Board of Directors

Bob is the executive lead for Pfizer Canada’s reimbursement public payer engagement initiatives and health policy strategies for all provinces and territories. His responsibilities include contract negotiations, pipeline, and pricing discussions.

Bob has over 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical and life sciences sector. Since 2000, he has strategically guided Pfizer through disruptive changes in the Canadian reimbursement landscape and supported new reimbursement models for Pfizer products. He has also worked to construct a life sciences leadership position in Canada and led the establishment of several flagship investment partnerships.

Bob is a graduate of the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and a Master of Arts in political science. He has served on several community and industry association boards. Bob received the W.E. Upjohn Award for Innovation and was a member of the Specialty Care Star Performance Award, the Pfizer Impact Award and the General Manager’s Award for delivery of outstanding results.

Ester is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at AbCellera, a Vancouver-based technology company solving the biggest problems in antibody drug discovery and therapeutics. She joined AbCellera as a Senior Scientist in 2015 and has overseen the growth of multiple teams and technologies. Currently, she heads platform development and R&D innovation, leading a team of 80+ scientists, software developers and engineers who are committed to developing technologies for rapid advancement of therapeutics from discovery to the clinic. Ester also led AbCellera’s P3 (Pandemic Prevention Platform) program funded by DARPA, a $35M project to build a platform for rapid pandemic response. This platform was deployed in AbCellera’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the fastest-ever therapeutic antibody program, and a lead candidate in multiple clinical trials.

Ester received BSc and PhD degrees from the University of British Columbia in Genetics and Cell Biology, followed by a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the BC Cancer Research Centre.

David is a software entrepreneur who co-founded Thrive Health, a software company with a mission to improve the delivery of healthcare in Canada and beyond by empowering patients to be more informed and engaged in their journeys through specialist care.

An important element of Thrive Health’s focus is measuring and enhancing the wellbeing of patients and caregivers, leading to improved levels of physical and mental health. Thrive Health is the official developer of the B.C. and Canada COVID-19 apps, which have provided over 10 million risk assessments to Canadians during the pandemic.

Wendy Hurlburt, a passionate global executive with more than 25 years of experience in the Life Sciences and Technology sectors, is the President & CEO of Life Sciences BC.  Wendy has held leadership positions in Johnson & Johnson, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, and Lexmark International where she provided strategic leadership across Finance, Business Development, Operations, IT, Privacy, Compliance, Regulatory, Quality and Risk Management.  Her global experience includes leadership roles across Canada, the United States, Europe and South Asia.

Wendy has a BA in Finance & Economics from Western University Ontario, an MBA from Queen’s University, a Certificate in Strategic Leadership from the Sauder School of Executive Education and is a certified Privacy Professional (CIPP).  Wendy serves on the Clinical Trials BC Advisory Board, the External Advisory Committee of the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Science and the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade’s Government, Budget and Finance Committee.  Previously Wendy served on the Board of the Centre for Research and Drug Discovery (adMare BioInnovations) and chaired CDRD’s Finance & Audit Committee, co-Chaired of the International Association of Privacy Professionals Vancouver Chapter and was on the GVBOT Women’s Leadership Council, most recently serving as the WLC Policy Chair.

Dr. Lana Janes is a biopharmaceutical industry veteran with over 20 years of pharmaceutical development experience that spans the full life cycle of therapeutic product development. She is currently a Venture Partner at adMare BioInnovations and Interim Chief Executive Officer at Abdera Therapeutics.

Before joining adMare, Lana served as Senior Vice President, Intellectual Property and Technology Development and Chief Patent Officer at QLT Inc. where, for 12 years, she oversaw all aspects of global R&D and IP strategy for the company’s commercial, clinical and pre-clinical stage therapeutic programs. She has also served as COO of Retinagenix Therapeutics, a Seattle-based privately held ophthalmology company focused on rare diseases of the retina. Earlier in her career, Lana worked as a registered Canadian and US patent agent in the Toronto office of Ogilvy Renault LLP (now Norton Rose Fulbright) and at F. Hoffman-La Roche in Basel, Switzerland, where her practice focused on the strategic IP and regulatory protection for numerous therapeutic and medical device products. Lana sits on the Boards of Directors for several entrepreneurial start-up bio-techs in Vancouver, and is an associate at Creative Destruction Labs in Vancouver, providing her with valuable experience and insight in strategically and cost-effectively advancing pre-IND stage and semi-virtual companies. Lana received her AB in Chemistry with honors from Harvard University and her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from McGill University, where she also conducted post-doctoral work in the field of antiviral therapeutics. She also worked for several years as a synthetic organic chemist in the chemical and food industries in the US and UK.

