Mark J. Poznansky
Encyclopedia
Dr. Mark J. Poznansky, Ph.D.
, O.Ont
, C.M. (born April 5, 1946) is a research scientist and science administrator. He is the President and CEO of the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) and was previously Chair of the Board of OGI, and the founder of G2G Consulting Inc. He is a member of the Order of Canada
, a member of the Order of Ontario
and the former CEO, President
and former Scientific Director of Robarts Research Institute
.
, Poznansky was educated at McGill University
, receiving his PhD
in Physiology
in 1970. Poznansky completed his postdoctoral training in Biophysics at Harvard Medical School
in 1972, where he held the position of Lecturer
in Biophysics
until 1976. He also served as Charge de Recherche at the Collège de France
in Paris
from 1973 to 1974.
Poznansky returned to Canada
in 1976, taking a position as Associate Professor
of Physiology at the University of Alberta
in Edmonton
. Over the next 18 years, he rose to the rank of Professor and his laboratory developed an international reputation both the areas of cholesterol
and membrane biophysics
as well as enzyme replacement therapy
and the development of novel approaches to drug delivery. In 1984, Poznansky moved on to become the Associate Dean of Medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, a position he held for 9 years.
, Ontario
, as President and Scientific Director of Robarts Research Institute. He presided over a period of growth, not only in funding and employment but in technology transfer as well. Under his helm from 1993 until 2007, Robarts Research Institute increased its staff from just over 100 to over 600. Annual research funding increased from $10 million per year to over $40 million annually and the Institute spun out 7 different companies including one that was sold to GE Healthcare
.
While at Robarts, Poznansky served as President and CEO of London-based Viron Therapeutics Inc. Under his helm, the company was able to bring a candidate drug to the start of Phase II and raised $20 million to support future research efforts.
He also founded London Biotechnology Incubator Inc., Ontario’s first Life Sciences
incubator. He was able to gain financial support to build a 50,000 sq. ft. facility in London.
, strategic planning
, change management
, leadership training and mentoring and management restructuring
- to government
, hospitals, universities and institutions and the private sector
..
Poznansky developed a process to help the Spanish government support the Life Sciences industry. He worked with the Canada Foundation for Innovation
to promote harmony among its committee members and to ensure they worked together to apportion available grant monies objectively.
He helped form a research partnership made up of Robarts Research Institute, Merck & Co, Merck Frosst Canada and GE Healthcare that was able to receive funding of $20 million over four years, resulting in many key research findings and publications on the subject of lung disease. Poznansky helped change the way the University of Alberta, Edmonton conducted research and helped facilitate the amalgamation of the research administration that occurred when Ottawa Civic and Ottawa General Hospitals merged to create The Ottawa Hospital
. He also aided the Thunder Bay
Regional Institute in attracting not only some of the "most respected health research minds in Canada" but those from around the globe.
Poznansky has completed the Negotiation and Advanced Negotiation Workshops at the Harvard Negotiation Institute, Harvard Law School
.
Regional Research Institute and a board member of the Innovation Institute of Ontario.
Poznansky is a founding member and past Chair of the Council for Health Research in Canada, a research advocacy group in Ottawa. He also chaired the Scientific Advisory Board of the Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund and the board of MDS Capital Corp.
He has sat on the boards of organizations such as Diabetogen, BioMark Inc. and TechAlliance, London. Poznansky has also been a member of numerous science-related committees including the Science Advisory Committee of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
and the Medical Research Council of Canada Grants Panel.
industry and research and administration and funding, including technology transfer. He also lectures on Jewish medical ethics
as it pertains to human and animal experimentation.
.
Poznansky led the development of the book Using Our Heads, "a celebration of innovation that was supported by the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT)."
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, O.Ont
Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...
, C.M. (born April 5, 1946) is a research scientist and science administrator. He is the President and CEO of the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) and was previously Chair of the Board of OGI, and the founder of G2G Consulting Inc. He is a member of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, a member of the Order of Ontario
Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...
and the former CEO, President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
and former Scientific Director of Robarts Research Institute
Robarts Research Institute
The Robarts Research Institute is in London, Ontario, Canada with a staff of more than 600 people. Robarts scientists include physicians and physicists, biologists and biomedical engineers, and the range of diseases they study include heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and many...
.
Education and early career history
Born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Poznansky was educated at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, receiving his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
in 1970. Poznansky completed his postdoctoral training in Biophysics at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
in 1972, where he held the position of Lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
in Biophysics
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems. Studies included under the branches of biophysics span all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems...
until 1976. He also served as Charge de Recherche at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
from 1973 to 1974.
Poznansky returned to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1976, taking a position as Associate Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Physiology at the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
. Over the next 18 years, he rose to the rank of Professor and his laboratory developed an international reputation both the areas of cholesterol
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
and membrane biophysics
Membrane biophysics
Membrane biophysics is the study of biological membranes using physical, computational, mathematical, and biophysical methods....
as well as enzyme replacement therapy
Enzyme replacement therapy
Enzyme replacement therapy is a medical treatment replacing an enzyme in patients in whom that particular enzyme is deficient or absent. Usually this is done by giving the patient an intravenous infusion containing the enzyme...
and the development of novel approaches to drug delivery. In 1984, Poznansky moved on to become the Associate Dean of Medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, a position he held for 9 years.
