Executive and Board of Directors

Andrew MacIsaac CEO

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 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 with early stage companies through their product development strategy, and COO for Isotechnika Pharma Inc., a former Edmonton biotechnology company. Launa is also currently on the Board of Directors for Edmonton Unlimited.

Greg Klak Vice President and General Manager GIlead

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.

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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.

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Mauro Chies

AHS Representative

Mauro is the President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the Executive Leadership Team for Alberta Health Services (AHS). Mauro has previously served as the Vice President of Cancer Control Alberta & Clinical Support Services, CEI and Board Chair of Alberta Precision Laboratories, and 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)

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Brian Corrigan

Global Head, Clinical Pharmacology, Pfizer

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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

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Zain Kassam, MD, MPH

Co-Founder Finch Therapeutics; Co-Founder OpenBiome

Senior Leadership Team

Allan Aginsky

Allan Aginski

Senior VP, Special Projects & Manufacturing

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

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

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

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. 

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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.

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Dr. Truong Ta

Vice President, Commercialization & Growth

Truong has worked in the life sciences sector for 20+ years, and has built partnerships between industry, government and stakeholders to secure transformative infrastructure and patient access investments. He’s worked for Sanofi Canada and Canadian biotech company Medicago.

Business & Operations Staff

Lindsay Jarvis

Lindsay Jarvis

Senior Manager, Operations

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Liana Boily

Manager, Executive Office

Dixie Warren

Dixie Warren

Admin Assistant

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Madison Dubé

Engagement Strategist

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Marina Barbu

Manager of Programs

Julianna Weber

Julianna Weber

Director, Clinical Affairs

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Jodi Tauber

Director, Marketing & Communications

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M.Ashraf Ismail

Project Director

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Paramita Chaudhuri Basu

Director, Programs & Ecosystem Development

Tracy Bretherton

Tracy Bretherton

Quality Assurance Manager

Chelsey Ammar

Chelsey Ammar

Human Resources Coordinator

Stuart Vaughn

Stuart Vaughn

Engineering & Facilities Specialist

Darren Gillett

Project Accountant

Mohammed Ali

Coordinator, Programs & Ecosystem

Katie Hensel

Katie Hensel

Administrative Assistant

Sunny Gantumur

Sunny Gantumur

Executive Office Assistant

Technical & Scientific Staff

CJ Gao

Chemist (S2)

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Chuanjun Gao

Rong Ling

Chemist (S2)

Jieyu Zuo

Jieyu Zho

Postdoctoral Fellow

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Tyson Le

Lab Tech

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Helia Nejad

Associate Scientist

Lusine Tonoyan

Lusine Tonoyan

Scientist (S1)

Bhavesh Variya

Bhavesh Variya

Scientist (PD)

Tae Chul

Tae Chul

Scientist (PD)

Leanne Hahn

Leanne Hahn

Senior Lab Tech

Marawan Ahmed

Scientist (PD)

Maryam Jama

Scientist (PD)

Amy Hendrickson

Scientist (PD)

Dong Ju Kim

Scientist (PD)

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Shadab Alam

Scientist (S2)

Siddhartha Biswas

Siddartha Biswas

Scientist (S2)

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Bruna Dutra

Lab Tech

Fernanda Talarico

Fernanda Talrico

Project Coordinator

Zahra Meshkani

Biostatistician (PD)

Maulik Badmalia

Scientist (PD)

Hamdah

Hamdah Al Nebaihi

Scientist (PD)

Adibeh Ghazanfari

Scientist (PD)

Leili Tapak

Biostatistician (PD)

Rhannanda Copetti Pivetta

Rhannanda Copetti Pivetta

Lab Tech

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Kamlesh Kumar Sahu

Computational Chemist

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Louise Tan

QA & RA Specialist

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Daniel Hernandez Armada

Project Manager

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Conor O'Croinin

Research Assistant

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Morteza Haji Hosseini

Associate Biostatistician

Eric Pringle

Mitacs Trainee (PDF)

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Dane Sands

Mitacs Trainee (MSc)

Justine Williams

Mitacs Trainee (PhD)

SarahBarwell

Sarah Barwell

Mitacs Trainee (PhD)

Madeleine Stolz

Mitacs Trainee (MSc)

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Trinity Tooley- Macaarandang

Mitacs Trainee (BSc)

Nidhi Kaushik

Mitacs Trainee (PDF)

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Tekeleselassie Ayalew Woldemariam

Mitacs Trainee (PDF)

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Raelynn Brassard

Mitacs Trainee (PhD)

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Cassidy Maplethorpe

Mitacs Trainee (MSc)

Aaron Frenette

Mitacs Trainee (PDF)

Neha Saini

Mitacs Trainee (PDF)

Yan Yi Li

Mitacs Trainee (BSc)