Lianne Stefurak

Executive Director, Centre for Surgical Invention & Innovation (CSii)

Lianne Stefurak joined the CSii team in May of 2009 as Executive Director.

Her unique combination of medical training, business expertise and sales leadership have ideally positioned Lianne to manage CSii as a research accelerator tasked with developing the next generation of image guided surgical robotic tools. Under her guidance, the Centre is also poised to accelerate the drive of outstanding research to facilitate the commercialization of associated medical inventions and innovations.

Lianne trained as a clinical nurse, practicing in family medicine and psychiatric nursing, before pursuing her MBA in strategic management and entrepreneurship. In 1999, Lianne began working for St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton with the goal of launching CMAS, a Canadian centre for education & research in minimally invasive surgery, with Dr Mehran Anvari. The launch was successful – with the first programs rolling out in September of that year.

In the summer of 2000, Lianne joined the Marketing department of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Products Company, located in Markham Ontario, where she spent the next 9 years working with various franchises in Marketing, Professional Education and Sales Leadership roles to grow the business in Canada. During that time – she launched several successful new products into the Canadian market, created two new educational programs for our unique marketplace, and achieved double digit growth in all but the 2008 year.

Accomplished at maximizing human potential, Lianne together with Dr. Anvari, has built a talented team of professionals dedicated to ensuring the CSii mission is executed with excellence.