We are pleased to share that Dr. Paola Marignani has been named CDL-Atlantic Scientist of the Year for the 2025/2026 program year.

CDL-Atlantic announced the recognition today at the first session of the new program year, hosted at VOLTA, in Halifax.

Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a non-profit organization that runs an objectives-based program for seed-stage science and technology companies. CDL-Atlantic is based at Dalhousie University and is the only CDL site in Atlantic Canada. CDL Scientists advise founders on the scientific and technical foundations of their ventures.

Dr. Marignani joined CDL in 2021 as a Mentor Scientist. She mentors ventures in the CDL Prime and CDL Cancer streams at CDL-Atlantic, CDL-Toronto, and CDL-Vancouver, and has mentored over 35 ventures. She brings a research background in cell signalling, single-cell genomics, and precision medicine, together with an Executive MBA from the Ivey Business School and executive training in artificial intelligence in health care from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

The same commitment to mentorship is part of our lab. Trainees learn how discoveries move from the laboratory to clinical and commercial use. One example is Dr. Rafaela Andrade, who completed her PhD in the Marignani Lab, worked with CDL during her postdoctoral studies, and is now Co-founder and CEO of Myomar Molecular.

Congratulations, Dr. Marignani. The lab is proud to see the CDL-Atlantic and startup community recognize your work.