Dr. David Llewellyn is Chief Commercial Officer at STEMCELL Technologies, Canada’s largest biotechnology company. David is a champion of STEMCELL’s mandate to advance science, which he supports at the executive level by ensuring the company is well positioned for long term growth and profitability.

David started his career at STEMCELL in 2006 as a Business Development Officer. Today he oversees the company’s Commercial Operations, Marketing Department, Pricing, Project Management Office, eCommerce Division, Services Division and several of its Product Teams.

David has a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Northern British Columbia, a PhD in Organic Chemistry from McGill University and an MBA in Strategic Management from the University of British Columbia.

Mr. Martin is currently Chief Operating Officer and Head of Global Business Development at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. He was formerly CEO, director and co-founder of the privately held Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. which was acquired in 2013 by the former Isotechnika Pharma Inc. In his current role with Aurinia, Mr. Martin is responsible for managing company functions such as corporate and business development, alliance management, and the company’s intellectual property portfolio. Mr. Martin is a biotech/pharmaceutical executive with over 20 years of global industry experience and offers a solid mix of strategic planning, marketing, commercial operations, business development, licensing and people management skills.

Mr. Martin joined Aurinia from Vifor Pharma where he held the position of Director, Global Business Development & Licensing. Prior to Vifor, Mr. Martin was a key member of the business development team that saw Aspreva sold to Galenica for $915M. Upon joining Aspreva in 2004, Mr. Martin initiated the strategic launch planning process for CellCept® in “less-common” autoimmune diseases. These included such indications as Pemphigus Vulgaris, Myasthenia Gravis, and Lupus Nephritis. Prior thereto, Mr. Martin held a variety of progressively senior commercial positions at Schering-Plough. Most recently, Mr. Martin has spent time in Europe where he was responsible for the Rheumatology business unit for Remicade® in France. There, Mr. Martin had full profit and loss responsibilities and had direct responsibility for the sales team, the marketing team and the infusion access team. In addition, while at Schering-Plough, Mr. Martin was the brand manager responsible for the Canadian launch of Remicade (infliximab), which ultimately became the most successful product launch in Canadian history. Mr. Martin started his career in the industry in the sales organization of Schering-Plough where he received multiple achievement awards. Mr. Martin is also a member of the Board of Directors of Zucara Therapeutics based out of Toronto Canada.

Peter Simpson has extensive experience over a 34-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, including the past 23 years as Senior Manager of Government Affairs with GlaxoSmithKline based in British Columbia. Peter’s expertise is based on professional experiences in Sales, Marketing, Strategic Planning, Government Relations, Health Policy Development, Benefit Plan Design and Patient Access. He has previously served on Life Science BC’s Industry Policy Committee and has been the Vice-Chair of the Innovative Medicines Canada’s BC Committee for the past 4 years.

Peter has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Chemistry with a Minor in Business from the University of Guelph.

Peter consistently demonstrates a passion for advancing the life science ecosystem in British Columbia to ensure patients have access to life saving and life sustaining treatments.

Ms. Stevens is currently Head of Business Partnering at AbCellera. Ms. Stevens is also the Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Northview Lifesciences, an entity which invests in and provides strategic advisory services to a number of life sciences companies. Ms. Stevens currently serves on the Board of Directors of LifeSciences BC and Aequus Pharmaceuticals. Previously, Ms. Stevens served as the Chief Operating Officer for Aequus Pharmaceuticals and as Corporate and External Affairs Analyst for Cardiome Pharma Corp., where she was responsible for strategic planning and value analysis of internal R&D. Ms. Stevens’ earlier experience includes five years with Bayer HealthCare, where she was responsible for the commercial success and business development of a portfolio of products within several key therapeutic areas.

Ms. Stevens holds a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Health Administration degree from University of British Columbia and is a past winner of Business in Vancouver’s “Top 40 Under 40 Award”.

Pascal Spothelfer is a seasoned leader known for bringing forward innovation and commercialization at the intersection of industry and academia. He has held several senior roles, in both Europe and Canada, across industry sectors ranging from technology, not for profit organizations and academia. His experience spans general and change management to broad based stakeholder relations.

