Olivia Lou, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

research administration alliance management immunology and microbiology biological and medical sciences

About

I began my career at the University of Alberta, working in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology after earning my undergraduate degree from the Faculty of Science. I continued my training in New York City, where I earned my Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis at Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Sciences at Weill Medical College.

Following my time in academia, I became a program officer at Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF or Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) where I spent over 17 years in a variety of research administration related positions, including a number of leadership roles. My background includes pre and post award grants management experience from the funder side, providing hands on support to researchers and their teams throughout the project lifecycle, peer review experience, designing funding mechanisms, negotiating agreements, business development and alliance management. I have designed, implemented and evaluated complex public-private partnerships including across government (at the national and international level), industry and academia. 

My focus throughout my career has always been on the researcher and how I can best facilitate resourcing and broker collaborations to advance the science. I am delighted to re-join the University of Alberta as a Senior Research Partner. I look forward to working with the U of A community in 2026 as I take on my new role.

Teaching

Former Adjunct Instructor, Department of Natural Sciences, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA. 

• Publications - Google Scholar Profile