Let's Connect

Michael May is President and CEO of CCRM, a Canadian not-for-profit that develops technologies, launches new companies and catalyzes investment in the field of regenerative medicine, including cell and gene therapy. Michael is also the Interim CEO of OmniaBio Inc., a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) subsidiary of CCRM. Prior to CCRM, Michael was the President, and co-founder, of Rimon Therapeutics Ltd., a Toronto-based tissue engineering company developing novel medical polymers that possess drug-like activity.

Michael sits on a number of boards and advisory committees, including: the Ontario Life Sciences Council; the Board of Biologics Manufacturing Centre (BMC) Inc.; OmniaBio; ARM Foundation for Cell & Gene Medicine; and AgeX Corporation. He is the Chairman of ExCellThera Ltd. 

Dr. May completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto in 1998 as an NSERC Scholar and was awarded the Martin Walmsley Fellowship for Technological Entrepreneurship. He is the 2025 recipient of the University of Toronto Engineering Alumni Network (EAN) Distinguished Alumni Award, the network’s top honour. Dr. May also received the 2023 Le Prix Luc Sensebé Innovation and Leadership Award from the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy.

Robyn Saccon is the Public Affairs Vice President of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) Canada.
As a member of the country leadership team, Robyn leads the development and execution of strategic communications and marketing, policy and government relations initiatives contributing to the company’s purpose of Advancing the world of health ™.

Robyn amasses over 17 years of experience in hospital and health care industries with experience in the private and public sector as well as not for profit. She has a track record of building and maintaining strong relationships, influencing policy decisions, and managing complex projects with a passion for improving access, quality and innovation in health care.
Robyn holds a Master’s Degree in Health Care Management from Schulich School of Business, a Diploma in Ethics from Western University and a Canadian Health Executive(CHE) designation from the Canadian College of Health Leaders.

Robyn is also an active board member of the Mississauga Board of Trade, Co-Chair of the Ontario Medtech Canada Committee , Co- Chair of LabCanDX and Chair of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Health Policy Council.

Bharat Srinivasa is a Partner at Amplitude and co-founded the firm in 2018. He has over 15 years of experience in the life sciences, spanning venture capital, consulting, and biotech R&D. At Amplitude, he has co-founded three companies, including two as founding CEO where he was responsible for in-licensing IP, creating company strategy, building out teams, and driving them to raise over $100M in Seed/Series A financings.

Prior to Amplitude, Bharat was on the investment team on the Healthcare Venture Fund at BDC Capital, where he contributed to IPOs and venture financings that raised more than $1B. Earlier in his career, Bharat worked in the competitive intelligence practice at a life science consulting firm, delivering strategic insights on business development and pipeline strategies to pharma and hedge funds for drugs generating over $5B in annual revenue. Bharat has a PhD and a MSc in immunology from McGill University, and a BSc in biotechnology and zoology from the University of Toronto.

Stacey Johnson is the Vice President, Communications and Marketing at CCRM, a leader in developing and commercializing regenerative medicine-based technologies and cell and gene therapies.

Stacey has 30 years of experience providing strategic communications counsel to government, corporate, technology and health/life sciences organizations. She has an MSc in Public Relations from the University of Stirling, Scotland, and an honours degree in English and Drama from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Stacey is editor of Signals (www.signalsblog.ca), an award-winning blog for CCRM about regenerative medicine and topics that interest scientists and the public. You can follow Stacey on Twitter @msstaceyerin.

Dr. Anas Aljabo is the Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of SteriLabs, an ISO 17025-accredited medical device testing and validation laboratory in Ontario. With more than 10 years of experience in the MedTech industry, he specializes in medical device cleaning, disinfection, sterilization, regulatory compliance, and product validation.

Anas holds a PhD in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering from University College London and is actively involved in medical device standards development in Canada. Having helped build SteriLabs from the ground up and worked with both startups and established medical device companies, he brings a practical perspective on navigating technical challenges, regulatory requirements, commercialization, partnerships, and growing a business in Canada’s MedTech ecosystem.

At ICL Project Management Solutions since 2008, Owner, Frances Grabowski-Stewart leads her team to ensure the program efficiencies are realized and risk mitigation strategies are implemented.

