‘My work terms were instrumental’

“Until then, I had never had any practical research experience, and had no idea how science was applied in the real world,” says Tamarchak, who today is director of strategic planning and performance at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto.

“I learned invaluable insights into career paths of scientists, and that in order to ultimately take a leadership role I would need a PhD or some form of advanced degree.”

Consequently, when Tamarchak graduated from Concordia in 2000 with great distinction — taking home the coveted Chemistry Medal — she spent the next six years at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., earning her PhD in cell biology and immunobiology.

“My Co-op work terms were instrumental in helping me figure out that I wanted to do something on the management side. I wasn’t just excited about the basic science, but also how it gets developed into products that benefit human health,” says Tamarchak.

“That’s why I completed the Mini-MBA course at the Yale University School of Management during my PhD studies.”

Now, Tamarchak is using those skills on the front line in the battle to cure cancer. She works directly with the president of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research to develop and set the institute’s priorities.

“We’re a research institute funded by the Ontario government, with an important mandate to translate science into health benefits for cancer patients as well as economic benefits for the province,” she explains.

“We support research programs in our building and across the province, and also invest in strengthening capacity for cancer research in Ontario.”

Early days in global health

Before Tamarchak began at the institute in 2015, she spent five years as a program officer with Grand Challenges Canada.

“It’s a component of Canada’s foreign aid, specifically funding global health innovation,” she says. The position took her around the world on trips to Uganda, Botswana, South Africa, Vietnam, China and India.

“One of the things I learned is that people living in the settings where there is the greatest need for health innovation have the best perspective on how to address their challenges,” says Tamarchak.

“Importing ideas from more advanced countries is not the long-term solution,” she says. “An approach that enables collaboration and mutual learning across geographies, with solutions tailored to the context where they will be applied, is far more likely to be successful.”

Tamarchak developed and managed a $12 million portfolio of projects for Grand Challenges Canada, collaborating with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to deliver a joint $55 million initiative to develop and deliver simple, powerful and cost-effective tests for diagnosing disease in low resource settings.

One of her favourite projects was supporting efforts to treat diarrhea, which is the second leading cause of death worldwide in children under five years old. Using an inexpensive innovation for specimen collection, the Botswana-based team, led by Canadian doctor David Goldfarb, identified the pathogen that had caused the severe diarrhoea of over one-third of children in a group of southern African hospitals.

“The team developed a simple-to-use solution that vastly improved diagnostic capabilities in the hospitals,” Tamarchak explains. “The outcome was so informative it ended up influencing policy — the government of Botswana is now providing free rotavirus vaccines to children to prevent future occurrence of the deadly disease.”

Early start

Those important positions are a long way from Tamarchak’s first job in a lab at startup BioSignal Inc., which was acquired by Packard during her Co-op work term, or her second Co-op placement in a lab at Merck Frosst Canada. There, she worked on tests to determine how a drug was broken down by the liver.

“Merck was my first experience in a really big company where everyone in different departments was working collaboratively toward common goals. I loved it,” recalls Tamarchak.

“Plus, I had a great mentor. I did a second work term at Merck and when I went back, the test I had been working on was now being run by a robot, which was really exciting.”

Now Tamarchak is more than happy to take her accumulated work experiences to battle a global health scourge.

“We all want to defeat cancer,” she says. “I have a great appreciation for what it takes to turn new ideas into solutions that work on the ground. You need a lot of different perspectives and skill sets to solve complex challenges.”

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