Robarts Research Institute and the London years
In 1993, Poznansky arrived in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, as President and Scientific Director of Robarts Research Institute. He presided over a period of growth, not only in funding and employment but in technology transfer as well. Under his helm from 1993 until 2007, Robarts Research Institute increased its staff from just over 100 to over 600. Annual research funding increased from $10 million per year to over $40 million annually and the Institute spun out 7 different companies including one that was sold to GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare is a division of GE Technology Infrastructure, which is itself a division of General Electric . It employs more than 46,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. GE Healthcare is the first GE business segment to be headquartered...
.
While at Robarts, Poznansky served as President and CEO of London-based Viron Therapeutics Inc. Under his helm, the company was able to bring a candidate drug to the start of Phase II and raised $20 million to support future research efforts.
He also founded London Biotechnology Incubator Inc., Ontario’s first Life Sciences
Life sciences
The life sciences comprise the fields of science that involve the scientific study of living organisms, like plants, animals, and human beings. While biology remains the centerpiece of the life sciences, technological advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have led to a burgeoning of...
incubator. He was able to gain financial support to build a 50,000 sq. ft. facility in London.
G2G Consulting
In 2008, Poznansky founded G2G Consulting Inc., offering a wide range of services - such as program reviews, mediationMediation
Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...
, strategic planning
Strategic planning
Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. In order to determine the direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues...
, change management
Change management
Change management is a structured approach to shifting/transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. It is an organizational process aimed at helping employees to accept and embrace changes in their current business environment....
, leadership training and mentoring and management restructuring
Restructuring
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs...
- to government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
, hospitals, universities and institutions and the private sector
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
..
Poznansky developed a process to help the Spanish government support the Life Sciences industry. He worked with the Canada Foundation for Innovation
Canada Foundation for Innovation
Created by the Government of Canada in 1997, the Canada Foundation for Innovation strives to build our nation’s capacity to undertake world-class research and technology development to benefit Canadians...
to promote harmony among its committee members and to ensure they worked together to apportion available grant monies objectively.
He helped form a research partnership made up of Robarts Research Institute, Merck & Co, Merck Frosst Canada and GE Healthcare that was able to receive funding of $20 million over four years, resulting in many key research findings and publications on the subject of lung disease. Poznansky helped change the way the University of Alberta, Edmonton conducted research and helped facilitate the amalgamation of the research administration that occurred when Ottawa Civic and Ottawa General Hospitals merged to create The Ottawa Hospital
The Ottawa Hospital
The Ottawa Hospital or L'Hôpital d'Ottawa is a major, non-profit, public, university teaching hospital in Ottawa made up of the former Grace Hospital, Riverside Hospital, Ottawa General Hospital and Ottawa Civic Hospital. It is a 1,195-bed academic health sciences centre...
. He also aided the Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay
-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
Regional Institute in attracting not only some of the "most respected health research minds in Canada" but those from around the globe.
Poznansky has completed the Negotiation and Advanced Negotiation Workshops at the Harvard Negotiation Institute, Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
.
Ontario Genomics Institute
Poznansky was appointed as President and CEO of the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) on December 1, 2010. His role at OGI draws on his substantive experience in the life sciences and in running institutes and businesses, as well as his knowledge of government affairs and business development.Chairs and board memberships
Poznansky is Chair of Let’s Talk Science, Chief Science Advisor to the CEO of the Thunder BayThunder Bay
-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
Regional Research Institute and a board member of the Innovation Institute of Ontario.
Poznansky is a founding member and past Chair of the Council for Health Research in Canada, a research advocacy group in Ottawa. He also chaired the Scientific Advisory Board of the Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund and the board of MDS Capital Corp.
He has sat on the boards of organizations such as Diabetogen, BioMark Inc. and TechAlliance, London. Poznansky has also been a member of numerous science-related committees including the Science Advisory Committee of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada is a registered Canadian charity. The foundation's purpose is centered around educating individuals about the prevention and management of heart disease and stroke, and to fund medical research regarding the causes of these conditions...
and the Medical Research Council of Canada Grants Panel.
Guest lecturing
Poznansky lectures widely – both nationally and internationally – on subjects related to the biopharmaceuticalBiopharmaceutical
Biopharmaceuticals are medical drugs produced using biotechnology. They include proteins , nucleic acids and living microorganisms like virus and bacteria where the virulence of viruses and bacteria is reduced by the process of attenuation, they can be used for therapeutic or in vivo diagnostic...
industry and research and administration and funding, including technology transfer. He also lectures on Jewish medical ethics
Jewish medical ethics
Jewish medical ethics is a modern scholarly and clinical approach to medical ethics that draws upon Jewish thought and teachings. Pioneered by Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits in the 1950s, Jewish medical ethics centers mainly around an applied ethics drawing upon traditional rabbinic law...
as it pertains to human and animal experimentation.
Other accomplishments
In 2005, Poznansky was made a member of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of Ontario. He is also the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee MedalQueen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II...
.
Poznansky led the development of the book Using Our Heads, "a celebration of innovation that was supported by the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT)."