Dr. Sophia Bonilla

Dr. Sofia Bonilla is Scientist-turned-Entrepreneur with expertise in bioprocess engineering and alternative proteins. She has 15+ years of research experience at the intersection of biology, environment and engineering and has conducted research in academic institutions in Australia, the Netherlands and Canada. Sofia is the Founder & CEO of HOPE Pet Food and with her leadership, HOPE is on a mission to close the gap between nutritious and sustainable pet food; using proprietary pet food formulas and developing patent-pending ingredients that leverage nutrient-rich ingredients from insects, algae and fungi. Sofia is a proud mom of 2 humans and 1 canine and is passionate about using science and kindness to create the future of pet food.

Barbara Campbell MSc

Msc, Regional Director, NPC -Atlantic Canada

Barbara has gained an international reputation for her enthusiastic support of science-based innovation.

She began her career in business and clinical development roles in Vancouver’s biotech start-up community before joining the university technology transfer department at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Barbara contributed to and then led the team that managed the university’s diverse life sciences technology portfolio–the largest of its kind in Canada. There she was involved in extensive due diligence, technology assessment, license negotiation and partnership development. With the support of the Gates Foundation, Barbara was the architect of the Global Access Initiative at UBC, which became the gold standard reference for global access from Canadian universities.

Barbara then spent three years in technology transfer at Dalhousie University before launching Hammock Facilitation, a boutique consulting firm focused on life sciences start-ups. From this venture, Barbara played a pivotal role in the development of a range of companies, delivering corporate positioning, business development strategies, intellectual property management and contract negotiation. She sits on the boards of various start-ups and has filled key roles within many of them.

Barbara’s entrepreneurial ventures include co-founding two medical device companies: OrthoMX Inc. and FIVAMed Inc., both based on clinician-led innovations. Most recently, Barbara was engaged as VP Commercialization with Oberland Agrisciences Inc., an alternative protein company. In these roles, she helped to propel emerging technologies and companies through proof of concept, prototype development, clinical validation, and multinational partnerships.

Barbara has gained extensive experience navigating regulatory landscapes for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, natural health products, alternate protein ingredients and fertilizers. She has also cultivated a diverse network of experts in part due to her role as an expert reviewer for multiple large scale federal funding programs. Barbara obtained a Master of Science in Biochemistry and Immunology from Simon Fraser University.

Crystal Cormier

Crystal is Vice President of Operations of Natures Crops International (NCI), a manufacturer of Ahiflower® and other specialty oils for dietary supplements, food & beverage, and personal care products. Crystal has been with NCI since 2010 and has held many roles within the company. She is currently responsible for all operational aspects of the company’s PEI-based oilseed production facility and refinery, all third-party manufacturing, as well as the crop production of Crambe and Meadowfoam. Prior to her VP role, Crystal was involved in many other areas within the company, including administration, grower contracting, grower relations, sales and marketing, and management. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Prince Edward Island. In her spare time, Crystal enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and camping during the summer months.

Dr. Mina Mekhail Ph.D

Dr. Mekhail is a bioengineer by training, and completed his PhD at McGill University in 2014. He has 16 years of experience in biomaterials innovation with 15 publications in top scientific journals, 32 awards, and multiple patents. During his career he successfully secured >$5M in public and private funding. He successfully built partnerships with multi-billion dollar companies in Canada and abroad. In addition to his scientific expertise, he has over 9 years of entrepreneurial experience, and 5 years as a project manager and innovation consultant. His extensive technical knowledge in biomaterials and strong business acumen make him well-equipped to lead Impactful Health R&D towards success.

He is also passionate about encouraging scientists to pursue entrepreneurship as a viable career path. He has written about this topic, his own entrepreneurial journey, and more on Medium. He also gets invited frequently to speak at incubators, accelerators, student societies and universities.

Marc St. Onge

Marc is a Halifax-based entrepreneur focused on technology-enabled food and well-being. He believes that to safeguard future generations we need an immediate shift to a transformative economy centred around environmental sustainability and the collective well-being of our global community. Marc is the founder of Smallfood, a biotechnology company that commercializing a novel microalgae fermentation platform aimed at solving the world’s massive seafood sustainability challenges. Smallfood is a finalist in the global XPRIZE Feed The Next Billion competition.

