Steve M. West
Chief Executive Officer

Steve West was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Nordion Inc. (formerly MDS Inc.) in January 2010. Steve, who in September 2009 was appointed Chief Operating Officer, has served as President of Nordion since April 2003. He joined MDS Capital Corp. (now Lumira Capital) in 2001 as a senior partner after serving as President, DiverseyLever Canada. His background includes various CEO assignments in Asia and the Pacific Rim, as well as international business-development responsibilities in the specialty chemicals field. Steve has a degree in Genetics from London University (UK) and completed postgraduate research in Biotechnology.

Christopher Ashwood
Senior Vice-President, Corporate Services

Christopher Ashwood joined Nordion in 2008 with more than 23 years of experience in Human Resources, Business Development and Information Technology. He joined Nordion from Nortel, where he held a number of key leadership positions including Vice-President Product Development Solutions, Vice-President Global Business Processes and Director Corporate Services. Chris holds a MBA from the University of Ottawa and a BA from Carleton University.

Kevin Brooks
Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Kevin Brooks has over 20 years of strategic and operational marketing experience in the medical imaging and radiotherapeutics industry. Kevin joined Nordion in 2006 from GE Healthcare. He has extensive experience in leading global commercialization initiatives as well as a solid track record of building cross-functional teams and delivering strong results. Kevin holds a MBA from Temple University and a BSc in Healthcare Administration.

Jill Chitra
Senior Vice-President, Quality & Regulatory Affairs

Jill Chitra joined Nordion in 1989 as a Project Engineer. Before assuming her current role in February 2010, Jill held the positions of Vice-President, Global Research & Development as well as Vice-President, Strategic Technologies. She has 20 years experience in the process development, process design, construction and project management of chemical and pharmaceutical processes and facilities as well as 10 years in senior management roles. Jill holds a MBA and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Queen's University. She is also a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario.

Peter Covitz
Senior Vice-President, Innovation

Dr. Peter Covitz joined Nordion in 2008 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Maryland, U.S., where he held the position of Chief Operating Officer at the NCI's Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology. Prior to joining the NCI, Peter was Vice-President of Professional Services at InforMax, Inc., a leading bioinformatics software firm. Earlier in his career, Peter worked as a research scientist and manager at Incyte Pharmaceuticals and Molecular Applications Group. Peter holds a PhD in Microbiology from Columbia University in New York, NY as well as a BA in Biology from Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. Peter did his graduate work on gene transcription regulation at Columbia University, and his post-doctoral training in genomics and bioinformatics at Stanford University.

Peter Dans
Chief Financial Officer

Peter Dans joined Nordion (formerly MDS Inc.) in August 2007 as Vice-President, Financial Planning & Analysis. He was appointed CFO of Nordion in February 2010. Before joining Nordion, Peter held global finance leadership roles at Nortel in North America, Singapore and the Philippines where he acquired significant external reporting and financial operating experience. Peter also held the CFO position at LG-Nortel in South Korea. Peter earned a B.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Queens University, an MBA from York University – Schulich School of Business, and holds a CMA and Professional Engineering designations.

Andrew Foti
Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary

Andrew Foti joined Nordion in 2011 from Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, one of Canada's leading law firms, where he was a Partner. He is a leading practitioner in the areas of commercial technology law and corporate finance. Mr. Foti's key areas of experience also include mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, intellectual property licensing, and securities and antitrust law. He holds an LL.M. from the University of Ottawa, an LL.B. and B.Com from McGill University, and is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Scott McIntosh
Senior Vice-President, Operations

Since joining Nordion in 2000, Scott McIntosh previously held a variety of VP positions in Operations and Marketing in each of Nordion's business areas. Prior to joining Nordion, Scott was at Pepsico for 10 years where he held a number of senior Operations and Engineering roles. Scott holds a BSc (Engineering) and a MBA from Queen's University.

Tamra Benjamin
Vice-President, Public and Government Relations

Tamra Benjamin joined Nordion in 2006 and was named Vice-President, Communications in 2009. Prior to joining Nordion, Tamra worked for more than 20 years in the high-tech market with several start-ups and for many years with Nortel. Tamra has extensive experience in all areas of communication, including public relations and crisis management. She holds a MBA from the University of McGill and an undergraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan.