Mireille Gingras Gillings, (born 1962) is a US-based Canadian

neurobiologist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, neural circuits, and glia, and their behavioral, biological, and psychological roles in health and disease. ...

and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. She founded HUYA Bioscience International, a

biotech Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists in the field are kn ...

consulting firm A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad ra ...

in 2004, and is the San Diego, California, company's CEO and Executive Chair. The company has offices in

Pudong Pudong is a list of administrative divisions of Shanghai, district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu River, Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank (g ...

, Shanghai, China. In 2010, Gillings' interest in China as a source of "research-intensive, expensive-to-develop medicines that are the stuff of patents and high profit margins" attracted the interest of ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

'' magazine. Born in Montreal,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Gillings earned her PhD from

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...

and has held postdoctoral fellowships at

Bordeaux University The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are also se ...

in France and

The Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institute has over 170 laboratories employing 2,100 scientists, tec ...

in La Jolla, California. She received her bachelor's degree from Montréal's

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

. Also one of the founders of MIR3, she is a "serial entrepreneur", as she has described herself. Gillings is at least functional in several languages, including

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, in addition to her native

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Philanthropy

In 2019 the French Government awarded Dr. Gillings its highest national award, the Knight of the Legion of Honor, in recognition of her contributions to neuroscience, entrepreneurship and philanthropy.

Personal life

In 2012, she married

Dennis Gillings Sir Dennis Barry Gillings (born 25 April 1944) is an American-based British billionaire statistician and entrepreneur, the founder and former chairman of Quintiles Transnational, a clinical research company, headquartered in Durham, North Car ...

in Hawaii.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillings, Mireille 1962 births Living people Canadian women chief executives Concordia University alumni Businesspeople from Montreal Radboud University Nijmegen alumni Scripps Research University of Bordeaux alumni Canadian women neuroscientists Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian neuroscientists Wives of knights Scientists from Montreal Date of birth missing (living people)