Governance
of the IRCM

Véronique Boileau

Vice President, Communications and Branding, Pomerleau

Véronique Boileau is Vice President, Communications and Branding for Pomerleau.

Before joining Pomerleau, Ms. Boileau was Vice President, Communication for Agropur and Director of Public Relations for the OSM.  She previously worked in communications firms, including CASACOM.  She also worked for the French diplomatic services in New York.  At the beginning of her career, she was a press officer and political advisor for the Government of Quebec.

Ms. Boileau is a member of the IRCM’s Board of Directors since December 2019.

Hélène Boisjoly

Full Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal

Dr. Hélène Boisjoly is an ophthalmologist, a full professor in the Department of Ophthalmology, and the dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Université de Montréal. A specialist in corneal transplantation, Dr. Boisjoly has created a number of funds for research and teaching. In 2019, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Ophthalmological Society. She is a member of the Order of Canada.

Jean-François Côté

President and interim scientific director of the IRCM;
Director of research unit

• Interim President and Scientific Director, IRCM
• Director, Cancer and Genetic Diseases Research Division, IRCM
• Director, Cytoskeletal Organization and Cell Migration Research Unit, IRCM
  Full IRCM Research Professor
• Full research professor, Department of Medicine (accreditation in molecular biology, and in biochemistry and molecular medicine), Université de Montréal
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine (Division of Experimental Medicine), McGill University
• Research Scholar, Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé
• Holder of the Transat Chair in breast cancer research
• Person in charge of responsible conduct of research, IRCM

Awards and honours

• 2013 Pierre-Bois Excellence Award, IRCM Foundation
• Pre-doctoral awards from Cancer Research Society and NCIC (Terry Fox Funds)
• Post-doctoral award from CIHR and NCIC (Terry Fox Funds)
• CIHR “New Investigator” award (2006-2011)
• FRQS Scholar (Junior 1, Junior 2, Senior) awards
• Recipient of the Marcel Piché prize

Degrees and relevant experience

• PhD in biochemistry, McGill University (1996-2001)
• Postdoctoral fellowship, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, California, USA

André Couillard

President, IRCM Foundation; Corporate Director

André Couillard was Vice-President, Executive Search & Recruitment Solutions at Optimum Talent, from 1998 to 2020. He worked as Associate and Associate Director for three national/international executive search firms, in Ottawa and in Montreal. His previous business experience includes executive positions in Operations and Human Resources for national and international corporations, including Sears Canada, Le Château Stores, Shirmax, Henry Birks and Sons Ltd., and Bell Canada.

Former President and member of the Board of Directors of the Regroupement des gens d’affaires de la Capitale nationale (Ottawa), he was/is a board member or member of the advisory committee for several organizations, including the Montreal Kidney Foundation, the Conseil québécois du commerce de détail, Le refuge des jeunes de Montréal, The Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation, and was a founding member of Destination Centre-ville (Montréal).

Mr. Couillard has been president of the IRCM Foundation’s Board of Directors since June 2013 (Board Member since 2009) and is a member of the Ad Hoc Recruitment Committee and of the Ad Hoc Major and Exceptional Donations Committee.

He has been a member of the IRCM Board of Directors since June 2013 and is a member of the IRCM Human Resources Committee.

Michel Décary

Chair of the IRCM Governance Committee, member of the IRCM Executive Committee, Consulting partner, BCF law firm

Michel Décary’s experience as a pleader has run the gamut of Canadian courts at all levels up to and including the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as provincial and federal administrative tribunals and domestic arbitration tribunals, in matters regarding corporate, commercial and securities law. He has either acted as counsel or represented witnesses before several public inquiries such as Cliche, Malouf, Gomery and Johnson.

Throughout his career, Mr. Décary has been a Board member for various companies and organizations. Today, he is a member of the Board for National Public Relations and the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations. 

He is a member of the IRCM Board of Directors since 2014. He chairs the Governance Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee.

Pierre Duplessis

Chairman of the IRCM Board, IRCM; Management and Public Health Consultant

Pierre Duplessis is a Management Consultant specializing in public health and the implementation of development projects at a national and international level. He is also Adjunct Professor for the School of public health at the Université de Montréal. He holds a MD degree from the Université de Montréal, a Master’s in public health from Harvard University and a specialty in community medicine from the Université Laval.

Dr. Duplessis started his career in clinical medicine, became public health specialist in the early 1980s and spent 20 years of his career in health care management from 1990-2010. He held several positions including Senior Medical Advisor to the Deputy Minister for the Quebec ministry of Health and Social services, Deputy Secretary General for the Quebec College of Physicians, and Secretary General and CEO for the Canadian Red Cross Society. Dr. Duplessis has gained over 30 years of teaching experience at McGill University, the Université de Montréal and University of Ottawa. For the past several years, he volunteers with various non-profit organizations and currently chairs the Board of Directors of CellCAN. In 2002, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Gold Jubilee Medal.

