Ms. Dakers is a leading figure in the Canadian biotechnology industry and currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of CDRD Ventures Inc. after having spent the last seven years as the founding CEO of The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), an innovative national organization with a mandate to address the commercialization gap between early-stage technologies arising out of university-based research and private sector investment opportunities. Under Ms. Dakers’ leadership, CDRD signed affiliation agreements with more than 20 major research institutions in Canada and around the world, and forged important strategic relationships with public and private sector partners including Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Genome British Columbia and the Governments of British Columbia and Alberta. With over 20,000 square feet in specialized lab space and more than $15 million invested in state-of-the-art equipment, under Ms. Dakers leadership, CDRD built a team of over 85 employees, engaged close to 500 individual investigators, raised and secured approximately $115 million in funding, and was named a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) by the Federal Government.

Ms. Dakers brings to the organization many valuable years of experience in the commercialization of technology, licensing, and intellectual property protection. Prior to leading the establishment of CDRD, Ms. Dakers was President and CEO of Neuromed Pharmaceuticals (Technologies) Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company developing drugs for chronic pain, anxiety, epilepsy and cardiovascular diseases. As co-founder and CEO, Ms. Dakers built the company from inception and raised three rounds of venture financing totaling approximately $70 million. Prior to this, Ms. Dakers managed technology transfer for the Life Sciences sector at the University Industry Liaison Office (UILO) at the University of British Columbia, where she was involved in the creation and spin-off of more than a dozen start-up high-tech and biotech companies.

Ms. Dakers is active in a number of business and scientific organizations, including Past Chair of BC Biotech (now LifeSciences British Columbia), the association supporting and representing the province’s biotech, medical device and life sciences community. Currently, Ms. Dakers is a board member of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), BIOTECanada, the International Science and Technology Partnership Canada (ISTP Canada) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Life Sciences Advisory Board. Previously, Ms. Dakers also served on the Boards of Genome Canada, Genome BC, and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Ms. Dakers is an Adjunct Professor in UBC’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a member of the Council of Canadian Academies’ Expert Panel on Business Innovation. Ms. Dakers received a Peak Award for Performance and Excellence in 2004. In 2009, Ms. Dakers was the recipient of BIOTECanada’s Gold Leaf Award for Industry Leadership.