Dr Pierre Meulien has stepped down as president and CEO of Genome Canada to become executive director of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). Meulien departed Genome Canada July 17th and takes up his IMI duties in Brussels in mid-September to lead the second phase of the €3.3-billion drug research program between the European Union and European pharmaceutical industry. He replaces Dr Michael Goldman whose term ended last December. Meulien arrived at Genome Canada in 2010 and has overseen the organization's evolution from a funder of primarily basic research to one that supports applied research across many sectors. Prior to joining Genome Canada, he was chief scientific officer at Genome British Columbia, building on a series of executive positions that included chief executive of the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre (now Molecular Medicine Ireland), director of research for Aventis Pasteur in Lyon, France and senior VP R&D in Toronto. Previously, Meulien worked for Strasbourg-based Transgene. He holds a PhD in molecular medicine from the Univ of Edinburgh and worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute Pasteur….