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The primary objective of the NCE Annual Meeting is to enable the
scientific leaders, network managers and the Chairs of the Boards
of Directors of the 21 networks to share their knowledge, both among
themselves and with the NCE Directorate, about best practices —
the most efficient and effective ways to run their "institutes
without walls."
This exchange of knowledge is of key importance to NCE scientific leaders
and network managers who, because they operate their networks as research
consortia, are faced with challenges such as:
- deciding whether to incorporate their network;
- handling intellectual property, licensing and start-up companies;
- dealing with performance indicators;
- coordinating multi-disciplinary institutional projects;
- moving research to licensable technology; and conducting their
activities on the international scene.
They are also faced with the challenge of communicating the results
of their research, not only to their researchers but also to the media,
members of Parliament and the public at large. By using the Annual Meeting
to share best practices, NCE leaders and managers can learn from each
other and thus operate their networks with increased efficiency and
effectiveness.
An equally important objective of the Annual Meeting is to offer the
NCEs an opportunity to expand their array of partnerships and to promote
themselves and the NCE program to local industrial, government and not-for-profit
sectors. This is done through a breakfast and panel discussion with
the local business community. This year, the session was carried out
in partnership with the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI)
and the Ottawa Life Sciences Council (OLSC). Its objective was to inform
business people how they can help their businesses prosper through NCE
partnerships. The keynote speaker was Dr. Jack Gauldie of the Canadian
Network for Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. Dr. Gauldie is also Chair
of McMaster University’s Department of Pathology and Molecular
Medicine, and Director of the Centre for Gene Therapeutics in the Institute
for Molecular Medicine and Health.
Panelists at the meeting were:
Dr. Peter R. Frise, P.Eng., FCAE
University of Windsor
Program Leader, AUTO21
Dr. Paul Morley
National Research Council
Deputy Scientific Director, Canadian Stroke Network
Dr. Shahram Tafazoli
President
Motion Metrics Inc.
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