Andressa Lacerda

A native of Brazil, Andressa, first came to Canada as an undergraduate student in 2008. After graduating in 2011 with a B.Sc. in Biology and a specialization in Health Sciences, Andressa continued with her research. Because of the advanced level of her findings, she was fast-tracked to the Ph.D. Environmental and Life Sciences program. Working with Trent biology professor Craig Brunetti, she obtained her Ph.D. in 2015 from Trent University from the Environmental Life Sciences Program at the age of 25, making her the youngest Ph.D. recipient at Trent University to date. During her graduate work, Andressa also published six scientific papers and co-authored two patents. While working on her Ph.D., Andressa co-founded Noblegen from her living room floor. In 2019, Noblegen announced a $25M Series B financing. Andressa also played a vital role in growing the team from 2 to over 70 people. For her entrepreneurship, she has received many awards, including 4-under-40 (Peterborough), Young Leader Award (Trent University), Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year (Peterborough), and most recently, Andressa was recognized as one of Canada's Clean 50 Emerging leaders. Andressa is also the only female finalist of the 2015 Martin Walmsley Award (Ontario).  Currently, Andressa focuses on growing another innovative startup, Synex Medical, where she is responsible for Operations and Business Development.