Dr. 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.

Dr. Maura Campbell is the President and CEO of OBIO®, a not-for-profit, membership-based organization dedicated to advancing health technology innovation and commercialization. Dr. Campbell has more than 30 years of experience in all key areas of biotech, including private and public companies, universities and research institutes, and government-funded public sector research organizations.

With expertise in technology transfer and commercialization of intellectual property, Dr. Campbell has held various roles in senior management, most recently as the Vice-President of Intellectual Property and Contracts for Turnstone Biologics, which recently went public on the NASDAQ. She played a significant role in the company’s seed and Series A, B, C, and D financing, as well as the execution of two large pharma-licensing deals with AbbVie Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceuticals International Co. raising over $450 million (U.S.) for Turnstone. Previously, Dr. Campbell served as Director, Intellectual Property at VBI Vaccines. Among the various roles she held in her career are Senior Research Program Manager, and Manager of Technology Transfer & Commercialization at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Director of Intellectual Property for PainCeptor Pharma Corporation, and Manager of Technology Transfer at the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems National Centre of Excellence. Dr. Campbell has also served as an IP consultant to a number of Canadian start-ups including Neurochem, Conjuchem, Aonix, AMRIC and Sussex Research Labs.

Dr. Campbell 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. Most recently, Dr. Campbell accepted an appointment to the Ontario Life Sciences Council, joining eleven other industry experts to support a plan to make Ontario a top hub for innovation growth and life sciences investment.

Dr. Julia Pomoransky is a business development and product development professional with over a decade of experience in the life sciences biotechnology industry. She is a passionate entrepreneur and has participated in the start-up, financing, and operations of several organizations including Capital BioVentures. Dr. Pomoransky founded Prosilience Biotech Inc. – a life science organization that supports biotechnology companies with their business development initiatives. Her experience and contributions with start-up organizations has focused on business development but transcends additional functional areas including product development, program/alliance management, and GMP/CMC technical operations. Dr. Pomoransky was one of the first employees of Turnstone Biologics, (Nasdaq: TSBX), an immuno-oncology company with headquarters in San Diego. While at Turnstone Biologics, Dr. Pomoransky’s contributions to Business Development initiatives were critical for the growth of the company spanning acquisitions, licensing and clinical/research collaborations. In her former role with the BMC Dr. Pomoransky was successful at building a profitable organization, where she was responsible for business operations, technical operations and business development. Dr. Pomoransky received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Ottawa working with Dr. John Bell, and a B.Sc. in Biotechnology from Brock University.

Dr. Chantal Martin is a PhD-trained scientist from the University of Ottawa with 15 years of industry experience in the development and clinical launch of novel biological products, spanning oncolytic viruses, viral vaccines, cell therapies, peptide nanoparticles, and more.

Dr. Martin played a pivotal role in establishing the Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Center (BMC) at the OHRI, leading quality, CMC, and analytics for QC and clinical correlates.

As one of the first hires at Turnstone Biologics, Dr. Martin led quality and analytics for CMC and clinical correlates, later focusing on Technical Operations for viral and autologous cell therapy programs. She has lead high performing teams of scientists and engineers in CMC, manufacturing and QC operations, as well as in development and product sciences.

Currently, she is an Executive-in-Residence lead with Capital BioVentures and a biotech consultant, supporting technical operations and CMC for biologic product development and clinical launches.

Dr. Larissa Pikor has over 10 years of experience in the immuno-oncology field, with industry experience leading preclinical development, non-clinical safety assessment and product characterization of multiple early-stage immunotherapy products. In addition to her preclinical expertise, Larissa has experience with vendor management, market and gap assessments and has supported the development and implementation of Quality Management Systems for early phase biotech companies. Larissa received her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Oncology from the University of British Columbia and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute with Dr. John Bell.

Anna Fritzsche is the Lab Operations Manager at Capital BioVentures (CBV), where she helps clients optimize their wet lab operations, provides training, and consults on experimental design. She brings extensive expertise in flow cytometry, including panel design, cell sorting, spectral cytometry, and nanoscale flow cytometry.