Dr. Neil Smith

Dr. Neil Smith is an experienced surgeon and business leader with a demonstrated healthcare industry track record working in the private and public sector as a CEO, president, board member and executive chairman of a publicly traded company. He has successfully raised capital for early start ups in the biotech space and transitioned companies from private to public markets.

Peter Hickey

Peter Hickey is a demonstrated leader in development and execution of strategy, sales and financing of early stage companies. Peter has been a founder, board chairman, executive director for numerous start up and scale up companies. He is also a board member at BioNova, Nova Scotia’s life science industry association.

Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy

Nova Scotia Health Vice-President of Research, Innovation & Discovery and Chief Nurse Executive

Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy, Vice President, Research, Innovation & Discovery and Chief Nurse Executive of Nova Scotia Health, is an internationally recognized expert in population needs-based approaches to health systems strengthening and workforce planning, evaluation, capacity-building, and research. Gail is a champion of innovation in healthcare, leading teams and partners to seek creative solutions to provide high quality and timely access to care for Nova Scotians. Gail has been an Expert Advisor on health workforce planning to the World and Pan American Health Organization since 2005 and is Director of the WHO/PAHO Collaborating Centre on Health Workforce Planning and Research at Dalhousie University. Gail’s research involves leading/co-leading multi-disciplinary teams and working with national and international partners. Her work has been widely funded and published; garnering extensive interest from governments and other stakeholders because of its significant impact on health policy and practice worldwide.

Dr. Scott Halperin, MD

Dr. Scott Halperin is a Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As the Director of the Canadian Center for Vaccinology (CCfV), Nominated Principal Investigator of the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), Co-Principal Investigator of the Immunization Monitoring Program–Active (IMPACT), and Executive Committee member of the Canadian Association for Immunization Research and Evaluation (CAIRE), he has played a foundational role in the establishment of these Canadian collaborative research networks, undertaking evaluative vaccine research that informs public health policy and practice.

Dr. Halperin’s area of expertise is pertussis, and his research focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of pertussis and other vaccine-preventable diseases. His team has conducted more than 250 clinical trials, of which more than 20 were phase 1 studies. These trials have included phase 1 and early phase 2 studies of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, Ebola virus, group A Streptococcus, Bordetella pertussis, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus as well as phase 3 HPV, varicella-zoster virus, meningococcal B, and hepatitis B studies. His advice has been sought from industry, and he has served on innumerable ad hoc advisory committees for vaccine manufacturers.

Dr. Marc Sauer

Chief Science Officer – BioVectra

• • B.Sc. in Organic Chemistry and M.Sc. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Oldenburg, Germany.
  • Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Basel, Switzerland.
  • Postdoctoral Research (NATO and Swiss National Science
  • Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship) at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
  • Lecturer at the University of British Columbia.
  • Worked as a Scientist at Beiersdorf AG, Hamburg, Germany in developing and analyzing Pegylated medical devices.
  • Joined BIOVECTRA in 2006 as an Analytical Research Chemist.
  • Took the position of Analytical Research Group Leader in 2007 and Analytical Services Group Leader in 2008 to oversee the Analytical Research and Quality Control groups.
  • Assumed the Manager as Analytical Services in 2010.
  • Promoted to Director of Analytical Services in 2013.
  • Appointed to Vice President, Research & Development in 2014.
  • Appointed Vice President & General Manager, Process Science & Development Services in 2020.
  • Appointed to Chief Science Officer in 2022

Ranya El-Masri

Vice President of Government Affairs and Market Access, GSK CANADA

Ranya El-Masri joined GSK Canada in July 2018 as Vice President of Government Affairs and Market Access, is a member of the GSK Canada Commercial Leadership Team and the executive lead for the province of Quebec.

Following a successful start as an entrepreneur, Ranya joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1999. Working in various roles, including market research, sales and customer relations, Ranya rapidly demonstrated her expertise in the area of strategic planning and change management. Her ability to authentically connect with people and deliver results has established Ranya as a leader in the industry. Over the last two decades, she has led high performing teams to achieve success in several critical areas of the business; including health policy and government & external affairs. As a member of the Bio-Quebec board, she continues to be a strong voice on a number of life science committees.

