial skills in life sciences. Those taking part in the program will benefit from over 150 hours of management training to enhance their knowledge of innovative company development strategies.
IRICoR and the Oncopole are proud to announce the awarding of 8 scholarships to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the field of oncology research: Nezahat Ozlem Arat (IRIC/UdeM); Simon Beaudoin (USherbrooke); Milad Dagher (McGillU); Jacqueline Ha (Jewish General Hospital, McGillU); Christina Mastromonaco (MUHC, McGillU); Laura Simon (IRIC/UdeM); Mona Wu (Jewish General Hospital, McGillU); and Yu Zhan (CRCHUM).
Nadine Beauger, Chief Executive Officer of IRICoR, wishes to congratulate the winners and is delighted that her organization will tangibly contribute to training the next generation of scientists. “Developing entrepreneurial skills is at the very heart of our sector’s future. There is no doubt in my mind that the winners of these first scholarships will make the most of the program and that they will also mutually benefit from their already rich expertise”.
Mrs. Stéphanie Lord-Fontaine, Executive Director of the Oncopole, would like to point out “the excellence and diversity of the backgrounds of the applications selected” and is convinced “that it will be a very dynamic cohort”.
About the Oncopole
The Oncopole is a Quebec hub for research, development and investment to accelerate the fight against cancer. Created in February of 2017, it is the product of a unique co-creation process led by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) and made possible by an initial $15M investment from Merck Canada. The Oncopole’s mission is to act as a catalyst leveraging actions made by the key players in Quebec’s oncology and innovation research ecosystem. As a result, it aims to position the province as a leader in the field. Its priorities of action, namely research, entrepreneurship, commercialization and integration of innovation, as well as clinical relevance, are orchestrated in order to foster the mobilization of stakeholders, the discovery of innovative approaches to fight cancer and, ultimately, a positive impact for the benefit of patients. For more information, go to: oncopole.ca
About IRICoR
As Université de Montréal’s drug discovery and project maturation cluster, IRICoR is a not-for-profit organization based at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC), with the mandate to accelerate the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies in cancer, immunotherapy and related fields. Since its creation in 2008, IRICoR successfully invests in and supports cutting-edge projects with disruptive potential to rapidly translate innovation into patient-accessible therapies, through either co-development partnerships with industry or company creation. IRICoR seamlessly integrates business-related expertise with industry-level drug discovery in a world-renowned research institute, providing academics with access to a full drug discovery chain with one of the largest academia-based medicinal chemistry groups in Canada. For more information about IRICoR: iricor.ca