Before joining CBV, Anna worked as an Associate Scientist at Turnstone Biologics, contributing to the company’s tumor-reactive T-cell selection program and driving advancements in cancer immunotherapy. She holds an M.Sc. in Biological Science with a specialization in Immunology from the University of Konstanz in Germany.

Tazmeen Khan brings over 13 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, excelling as a dedicated Executive Assistant. Her career began at Cangene Corporation in Winnipeg, MB, where she developed her expertise in communications and public relations while working closely with C-suite executives. Collaborating with the company's Corporate Counsel and Legal Secretary, Tazmeen was instrumental in managing corporate communications.

Following Cangene’s acquisition by Emergent BioSolutions, Tazmeen served in various Executive Assistant roles. Her contributions were vital in areas such as finance, global commercial operations, strategic planning, culture engagement, and project management. She played a significant role in the Therapeutics Business Division, Innovation Council, and the Science & Innovation Team.

Tazmeen concluded her tenure at Emergent BioSolutions with the Global Communications and Public Affairs team as Corporate Social Responsibility Specialist where she oversaw the organization’s employee volunteerism programs and managed charitable donations across North America. Tazmeen continues to leverage her strategic communication skills and project management expertise to support the dynamic growth and innovation at CBV.

John Bell is a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He is the founder of the Canadian Oncolytic Virus Consortium (COVCo), the first of its kind in the world, and aims to expand cancer virotherapy discovery and application at all levels, from preclinical to clinical applications.

Bell has co-founded three biotech start-up companies, Jennerex Biotherapeutics, Turnstone Biologics (NASDAQ) and Esphera SynBio to commercialize his discoveries. Bell is the Scientific Director of the Network of Centres of Excellence for the development of Biotherapeutics for Cancer Therapy (BioCanRx). He is the Scientific Co-Director of Canada’s Pandemic Preparedness Hub, a trans-Canadian network of GMP manufacturing centres. He was honoured with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal for extraordinary contributions to Canadian science and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Dane Bedward is the Chief Executive Officer of NeuroBot Inc., a strategic advisory firm that provides support to MedTech, Digital Medicine, and Biopharma companies in developing and implementing their business strategies.

Prior to his current role, he held the position of Senior Vice President, International at Genzyme Corporation, one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies, before its acquisition by Sanofi-Aventis. Earlier in his career, he served as Managing Director and President of Genzyme Canada Inc. and held senior positions with Nordion International and Johnson & Johnson in Canada and Europe.

Bedward actively participates in the health innovation and investment ecosystem. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and Capital BioVentures, and is Chair of the Board of Spiderwort Inc. Additionally, he contributes as a member of the L-Spark MedTech Advisory Committee, an Executive Fellow with Mistral Venture Partners, an advisor at LaunchLab, and a Charter Member of TiE.

A graduate of the University of Ottawa, Bedward has been a frequent speaker and panelist on innovation, entrepreneurship, and the future of life sciences at global events.

Nathalie Méthot, Ph.D. graduated from the University of Ottawa with a doctorate degree in biochemistry in 1999, and has been with La Cité since December 2000. She first taught for 14 years in the Bachelor’s in Biotechnology program, while being involved in the development of the applied research. Between 2015 and 2023 she led the Office of Applied Research and Innovation and provided institutional leadership for the development and growth of applied research at Collège La Cité. She built on the vision of Applied Research and the College's strategic plan to position La Cité as a key player in the socioeconomy of innovation in the Ottawa region in bio-innovation, smart prototyping and social innovation and as a Center of Excellence in Applied Research recognized by its peers. Since June 2023, she is Dean-Academic and Research at La Cité where she will continue to develop strategic initiatives at the intersection of teaching and applied research.

Ms. Méthot is a member the executive committee of the Heads of Applied Research in Ontario, a member of NSERC's Colleges and Community Innovation (CCI) Grants Evaluation Community, a member of the National Research Advisory Committe for Colleges and was in the Executive committee of Tech-Access Canada Board of Directors between 2017 and 2023.

Her work in applied research has been rewarded by several awards : World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics, Colleges and Institutes Canada, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities in Ontario and NSERC’s Synergy Award for Innovation.

On a personal note, she is the mother of three children, including two daughters graduates from Collège La Cité.