Ranya holds a Bachelor of Science in physiology and a Master’s in business administration from Montreal’s McGill University. She recently completed an International Master’s for Health Leadership at the same institution. As part of her academic research, she focused on the governance and policy frameworks required to responsibly allow access to personal health data and enable the realisation of the promise of Artificial Intelligence healthcare; two of the most relevant and burning platforms of change in the Canadian healthcare landscape

Dr. Neville Young

Dr Young is Director of Enterprise & Innovation at the Yorkshire & Humber Academic Health Sciences network. He has a real interest and track record in supporting the delivery of high-quality research and innovation in the United Kingdom that improves patient outcomes and drives health system efficiencies. Neville is a National Institute of Health Research reviewer, is a Board member of the NHS Innovation Accelerator, Vice Chair of the NHSE funded Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Cancer Fund and Chair of the National Pathology Imaging Collaborative.

He also has an interest in supporting international activity, promoting export opportunities for UK-based innovators and creating a safe landing space for successful international companies looking to enter the UK market via the Propel@YH International Bootcamp. Neville has worked as an academic researcher, a drug trial manager, a consultant, as a director for a health tech start-up and is focused on helping to identify and support the “pull” from the healthcare systems for innovative health technologies.

He completed his doctorate in Molecular Embryology from Kings College London, before working at the Institute of Cancer Research in London and then the Institute of Molecular Biosciences in Queensland, Australia before returning to the UK and working in research development, clinical trial management, health tech innovation and the Academic Health Science Network.

LinkedIn: /neville-young-bba22422

Sean Awalt

Sean Awalt brings over 25 years of leadership experience working in the biopharmaceutical industry. He has a proven track record of driving strategic collaborations to create meaningful growth and value. In his previous positions as Vice President Partnership Strategy at Sequence Bio and as a Principle at Vandium Consulting, he helped small and medium biopharma enterprises establish global collaborations and scale their businesses. Awalt has held numerous leadership positions at Merck Canada and Hoffmann-La Roche where he led several public policy, marketing, and sales initiatives, in addition to advocating for a shared understanding of the value of a healthy life sciences ecosystem. Awalt has also served on the board of Innovative Medicines Canada – Atlantic helping to shape the provincial life sciences policy landscape.

Dr. Emily Johnston

Emily Johnston is a Clinical Pharmacist in the department of Orthopedic Surgery in Nova Scotia. She works with patients on the trauma unit caring for a variety of Orthopedic Surgery patients and their medication related needs during their hospital stay. She also works closely with the Orthopedic Research team with a special focus on post-operative pain control. Emily graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree from Dalhousie University in 2008 and began her career as a community pharmacist in Calgary, Alberta. After two years, Emily returned to Halifax and worked as the manager of a community pharmacy in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for eight years. During this time, she completed her Doctor of Pharmacy through the University of Florida and worked to transition to her current role with Nova Scotia Health in 2018.

Originally from Cape Breton, Emily loves the ocean. She also loves a good book, a good dance party and good hike. She is a proud mom of two who have been some of her biggest champions in this venture as Pain Coach founder.

Matt Cooper

Matt is Volta’s Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for leading initiatives to directly support Founders and the growth of their companies. Matt has been developing and marketing products for over 20 years, and most recently served as the Director of Product at QRA. He was the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Swept, an innovative software for commercial cleaning companies. He holds certifications from Pragmatic Product Management, Google Adwords, Google Analytics and Hubspot Inbound Marketing. An alumni of both Propel and 500 Startups, Matt will be leveraging his unique experience in Product, Marketing and Growth Operations to help Startup teams uncover insights and drive growth by building solutions for their customer’s most important problems.

Dr. Rafaela Andrade

Dr. Rafaela Andrade is the CEO and co-founder of Myomar Molecular. She has over 10 years’ experience studying cellular metabolism and molecular biology. She studied cancer cells metabolism during her PhD and completed several pre-clinical studies using therapeutic approaches to fight cancer. She transitioned into her post-doctorate fellowship and focused on muscle metabolism and muscle-related diseases. She discovered a novel role for proteins in muscle formation and degeneration. Then, she led the preclinical efforts to discover specific biomarkers to detect muscle atrophy in early stages. She moved into human studies and co-founded Myomar to create a solution for monitoring and management of muscle wasting. Since then, she led Myomar’s team into extensive proof of concept and clinical endorsement of the biomarkers. During this time, she completed the Creative Destruction Lab program and was featured nationally, she raised private and non-dilutive funds, started multi-center collaborations for development and testing of the technology. Recently, she received a prestigious national award as the Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year by Mitacs.