With a focus on strategic planning and master planning, Frances has significant, demonstrated experience in Program Management and Project Development, for critical facilities including everything from Feasibility Studies, site selection, environmental assessments to LEAN and varied Project Delivery methods focusing on owner’s representation.

With a strong background in construction, Frances leverages her LEED AP and NetZero knowledge with “constructability” experience to ensure all options are given full consideration by development teams.

Mackensey Bacon is Manager of Innovation and Partnerships at the Research Institute of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, where she leads the work of turning clinical and research strengths into real-world impact. Her portfolio covers intellectual property, industry partnerships and clinical trial innovation, and she spends most of her time connecting clinicians and researchers at St. Joe’s with the industry partners, funding and commercialization pathways that get their ideas out of the hospital and into practice.

That work is grounded in her own experience building companies. Mackensey is Co-founder and CEO of NodeAI, a McMaster research-based startup using artificial intelligence to improve lung cancer diagnostics, backed by the McMaster Seed Fund and a winner of the FACIT Falcons pitch competition. At McMaster she is an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Surgery and a Faculty Affiliate with the DeGroote Heersink Hub at the Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Expertise in fundraising, pitch decks, communications, story telling, medical device & drug reimbursement, and all aspects of commercialization in Life Sciences.

Amelia Swanson is Vice President at Medtech Canada, where she leads industry and government relations in Ontario, working with government, healthcare, industry, and community stakeholders to advance access to innovative medical technologies.

With more than 20 years of experience across government, healthcare, charitable, and nonprofit sectors, she has held senior leadership and policy roles with the Ontario government and YMCA of Greater Toronto. Her experience includes stakeholder engagement, government relations, policy development, advocacy, strategic partnerships, and funding initiatives.

She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach and has a longstanding commitment to community service, volunteering with organizations including Hospice Niagara, UHN OpenLab, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Together Project.

An educator by training, Amelia Swanson has also taught internationally in Thailand and Colombia.

Dr. Jeff Smirle is a co-founder and Executive Director at Capital BioVentures. Prior to launching CBV, he had a decade of experience developing key strategic partnerships for Carleton University across its faculty of science, and specifically in the biotech sector.

Dr. Smirle was instrumental in bringing Turnstone Biologics to Carleton’s campus in 2019, and supported the design, construction, and operationalization of the dedicated biotech space at the University.

Following Turnstone’s departure, he secured a new partnership with Virica Biotech to bring them to campus and support their growth in Ottawa. Dr. Smirle has an extensive background in intellectual property, commercialization, and the integration of scaling biotechnology organizations in public sector infrastructure. He received his PhD in Cell Biology in 2013 from McGill University.

Patrycja Thompson completed her MSc in Pathobiology at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, after which, she spent 2 years working at VIDO in Saskatoon in the area of vaccine development. She returned to academia to complete a PhD in the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto, followed by post-doctoral studies at the Fox Chase Cancer Institute in Philadelphia. She spent several months working at the Sunnybrook Research Services office managing large institutional funding awards.

She then went on to join the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) as the Manager of Technology Sourcing and Evaluation, leading diligence on novel academic discoveries, developing commercialization strategies for regenerative medicine therapies, building stakeholder networks to support venture creation, and a member of start up incubation teams. She joined the University of Toronto’s Institutional Strategic Initiatives office, division of Vice President Research and Innovation in 2021 where she led strategic partnership and consortia building with the private sector stakeholders to support a number of university’s multi-divisional strategic research initiatives across all sectors (i.e microfluidics, robotics, climate positive energy, life sciences).

Currently as the Director of Strategy & Operations at HI3, Patrycja builds and implements national research and business strategies to create collaborative opportunities with academic institutions, industry, non-for-profit, and government partners to build a strong and resilient life sciences and biomanufacturing ecosystem that can pivot to produce solutions for health emergencies in support of national advancement of dual use technologies, biodefense, and health security.

Brian Bloom is a co-founder of Bloom Burton & Co. and serves as the firm’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. By forging unique relationships with international healthcare-specialized investors, Brian raises capital for healthcare companies while helping investors realize returns.