Prior to joining Genome BC, Pascal held the position of Vice President Communications and Community Partnerships at the University of British Columbia after having served as President and CEO in the private technology sector for the preceding 20 years.

Pascal has also served on a number of private and not for profit boards and currently is a member of the Board of Governors of the BC Business Council.

Pascal holds a law degree and a PhD in law from the University of Basel, Switzerland and a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD in France.

Dr. James Taylor is the CEO and Co-Founder of Precision NanoSystems Inc., a commercial stage biotechnology company at the convergence of nanotechnology, genomics and personalized medicine. He holds a B.A.Sc. in engineering physics from the University of British Columbia and a Ph.D. in genetics from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington. James worked at the Seattle-based venture capital firm, Accelerator Corporation, concurrent with his Ph.D. and has extensive experience in the science and commercialization of microfluidics, nanotechnology and systems biology. He has been the leader of Precision NanoSystem’s technology and commercialization since invention.

Joseph Garcia’s practice focuses on corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. He advises public and private companies, investment dealers, venture capital and private equity funds, and acts as independent counsel to boards of directors. Joe has extensive experience advising on all types of M&A and corporate finance transactions, including public and private equity and debt financing, take-over and issuer bids, share and asset acquisitions and divestitures, and regulatory and stock exchange compliance work.

Prior to his career in law, Joe worked in corporate finance with a national investment bank and in clinical research with a multinational pharmaceutical company. Joe has lectured extensively on corporate governance and advanced securities law topics. He chaired The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia corporate governance courses in 2011 and 2013, and participated in the advanced securities law courses in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2014. Joe has been a director and corporate secretary of LifeSciences BC for more than 12 years and is a member of its Finance Committee. He is also a director of Genome British Columbia and chair of its Audit Committee, and a member of the BIOTECanada Legal Affairs advisory board.

Roger Kuypers has over 20 years’ experience as a lawyer, director and investor in the life sciences sector. His experience includes working in the biotech, medical device, diagnostics and functional foods fields. Roger has worked with start-up companies, large pharmaceutical companies, universities, centers of excellence and health authorities. Roger provides legal services in respect of a broad scope of life sciences activities, including pre-clinical and clinical research, licensing, finance and intellectual property.

On the business side, Roger has served and continues to serve on a number of corporate boards of biotech and medical device companies. On the biotech side, he served over 10 years as a director of KMT Hepatech Inc., which provides compound and vaccine testing services using its proprietary chimeric animal model. He also served as a Chairman of a local reagent and biotech company, helping to launch its translational research facilities in India. He currently serves on the boards of two BC medical device companies.

Roger also brings a broad geographic perspective to the table, being called to the British Columbia and Alberta bars. Roger practiced with Dentons in Edmonton for five years before returning to Vancouver, during which he worked closely with the Alberta life sciences community. He established the clinical trial agreement review and negotiation system for the Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Centre at the University of Alberta. Roger has also acted for foreign clients, including Takeda Pharmaceutical Company of Japan.

On the community side, Roger has served as a director of BC Medtech (prior to its merger with Lifesciences BC) and the BC Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (BCCRIN). He has hosted the Speaker Series of the Clinical Research Professionals of BC for the last 17 years and is a regular presenter on legal issues in clinical research.

Hector MacKay-Dunn has over 25 years of practice experience in a broad range of industry sectors, advising on corporate and general matters, complex domestic and cross-border public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers and international partnering and licensing transactions. He provides general and strategic advice to both senior and emerging public companies as well as early to later stage private companies, investment banks, and investors in public and private domestic and cross border equity and debt financing, mergers, tender offers, corporate reorganizations, and advises boards of directors and independent board committees on corporate governance. Hector is recognized by Lexpert, the most respected legal publication in Canada, as being among the Top 100 Canada/US Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers in Canada. He has consistently been named among The Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, and is recognized among Canada’s leading lawyers in mergers & acquisitions, technology and biotechnology. Hector has received the “AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5″ legal ability rating from Martindale-Hubbell, an authoritative and global source for identifying leading lawyers and law firms. Hector has advised clients in a variety of commercial industries, including semi-conductor, software, web-based and e-businesses, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, independent power production, medical equipment and devices, mining, manufacturing, transportation, and fitness services.