We know you will join us in congratulating David Brown, the Chief Operating Officer & Co-Founder of Chinova Bioworks, who has won the 2017 Governor General’s Innovation Award (GGIA). Chinova Bioworks is a Fredericton, New Brunswick-based client of the Emergence program. Read more about Chinova Bioworks here!
David will be honoured at a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on May 23, 2017.
“These awards recognize and celebrate outstanding Canadian individuals, teams and organizations whose exceptional and transformative work help shape our future and positively impact our quality of life,” the Governor General’s office told us.
David Brown, COO of Emergence client Chinova Bioworks
David’s award celebrates his role as a biotechnology entrepreneur and a passionate advocate for youth entrepreneurship in Canada’s biotechnology sector.
He currently serves as the co-founder and COO of Emergence start-up client, Chinova Bioworks.
See also: Emergence client, Chinova Bioworks, selected for Terra: the San Francisco-based Food + Ag Accelerator and Welcome to new Emergence Client: Chinova Bioworks
The awards committee writes: “In 2013, David and his team from the University of Alberta won MIT’s iGEM competition with an innovation for a genetically engineered shikimic acid pathway in bacteria. David then founded Mycodev Group, a biotechnology company that produces life-saving pharmaceutical ingredients used in liquid biopsy and medical therapeutics. He received his first patent and several innovation awards for the Group’s work, as well as for his efforts in developing biopolymer-based antimicrobials. David founded MyCodev Group in order to resolve a lack of supply of chitosan, a valuable pharmaceutical ingredient that is essential in a wide variety of medical devices and drugs. His innovative technology produces chitosan directly from a fungal fermentation, a process that uses very little energy or chemicals.”
Click here to see David (at the 4-minute mark) in conversation with the Governor General!
The other 2017 innovation award winners include:
- Marie-Odile Junker: Ottawa, Ontario
- Patricia Lingley-Pottie and Patrick McGrath: Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Bonnie Mallard: Guelph, Ontario
- Audra Renyi: Montréal, Quebec
- Paul Santerre: Toronto, Ontario
“The recipients of the 2017 Governor General’s Innovation Awards demonstrate that Canadians are among the world’s most creative and dynamic innovators,” said the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada.
The GGIA Selection Committee is composed of distinguished individuals chosen for their expertise in, and breadth of, understanding of the innovation ecosystem. The 2017 Selection Committee is made up of the following individuals:
- Sakchin Bessette, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Moment Factory
- Chaviva Hošek, Professor, School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Toronto
- Paul Lacerte, National Ambassador Moosehide Campaign, BC
- Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO, Cirque du Soleil
- Heather Munroe-Blum, former principal, McGill University
The objectives of the Governor General’s Innovation Awards are to:
- Celebrate excellence in innovation across all sectors of Canadian society
- Inspire Canadians, particularly Canadian youth, to be entrepreneurial innovators
- Foster an active culture of innovation that has a meaningful impact on our lives