5th Annual PRiME Symposium
New Frontiers in Precision Medicine: Unleashing the Potential
Event Details
Tuesday, February 20th, 2024
8:00AM - 6:00PM EST
Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship Auditorium, 55 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 0C9
Symposium Abstracts
The 5th Annual PRiME Symposium abstracts have been released. Access below.
Agenda
Symposium Keynote Speakers
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Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California San Francisco; Director of Quantitative Biosciences Institute
Nevan Krogan, PhD, is a molecular biologist, UC San Francisco professor, and director of the intensely interdisciplinary Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) under the UCSF School of Pharmacy. He is also a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes.
He led the work to create the SARS-CoV-2 interactome and assembled the QBI Coronavirus Research Group (QCRG), which includes hundreds of scientists from around the world. His research focuses on developing and using unbiased, quantitative systems approaches to study a wide variety of diseases with the ultimate goal of developing new therapeutics.
Nevan serves as Director of The HARC Center, an NIH-funded collaborative group that focuses on the structural characterization of HIV-human protein complexes. Nevan is also the co-Director of four Cell Mapping initiatives: the Cancer Cell Mapping Initiative (CCMI), the Host Pathogen Map Initiative (HPMI), the Psychiatric Cell Map Initiative (PCMI), and the (QCRG AViDD) NIH grant which is the largest grant awarded in the University of California history. These initiatives map the gene and protein networks in healthy and diseased cells with these maps being used to better understand disease and provide novel therapies to fight them.
Nevan has authored over 350 papers in the fields of genetics and molecular biology and has given over 400 lectures and seminars around the world. He is a Searle Scholar, a Keck Distinguished Scholar, a recipient of the Roddenberry Prize for Biomedical Research, and was recently elected to EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) membership. In recognition of his collaborative work bringing scientists across the globe to work together on SARS-CoV-2, Nevan Krogan was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 2021, the Louis Pasteur Medal in 2022, and the Research!America Discovery|Innovation|Health Prize in 2023.
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CEO of Epic Bio; President of The Stop ALD Foundation
Amber Salzman, Ph.D., is the CEO of Epic Bio, a company developing next-generation CRISPR therapies to control gene expression dynamically and treat complex diseases. Previously, she led Ohana Biosciences, leveraging sperm biology to improve assisted reproductive outcomes. Prior to that, she served as the President & CEO at Adverum Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADVM), a gene therapy company targeting unmet medical needs in ocular and rare diseases. Amber was a co-founder of Paris-based Annapurna Therapeutics and served as its President & CEO prior to its merger with Avalanche Biosciences to create Adverum. Before her role at Adverum, Amber served as President and CEO of Cardiokine. until it was acquired by Cornerstone Therapeutics. Earlier in her career, Amber was a member of GlaxoSmithKline’s research and development executive team, where she was responsible for planning and managing global drug development projects and clinical trials with over 30,000 patients across the US, Europe, Asia, and South America. She also led initiatives to accelerate drug development and established a development support center in India.
Amber serves on two UK Boards, including Osler Diagnostics and Aviado Bio. In addition to her industry roles, Amber is President of the Stop ALD Foundation, a Medical Research Foundation dedicated to finding better therapies for people with adrenoleukodystrophy. She also serves on the Boards of the Lankenau Institute of Medical Research and Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health. Amber holds a BS in computer science from Temple University and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College.
Symposium Industry Panelists
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PhD, Director Market Access, Moderna Canada
Kavisha serves as the Director of Market Access at Moderna Canada. She joined Moderna in 2021 and played a pivotal role in negotiating the Canada-Moderna Partnership agreement. This collaboration aims to build a state-of-the-art mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility to supply locally made respiratory vaccines, support future pandemic readiness, and advance research and development in Canada.