Rashmi Prakash

Aruna is revolutionizing the way we manage our menstrual health with compostable menstrual pads that are made of natural fibers from local plant-by products. Rashmi, CEO of Aruna Revolution, is a biomedical engineer, who has brought multiple medical devices to the market and uses her technical background to increase sustainability in the health sector.

Bethany Deshpande

Bethany Deshpande is the Founder & CEO of SomaDetect, a dairy technology startup that combines science, technology, and creativity to make a difference in the dairy industry. Her work in SomaDetect has honed a range of experiences in  areas including IoT hardware development, software and cloud engineering, AI, and leadership. Bethany’s journey with SomaDetect has been exciting and rewarding, with the startup securing $20M in funds from various VC sources and government programs, including Sustainable Development Technology Canada and Agriculture & AgriFood Canada. These resources have helped support the dedicated and talented team at SomaDetect in their mission to revolutionize the dairy sector. Under Bethany’s leadership, SomaDetect has been acknowledged by various organizations such as the Ag Innovation Showcase, Canadian Innovation Exchange, and  Buffalo’s 43North Competition, among others. Most recently, it was honored with the Digital Agriculture Summit’s Top Pitch award.

Beyond her work with SomaDetect, Bethany takes time to contribute to the entrepreneurial community. She is a board member for CAAIN (Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network), previously served on the Board of Science East, and is involved via various advisory and mentorship roles. Bethany is passionate about education, creativity, and innovation.
Before joining SomaDetect, Bethany completed a Ph.D. in Biology at Université Laval, where she studied oxygen dynamics and microbial activity in northern ecosystems. This research allowed her to gain experience in sensor technology applications and science. She also holds a bilingual Bachelor of Arts degree from Glendon College, York University, with a double major in math and environmental studies, and a Bachelor of Education from York University.

When she’s not working, Bethany finds joy in singing, hiking, and climbing. She also dedicates her time to volunteering in her community with Big Brothers, Big Sisters Canada.

Jack MacDonald

Jack is the co-founder of Infusd Nutrition and Earthli Superfoods where he leads business development, sales and growth. Jack is passionate about building brands that make positive contributions to both people and planet. His background includes being a lawyer in Nova Scotia.

Dr. Jacob Cookey

Dr. Jacob Cookey is a practicing Psychiatrist and co-founder of Virtual Hallway, where he holds the positions of Chief Privacy Information Officer and Director of Medical Education.

He received his undergraduate science degree from McGill University, and his medical degree from Dalhousie University where he also completed a masters degree in Medical Sciences with a focus on neuroimaging.

Upon completion of his training, Dr. Cookey served as an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University where he supervised and taught medical students and residents. He also engages in research which primarily focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying mood and psychotic disorders, with a number of published academic articles.

Dr. Jason Cleaversmith

Dr. Jason Cleaversmith is the Executive Director of Incubation and Infrastructure at the PEI BioAlliance. In this role, he is responsible for the Emergence Incubator program, as well as several infrastructure related initiatives which focus on supporting the growth and development of both the PEI and Atlantic Canada’s bioscience community.

Previously, Jason was Vice President of Health and Nutrition for the Center for Aquaculture Technologies and General Manager of Canadian Operations. He has also served as Managing Director of AKVA Group Scotland, Director of Operations and Business Development at the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Center, and Head of Novartis Aqua Health in PEI overseeing manufacturing and R&D. He was also an Entrepreneur in Residence with HATCH Blue, an innovative aquaculture accelerator supporting a cohort of 13 technology companies on three different continents.

Additionally, in a prior role, Jason led the bioscience portfolio on behalf of the Government of Prince Edward Island as Senior Investment Manager.

