Dr. Bettina Hamelin

Bettina Hamelin, PharmD, EMBA is the President and CEO of Ontario Genomics, an Ontario-based not-for profit organization dedicated to catalyzing and supporting the development and commercialization of genomics- and engineering biology-based solutions across key sectors of the economy to drive economic growth, improved quality of life and global leadership for Ontario.

Dr. Hamelin has over 30 years of experience in academia, industry, and not-for profit organizations. She has held positions of increasing responsibility in the biotech and pharma industries including leadership positions at BioChem Pharma (Associate Director, DMPK) and Pfizer (Head, Strategic Research Partnerships, Western Canada; Director Vaccines, Pfizer Canada; Medical Director, Pfizer Germany; Global Scout, Pfizer Inc.). Dr. Hamelin also has 10 years of academic research expertise as a tenured professor at Université Laval. Prior to her current role, she served as VP of NSERC’s Research Partnerships Directorate, where she was responsible for stimulating increased public/private sector collaboration and technology transfer by connecting the Canadian research enterprise to Canadian and global innovation partners.

Dr. Hamelin volunteers in the broader research and innovation community and serves on several advisory committees and the Boards of Directors of IRICoR and the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC) , and as a Mentor for the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL). Dr. Hamelin also chairs the National Engineering Biology Steering Committee and serves on Ontario’s COVID-19 Genomics Network Steering Committee.

Polina Martins

Polina Martins joined Ontario Genomics in 2019. In this role, she is responsible for leading and implementing the Ontario Genomics communications strategy, supporting government and stakeholder engagement priorities, and executing events and other public relations initiatives. 

Previously, Polina served as Senior Communications and Operations Advisor to several Ontario Government Ministers in Economic Development and Growth, Health and Long-Term Care, and Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation portfolios. She brings a unique blend of communications, government relations, stakeholder engagement, and events planning experience to this role.

Polina earned her Master of Arts degree at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

Jordan Thomson

Dr. Jordan Thomson (PhD, Chemistry) brings over 14 years experience working in industry, non-profit and academic sectors. He possesses deep technical and business knowledge in the chemical and biotechnology industries coupled with experience in strategy, startup and business support, and R&D funding. As the Associate Vice President, Strategic Partnerships & Resource Development at Ontario Genomics he builds strategic plans and partnership opportunities to advance the genomics & engineering biology ecosystem in Ontario and Canada, driving application of these technologies across key sectors of the economy. He also serves as a Board Member at GreenCentre Canada, a non-profit that accelerates the development of chemical and materials innovation, as well as a mentor with the Creative Destruction Lab.

Prior to joining Ontario Genomics, Jordan worked for DuPont as a Research Scientist leading projects in chemical process development and scale-up. He received his Bachelor’s degree in the Arts and Science programme at McMaster University and completed his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Toronto where he studied nanotechnology and synthetic chemistry.