Dr. Duplessis has been a member of the Board since December 2015, and Chairman since June 2017. He is also member of the Executive Committee and of the Governance Committee.

Marinella Ermacora

President of the IRCM Human Ressources Committee, Businesswoman and Corporate Director. Former President, Createch, a Bell Canada society.

Marinella Ermacora is a Corporate Director with extensive executive experience acquired in dynamic corporations (Fujitsu, CGI, and Bell Canada), and who acted as President at Createch, a Bell Canada company. Over the past 35 years, as an energetic and action-oriented leader, she combined information technology and business to improve innovation, cost savings, operational improvements and growth. She excels in governance, business development, project management, negotiations, process reengineering and business transformation. Marinella Ermacora is known for her inspiring leadership as well as her ability to mobilize and influence others towards common success.  A Certified Director (ICD.D) by the Institute of Corporate Directors (McGill-Rotman), Ms. Ermacora sits on the boards of GHGSat and Capital Régional et Coopératif Desjardins.

Ms. Ermacora was a member of the IRCM Foundation Board of Directors from 2010 to 2017. She has been a member of the IRCM Board of Directors since September 2017. She is also President of the IRCM Human Ressources Committee and a member of the IRCM Executive Committee.

Brian Z. Gelfand

Financial Market Professional

Brian Z. Gelfand is a senior executive in the derivatives exchange sector with leadership experience in all aspects of options and futures markets. He held several positions including Chief Commercial Officer at the Canadien Depository for Securities.

He is a member of the Bars of Quebec, New York and Massachusetts. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Common Law from McGill University, as well as an M.A. in international relations from the John Hopkins University. He is an active member of several professional and community organizations, including the Toronto Centre’s Securities Program Advisory Board, AIMA Canada’s Education and Research Committee, and the Roaster’s Foundation. 

Mr. Gelfand has been a member of the IRCM Board of Directors since June 2012 and is a member of the Governance Committee.

Daniel Jutras

Rector, Université de Montréal

Graduate in law from Université de Montréal and Harvard University, Daniel Jutras taught at the McGill Faculty of Law from 1985 to 2020, where he held the Wainwright Chair in Civil Law for ten years. From 2009 to 2016, he served as dean of the McGill Faculty of Law, successfully carrying out a major reform of its teaching programs and completing a campaign that raised over $35 million. Specialist in civil and comparative law, Daniel Jutras has devoted his research work to judicial institutions and dispute resolution issues, from a comparative and pluralistic perspective. He was director of the Institute of Comparative Law at McGill University from 1998 to 2002.

From 2002 to 2004, Professor Jutras was on leave from the Faculty of Law to serve as executive legal officer for the Chief Justice at the Supreme Court of Canada, the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin. He has appeared before the Supreme Court on two occasions at the invitation of the Court. He sat on the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments from 2016 to 2018 and acted as an ethics consultant to the Canadian Judicial Council. 

With his recognized expertise in academic governance, Professor Jutras has served on a number of independent audit committees for top-ranked institutions such as Harvard University, HEC Paris and, in Canada, the faculties of law at the University of Toronto, Dalhousie University and Queen’s University. 

Recently, in recognition of his contributions to university life, Canadian political life and innovation in teaching, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. As a professor at McGill, Daniel Jutras received an award for excellence in teaching. The Barreau du Québec awarded him its Advocatus emeritus distinction in 2014 and its Mérite award in 2016. He was also awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013. 

Christine Le Jeune

Senior Vice President, Branch Manager, CIBC Wood Gundy

Christine Le Jeune holds a BBA in Professional Accounting from HEC Montréal and is a Certified Management Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst. She is also a Certified Corporate Director (CSA), having completed the corporate governance university certification program at the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés de l'Université Laval.
 
Ms. Le Jeune has worked in the financial industry for over 25 years, having acquired her experience in banking as well as in full-service brokerage, where she spent most of her career. She has a solid understanding of industry issues through her extensive experience leading teams, involvement on strategic steering committees within her jobs as well as on several industry committees and councils, and having designed, established and led divisions and departments.  
 
Ms Le Jeune has been a member of the IRCM Board of Directors since June 2008.

Michel Lespérance

Member of the IRCM Governance Committee, Member of the Executive Committee, Corporate Director

Lawyer and member of the Québec Bar since 1967, Michel Lespérance pursued his career at the Université de Montréal, where he was assistant Secretary-General, assistant to the Vice-Rector of administration, and Secretary-General of the university. He retired in 2005 and was appointed Secretary-General Emeritus of the Université in April 2008.