Jason is a graduate of Edinburgh University in Scotland, majoring in natural sciences followed by a PhD in Marine Geochemistry. He also completed an Executive MBA with the University of Glasgow, where he gained a Distinction. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and the Chartered Management Institute and a Member of the Institute of Directors.

Dr. Karen Cross

Dr. Karen Cross is an accomplished Plastic Surgeon and Scientist who is changing the way skin injuries are diagnosed. She is the CEO and Co-founder of MIMOSA Diagnostics, a company that takes a novel approach to skin imaging by empowering clinicians to see beneath the skin’s surface. She also acts as an Innovator in Residence at the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub. Her passion is creating equity within the healthcare system by improving access to care with technology and she was recently named one of Canada’s top 14 entrepreneurs to watch in 2023. She was also named one of the top 20 women in business in Atlantic Canada.

Cathy Bennett

An award-winning former CEO and seasoned entrepreneur, Cathy’s focus today continues to be growth. With over 35 years of business leadership, her own company Bennett Group of Companies grew from a small group of service businesses to operations in commercial and industrial construction, industrial manufacturing, human resource support, service, retail, industrial supply, and real estate investments and operations.

She is also one of the founders and General Partners of Sandpiper Ventures, a venture capital fund created and launched to invest in women and women’s innovation as a proactive and profitable business decision. Sandpiper was one of the first venture funds in Canada investing in women-led companies at the seed stage, and the first on the east coast.

Focused on supporting start-ups Cathy is an associate fellow with the Creative Destruction Lab, and a board member with Propel ICT, Atlantic Canada’s Virtual Accelerator, a mentor with the Pei Bioalliance.

She has served on numerous private and public corporate boards with interests in real estate, natural resources, manufacturing, industrial construction, technology, and business services. She is currently an Independent Board Director Marathon Gold and the Business Development Bank of Canada.

First elected in 2013 as a Member of the Newfoundland & Labrador House of Assembly, Cathy went on to serve in Cabinet as Minister of Finance, President of Treasury Board, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer.

Malcolm Fraser

Malcolm is the Managing Partner of NPC Ventures. A proven innovation leader in Canada, Malcolm Fraser has founded and exited companies, managed acceleration and incubation programs, and led one of Canada’s most successful early-stage venture capital funds.

Through his career, Malcolm has demonstrated to investors and entrepreneurs that he knows what it takes to launch world-class companies from humble beginnings. During his tenure at Innovacorp, he focused the entire team on supporting companies to successfully commercialize early stage technology to globally competitive businesses. This success recognized by achieving the 2022 Canadian Venture Capital Associations Deal of the Year for the $101 M gain on its Metamaterials Inc. holdings.

Prior to Innovacorp, Malcolm was a career entrepreneur, focused mainly on opportunities in the digital sector. Through companies like ISL and eplicity, he has been recognized for his leadership in the practice of digital transformation. A committed community leader, Malcolm participated in governance roles locally and nationally in the areas of the visual arts, medical research, and youth sport. He currently sits on the board of Credit Union Atlantic.

Born in Nova Scotia, Malcolm attended Mount Allison University, earning a Bachelor of Commerce in marketing and economics. He lives with his family in Chester, Nova Scotia.

Krista Bezanson

Krista Bezanson has made a career out of working with money – and helping people, businesses and organizations in the process.

After graduating from Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, the Newfoundland native joined the Royal Bank (RBC) in Fredericton as a personal banker and then branch manager. She later moved to the Cayman Islands, where she worked for Scotia Bank and the Bank of Bermuda in their mutual fund department. When she returned to Canada, her plan was to rejoin RBC, but she heard about a job opportunity at ACOA and has been there for 20 years.

As the manager of innovation for the life science team based in Halifax, Krista understands the importance of the work companies in this sector are doing.

One of the achievements Krista is most proud of is founding the Atlantic Venture Forum. This annual conference, launched 11 years ago, connects clients to venture capital all around the country. Krista has two children and a cat and a dog and in her spare time can be found exercising with one or all of them.

Michael Lavigne

For over 30 years Michael has been a well-known figure in the regional business and government community. He has held several executive positions in startups and scale ups. Most recently he held roles as President of Panasonic Canada’s ISD Software organization and as President and CEO of CLEARVIEW, a Panasonic Company. CLEARVIEW boasts 10,000 customers worldwide including some of the biggest global restaurant brands, such as McDonalds, Tim Horton’s, Wendy’s, DQ, A&W, KFC, and Popeye’s.

