Biographic Notes
Jean-François Meunier, M.Sc.
Mr. Jean-François Meunier holds a Master's
degree in nuclear physics from Laval University since 1986. During his graduate
studies, Mr. Meunier has been awarded many grants in recognition of the
excellence of his works. In 1988, he was awarded a grant by the Max Planck Institute to
pursue his postdoctoral research in Germany.
Asides from his known passion for Sciences Mr.
Meunier always got the spirit for “Entrepreneurship”. In 1988, challenged with
that idea, he decided to step out of his graduate studies to launch Bio-Expert
Inc. a company aim at developing a new generation of “digital” bioreactors. In
1992, after a successful start-up and close to a million dollar in sales, he
sold his shares in Bio-Expert to gain a participation in Gecko
Electronic.
During the following years, he worked in close relationship with the Canadian Space Agency for the development of a
solid state X-ray detector in replacement of film in diagnostic Radiology. For this
technology, Mr. Meunier hold patents in the US and Canada since 1994. During
the same period, Mr. Meunier managed, in partnership with Laval University
Hospital, Telus and Telesat Canada the deployment of the very first Internet
based telemedicine network.
In 1995, after a series of successful clinical
trials, Cifra Medical inc. was spun off from Gecko with a mission to market the
new telemedicine system.
As President and CEO of Cifra, Mr. Meunier grew the
company from R&D to market by securing more than 2.8 millions dollars in
private investments and by closing over 5 million dollars in sales. When he
left Cifra in 1999, the company installed base was the largest in the World
being used in more than a hundred
hospitals. In a short period of time, Mr.
Meunier has moved Cifra to the forefront of the international scene by
achieving deal and partnership with many companies such as Bell Canada, Hewlett
Packard and Siemens.
In 1998, Mr. Meunier has received the Canadian IWAY
Award in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the development and
understanding of Canada's emerging information society. During his career, Mr.
Meunier has participated actively in many structuring telehealth projects among
which the RQTE in Québec and the
NORTH Network in Ontario. Mr. Meunier is among
the founding members of the Canadian Society for Telehealth for which he acted
as a board member since its establishment in 1999 until 2002. Between 2003 and 2005, Mr. Meunier represented
Quebec’s High-tech industry sector on the board of directors of the “Chambre de
Commerce des Entrepreneurs de Québec”.
His ability to communicate and his in deep knowledge
of the healthcare market has made of Mr. Meunier an advisor and a speaker of
choice on the national an international scene. Since 2000, Mr. Meunier is
working as a consultant for Governments and High Technology firms involved in
the healthcare sector such as Philips, CGI, Diagnocure, Health Canada or the Canadian Space
Agency.
From the start of his career, Mr. Meunier always
stood out because of his vision and entrepreneurial spirit.
Mr. Meunier,
who is married and a father of two, enjoy outdoor activities such as
fly-fishing and catamaran sailing where he likes to challenge and measure
himself with others within friendly races.
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