Throughout his career, Mr. Lespérance served on the several Boards of Directors, including that of the École Polytechnique de Montréal, the CÉGEP de Saint-Laurent and the Caisse populaire Côte-des-Neiges. He is Secretary of the Advisory Board for the Autorité des marches financiers and has been a member of several associations, such as the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the Groupement international des secrétaires généraux des universités francophones.

Mr. Lespérance has been a member of the IRCM Board of Directors since June 2011. He is also a member of the Human Ressources Committee, the Executive Committee and the Governance Committee.

Richard Mayrand

Vice-Chair of the IRCM Board, President of the IRCM Scientific Committee, Corporate Director

Richard Mayrand, MBA, FCPA, FCGA, worked for the Jean Coutu Group from 1996 to 2019 as Senior Vice President, Pharmacy and Government Affairs. His mandate was to ensure the Jean Coutu network's leadership in pharmaceutical services. 
 
Mr. Mayrand is a member of the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec. He is also a member of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés and a member of the Ordre des administrateurs agréés. He has been awarded the title of Fellow by all three professional orders. He holds an MBA from McGill University.

He is an ASC graduate of the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés and has chaired the Board of Directors of the Association des bannières et des chaînes de pharmacies du Québec and served on the Board of Directors of the Société de soins palliatifs à domicile du Grand Montréal. Richard Mayrand has been teaching the human resources management module at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Université de Montréal since 1996. In 2011, the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec honoured him with the prestigious Louis-Hébert Award, the Order's highest distinction in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of the pharmacy profession.

Mr. Mayrand is Vice-Chair of the IRCM Board of Directors and President-Elect. He is also Chair of the Scientific Committee and a member of the Governance Committee. He will take up his position as Chair in mid-June.

Ghislain Parent

Executive Vice-President – International – Finance, National Bank

As Executive Vice-President – International – Finance, Ghislain Parent is responsible for all accounting, finance, strategic planning, sourcing, merger & acquisition, international development and internal audit activities, including capital management, taxation, investor relations and financial governance. Mr. Parent is a member of National Bank’s Office of the President.
Until August 2011, Mr. Parent served as Senior Vice-President – Internal Audit, a position he had held since July 2010. Before joining National Bank, Mr. Parent held the positions of Senior VicePresident and Chief  Financial Officer of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and President of CDP Financial Inc. During his career, Mr. Parent also served as Vice-President – Internal Audit and Security and Vice-President, Chief Accountant for Laurentian Bank and Senior Advisor – Banking Supervision and Restructuring, Africa, for the International Monetary Fund.
In addition to his professional activities, Mr. Parent is involved in several organizations. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Quartier International de Montréal from 2003 to 2008 and was involved in Centraide of Greater Montreal and the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec. More recently, he was the Honorary Co-Chair of the 2015, 2016 and 2017 benefit dinners for Intégration Jeunesse du Québec, an organization that offers training programs, stay-in-school programs, job placement services and employment assistance services to young people.
Since 2012, Mr. Parent and his team have been actively involved with Accueil Bonneau, an outreach organization that works with the homeless.
Ghislain Parent has a BA in Business Administration and Accounting and is a Fellow of the Ordre
des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec.

Richard Payette

Businessman and Corporate Director

Richard Payette is Director at Exportation et développement Canada - EDC. A graduate from HEC Montréal, Mr. Payette was previously President and CEO of Manulife Quebec and President and CEO for the Americas Region of BDO International, which includes Canada, the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. He was also President and Chief Executive Officer of the large accounting and advisory firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and a member of the board of directors of this international network. Building on this expertise, he was Chairman of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Among others, he is currently a member of the Presidents’ committee at the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association of Quebec, a member of the board of directors of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and YMCA Canada, as well as a governing member of Finance Montréal. In addition, his commitments to economic and social causes have earned Mr. Payette numerous awards from various organizations and from his peers.

Mr. Payette is member of the IRCM Board of Directors since January 2018.

Martin P. Rosenthal

Managing Partner, Transaction Advisory Services - Québec, EY

Martin P. Rosenthal is the Managing Partner of EY’s Transaction Advisory Services Group in Quebec. Mr. Rosenthal is also leader of EY’s Restructuring practices in Quebec. EY is a global professional services firm. 

For more than 25 years, Mr. Rosenthal has acted as an advisor to numerous companies facing business and financial challenged, and has provided advice in the areas of refinancing and strategic planning. His clients include most of the major financial institutions in the Montreal area as well as private equity firms and boards of directors of many companies in a variety of industries. Building on his strong qualifications and experience, he worked as a course coordinator and lecturer in McGill University’s Graduate Department of Chartered Accountancy.

Mr. Rosenthal has been a member of the IRCM Board of Directors since April 2017and he is President of the IRCM Audit Committee.