Lindsay Jarvis
Senior Manager, Operations
Liana Boily
Manager, Executive Office
Dixie Warren
Admin Assistant
Executive and Board of Directors
Andrew MacIsaac
CEO
Throughout the past two decades Andrew has successfully led partnerships between industry, academia, government, and donors, and developed catalysts for economic investment totalling more than $600 million. With a background in economics and public sector management, Andrew has worked with UBC, and the University of Alberta, most recently as Assistant Dean for the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Andrew sits on the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Life Sciences Council, the Edmonton Health City Steering Committee, the Alberta Research Commercialization Working Group, the Calgary Life Science Innovation Hub Steering Committee, and a number of private company boards.
Launa Aspeslet
Board Chair
Dr. Launa J. Aspeslet is COO of Hepion Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company with offices in Edmonton, AB, and New Jersey, USA working on a drug treatment for liver and other fibrotic diseases. Dr. Aspeslet has over 25 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry overseeing large operating budgets and dozens of multiple-phase clinical trials. Prior to Hepion, Dr. Aspeslet was the CEO of TRIO, a global clinical research organization headquartered in Edmonton that runs oncology trials around the globe, a biotechnology consultant working primarily with early stage companies through their product development strategy, and Chief Operating Officer for Isotechnika Pharma Inc., a former Edmonton biotechnology company.
Greg Klak
Director
Greg Klak is the Vice President of Operations and General Manager for the Gilead Alberta manufacturing facility. Prior to the acquisition by Gilead in 2006, he spent 16 years with Raylo Chemicals providing custom manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical industry, including Gilead Sciences. Mr. Klak received both his B. Comm. and MBA degrees from the University of Alberta, and currently serves as a Board Member for BioAlberta.
Jason Pincock
Director
Jason is currently the Chief Executive Officer of DynaLIFE Medical Labs, one of Alberta’s largest private healthcare organizations. At over 1100 employees DynaLIFE is Canada’s most regarded multidisciplinary clinical laboratory organization and is recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies. Jason is a Certified Management Accountant, a graduate of the Queens Executive Program and a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors. Jason works with an ownership board, including OMERS and Laboratory Corporation of America (publicly traded) as well as a board of senior policy advisors.
Mauro Chies
AHS Representative
Mauro is the Vice President of Cancer Control Alberta & Clinical Support Services, and member of the AHS Executive Leadership Team. Mauro has previously held the positions of Vice President (Acting), Clinical Support Services and Province-wide Services, as well as Senior Operating Officer, Diagnostic Imaging Services. He started his career with the former Capital Health region in 1988 as a medical laboratory technologist.
Advisory Committee Members (leads)
Brian Corrigan
Global Head, Clinical Pharmacology, Pfizer
Sir Michael Houghton
Nobel Laureate & Director, Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute
Salma Jutt
Vice President, Sales, Johnson & Johnson
Sailaja Bhaskar
VP, Clinical R&D, Imbrium
Majid Vakilynejad
Global Head, Quantitative Solutions, Takeda
Jamie Lucien
Biotech Patent Agent
Zain Kassam, MD, MPH
Co-Founder Finch Therapeutics; Co-Founder OpenBiome
Senior Leadership Team
Allan Aginski
Vice President, Special Projects
Allan is a life sciences supply chain and manufacturing specialist with nearly 40 years of experience. He has established and run commercial life sciences company production facilities around the world, including for companies such as Abbott, Merck, and Genpharm. He has been responsible for the establishment of dozens of products in over 24 countries.
Brooke Matter
Controller
Brooke is a CPA with over 15 years experience working in the not-for profit sector. Prior to joining API, Brooke was the Director of Finance and Administration for Volunteer Alberta.
Hana Marinkovic
Vice President, Corporate Affairs
Hana is a relationship builder and strategist with over 15 years of experience. Hana has worked extensively in roles supporting government, stakeholders, and economic development priorities. Over her career Hana has served as Chief of Staff for a Provincial Premier, a city councilor, and more.
