Greg Wolfond is the founder of the Give Back Health Innovation Foundation, a Canadian philanthropic network working to advance public health through innovation and technology. It tackles one of the most persistent problems in Canadian life sciences: the country does world-class research yet ranks near the bottom when it comes to commercializing it.
In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with Greg about a model designed to bridge the gap between discovery and commercialization. Give Back lets philanthropists donate to causes they care about, then invests those funds into early-stage Canadian companies that have promising science but no clear path to human trials. When a company succeeds, it gives back an equivalent value to Canadians through free or heavily discounted service, and any return flows back into the foundation to be reinvested.
Greg, a serial tech entrepreneur who went back to school in his mid-40s to earn a biochemistry degree, also makes a passionate case for why Canada needs to keep more of its innovation, and the people behind it, at home.