Candidate for the position of Vice-President (President-elect)
Dr. Paola A. Marignani
Candidacy Statement:
My initial interest in serving CSMB stemmed from my eagerness to contribute to improving the research venture for Canadian scientists at a time when funding for basic research was in crisis. At the same time, I was equally disturbed by the lack of representation by non-visible and visible ethnic minority females and males on the boards of various STEM organizations across Canada. I decided to channel my energies to serve the greater research community through CSMB. In 2017, I was elected to be a councillor and serve in the capacity of Chair-Membership and Diversity committee and a member on the Advocacy and Communications committee.
In the capacity of CSMB Vice President, I will continue my commitment to improving all aspects of the basic research venture including improving diversity and inclusivity for our membership. Research innovations and discoveries are best achieved when all members of our society are able to contribute to the full extent of their abilities. Canada needs to do better at equity, diversity and inclusion. It has taken our nation, 100 years to reach this point, thus, the time is now to drive change. As VP, I will continue to leverage my extensive network of Canadian Women in STEM (@CDNWomenSTEM) that currently has 2300 members (continues to grow) and partnerships with Women STEM organizations from around the world.
I appreciate that we have recently entered a new era of career and funding instability because of COVID-19. I strongly believe the advocacy role of CSMB is paramount at this time in history and that we are in a position to lead on behalf of our membership.
Education: Executive MBA, IVEY School of Business
PDF, Princess Margaret Hospital
PDF, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
PDF, Harvard Medical School, Division of Signal Transduction
PhD, McMaster University
MSc, Western University (Formally University of Western Ontario)
HBSc, University of Windsor
Career Summary:
Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Dalhousie University
Cross-Appointment, Faculty of Medicine, Pathology, Dalhousie University
Adjunct Professor, University of Windsor
Founder, Canadian Women in STEM
Founder and CEO, SAGE Medical Consultants Inc.
CSMB
- Chair-Equity and Membership Committee, June 1, 2017-2021
- Advocacy Committee, CSMB, June 1, 2017-2021
- Councillor, CSMB, June 1 2017-2021
Chair, Co-Chair or Director; Dalhousie University
- Director, Pipeline for improving high mortality cancer outcomes
through precision medicine
- Chair, DNA Damage Core Facility.
- Chair, Enhanced Gene Analysis and Discovery Core Facility, May
2014-December 2018.
- Chair, Academic Planning Committee, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, July 2015-2016.
- Chair, CIHR Strategic Training Program- Cancer Research Training
Program (CIHR- CRTP), 2005- 2006.
- Biosafety Officer, Faculty of Medicine and Dalhousie University, 2005-2006.
- Cancer Biology Research Group, Executive Committee, 2005-2015.
Committee Member; Dalhousie University
- EDI Advisory Committee; Dalhousie NSERC-lead 2020-2025
- Dalhousie EDI Advisory Committee 2020-
- CTRNet Atlantic Lung Tumor Bank Scientific/Accessing Committee 2020-2025.
- Women in Research Caucus (WiRC), Dalhousie University, January 2018-
- SEM Operational Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, April 2017.
- Academic Planning Committee, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, April 2005-2006, June 2012-2015.
- CIHR-CRTP- Curriculum Committee. 2004-2006.
- Promotion and Tenure Committee, Faculty of Medicine, July 1, 2005-
2008.
Professional activities relevant to this position: Text here (maximum 200 words)
- As Chair-Membership and Diversity Committee (MDC), we improved the diversity of our membership from 2017.
➢ As VP of CSMB, I will continue to work towards building a diverse and inclusive Society that is representative of researchers in Canada.
- MDC is working on a program that is focused on mental wellness for our membership.
➢ As VP, I am committed to developing and launching a mental wellness program in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association in 2021.
- Advocating on Parliament Hill for government implementation of Canada’s Fundamental Science Review recommendations.
➢ As VP, I will continue to strongly advocate for basic research at all levels of government.
- I developed a CSMB promotional video launched Fall 2019.
➢ As VP, I support the creation of CSMB promotional SciComm toolkits for our membership.
- During my tenure as Chair MDC, we introduced full range of memberships fees. These changes will improve the quality of offerings we can provide our membership.
- The MDC introduced a fee for Industry to post jobs on our website.
- I launched CSMB Instagram and was instrumental at supporting the use of Twitter for rapid communication.
- I contributed to improving our web content, migration to our new web platform.
Major Research Interests: Text here (maximum 100 words, 3-6 keywords)
The Marignani Discovery Research Laboratory is interested in molecular mechanisms responsible for 1) breast, lung, pancreatic cancers, 2) neurodegenerative diseases, and 3) molecular processes that permit cells to move from one location to another.
Core Activities:
- Platforms: scRNA-seq/scATAC-seq, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenomics, immunobiology, gene-editing (CRISPR-Cas9 and shRNA), Cas9 mouse models, cell imaging, DNA and virus manipulations, HTP-screening strategies
- Pre-clinical trials, metronomic dosing, animal imaging
- Dissemination of knowledge: peer-reviewed publications, invited plenary speaker, academic seminars, public outreach
- Mentoring-training of scientist, healthcare professionals. Leadership and career development
- SciComm and education of stakeholders: people living with cancer, their families and community, and policy makers
Keywords: signal transduction, gene-editing, scRNA-seq, cancer, metabolism, precision medicine
Website: https://marignanilab.com/
Twitter: @pmarignani
@CDNWomenSTEM
View Paola Marignani’s CV
