Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan is Vice President of Research (Life Sciences) at the National Research Council of Canada, one of the country's most influential science organizations in the country. The NRC connects industry, academia, and government to drive innovation and often is quietly behind-the-scenes helping steer some of the most significant advances in Canadian Life Sciences.

In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with Lakshmi about her journey that began in Chennai, India, wound through New Delhi, Edmonton, and Ottawa, and eventually lead to her becoming one of the most senior leaders in the Canadian Life Sciences community.

Lakshmi shares insights about the mentors and unexpected moments that have helped shape her path, what it was like to lead the NRC's Life Sciences division through the COVID pandemic, and why she believes Canada is at a turning point in its ability to build and commercialize world-class science.

Today we reach into the archive to rebroadcast our interview with Maura Campbell, President & CEO of OBIO.

Maura is one of the key leaders in Canada's life sciences community and it was a pleasure to speak with her. Listen in as she shares her thoughts on surviving a severe car accident, some of the obstacles she has faced as a woman working in life sciences, the disappointment of doing everything right but still having a company fail, and how keeping an open mind is important to success.

NerView Surgical is a medtech startup based in Hamilton, Ontario developing a handheld imaging device that gives surgeons the ability to visualize nerves in real time during surgery. It sounds like something that should already exist. It doesn't. The current standard of care is the naked eye.

In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with founder and CEO Mann Parikh about a company born out of a university course at McMaster, driven forward by a thousand cold emails to surgeons, and now supported by advisors at some of the most respected medical institutions in the world including Mayo Clinic, Stanford Medicine, and Harvard Medical School.

Mann also opens up about the challenge of proving credibility as a student founder, the mentors who helped shape his thinking, and why he believes the best thing any young entrepreneur can do is stop waiting and start building.