In her current role, Kavisha collaborates with provincial stakeholders on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout as well as Moderna’s pipeline. During her 14-year career in the pharmaceutical sector, she has held multiple positions at Hoffmann-La Roche and GSK in Market Access, Health Economics, and Health Outcomes, covering oncology, vaccines, respiratory, and rare diseases. She began her career at Sanofi Pasteur in BioProcess R&D working on novel vaccine candidates in formulation and stability.
She holds a PhD in Health Economics, focusing on orphan drug reimbursement, a Master of Biotechnology, and a bachelor’s degree in Biological Chemistry, all from the University of Toronto.
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VP of Digital Chemistry, Recursion Canada
Stephen MacKinnon completed his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto, with research emphasis on structural bioinformatics. Stephen led the research and development of predictive technologies for Cyclica, a Toronto-based startup, until their acquisition by Recursion in May 2023. Stephen is currently VP of Digital Chemistry at Recursion, leading the continuous development and application of machine learning for drug discovery.
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Co-Founder & Principal, Amplitude Ventures
Bharat Srinivasa is a Co-founder and Principal at Amplitude. Bharat has over 10 years of experience in creating, investing and advising biotech and pharma companies. He has co-founded three companies - including two as Founding CEO - spanning therapeutics and computational biology where he led deal structuring, setting the foundational strategy and vision and building out the team. He is continues to advise these companies as a board member. Bharat is currently on the board of Radiant Biotherapeutics, Reverb Therapeutics, and an observer at Ability Biologics and Celsius Therapeutics.
Prior to Amplitude, Bharat was on the investment team at the BDC Healthcare Fund, where he was involved in taking multiple companies public. He started his career as a consultant in the forecasting and valuation practice at an international life science consulting firm for biotech and pharma companies where he was responsible for providing business intelligence and commercial analytics and pricing & market access analysis.
Bharat has a PhD in Experimental Medicine and Masters of Science in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University.
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Executive Director, Ontario, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.;
Ontario Head, Patient Access & Healthcare Systems Partnerships, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc.
Kevin is the Executive Director for Ontario at Novartis Canada and leads a team that is focused on partnership opportunities and innovative models that augment healthcare systems with key stakeholders in Ontario across Novartis’ therapeutic areas.
He has over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry having held various management roles in consulting, government, pharmacy benefits management and retail pharmacy, and is a recipient of a number of awards for his contributions.
As a second generation Canadian and pharmacist, Kevin is passionate about applying kaizen principles to areas of the Canadian healthcare system that can be improved or modernized; which began with his involvement in the national expansion of vaccine administration by pharmacists during the H1N1 pandemic.
Kevin completed his MBA from both the Kellogg School of Management and the Schulich School of Business. He received his Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Toronto and continues to be a licensed pharmacist in Ontario.
In his spare time, Kevin enjoys travelling with his wife and two children, and the occasional game of hide and seek.
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CEO of Epic Bio; President of The Stop ALD Foundation
Amber Salzman, Ph.D., is the CEO of Epic Bio, a company developing next-generation CRISPR therapies to control gene expression dynamically and treat complex diseases. Previously, she led Ohana Biosciences, leveraging sperm biology to improve assisted reproductive outcomes. Prior to that, she served as the President & CEO at Adverum Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADVM), a gene therapy company targeting unmet medical needs in ocular and rare diseases. Amber was a co-founder of Paris-based Annapurna Therapeutics and served as its President & CEO prior to its merger with Avalanche Biosciences to create Adverum. Before her role at Adverum, Amber served as President and CEO of Cardiokine. until it was acquired by Cornerstone Therapeutics. Earlier in her career, Amber was a member of GlaxoSmithKline’s research and development executive team, where she was responsible for planning and managing global drug development projects and clinical trials with over 30,000 patients across the US, Europe, Asia, and South America. She also led initiatives to accelerate drug development and established a development support center in India.
Amber serves on two UK Boards, including Osler Diagnostics and Aviado Bio. In addition to her industry roles, Amber is President of the Stop ALD Foundation, a Medical Research Foundation dedicated to finding better therapies for people with adrenoleukodystrophy. She also serves on the Boards of the Lankenau Institute of Medical Research and Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health. Amber holds a BS in computer science from Temple University and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College.