Brian serves on the Board of Directors of Satellos Bioscience and Appili Therapeutics. Brian was formerly the Chairman of the Board of Grey Wolf Animal Health and Triumvira Immunologics, a member of the Life Sciences Advisory Board at the National Research Council of Canada, the Dean’s Advisory Board at McMaster University and on the Board of Directors of BIOTECanada, the Baycrest Foundation and Qing Bile Therapeutics.

Before co-founding Bloom Burton in 2008, Brian spent six years at an independent investment dealer in the healthcare and biotechnology institutional sales and equity research groups. Brian started his career at New York-based investment banking firms SCO Financial Group and Molecular Securities. Brian received an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from McMaster University and subsequently studied at the Mount Sinai Graduate School for Biological Sciences of New York University, with a focus in molecular endocrinology and biophysics.

Brian is the proud recipient of the McMaster University 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award in Science and the co-recipient of the 2023 Life Sciences Ontario Community Service Award. In 2023, Bloom Burton celebrated its 15-year anniversary with an Ecosystem Builder Award from BIOTECanada.

Sarah Howe is a business development and operations professional with extensive experience fostering research and innovation, and developing strategic business operations. Sarah is the Chief Operating Officer for The Research Institute of St. Joe’s Hamilton (RSJH), overseeing more than $52M in research annually, 220 researchers and 77,000 square feet of dedicated research space.

Sarah is also the co-chair for innovation and co-chair for research strategy at the Hospital. Prior to RSJH, Sarah successfully created the innovation office at York University to provide a myriad of services to internal and external stakeholders. Over eight years, she raised more than $14M to support innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives across the University and in the community.

She also oversaw the creation of a pan-university entrepreneurship hub which is comprised of 12 different programs, including a 10,000 square foot innovation centre, YSpace Markham and an accelerator for women-led product and service based ventures, ELLA. In addition, Sarah was co-lead for the strategic development of innovation and entrepreneurship across York University.

Geoff Evans is a seasoned pharmaceutical services executive with more than 30 years of experience leading growth, transformation, and innovation in the CDMO sector. As President of Eurofins CDMO Alphora, he oversees strategic direction, operational excellence, and client partnership development across integrated development and manufacturing services.

Geoff was a founding leader of Alphora Research, a Mississauga-based organization specializing in active pharmaceutical ingredient development and manufacturing. Following its acquisition by Eurofins Scientific in 2017, he was appointed President and has since led a period of significant expansion, tripling the organization’s scale and broadening capabilities to include Solid State R&D, oral drug product development, and biologics manufacturing for monoclonal antibodies and antibody–drug conjugates.

Recognized for his entrepreneurial leadership style and ability to scale scientific organizations, Geoff has built high-performing teams and launched new business platforms that strengthen client programs from early development through commercialization. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business.

Bruno Paquin was pivotal in the successful launch of AtomVie Global Radiopharma (AtomVie), securing over $130M in series A funding. Prior to AtomVie, Bruno joined CPDC in November 2018 as the Director, Business Development, and then transitioned to become the CEO of CPDC as of November 2020.

Under his leadership, CPDC achieved record revenues and spun out its CDMO business division for the creation of AtomVie. AtomVie has since established itself as a global leader in the GMP manufacturing and global distribution of radiopharmaceuticals.

Bruno received his PhD in Biochemistry from the Université de Montréal and has since accumulated over 35 years of experience in business development in life sciences.
Potential discussion subjects: Funding/financing a new business; entrepreneurship in a service provider; role of CEO in a startup and managing growth.

Robin Quirk is Vice President, Technology Sourcing & Venture Development at the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) in Toronto, where he leads technology evaluation, in-licensing, and spin-out creation for advanced therapies. He also serves as Acting President of Apiary Therapeutics Ltd. and a Programme Leader for CCRM’s DeepTech Bio LabTM, exploring how quantum computing can be applied to advanced therapy development.

An industry-trained pharmacist with a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and an MBA with Distinction from the University of Nottingham, Robin has spent over 25 years working across scientific, executive, and deal-making roles in the life sciences sector. He co-founded and led two UK regenerative medicine companies, RegenTec Ltd. and Locate Bio Ltd., the latter now being a clinical-stage venture.