Micheal Guirguis
Director, Clinical Pharmacology & Data
Micheal has over 20 years of experience as a pharmacokineticist and pharmacovigalence expert. During his career Micheal has worked for Alberta Health Services, Covance, Abbott, and Alberta Blue Cross and is a sought-after consultant for Health Canada and industry alike.
Richard Roy
Vice President, Product Development & Scale-up
Richard is a life sciences product development specialist with over 20 years of experience. Richard was head of quality services at ICON, the world’s second largest clinical CRO, as well as roles at Sanofi Pasteur, Takeda, PriMED, and AmerisourceBergen. Richard has seen many medical devices and pharmaceuticals through regulatory development.
Vijay Somayaji
Head of QA/QC & Manager, DDIC
Vijay has over 30 years experience in biotech research and development and QA/QC. With a PhD in Chemistry and post-doctoral work under Nobel Laureate Dr. H. C. Brown, Vijay has served in director level roles at Biomira, AltaRex, Novolytic, and Virexx. As an experienced QA, Vijay has supported product development for dozens of clinical programs taking place at sites around the world.
Paramita Chaudhuri Basu
Director, Programs & Ecosystem Development
Paramita is a life science enthusiast with a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship. With a rich background and subject matter expertise in life science, biotech and healthtech, Paramita has worked with several startups supporting them with their business readiness and technology commercialization needs. She is a trained facilitator, mentor and coach.
Business & Operations Staff
Madison Dubé
Engagement Strategist
Marina Barbu
Manager of Programs
Technical & Scientific Staff
CJ Gao
Chemist (S2)
Rong Ling
Chemist (S2)
Jieyu Zho
Scientist (S1)
Tyson Le
Lab Tech
Helia Nejad
Associate Scientist
Lusine Tonoyan
Scientist (S1)
Bhavesh Variya
Scientist (PD)
Tae Chul
Scientist (PD)
Leanne Hahn
Senior Lab Tech
Marawan Ahmed
Scientist (PD)
Maryam Jama
Scientist (PD)
Amy Hendrickson
Scientist (PD)
Dong Ju Kim
Scientist (PD)
Archana Koul
Scientist (S1)
Shadab Alam
Scientist (S2)
Siddartha Biswas
Scientist (S2)
Bruna Dutra
Lab Tech
Fernanda Talrico
Research Coordinator
Zahra Meshkani
Biostatistician (PD)
Maulik Badmalia
Scientist (PD)
Hamdah Al Nebaihi
Scientist (PD)
Adibeh Ghazanfari
Scientist (PD)
Leili Tapak
Biostatistician (PD)
Rhannanda Copetti Pivetta
Lab Tech
Kamlesh Kumar Sahu
Computational Chemist
Louise Tan
QA & RA Specialist
Daniel Hernandez Armada
Project Manager
Conor O'Croinin
Research Assistant
Morteza Haji Hosseini
Associate Biostatistician
Mayank Mayank
Mitacs Trainee (PDF)
Eric Pringle
Mitacs Trainee (PDF)
Orlando Sosa Diaz
Mitacs Trainee (MSc)
Dane Sands
Mitacs Trainee (MSc)
Shiqi Su
Mitacs Trainee (MSc)
Justine Williams
Mitacs Trainee (PhD)
Sarah Barwell
Mitacs Trainee (PhD)
Maeve Dufour
Mitacs Trainee (BSc)
Madeleine Stolz
Mitacs Trainee (MSc)
Trinity Tooley- Macaarandang
Mitacs Trainee (BSc)
Nidhi Kaushik
Mitacs Trainee (PDF)
Tekeleselassie Ayalew Woldemariam
Mitacs Trainee (PDF)
Raelynn Brassard
Mitacs Trainee (PhD)
Aaron Frenette
Mitacs Trainee (PDF)
Neha Saini
Mitacs Trainee (PDF)
Yan Yi Li
Mitacs Trainee (BSc)
Cassidy Maplethorpe
Mitacs Trainee (MSc)