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Professor, Biomaterials, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto;
Director of the Health Innovation Hub (H2i- Faculty of Medicine)
Professor J. Paul Santerre has published >220 peer reviewed publications and is a listed inventor on >70 patents in the area of medical polymers. He is co-founder and current director of the Health Innovation Hub at the University of Toronto (a student focused entrepreneur training co-curricular program that has trained > 650 client health science companies which have generated > $430M Cdn). He is also the current chair of the Health Entrepreneuship Pillar for the African Higher Education Health Collaborative supported by the Mastercard Foundation. He is a co-founder of Interface Biologics, along with having spun-out five other start-up companies from his lab, and has won multiple national awards for his achievements in enabling entrepreneurship, included Canada’s Governor General award for Innovation, and the Professional Engineers of Ontario Entrepreneurship Award in 2017. He has received multiple awards for his community activity including the 2016 Community award from the Canadian Biomaterials, the 2018 President’s Impact Award from the University of Toronto.
Symposium Speakers
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Head, Therapeutic Innovation and Drug Discovery, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR); Professor, Pharmacology & Toxicology | Chemistry, University of Toronto
Dr. Rima Al-awar is the Head of Therapeutic Innovation and Drug Discovery at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR; https://oicr.on.ca/) and Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto. With over 10-years’ progressive experience at Eli Lilly, she joined OICR in 2008 to focus on building a drug discovery program to help efficiently translate discoveries made in Ontario’s laboratories into novel oncology therapies that will benefit cancer patients. Under her leadership, the OICR Drug Discovery Program has played a major role in bridging the gap between academia and industry in Ontario by providing drug discovery capabilities. Today, the program is one of the largest of its kind in Canada with a team of more than 35 researchers whose collective expertise spans the entire drug discovery process from target identification and validation to clinical candidate selection. Dr. Al-awar has published over 90 peer-reviewed publications and patent applications in the field of medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. Her team’s research in identifying small molecules that disrupt the protein-protein interactions of WDR5 and BCl6 resulted in a landmark deal with Triphase/Celgene (now BMS) for a first-in-class epigenetic drug targeting WDR5, and a partnership with Janssen on the BCL6 target.
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Professor, Biochemistry | Molecular Genetics, Donnelly Centre
Dr. Igor Stagljar is a Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Canada. Prof. Stagljar started his academic career at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and received his Ph.D. from ETH Zurich under Professors Charles Weissmann and Markus Aebi. He trained at the University of Zurich, Switzerland and the University of Washington in Seattle, USA.
As one of the world leaders in proteomics/chemical genomics, the Stagljar lab developed groundbreaking technologies, including Membrane Yeast Two-Hybrid (MYTH), Mammalian Membrane Two-Hybrid (MaMTH) and Split-Intein Mediated Protein Ligation (SIMPL). These innovations revolutionized membrane proteomic research. His lab's recent adaptations, MaMTH-DS for drug screening and SIMPL technology for protein-protein interaction targets, show potential for advancing therapeutic development.
Throughout his career, Prof. Stagljar has been an innovator and disruptor, reflected in over 140 research papers, 8 patents, and recognition as one of the top inventors in Canada. His lab's work spans proteomics, chemical biology, membrane transport and cancer signaling, contributing seminal papers to leading scientific journals.
