AIC Announces new Board Chair and Vice Chair
For immediate release
January 16, 2020, Ottawa – The Agri-food Innovation Council (AIC) is pleased to announce that Dr. Reno Pontarollo was elected as the new Chair of the Agri-Food Innovation Council and that Dr. Julianne Curran, was also elected as AIC’s new Vice Chair.
Dr. Pontarollo is the President and CEO of Genome Prairie. He was born and raised on a mixed farm operation in Southern Alberta and studied at the University of Saskatchewan where he obtained a PhD in Veterinary Microbiology. He started with Genome Prairie in 2005 where he initially served as the Chief Science Officer until he became the President and CEO. Prior to this, he held roles at Pyxis Genomics and VIDO-InterVac. He has served since 2018 as AIC’s Vice Chair.
Dr. Curran is the Vice President, Market Innovation, with Pulse Canada where she has worked since 2005. She was Pulse Canada’s Manager of Nutrition and Health Innovation (2005-2009) then Director of Nutrition, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs (2009-2015) before becoming Vice President, Market Innovation. She holds a PhD in Philosophy (Human Nutritional Sciences). She recently joined AIC’s Board of directors.
AIC wishes to thank Dr. Wilf Keller for his role as Chair of the Board of directors during a crucial transition for the Council. Dr. Keller’s guidance, knowledge of the sector and key players as well as his ability to bring people together were crucial as AIC was undertaking its transformation into what it is now.
For more information, please contact Serge Buy, AIC’s CEO at 613-720-1777 or sbuy@aic.ca.
The Agri-food Innovation Council (AIC) has been in existence since 1920. It is a unifying voice for agri-food research and innovation.