Desi News Corp - Index

Desi News Corp - Desi News - March 2009 - Index

He was selected as the
national winner from
the finalists for the
prestigious Ernst & Young’s
Entrepreneur of the Year
award, but Dr Piyush Patel
says he wasn’t expecting to win.
“Not really, no. I’d made the
short-list, but the other shortlisted
individuals were great
candidates. Some were billiondollar
businesses with a few
thousand on staff. I didn’t think
I had a chance!”
Dr. Piyush Patel
RESEARCH SCIENTIST,
ENTREPRENEUR
But as the founder of Allied
Research International, a
world leader in allergy science,
Dr Patel, MD, FRCP(C), is in a
league of his own.
He did his medicine in London,
England, and is a Fellow
of the Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Canada.
He trained as a paediatrician
and specialized as an allergist.
While at McMaster University,
he worked with Jerry
Dolovich, one of the most renowned
allergists in the world,
doing research for him and with
him before setting up his own
practice. Now Dr Patel was
dealing with pharmaceutical
companies in areas of research,
NARI MAVALWALLA/DESI NEWS
GRANT’S COMMUNITY ACHIEVERS
GRANT’S IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS
SERIES ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING
A DIFFERENCE IN THE COMMUNITY
ALLERGIES ARE NOT
SOMETHING TO SNEEZE AT
but the urge to conduct research
of his own was strong.
“I could have either gone
back to university and worked
in research there, or ventured
into independent research as an
entrepreneur,” he says.
With the support of his wife,
Arati, an optometrist, Dr Patel
made the leap.
Launched in 1989 with an
initial investment of less than
$10,000, Allied Research had
two employees – Arati and
Piyush! Within 10 years, Dr
Patel had his own facility on
Dixie Road in Mississauga and
15 employees. To do this, he put
in “a few million dollars” of his
own money.
“People ask me if there were
sleepless nights. I tell them I’ve
always been a poor sleeper and
get up in the middle of the night
to work! But of course, one always
has doubts. Arati and I fi-
nanced the growth with RRSPS
and a second mortgage, so of
course, there were lots of sleepless
nights. But I’m the sort of
person who just goes ahead and
does things. I was also confident
that I could always get back to
my practice. That helped!”
Dr Patel designed an environmental
chamber to speed up
research and conduct research
in a controlled setting.
In this part of the world,