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Mike received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. After completing his MBA at Queen’s University, he worked in the pharmaceutical industry for several years, working on new product development. In that capacity, Mike was involved in evaluating therapeutics to develop strategies for launching in Canada, a role that involved looking at clinical trials, government regulation, sales - in short, all the variables involved in bringing a new product to market.

Mike joined Queen's Partnerships and Innovation (QPI) in 2008 (then Parteq). As a Partnerships Development Officer at QPI, his focus is on the commercialization of life science-related research discoveries, supporting innovation by researchers at Queen’s University and Kingston Health Sciences Centre. During his time with QPI, he has worked on a broad range of life science innovations, ranging from rehabilitation products to software intended to helping hospitals operate more efficiently. Mike also conducts workshops for the Queen’s research community and for Kingston entrepreneurs, speaking on topics like commercialization and intellectual property.

What is your favourite part of the job?
The incredible variety. Working with so many different technologies that have so many different applications, different marketplaces and users.

What is an important piece of advice that you want researchers to know?
Try to think about what is going on in the real world. What is industry looking for, since generally speaking, they're the ones who understand customers, and where your technology might fit in.

What is the one thing you’d want researchers to consider when looking to commercialize their technology, discovery or invention?
It's important that they aren't coming to us too late. Researchers should come to us as early as possible so we can help them from the get-go.