On June 24, the Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM) hosted a successful Industry Day event in collaboration with the Youth Enrichment Network (YEN). The half-day program attracted nearly 100 researchers, industry leaders, consultants, policymakers, and trainees from three different institutes to discuss strategies for fostering productive partnerships with industry in the agri-food, nutrition, and health sectors.
Fostering Dialogue and Partnerships
CCARM Industry Day featured a dynamic series of presentations and panel discussions with nine invited speakers who represented a balanced perspective from academia, government, industry, and consultancy. Each presentation highlighted the speaker’s journey in working with or within the industry, while the panel discussion addressed opportunities and challenges in fostering such collaborations.
The event was organized and chaired by Shiqi (Sunny) Huang, CCARM Trainee Representative, and co-chaired by Dr. Nicola Gasparre, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences. Organizing committee members included Breanne Semenko, CCARM Trainee Representative, YEN (a youth-led initiative by the Bioscience Association of Manitoba), Julie Schoffner, CCARM Administrative Coordinator, and Dr. Thomas Netticadan, Team Leader of CCARM.
Highlights and Outcomes
- Participants exchanged best practices for aligning research objectives with market needs.
- Government policies and incentives were discussed that aim to support engagement between researchers and industry, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises.
- A lively discussion took place among panel members and attendees about how to create collaborative opportunities for trainees, who represent the next generation of research and development.
Interactive and Forward-Looking
Interactive networking sessions over lunch encouraged diverse conversations among principal investigators, industry leaders, and trainees. Feedback highlighted the importance of bridging the gap between lab-based discoveries and real-world applications in the agri-food, nutrition, and health sectors.
“I am pleased to note that the CCARM Industry event successfully delivered an important message emphasizing the critical need to translate significant research findings discovered in the laboratory into meaningful and tangible outcomes such as innovative food science technologies, novel food products, and health claims for those products,” said Dr. Thomas Netticadan, Team Leader at CCARM.
“Furthermore, it highlighted the crucial role that industry can play, primarily by funding, developing, and commercializing new therapies and technologies, thereby translating important research findings into practical applications. I want to sincerely thank Shiqi Huang and Nicola Gasparre for leading this event, along with the other organizing committee members.”
Andrea Ladouceur, President and CEO of the Bioscience Association of Manitoba (BAM), said, “Manitoba has so much to offer when it comes to research that supports healthy living and food systems. Often overlooked, Manitoba has a depth of research talent, passion for collaboration and improving how we heal and feed ourselves and the world. Important sessions like this one, allow us to connect, reflect and learn so we can continue to do what we do best, develop solutions that help.”
Acknowledgments
On behalf of the organizing committee, Shiqi (Sunny) Huang and Dr. Nicola Gasparre thank all speakers, BAM and YEN representatives, and participants for their contributions. Special thanks go to Dr. Thomas Netticadan for providing financial support to organize the event, to Julie Schoffner for coordinating logistics, and to the YEN team for their publicity support. This collaborative effort underscored the importance of partnerships between academia, government, and industry in shaping future leaders in food and human nutritional sciences.
Article posted on behalf of Shiqi (Sunny) Huang.