Board of Directors
- Joanne E. Harack, Ph.D.
- Corporate Secretary
Joanne Harack provides Human Resources Management support and serves as Corporate Secretary for Axela. With more than 20 years general management experience, she is retained by several emerging biotechnology and life sciences companies, with a focus on key talent acquisition and management, communications, organization design and human capital due diligence. She recruits globally for public and private sector organizations, with a focus on difficult-to-recruit scientific and technical positions. She has particular expertise in confidential executive coaching and succession planning.
From 2000-2006, Dr. Harack was Vice President, Human Resources and Communications at Affinium Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for human resources, corporate communications, government relations, facilities and IT. Before joining Affinium, she held global executive level HR roles with MDS and Connaught Laboratories (now Sanofi Pasteur). She is past chair of the Board of Canadians for Health Research, and chaired the Public Affairs Committee of BIOTECanada. The author of numerous articles on leadership, career and organization development, she received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) Board Effectiveness Program.