UPEI Announces New Director Of Three Oaks Innovations
February 21st, 2014
The University of Prince Edward Island is proud to announce the appointment of Shelley King as the new CEO of Three Oaks Innovations, Inc. (TOI). TOI is a not-for-profit entity created by UPEI to assist its researchers to transform their innovative ideas into commercial products, business opportunities, and public knowledge. It is situated to be a centre for creativity, innovation, and commercialization for a university that has become the hub of bioscience research within the Prince Edward Island cluster. Ms. King’s combination of industry and public expertise and experience makes her uniquely qualified to lead this team to bridge the gap between industry and the innovative minds within the research community at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Ms. King has led and managed life science research in both the public and private sectors, from idea inception, through proposal development, to scale-up for commercialization. Her experience with various types of organizations, including newly incorporated private companies, multi-national pharmaceutical companies, not-for-profits, universities, and federal research institutes, allows her to effectively unite stakeholders with different backgrounds, goals, and objectives to create successful outcomes.
Ms. King comes to TOI from Genome Atlantic, where she served as Vice-President Research and Business Development. In this role, she led the development large- and small-scale, multi-institutional research projects ranging in value from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Ms. King holds an MSc and an MBA from Memorial University, and has translated these degrees into a broad range of experience in technology commercialization, business development, strategic partnership development and intellectual property management in both the private and academic sectors.
“Shelley King is the whole package,” said Dr. Robert Gilmour, UPEI’s Vice-President of Research and Graduate Studies and Chair of TOI’s Board of Directors. “She brings with her a thorough understanding of all aspects of the industry, from evaluation of scientific and commercial merit, to IP strategy and implementation, to technology transfer, and the pursuit of private and public sector funding. She has a strong vision for the industry-academia research process, as well as hands-on organizational skills, industry connections, and knowledge of both business and science. I very much look forward to working with her.”
“I am extremely excited to be joining the TOI team,” said Shelley King. “I cannot wait to lead an organization that enhances the innovation space within the University of Prince Edward Island and the community as a whole. I look forward to taking up this position and to working with stakeholders in Prince Edward Island’s innovation community.”
Ms. King holds current and past membership on high profile boards and committees in Canada’s innovation sector, including, but not limited to the Genesis Centre, the Aquaculture Association of Canada (AAC), Newfoundland & Labrador Association of Technology Industries, and the Pan American Marine Biotechnology Association (PAMBA).
TOI is responsible for the patenting of several innovative technologies from UPEI’s researchers. It has also aided in the spin-off of four stand-alone companies based on technology developed by researchers at UPEI.
Ms. King begins her leadership of TOI on March 1.