Gairdner welcomes 4 new members to the Board of Directors

Press Release
Feature

We are thrilled to welcome four new members to the Gairdner Foundation Board of Directors, these exceptional leaders each bring unique expertise and a shared passion for advancing global health and biomedical science.

Marie Josée Lamothe

Marie Josée Lamothe is a Director on Canadian public and private boards. Since August 2018, she is the President of Tandem International and works closely with VCs as an advisory partner to their portfolio of small/medium enterprises. Lamothe is also a Professor of Practice at McGill University (Desautels Business Faculty) and McGill's Dobson Center for Entrepreneurship.

“I am honored to join the board of an organization that celebrates excellence and innovation in global health and medical research. I look forward to contributing to its mission of recognizing and inspiring groundbreaking achievements that impact lives worldwide.”

 

Stephen Lucas

Dr. Stephen Lucas is an accomplished public servant with extensive experience in health, research and innovation, environment and climate change, and energy policy as well as federal-provincial-territorial relations. He retired in May 2024 after more than 35 years with the Public Service of Canada, including 10 years in the Deputy Minister community. Dr. Lucas was appointed as the CEO of Mitacs in October 2024.

“I am thrilled to join the board of the Gairdner Foundation and have the opportunity to support its important mission in recognizing international excellence and ground-breaking discoveries in global health and biomedical research.”

 

Calli Naish

Calli Naish is a Research Assistant at the University of Calgary in both the Department of Communications, Media and Film, and at the O’Brien Institute for Public Health. Her work focuses the development of evidence-based health and science knowledge dissemination, qualitative health and science research, and digital communication. Previously she has worked in science communications as a Digital Content Manager with Beakerhead.

“Strong science communication is about storytelling, and every Canada Gairdner Award is a story of excellence in health and biomedical science. I’m thrilled to be joining the Gairdner Foundation and participating in the celebration and sharing of incredible scientific stories.”

 

Lawrence Pentland

Lawrence Pentland is a former executive at Dell Inc. where he led the Americas International division with full P&L responsibility for operations spanning 40 countries and five thousand employees, including manufacturing operations in Brazil. During his 10 years at Dell, revenues in his division grew from $750 million to $4.6 billion. Prior to joining Dell, Lawrence held various industry roles and was a partner at Bain & Company Consulting in Boston and Toronto serving Fortune 500 companies in North America and internationally on issues of strategy, manufacturing and performance improvement. He is now a private investor in emerging technology companies.

“I am delighted to join the board of the Gairdner Foundation, an organization that has long stood at the forefront of celebrating excellence in global health and biomedical science. I look forward to supporting its mission of recognizing scientific discoveries that transform lives and inspire the next generation of innovators.”