Dr Marc Fortin has been appointed assistant DM (Science and Technology) of the Department of National Defence and the CEO of Defence R&D Canada, replacing Dr Robert Walker who left the position late last year to become senior VP at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd, with responsibility for its nuclear laboratories. Fortin comes to DRDC after serving as ADM research at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Prior to joining the public service, Fortin was a researchers at McGill Univ, leading teams in molecular genetics and biotechnology. He holds a PhD in plant molecular biology from McGill Univ and an MSc in plant virology at Laval Univ.