In a mentoring conversation, Rob draws on his experience as a scientist, company founder, and corporate development executive to help others navigate the shift from technical expertise into commercial and executive leadership. He can speak to structuring licensing deals and alliances, raising venture and non-dilutive financing, building regulated operations from the ground up, translating early-stage science into investable companies, and leading through the ambiguity of a start-up’s early years. He already mentors emerging life sciences leaders through the Creative Destruction Lab programme

Ella Korets-Smith is Managing Director of EKS Ventures and a biotechnology executive, company builder, and board director with more than 20 years of experience advancing life sciences technologies toward commercialization. She has particular expertise in gene therapy, vaccines, biologics, immunotherapy, regenerative medicine, and oncology, with a track record spanning company formation, business development, licensing, strategic partnerships, fundraising, and commercialization planning.

Ella was Co-founder, CEO, and Director of Virano Therapeutics, and previously Co-founder and Chief Business Officer/Chief Strategy Officer of Virica Biotech, where she helped commercialize platform technologies supporting gene therapy, vaccines, and oncolytic viruses. She is also Founder of Gene Therapy Canada, a grassroots initiative connecting Canada’s gene therapy community to accelerate innovation and patient impact and member of the Board of Directors at Defeat Duchenne Canada.

Dylan Horvath holds a degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, class of 1997. He founded Cortex Design in 1999 to create impactful designed experiences that substantially improve human quality of life.

In his time growing Cortex into a leading ISO-13485:2016 medical device design and production company within Canada, Dylan has worn almost every hat in the organization — from industrial designer to embedded systems engineer to mechatronics designer to international production liaison on dozens of overseas production visits.

Today, Dylan provides leadership and coaching to the team, sets strategic objectives, and provides a positive work culture within which the staff can succeed. Through coaching, mentorship and guidance, Dylan is accountable for delivering great project outcomes to clients.

Dylan is a co-inventor on 11 utility patents (and counting) and has won numerous awards including the Bold Epic Innovator X-Prize for Cloud DX’s Vitaliti Tricorder “Doctor in a box”. His work has appeared in Popular Science, The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, Forbes, and Canadian Business’s Fastest Growing Companies.
In addition to leading Cortex, Dylan is the co-president of the Association of Canadian Industrial Designers, the Vice President of the Association of Chartered Industrial Designers of Ontario, and a regular speaker at events where he advocates for the power of design to expand human capability.

Jana Machan joined CCRM in 2017 as VP, Commercialization and was promoted to SVP Operations in June 2022 and then Chief Operating Officer in June 2024. Initially, as VP Commercialization, she focused on rapidly expanding CCRM’s commercial client base and securing industry and academic partners to further augment CCRM’s contributions to the Cell and Gene Therapy ecosystem. In her COO role, she now leads an operations team comprised of ~90FTEs providing Process Development and GMP Manufacturing services to a broad range of clients across North America, Europe and Asia.  

Prior to joining CCRM, Jana spent nine years on the Baxter Canada executive team, including establishing new Business Model Innovation and Market Access capabilities, as well as leading the Medical Affairs and Public Affairs functions. She also spearheaded a  major turn-around in Baxter’s $100MM Renal Therapy business, focusing on restoring growth and profitability in a challenging market environment. Earlier in her career, Jana worked at Becton Dickinson in various progressive sales and marketing roles in Canada and the US, including Marketing Director and Worldwide Business Director at the company’s global headquarters in New Jersey. Jana holds an MBA from Rutgers and an MSc and BSc from McGill University.

Vera Belaoussoff is Principal and Founder of B Spot Consulting, a Toronto-based firm specializing in providing strategic and actionable financial plans for innovative Seed to Series A companies.

A strategic CFO with both operations and analyst experience, she prepares clients for their capital market journey, increasing funding success by developing plans with insights gained from 25 years of lived capital markets and entrepreneurial experience. Her expertise lies in blending science insights with business experience to deliver bespoke financial models, product and company valuations, and capital structure/financing intelligence. Her unique background and skill set result in proven value creation within small organizations: licensing deals, fundraising experience, commercial strategy, identifying valuable clinical programs, and nurturing professional relationships with clinical thought leaders.