Ottawa Chapter: Future of Biotech in Ottawa - Virtual Panel Event

Join the S2BN for an exciting virtual panel event discussing the Future of Biotech in Ottawa featuring 4 panelists. This event will provide an opportunity for trainees to understand the biotech ecosystem in Ottawa, and guidance on how to pursue a career in biotech.

Panelists:

1. Francisco Diaz-Mitoma, M.D., Ph.D., FRCPC

Dr. Francisco Diaz-Mitoma is a Canadian physician-scientist, university professor and chief medical executive. He has advocated for the clinical development of innovative human therapies for the last two decades, during that time he founded three research organizations: 1) VBI Vaccines Inc. (VBIV, Nasdaq), a company in Ottawa and in Cambridge Massachusetts, which develops human vaccines. 2) He was the founding CEO and Chief Scientist at the Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada (AMRIC), which is the translational research Institute of Health Sciences North (HSN) in Sudbury Ontario. 3) In 2014 he co-founded a health digital platform, Bowhead Health, Inc., which helps researchers with understanding of real-world health data; this blockchain Ethereum platform has more than 100,000 downloads and subscribers. The platform also helps individuals to protect their privacy and health data and track the evolution of chronic conditions.

Dr. Diaz-Mitoma has received several awards during his career, including the Young Investigator Award by the American Society for Microbiology, The Ohtli Award by the Mexican Government and a top 70 award for his lifetime contributions to health care and scientific work by Mexico’s Senate.

Dr. Diaz-Mitoma received his medical degree from the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. He earned a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences (Virology) from the University of Alberta and a fellowship in Medical Microbiology by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.

His research has been published in more than 150 peer-reviewed, international journals and has been involved in the preclinical and clinical development of eleven licensed vaccines. His main career theme has been in the prevention of disease through improvement in vaccine development. VBI Vaccines, the company he co-founded develops vaccines for cytomegalovirus, Glioblastoma, hepatitis B and COVID19. Currently, he oversees the clinical development of these programs as VBI’s Chief Medical Officer.

2. Chantal Martin | Director of CMC and Quality Control,Turnstone Biologics Inc.

Chantal Martin is currently the Director of CMC and Quality Control at Turnstone Biologics where she leads a team of skilled scientists responsible for the testing and release of all therapeutic modalities within the Turnstone portfolio.  She has also been the Technical operations program lead for several key programs within the company.  She is now the technical operations program lead for all cell therapy products within the company's product pipeline.  She was also part of the small team that finished and commissioned the Grade B GMP facility within the OHRI and launched their contract development and manufacturing organization specializing in viral manufacturing for early phase trials.

3. Stacey Nunes BSc MBA | Client Relationship Leader

Mr. Stacey Nunes has over 25 years’ experience in research and development and has been involved in the commercialization and transfer of technology from government laboratories for the past 20 years. He helps manage a portfolio of over 100 patent families, and is responsible for developing collaborations with industry and licensing NRC technology in the field of life sciences. Prior to his involvement in life sciences, he led two start-up initiatives at NRC to commercialize engineering-based green technologies. He has won numerous awards including NRC’s 2015 Outstanding Achievement Award for Leadership. He holds a BSc in Chemistry from York University and an MBA from the University of Ottawa, and also studied International Business at Reims University in France.

4. Kim Ryel | Senior Sector Strategist - Life Sciences, Invest Ottawa

Kim Ryel is currently the Senior Sector Strategist – Life Sciences at Invest Ottawa since September 2018. Kim formerly has been the Deputy Director of the Life Sciences Team within Global Affairs Canada since April 2015 and was the Business Advisor for the medical devices sector for more than seven years within the same group. Kim joined the Federal government as a technology analyst for Health Canada. For several years, Kim led the nanotechnology and foresight files at Health Canada.

Prior to work for the Federal government, Kim has worked as an aeronautics engineer for CAE Inc., and as an R&D photonics engineer for JDS Uniphase.

Kim has a physics engineering diploma from École Polytechnique of Montréal and has obtained from the same university a master’s degree in applied science, specialized in photonics. Kim also holds a master’s degree in business administration, specialized in high technology from the University of Ottawa, and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Kim is part of the Bio-Innovation Advisory Board at La Cité.

Event Details: 

Date: Thursday, February 25th, 2021

Time: 7-8pm

Platform: Zoom (link will be shared via email a few days prior to event)

Cost: Free