Like most people, I’m sure; I had no idea when I finished school what I would be doing today. I’ve been fortunate to find opportunities to learn and contribute to science and research for many years now.
When I came to Vancouver from Winnipeg in 1990, I worked for nearly 10 years in the field of environmental assessment, before moving into research, specifically the field of genomics. In 2003, I was very fortunate to be one of the first project managers at the Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre.
My first day was April 1st, just days prior to the publication of the genome sequence of the SARS-associated coronavirus. The resulting media attention and flurry of activities was an exciting start!
Since then, the project management team has grown to become a large and highly successful group of research management professionals, supporting research activities at the Genome Sciences Centre, and with our many collaborators.
In my current role as Director of Management and Administration at the Genome Sciences Centre, I am accountable for establishing and maintaining sound management through excellence in project, finance, and operations management.
This includes development of research strategy and management of research programs. I work to develop and sustain key strategic relationships within the local, national and international research communities, including collaborators, institutions and funders (both private and public). I also maintain project management responsibility for several large-scale projects, including the Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG) program at the BC Cancer Agency.
I believe strongly that the responsible and efficient conduct of research is enabled by good operational controls, administration, reporting and people systems, ensuring the financial and operational strengths of an organization. With good management, we enable more and better research to be done by the brilliant scientists at the BC Cancer Agency.
In my next post, I’ll tell you a bit more about how the Genome Sciences Centre management and administration groups support researchers.
Robyn