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Scientist, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, Unity Health Toronto; Assistant Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy & Institute of Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Hagar Labouta is a Scientist at Unity health Toronto and Assistant Professor at University of Toronto at Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and Institute of Biomedical Engineering. She has research experience in nanomedicine, drug delivery, and biomedical engineering. Before joining University of Toronto, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba. She got her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical nanotechnology from Saarland University (Germany) and completed several Postdocs at Helmholtz institute (Germany), and University of Calgary (Canada). Her team is using microfluidics to design nanoparticles for the aim of breaching biological barriers with special focus on applications related to Women’s Health. To ensure clinical translation of the novel therapies designed in her lab, her team develops humanized organ-on-a-chip models for preclinical evaluation of nanoparticles. Dr. Labouta has won several awards including Member of the Year Award from the Controlled Release Society (USA), Interstellar Award from New York Academy of Sciences (USA), Innovation and Career Development Award by the Biomedical Engineering Society (USA), Apotheker Jacob Prize (Germany) and curriculum award for the Nanoscience Program (Canada). Dr. Labouta serves as an Associate Editor in the Drug Delivery and Translational Research and is on the editorial board of Journal of Controlled Release.
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Senior Scientist, Krembil Research Institute, UHN; President & CEO, NoNO Inc.
Prof. Tymianski is a retired neurosurgeon and Senior Scientist, Toronto Western Hospital Research Institute, a Professor, Dept. of Surgery, University of Toronto, and a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Translational Stroke Research. His most advanced contribution relates to the development of PSD95 inhibitors, ranging from the discovery that PSD95, and abundant synaptic protein is therapeutic target for neurodegeneration (Sattler et al., Science, 1999). By 2002, he developed a drug, now termed “nerinetide”, that inhibits PSD95 and reduces ischemic brain damage in rats (Aarts et al, Science, 2002). This finding has been reproduced by several investigators worldwide. Over the next decade, the Tymianski lab focused on translating NA-1 to the point of clinical utility through extensive target validation (Cui et al, J Neurosci, 2007), testing in rodent models (Sun et al., Stroke, 2008) and, ultimately, in primate models of stroke (Cook et al., Nature, 2012; Cook et al., Science Translational Medicine, 2012). In 2012, Tymianski and his team published the first clinical trial supportive of neuroprotection by nerinetide in humans (Hill et al., Lancet Neurology, 2012). Two phase 3 trials of NA-1 have been conducted in patients selected for endovascular thrombectomy (ESCAPE-NA1 and ESCAPE-NEXT), and another in patients with suspected stroke treated in the pre-hospital setting (FRONTIER; NCT02315443). Nerinetide and its follow-on analogs continue to be investigated for AIS.
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Associate Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy; Canada Research Chair in Synthetic Biology and Human Health
Keith Pardee is the Canada Research Chair in Synthetic Biology and Human Health and is an Associate Professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. His training began in the fields botany (BSc, University of Alberta) and Natural Products Chemistry (MSc, University of British Columbia), and transitioned to protein structure and function during his PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of Toronto. His postdoctoral studies at the Wyss Institute (Harvard University), served to translate this fundamental training into his current focus in applied biology.
His lab works in the field of synthetic biology, with a focus on pioneering in vitro devices to improve access to health care and research tools. Using freeze-dried, cell-free enzyme systems, the lab builds low-cost molecular diagnostics (e.g. Zika, COVID-19) and low-burden platforms for cell-free biomanufacturing of lab reagents and biologic therapeutics. These efforts have led to the co-founding of three trainee-led ventures (LSK Technologies, Liberum Biotech, En Carta Diagnostics). https://www.pardeelab.org
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Senior Scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, UHN; Professor, Department of Medical Biophysics & SGC, University of Toronto
Cheryl Arrowsmith is a Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, and the Chief Scientist of the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the structural and chemical biology of chromatin and epigenetic regulatory factors especially as relates to cancer and drug discovery. In partnership with major pharmaceutical companies, she leads the SGC’s international open science program that is developing and distributing unencumbered Chemical Probes that support the discovery of new medicines. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and carried out postdoctoral research at Stanford University, and was co-founder of Affinium Pharmaceuticals, which developed a new medicine for multidrug resistant bacteria. She has published over 300 research articles, and was recognized by Clarivate Analytics as being among the worlds top 1% of highly cited scientists in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. She was elected a AAAS Fellow (2015), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2020).
