Prof. Michael Houghton

Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2020

Michael Houghton BSc (University of East Anglia, UK) PhD (King’s College, University of London, UK) is the Director of the Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute in the University of Alberta and is the Li Ka Shing Professor within the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. He took up a Canada Excellence in Research Chair (CERC) in Virology at the University of Alberta in 2010. Working with Lorne Tyrrell MD PhD OC and a large network of collaborating experts, he is involved in developing vaccines against HCV, Covid-19 & Group A Streptococcus as well as therapeutics for Cytomegalovirus, Alzheimer’s & Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Previously he worked as a VP Research in Novartis and Chiron Corporation in California where he and colleagues discovered HCV in 1989. He is committed to researching diseases with unmet medical need in order to develop diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

Presenting keynote: Towards the control of infectious epidemics

Mira Johri, PH.D., MPH

Mira Johri, PhD MPH is Professor in the Department of Health Management, Evaluation and Policy at the School of Public Health, University of Montreal, and Principal Scientist at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM). She has served as Consultant in the Department of Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health at the World Health Organization, and currently serves as Independent Expert to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Board Member and co-Chair of the Policy and Advocacy Committee for the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research, and Commissioner for the Lancet Commission on Hearing Loss. Dr. Johri’s research focuses on equitable access to childhood vaccines globally and in India.

Presenting fireside chat: Equitable distribution of vaccines globally

John Bell, PH.D.

John Bell is a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. His research interests revolve around understanding, at the molecular level, the differences between normal and malignant cells and exploiting this information to create novel biological therapies for the treatment of cancer. He has pioneered the development of oncolytic virus based therapeutics as both direct cancer target agents and stimulators of anti-tumour immune responses. He is the Scientific Director of BioCanRx, a Network of Centres of Excellence directed towards advancing the discoveries of Canadian scientists from the lab into clinical testing. Bell is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Maura Campbell, Ph.D.

Vice President, Intellectual Property and Contracts, Turnstone Biologics

Dr. Maura Campbell has spent more than 30 years in technology transfer and the management and commercialization of intellectual property (IP). She has business management experience in all key sectors of biotech, including private and public companies, universities and research institutes, and government-funded public sector research organizations (National Centre of Excellence [NCE]). Maura helped spin out Turnstone Biologics from IP developed at three Ontario academic institutes in 2015.  Maura has had an active role in the Company’s Series A, B and C financing, raising a total of over $90 million (U.S.). Previously, Maura was with VBI Vaccines where she served as Director, Intellectual Property. Prior to this she was with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) as a Senior Research Program Manager, where she oversaw the oncolytic vaccine project commercialization. Earlier in her career, Maura was the Director of Intellectual Property for PainCeptor Pharma Corporation, the Manager of Technology Transfer & Commercialization for the OHRI, and the Manager of Technology Transfer at the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems NCE. She has also served as an IP consultant to a number of Canadian start-ups including Neurochem, Conjuchem, Aonix, AMRIC and Sussex Research Labs. Maura received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Ottawa, and an M.Sc. and a B.Sc. in biochemistry from Queen’s University in Kingston. 

Jung-Kay Chiu, B.Sc, LLB

Mr. Chiu is the national practice head of the Canadian intellectual property practice at Norton Rose Fulbright and also sits on the firm’s national management committee. Jung-Kay Chiu practises in all areas of intellectual property law, with a focus on intellectual property acquisition, protection and exploitation in the fields of biotechnology and medical devices. Mr. Chiu is experienced in devising and guiding IP strategies for his innovative clients, including the development and management of their global IP portfolios. He has significant experience in mining inventions, and drafting and prosecuting winning patents and industrial designs to maximize the value of intellectual capital. Mr. Chiu advises on all related branding, trademarks and commercialization matters for his clients. Mr. Chiu is also routinely involved in conducting complex IP-related value assessments, such as patentability, infringement and validity opinions and other deep dive due diligence. His technical experience includes genetics, molecular biology, biotechnology and biochemistry.

