By Katherine DeClerq
Kathryn Hayashi is the CEO of TRIUMF Innovations, a commercial arm of TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre, dedicated to linking science and technology to business opportunities. The company provides physics-based projects with connections in industry partnerships, licensing, and business development.
Hayashi has a background in accounting and finance. Prior to joining TRIUMF she served as founding Chief Financial Officer for the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD). She holds the position of Director and Audit Committee Chair of the Center for Commercialization and Cancer Immunotherapy at the Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont and serves on a number of CDRD spinoff companies. and has served on the boards of several CDRD spinoff companies.
Hayashi spoke with Women’s Post about her role at TRIUMF Innovations and her vision for the future.
Where did you develop your love of numbers from?
Answer: I think numbers are logical and they solve problems; that’s what I love the most about them. As a child, I quite enjoyed the satisfaction or the sense of accomplishment I felt after solving mathematical problems.
Your resume includes a number of non-profits and private companies within the health, science, and technology field? Why not become a traditional accountant with your degree?
In the early days of my career, I did work as an accountant in an auditing firm. With time, I became more inclined towards innovative projects that can help make the world a better place. That’s when I decided to venture into the world of innovation.
Working as the CEO of TRIUMF Innovations and formerly as the CFO , I have had the opportunity to work with the brightest talents who are continuously working towards building new technologies and drugs that help people in need. The feeling of being part of a group that is bringing real and positive changes in peoples’ lives, is very satisfying.
What drew you to TRIUMF Innovations specifically?
TRIUMF Innovations is the commercial arm of TRIUMF, Canada’s national particle accelerator centre. TRIUMF truly enables and puts Canada on the world map. It symbolizes a scientific excellence that is admirable.
Innovative technological solutions that have the potential to help people, but are only available as research are no good. Commercialization of those technologies is vital and that’s exactly what we do at TRIUMF Innovations. Today, there are many research projects in Canada that fail to progress beyond the planning stage due to lack of funding. Being part of TRIUMF Innovations gives me the opportunity to help these researchers who are working on possible future cures for hard-to-treat diseases or clean technology that can revolutionize the mining industry advance towards commercialization.
You have been CEO of TRIUMF Innovations for about a year now, what have you learned?
It’s been a very exciting year for me. I have learned more in this past year than in my entire career. I met many talented people, especially researchers and scientists from around the world. It is fascinating to hear their stories, their research and potential future technologies. The world is changing for the better; technologies and cures that didn’t exist earlier are available today and there is something new being created every day in the world of science.
Being part of TRIUMF Innovations gives me the opportunity to be a part of that amazing journey, work with these fascinating people and look into the possibilities of the future. It also makes one realize how little we have done and there is so much more that can be done.
I heard TRUMF has helped five spin off companies get off the market – any our readers may recognize?
A few years ago, as part of a plan to reduce its reliance on nuclear power, Canada announced it was decommissioning the nuclear power reactor in Chalk River, which used to produce 30 percent of the world’s medical diagnostic isotopes. This created a new problem: Where would Canada get its annual doses of technetium-99m, the most commonly used medical isotope for cardiac patient scans that was a by-product of the nuclear reactor operations?
That’s when TRIUMF collaborated with its partners, the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), The Centre for Probe Development, and the Lawson Health Research Institute to develop a new cleaner, greener technology to produce technetium-99. As a result of this collaboration, ARTMS Products was created, to fund and develop this technology. ARTMS has been providing cleaner, greener isotopes to hospitals and patients around the world.
Where would you like to see the company in another year – or even five?
As the CEO of TRIUMF Innovations, my goal is to continue connecting science and innovation with society by identifying research that can offer new and innovative treatment to patients around the world with diseases that are currently deemed incurable, help secure funding for these technologies and ultimately launch them as commercial products. I would like to continue building new partnerships with research institutes, universities and investors around the world. So far, we have launched five spin-off companies and would like to launch many more.
What do you do to help other women?
I spend a lot of time mentoring on formal and informal platforms. In association with the UBC Sauder School of Business, I mentor female students and help them make better-informed career choices.
I also like helping women who are trying to build their career in STEM through career advice, networking and helping them identify their skills to build a solid future in the industry.
What advice would you give to women in finance looking to branch out?
Networking is the key. Once you have identified where you want to be, it’s important to develop an extensive and strong network to find the right opportunities in any sector.
What are you reading right now?
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis.
