MEET OUR DEDICATED MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Neal is a researcher, administrator, teacher, pharmacist and pharmaceutical scientist. Internationally renowned in drug investigations from discovery to patient recovery. Neal is currently the President of CSPS while also undertaking his duties with University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Christine is Vice President, Ecosystem Development at adMare BioInnovations. Christine oversees adMare’s existing and future Innovation Centres as well as the adMare Academy to ensure that Canada has the highly skilled workforce to drive the life sciences sector forward.
Amyn Sayani is currently the Director, Medical Evidence at AstraZeneca Canada, where he is accountable for all real-world evidence, outcomes research studies, and externally sponsored research across multiple therapy areas.
Michael is a Professor and the Assistant Dean (International) with the Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta. He also serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Department of Biomedical Engineering as well as with the Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
Risini Weeratna is a Senior Research Officer and the Team Lead for Cancer Immunology at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC).
Fakhreddin (Mo) is a Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta. He is the founding President of CSPS and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the first open access, fully electronic peer-reviewed journal in the field.
Ron is the Vice President, Biotechnology and Industry Affairs with lead responsibility for BIOTECanada’s policy development reflecting the diverse nature of Canada’s health, industrial and agricultural biotechnology sectors.
Growing up, Jack had a passion for chemistry and broad interest in most things science. He immigrated to Canada in 2015 and completed a bachelors specializing in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Toronto (U of T). Jack is currently in his third year of PhD studies working with Dr. Christine Allen at U of T.
Professor Emmanuel Ho is currently an Associate Professor and Graduate Office in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo. He is also the Theme Lead for the Therapeutics and Theranostics section of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology. Emmanuel has served CSPS in the past as Treasurer and is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Kayla completed her BSc in Biochemistry at Memorial University in 2018. After which Kayla worked as a lab demonstrator for her current supervisor Dr. Noriko Daneshtalab. Currently, Kayla is pursuing her PhD in Biomedical Sciences focusing on Cardiovascular and Renal Sciences, which she aims to complete in 2024.
Recently retired, Catherine was previously VP Regulatory Affairs and Quality at Janssen Canada (a J&J company). Catherine was a graduate of Yale University with a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and a post-doctoral fellow of Princess Margaret Hospital focusing on cancer research.
Dr. Afsaneh Lavasanifar’s area of expertise is pharmaceutics and drug delivery. She is a professor in the Pharmaceutical Sciences division of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta and has a joint appointment with the Department of Chemical and Medical Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at the same university. She is also the Scientific Chief Officer and Vice President of Meros Pharma, a spinoff company based on the technology developed in her lab.
Co is the Executive Director of the Centre for Regulatory Excellence, Statistics and Trials in the Biologics and Radiopharmaceutical Drugs Directorate at Health Canada. Previously, he was the Associate Director, Office of Clinical Trials, Special Access Program, Therapeutic Products Directorate.