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Dr. Eaves is the founder and CEO of Vancouver’s , Canada’s largest biotech company specializing in stem cell, immunology and cancer research. He is also the co-founding director of the , a facility dedicated to cancer research.

“We’re providing opportunities for people who love science,” says the notable alum. “We provide the picks and shovels for the stem cell and regenerative medicine gold rush, allowing [scientists] to make discoveries to help make the world a better place.”

Breaking ground, in Canada

During the late 1970s — deemed the early days of bone marrow transplantation in Canada — Dr. Eaves helped establish one of Canada’s first transplant programs as the Head of Clinical Hematology at UBC, the Vancouver Hospital and the BC Cancer Agency. By his peak involvement in the early 1990s, the program had treated 1,500 patients.

Dr. Eaves, alongside his (late) beloved wife — fellow distinguished scientist, —quickly realized that real progress in treating diseases like leukemia required more than clinical work. “Bringing together the clinical scientists as well as the basic scientists in a productive relationship was really important,” he says.

Together, and thanks to a $1 million grant from the government of British Columbia, the pair established the Terry Fox Foundation in Vancouver in 1981 — one that would carry Fox’s legacy.

“It made perfect sense to name the lab after him,” says Dr. Eaves. “[Terry Fox] believed deeply in science and its potential to find a cure [for cancer]. His courage and determination continue to inspire the work we do every day.”

A global biotech empire

When federal funding cuts later threatened the Terry Fox Laboratory’s fast-growing, core research, Dr. Eaves was determined to find a way to keep it open.

“We wanted to build something sustainable that would support scientists and keep good jobs in Canada,” he says.

In 1993, with support from his wife, Dr. Eaves mortgaged their home and launched STEMCELL Technologies, initially based out of the Terry Fox Laboratory. The company — still owned outright by Dr. Eaves and located in Vancouver — has since grown to a global biotech empire with over 2,000 employees and products sold in over 80 countries.

“We’ve been growing for over 30 years now at an average rate of about 20 per cent per year,” says Dr. Eaves.

While most of STEMCELL’s work is Canadian based, only three per cent of the company’s sales are in Canada. “You have to go international to be successful, and that means you have to have world-class products,” he says.

Early in 2020, Dr. Eaves and his team played a pivotal role in global COVID-19 research, reaffirming their commitment to addressing international health challenges. By April, just a month after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, their products were being used in 30 countries to better understand everything from diagnostics and treatment to vaccine development and prevention.