The Canada Foundation for Innovation has announced that Sylvain Charbonneau will be appointed its sixth president and CEO.
Sylvain Charbonneau will succeed Roseann O’Reilly Runte, who has served as CFI president and CEO since August 2017.
He will take up his position on 1 October this year.
“Sylvain Charbonneau is held in very high esteem in the research community, both in Canada and abroad,” said Ingrid Pickering, Chair of the Board of Directors of the CFI.
About Sylvain Charbonneau
As vice-rector for research and innovation at the University of Ottawa, Mr Charbonneau has championed interdisciplinary research in Canada and helped create a dynamic environment.
This has made it possible to attract talented scientists and partners from the academic, public, hospital and private sectors.
Most recently, he led the university team in making the largest capital investment in the institution’s history: the Center for Advanced Medical Research, whose mission is to catalyse discoveries in health care and encourage their marketing.
Pickering said: “Thanks to his experience as a researcher, entrepreneur and research administrator, Mr Charbonneau will be able to encourage collaboration between various sectors, in order to allow our researchers to have access to cutting-edge research infrastructures.”
In addition to his duties at the NRC, Mr Charbonneau has been an associate professor at six Canadian universities. He trained several postgraduate students, published more than 180 articles and filed numerous patents.
He also co-founded with three colleagues a spin-off company dedicated to new optical communication technologies: Optenia Inc.
About the Canada Foundation for Innovation
With its bold mandate and strategic vision, the Canada Foundation for Innovation gives researchers the means to be world leaders in their field and to respond to major societal issues.
The FCI helps fund cutting-edge tools, equipment and laboratories. This infrastructure is necessary for fundamental research and makes it possible to undertake research missions that transcend disciplines and mobilise all sectors.
The research infrastructures funded by the CFI promote the mobilisation of knowledge, stimulate innovation and commercialisation and provide an exceptional environment for training the new generation.
