Jesse Vincent-Herscovici is CEO of Axelys. He has over 15 years of experience in building partnerships with government, academic institutions and industry in the innovation community.

Jesse Vincent-Herscovici is passionate about driving innovation ecosystems, collaborative research, and connecting talent and opportunities. His expertise helps companies, organizations and universities to successfully navigate in a very competitive world to sustain the knowledge economy and the creation of new strategic partnerships for the benefit of an ever more innovative and thriving Quebec society.

Before joining Axelys, he was Vice-President, Business Development of Mitacs since 2009. He was also President of the management team. Jesse Vincent-Herscovici has been a member of multiple advisory committees and boards of directors such as: the Concordia Institute for Water, Energy, and Sustainable Systems as Chair of the Board of Directors, the Centre for Applied Mathematics in Bioscience and Medicine of McGill University, and the BioFuelNetCanada Network. He currently sits on the board of directors of the Institute for Mobility and Aerospace in Canada, in addition to being a member of the advisory committee of the Banting Research Foundation.

Jesse Vincent-Herscovici holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A. in Human Systems Intervention from Concordia University.

Valérie Bonnardel-Vacqué holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Lille and a Master’s degree in Engineering from the École Centrale de Marseille. She has devoted her career to forging links between academia and industry, in fields ranging from fundamental and applied research to technological innovation and its economic, environmental and societal impact.

Valérie Bonnardel-Vacqué is currently Acting Senior Vice President, Transfer, Entrepreneurship and Investment at Axelys. She is responsible for the development and sound management of Axelys’ external business relationships, particularly with industrial partners interested in intellectual property assets supported by the organization. This work promotes technology transfer and the creation of start-up companies from Quebec universities, colleges and hospitals. She also maintains relationships with numerous public and private partners who help Axelys achieve its overall mission.

Previously, after 15 years in the research departments of major private companies (AkzoNobel and L’Oréal), Valérie Bonnardel-Vacqué was involved for almost 10 years in the development of collaborative university research, both in France, as Managing Director of the Fondation partenariale de l’Institut national polytechnique de Grenoble, and in Canada, with Mitacs. She was also Director of the Innovation Support Office in the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at the Université de Moncton. That is where, she developed collaborative research strategies based on best practices in public-private partnerships, and implemented these practices with researchers.

Valérie Bonnardel-Vacqué plays an active role as a volunteer in several organizations dedicated to entrepreneurship (Startup Grand Moncton, in New Brunswick, and Sevea Consulting, in Cambodia), environmental research (CHORUS Research Institute, whose mission is to protect marine ecosystems and promote the sustainable development of human activities at sea) and the professional integration of adults with autism spectrum disorders (as co-founder of the Leonard Algernon Association).

As Senior Vice President, Business Development and Director of Axelys’ Quebec City office, Cédric is responsible for developing partnerships and synergies with the region’s research, innovation and entrepreneurship players.

Active for over fifteen years in the field of economic development and innovation, he has held director positions with Québec International, Mitacs and aerospace research consortiums in Quebec and Canada. He also worked as a consultant at Innovitech, a strategy and innovation consulting firm. Cédric was also a lecturer at HEC Montréal and holds a master’s degree in management science (M.Sc.) from the same institution.

Frédéric Tremblay is Senior Vice President, Strategy, Performance and Customer Experience at Axelys. He is a seasoned manager and entrepreneur, having founded and run his own consulting firm.

Prior to setting up his own company, Frédéric Tremblay spent nearly 10 years as Vice-President with two global public affairs firms, Hill & Knowlton and Edelman. In these different roles, he was called upon to advise many senior executives of companies and organizations operating in a multitude of fields. The consulting services he provided to his clients included issues management, crisis management, business strategy, social acceptability, government relations, communications and public relations.

In the corporate world, Frédéric Tremblay has led multidisciplinary teams at major companies, including Mouvement Desjardins BMO and La Capitale (now Beneva). His responsibilities have included communications (internal and external), marketing, brand management, customer experience, change management, public affairs and organizational performance.

Earlier in his career, Frédéric Tremblay was a parliamentary and financial journalist at The Canadian Press, before taking up the position of French Service Chief. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.

Coryell Boffy has nearly 15 years of experience in establishing collaborations and partnerships between academic institutions, companies, governments and non-profit organizations, both locally and internationally. He has recognized skills in ecosystem development, governance and corporate strategy.

He has led the establishment and development of several international governmental and non-governmental organizations, including Future Earth, a network of more than 60,000 scientists, researchers and innovators aimed at transforming the world towards greater sustainability.

Within Axelys, Coryell Boffy aims to increase the societal impact of innovations from Quebec public research, particularly those from the social and human sciences as well as arts and letters.

At the same time, Coryell Boffy sits on the Board of GUEPE, a non-profit organization offering educational and professional services in natural and environmental sciences, and is co-president of the Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM ).

Marie-Josée Lapointe is Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary at Axelys. She has over fifteen years of experience in intellectual property and technology transfer.

A law graduate from Université de Montreal and a member of the Barreau du Quebec, she worked at Univalor, a technology transfer company, between 2014 and 2021 prior to joining Axelys. From 2003 to 2014, she was an intellectual property lawyer at the business law firm BCF. In this capacity, she was involved in several high-profile commercial transactions and litigations with a strong intellectual property component, in addition to providing counsel and developing several intellectual property protection strategies. Marie-Josée Lapointe has also acted as Corporate Secretary for several companies over the years.

Marie-Josée Lapointe has taught a graduate course in intellectual property at Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Law for several years. She has published and lectured extensively on intellectual property matters. She also sits the board of several organizations.

With extensive experience as a manager and investor in science, technology, and innovation, Claude Morasse brings to the table skills and expertise in complex program and project management, policy development, and strategic planning.

Using his knowledge of the Canadian and Quebec ecosystems, industrial infrastructure, federal and Quebec ministries, and academia, Claude has implemented numerous complex projects involving various partners and collaborators. He has delivered innovation programs dedicated to supporting and financing innovation and R&D (Hydrogen Pioneer Member, NRC-IRAP-Industrial Research Assistance Program, Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC), NSERC-Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and PFTT-Federal Partners in Technology Transfer), Claude has solid experience in providing consulting services and business development with SMEs and large companies.

As Director of Corporate Development at Premier Tech for nine years, Claude supported the planning and financing of innovation and R&D activities for a large global manufacturing company. In this context, he contributed significantly to the design and implementation of the HIFA Innovation Center—Halles d’innovation et de formation avancée (Innovation and Advanced Training Centers) located in Rivière-du-Loup, which specializes in developing the innovation and technological capacity of companies in Quebec’s manufacturing sector.

In addition to serving as senior advisor to the CEO to support the strategic development of Axelys, Claude is responsible for operationalizing the Valorization and Entrepreneurship components of the ARN Initiative (AReNa), which aims to support the creation of an industrial sector in RNA therapies. He is also responsible for implementing the Innovation Continuum program, which supports the implementation of an innovation approach within Quebec’s innovation zones and centers that promotes entrepreneurship, partnerships, and the use of research platforms.