It takes a team of experts in personalized health, systems biology, computing sciences, data visualization and design to understand and deliver the vast amounts of molecular data and compare it with the latest scientific literature and clinical advances. Molecular You brings together global leaders in their respective fields to interpret this data and turn it into useable information that can be acted upon.
Rob is the co-founder of The Personalized Medicine Initiative (PMI), and has been at the forefront of developing the framework and technologies to bring personalized medicine into healthcare practice. Backed by his expertise in molecular diagnostics, molecularly targeted drug discovery and development, biochemistry and regulatory compliance, Rob has also been involved in leading drug discovery and development projects at Sanofi, Xenon, Neuromed and CDRD. Rob received extensive training in the molecular mechanisms of endocrinology while completing his Ph.D. at the University of Alberta and Harvard Medical School and Post-Doctoral Fellowships at Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto and IGBMC, Strasbourg France. In addition to Rob’s scientific accomplishments, he has been involved in the raising of more than $37M in funding. Rob is also Co-founder of GenXys Health Care Systems, Personalized Biomarkers Incorporated and Mesentech Corporation and Director and Co-founder of Novobind.
Pieter is a respected researcher and innovator who has an impressive track record of success. As author of The Personalized Medicine Revolution and co-founder of The Personalized Medicine Initiative, a not-for-profit organization introducing the framework and technologies to support personalized health, Pieter has been influential in driving personalized medicine solutions to the front lines of healthcare. Pieter has also been involved in the development of several life sciences companies including co-founding Lipex Biomembranes Inc., Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, Northern Lipids Inc., and, most recently, Acuitas Therapeutics and Precision NanoSystems. In addition, he co-founded and was Scientific Director of the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) 2004-2010. His research leadership has led to fundamental advances in the generation, loading and targeting of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) systems for intravenous delivery of small molecule drugs and macromolecular drugs such as small interfering RNA (siRNA). This work has contributed to three LNP products that have been approved by regulatory agencies in the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of cancer and its complications. Pieter has published over 300 scientific articles and is an inventor on more than 40 patents. He has received many awards, including the B.C. Science Council Gold Medal for Health Sciences in 1991, the Alec D. Bangham Award for contributions to liposome science and technology in 2000 and the Life Sciences B.C. award for Innovation and Achievement in 2002. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2004, received the Leadership Award of the Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Scientists in 2010 and was awarded the Prix Galien, Canada’s premier prize for achievements in pharmaceutical R&D, in 2011. Pieter is the Director of the Life Sciences Institute and a Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He completed his PhD in Physics at UBC in 1972 and pursued postdoctoral training at the University of Oxford and the University of Utrecht.
David holds a Ph.D. from Yale (1991) and is a Professor in the Departments of Biological Sciences and Computing Science at the University of Alberta. He is also a senior research officer and the director of the Nano Life Science program at the Canadian National Research Council’s National Institute for Nanotechnology. From 2006-2009, David led the “Human Metabolome Project” (HMP), a multi-university, multi-investigator project that catalogued all of the known metabolites in human tissues and bio-fluids. Using advanced methods David and his colleagues identified or found evidence for more than 8500 endogenous metabolites. The methods and ideas developed for the HMP have helped lay the foundation for a number of clinical metabolomics projects currently being pursued in his lab. David has published more than 40 papers in the field of metabolomics and currently directs the Metabolomics Innovation Centre.
Christoph is recognized as a pioneer and leading figure in the development of mass spec based methods for protein quantification using Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM). He is also the Director of the UVic–Genome BC Proteomics Centre and has published more than 180 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals. His research is centered around the improvement, development and application of proteomics technologies with a major focus on techniques for quantitative targeted proteomics for clinical diagnostics. Christoph received his B.S., M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Konstanz, Germany. After his post-doctoral training and employment as a staff scientist at NIEHS/NIH/RTP, NC and he was the director of the Duke-UNC Proteomics Facility and held a faculty position at UNC Medical School in Chapel Hill, NC (2001-2006). Christoph is also involved in promoting proteomics research and education through his involvement with HUPO (International Council Member), the British Columbia Proteomics Network (co-leader) and the Canadian National Proteomics Network (VP External, Chair of the Board of Directors).
Dan holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary. He was co-founding Director and CFO of Midlake Oil & Gas Limited and prior to that, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Private Equity at MDS Capital Corp. Before MDS, Dan was Senior Vice President, Finance at Kinetek Pharmaceuticals and CFO at Inex Pharmaceuticals. In addition, Dan was Vice President, Corporate Finance and Manager of Private Equity at Burns Fry Limited (now BMO Nesbitt Burns) and Vice President of Canadian Enterprise Development Corporation. Dan has held a number of directorships in companies across Canada and the United States.
Victoria is an Associate Professor of Archival Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She has held senior positions as a professional archivist and records manager within the public sector, as a VP responsible for information governance and IT Security for a global investment bank, in higher education as an senior administrator and educator, and at the World Bank as a Senior Public Sector Specialist. She has also consulted for the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Inter-American Development Bank and has collaborated on research projects with the US Treasury, Office of Financial Research. Her current research is focused on risk to the availability of trustworthy records, in particular in financial contexts, and how these risks impact upon transparency, financial stability, public accountability and human rights. Dr. Lemieux currently sits on the International Standards Organization’s Canadian Mirror Committees for Technical Committee 68 (financial services) and 307 (blockchains and distribution ledgers). She holds a doctorate from University College London (Archival Studies, 2002), which focused on the information-related causes of the Jamaican Banking Crisis and, since 2005, has been a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). She is also the winner of the 2015 Emmett Leahy Award for outstanding contributions to the field of records management and a 2015 World Bank Big Data Innovation Award. She is the author and editor of award winning articles and books, including Financial Analysis and Risk Management: Data Governance, Analytics and Life Cycle Management (Springer, 2012) and Building Trust in Information – Perspectives on the Frontiers of Provenance (Springer, 2016).
Ms. Johannessen is a designer with an interdisciplinary background in education, business and design leadership. Experiences in corporate, start-up, educational and creative environments have given her exposure to a variety of contexts, equipping her with methods to combine design, business strategy, human behaviours and technology. As the founder of Educe Design, she has successfully established herself as an entrepreneur, leading a company in applying user-centred design methods to business transformation, product strategy and technology innovation. Ms. Johannessen holds an Bachelor of Education from University of Stavanger (Norway) and a Bachelor of Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and is driven to bring to life innovative ideas through interdisciplinary collaborations and human-centred design approaches.
Mike is an accomplished, client-driven Senior Sales and Marketing Executive offering over 36 years of progressive experience including start-ups across numerous product and services. He brings to Molecular You strong people management and a background in branch operations, client relationships and implementing creative sales strategies. He is a well-established sales professional with the ability to secure strategic alliances by effective communication with top “C Level” business executives. Throughout his career, Mike has achieved solid revenue, market share and profit contributions through staff development, market planning, finance and profitability responsibilities.
Helen is a product marketing specialist with a thirst for innovation and a passion for taking products from concept to growth. She has worked in a broad range of companies from startups to consultancies and corporates. From one of the original AI and visual analytics startups in Cambridge, she moved to Silicon Valley to drive a web UX product launch for the Santa Cruz Operation. She then moved to Vancouver to lead product management for business analytics with SAP Business Objects ( Crystal Decisions). For the past 5 years Helen has been working in health technology, leading marketing for the award winning PeriopSim VR medical simulation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Exeter University (UK) and a Master’s in Cognitive Science from Warwick University (UK). Helen is passionate about smart use of technology to inspire behavioural change and transform healthcare.