As an experienced sales and marketing strategist, Michael has managed global operations in Marketing, Sales, Finance, HR, Strategic Planning and Delivery. He has successfully cultivated business in many markets throughout North America, the Caribbean, Australia, the UK and Japan.

Throughout his career, Michael has developed and implemented management coaching and training programs. An engaging speaker, he has spoken at several conferences, podcasts and industry events and has been quoted in the Globe and Mail, National Post, Progress, Profit and QSR publications.

Peter MacAskill

Peter MacAskill is President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Invest Nova Scotia (INS). He joined Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI) in 2002 and was appointed the Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2015. Prior to INS and NSBI, Peter spent eight years with TD Waterhouse in Toronto, where he managed operations departments for the brokerage lines of TD Bank.

Peter is a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. He is committed to continuous education, participating in leadership courses such as Rotman’s Executive Leadership Program, the Negotiation and Influencing Master Class at Dalhousie University, and the Bill Black leadership values course.

Peter is dedicated to sharing his expertise and knowledge with numerous community and charitable organizations, volunteering with Symphony Nova Scotia as Chair of the Board, Past Chair of the Finance Committee, and member of the Executive Committee. He has also mentored with Fusion Halifax and Junior Achievement of Nova Scotia, inspiring and preparing youth to succeed in a global economy.

Peter resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with his wife, Nicole, and their four children: Noah, Liam, Erin, and Emma.

The Honorable Susan Corkum-Greek

Former journalist and long-time community development advocate, Susan Corkum-Greek was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly as MLA for Lunenburg in 2021. She serves as Minister of Economic Development and also sits on the Treasury and Policy Board.

A graduate of the University of King’s College, Halifax, Corkum-Greek spent nearly two decades in community journalism. She credits those years for igniting her passion for community economic development, which she has pursued full time since 2002.

Corkum-Greek’s professional experience spans a number of industries from tourism and culture to small manufacturing, and includes both volunteer and paid work in the Chamber of Commerce movement. She was a founding member of the Lunenburg Waterfront Association, formed to protect and revitalize the seaport’s working waterfront. She also played a foundational role in the development of LAMP (Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance), an elite finishing school for performing artists that helped transform a longtime public school and National Historic Site into a vibrant community and cultural hub.  Corkum-Greek lives in Bayport with her husband Jody, a professional mariner, and two children.

Karen Oldfield

After serving for more than 18 years as President and CEO of the Halifax Port Authority, Karen was recently named the Interim President and CEO of Nova Scotia Health (NSH). This appointment was made by Premier Tim Houston in an effort to take immediate action to improve health care in Nova Scotia. While seconded to Nova Scotia Health, Karen has also been appointed Deputy Minister of Priorities and Planning for the Government of Nova Scotia, a role fundamental to the strategic priorities of the Province.

During her tenure at the Port Authority, revenues more than tripled, enabling the organization to make significant financial investments in strategic port and transportation infrastructure to improve port competitiveness and the livability of the City of Halifax. Oldfield has global experience, particularly in trade development and the establishment of new markets together with deep expertise in supply chain management and logistics. Karen operates and achieves results in complex, multiparty/stakeholder environments, particularly at the nexus of levels of government interacting with the private sector.

Organizational future-proofing and recruiting and developing talent are Karen’s passions. Her inquisitive nature and ability to “see around corners” has enabled Karen to spot themes and trends by which she is able to keep organizations at the forefront of change.

Mahmoud Mirmehrabi

Dr. Mirmehrabi has a PhD in Chemical Engineering with research focus on pharmaceutical development. He has more than 20 years of experience in biotech and pharma industry in companies such as Wyeth/Pfizer, Johnson Matthey pharma. Mahmoud is the author of more than 60 patents and patent applications and many peer reviewed journal articles. In 2014, Mahmoud moved from Boston to Halifax and founded Solid State Pharma (SSPI), which is a research partner to hundreds of global pharma companies developing new generations of medicines. SSPI has a team of 36 talented individuals, which 17 of them hold PhDs.