Team

Michael is an entrepreneur and software/data engineer with over 15 and 10 years of experience, respectively. He is a two-time startup founder, and two-time first technical hire - one IPO, and two acquisitions. He has spent the majority of his career within the health care industry. Most recently, Mike was the first technical hire at a pre-revenue Health Canada licensed producer of medical cannabis. In the span of his four years there, they experienced exponential growth, a TSX IPO, and a multi-billion dollar acquisition. Mike lead the architectural and scaling efforts of their information systems infrastructure, development operations, data governance/management strategy and process automation efforts.

Mike completed his Master's research in Information Science at the University of Toronto where he received awards from Stanford University's Precourt Institute and FedDev Ontario.

David is an experienced entrepreneur with close to 15 years of business development experience, pioneering in markets where the introduction of new technology meets government policy. Prior to Index Biosystems Inc., David held the position of Principal and VP Business Development at Gengrowth Renewables Inc., a leading renewable energy company. At Gengrowth, David was responsible for overseeing the development of a portfolio of over 1200 megawatts of combined wind and solar energy projects across the country, including one of the largest solar projects in North America. David’s development partners included leading Canadian companies, as well European and Asian multi-national corporations such as Samsung Renewable Energy.

David earned his MBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business and holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Immunology from The University of Western Ontario.

Alessandra was the first scientist to build a yeast strain able to use as a carbon source galacturonic acid, a non-fermentable sugar and the main component of pectin. She is passionate about scientific research and she is driven by difficult research challenges. She has experience working in prestigious research centers, such as VTT (Finland) and Biozone (at the University of Toronto) and has publications in high-impact biotechnology Journals, including Trends in Biotechnology and Biotechnology Advances. Alessandra is a Bioprocess Engineer and Biotechnologist and holds a Doctorate in Science from the Federal University of Parana, Brazil. She was the recipient of two post-doctoral fellowships, at VTT and the University of Toronto.

Cam is a public policy expert and strategist with over 10 years of experience bridging the gap between business and politics. He was the Vice President of Economic Policy and Innovation at the Business Council of Canada. Until 2016, Cam headed international affairs at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, after which he left to advise then opposition leader Rona Ambrose and her caucus on the budget and other economic issues. Cam began his career as a policy researcher, working with the Fraser Institute, World Bank, United Nations, as well as corporate clients in the mining industry. Lately, he’s most interested in how large companies and governments are adapting to new digital technologies and business models. Cam holds a BA from the University of Toronto and a Master in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

Dr. Farber worked at Health Canada for a number of years, as a research scientist, Research Division Chief, Associate Director and then Director of microbial food safety. Farber left the federal government to take up a position as a Full Professor and the Director of Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety (CRIFS) at the University of Guelph. Farber’s research interests at Health Canada centered around mycotoxins, Listeria monocytogenes and Cronobacter sakazakii. Jeff also played a large role in developing many of the food safety policies that are currently in place in Health Canada.

Dr. Farber is well known in the field of Listeria research and policy development, both nationally and internationally. His seminal review paper on L. monocytogenes in 1991 (Farber and Peterkin) has been cited over 2500 times. Farber has over 50 publications in the field of Listeria research and risk assessment.

Jeremy is an accomplished scientist, speaker, and entrepreneur. He has founded several companies in the health, cultivation, and technology space, serving in various senior executive roles. These activities have garnered international recognition with awards from the National Science Foundation, Journal of Science and the United Nations. Jeremy holds a Doctorate in molecular genetics and biotechnology from the University of Guelph. He is also involved in both public and private scientific communications initiatives, consults and designs for various research-based organizations, and contributes to educational initiatives on the benefits on the science-based thinking.