Paulina Hill, PH.D

Paulina joined Omega Funds in January 2019. Prior to joining Omega, Paulina was on the healthcare team at Polaris Partners since 2012. Paulina is currently on the board of IFM Therapeutics and an observer on the boards of Scorpion Therapeutics and Arrakis Therapeutics. Paulina is also involved in the firm’s investments in Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BEAM) and Sana Biotechnology. Paulina previously served on the boards of Kala Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KALA), Neuronetics (NASDAQ: STIM) and Lyra Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LYRA), Microchips Biotech (acquired by Dare), Arsenal Medical and CAMP4 Therapeutics, where she was the founding CEO. Paulina completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Robert Langer’s lab in the Chemical Engineering department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Paulina was the founding president of the MIT Postdoctoral Association and served on the MIT Intellectual Property Presidential Committee. Paulina completed her PhD in Molecular Medicine from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Paulina graduated magna cum laude from East Carolina University with a quadruple major in biochemistry, neuroscience, biology and chemistry. Paulina attended East Carolina University on an athletic scholarship and served as the captain of the women’s varsity tennis team.

Kuldeep Neote, PH.D.

Dr. Neote is responsible for pursuing novel therapeutic modalities and technology platforms of strategic interest to Lilly and also responsible for Lilly’s New Venture initiative. He has focused on precision and genomic based therapeutics opportunities and enabled Lilly’s recent acquisition of Prevail Therapeutics.

Previously, he was Senior Director at J&J Innovation Center-Boston and was responsible for New Venture activities for the Janssen R&D in the East Coast. He has established academic and biotech collaborations including two opportunities in Canada and served as the interim Head of JLABS@Canada. Dr. Neote is trained as a Molecule Biologist with an extensive background in drug discovery. He has been focused in the area of Immunology, Inflammation and Oncology and has a passion for implementing cutting edge scientific discoveries into practical drug discovery programs.

Throughout his career, he has looked at creative scientific and business development collaborative and partnering opportunities that have resulted in tangible clinical translation of new scientific discoveries working in conjunction with academic and biotech companies. Formerly, Dr. Neote was Research Advisor/Director in Global External R&D at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, IN and responsible for search and evaluation of Oncology in-licensing opportunities. Prior to Eli Lilly, he was a Discovery Scientist in Pfizer Inc. in Groton, CT. Dr. Neote initiated the Chemokine Receptor Drug Discovery platform that led to several clinical candidates, and also discovered novel chemokines.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Neote cloned one of the first chemokine receptors during his post-doctoral studies in Genentech. Dr. Neote earned his BSc. in Microbial and Cellular Biology at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada, and a Ph.D. in Human and Molecule Genetics at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, where he was a major contributor in the understanding of the molecular basis of lysosomal storage diseases, in particular Tay Sachs and Sandhoff’s disease.

Michael A. Rudnicki, OC, PH.D.

Michael Rudnicki is a Senior Scientist and the Director of the Regenerative Medicine Program and the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He is Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Rudnicki is CEO and Scientific Director of the Canadian Stem Cell Network (SCN). Dr. Rudnicki’s achievements have been recognized by numerous honours including being named a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, an International Research Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for two consecutive terms, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Society (London). He has been a founder in several spin-off biotechnology companies including Satellos Bioscience.

Dr. Rudnicki is an internationally recognized thought leader in molecular genetics and regenerative medicine whose research has transformed our understanding of muscle development and regeneration, and fueled the development of novel stem cell based approaches to treat muscular dystrophy. His work is consistently published in top journals including Cell, Nature, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Medicine, and Cell Stem Cell. He holds major research grants from CIHR, NIH, SCN, and several health charities.

For the past 16 years, Dr. Rudnicki has led the Stem Cell Network (SCN), a transformative initiative involving over 175 investigators across Canada. As Scientific Director of the SCN, he has forged a national community that transformed stem cell research in Canada and brought research to the point where regenerative medicine is impacting clinical practice.