Jan LeCocq, Pensacola, Florida
Managing Partner, Collins Mabry & Co.
Janice M LeCocq is a managing partner of Collins Mabry & Co., a strategic consulting firm that she co-founded in 1998 with Gregory B. Lawless. Currently, she is assisting in business development for Alius Medical, a company planning to acquire and consolidate high quality small to mid size contract research organizations. From 2000- 2008, she was Chairman of the Board of Osprey Pharmaceuticals, in Montreal, Quebec. From December 1994 until December 1998, she was Chairman and CEO of Gryphon Sciences, a startup company commercializing the total chemical synthesis of proteins. From 1990 until 1994, she was Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration, CFO and Member of the Board of Directors of ICOS Corporation. Before moving to the operations side of the life sciences business, she spent ten years with Montgomery Securities where she became a General Partner in Corporate Finance, focusing on the life sciences industry. She also served on the Boards of Directors of the Nidus Center, Molecular Devices, SLIL Biomedical and Hyseq. She holds a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology and a B.S. in Human Biology from Stanford University.
Susan Clymer, San Francisco, California
Managing Director, Nichi Bei Bio
Susan specializes in identifying exciting new medical science technologies and applying them to unmet healthcare needs. She's the founder of Nichi Bei Bio and co-founder of Sapient Health Network (now WebMD). She has deep experience in bio-technology business development, competitive research, and M&A specializing in joint U.S. and Japan ventures.
Stephen Zaruby, Seattle, Washington.
Former President, Zymogenetics Inc.
Mr. Zaruby was President of Zymogenetics until it was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2010 for $885 million. Before that, Mr. Zaruby served as Vice President, Global Head, Hospital/Surgical Business Unit of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Zaruby served as Director, Global Strategic Marketing of Bayer AG. Prior to that, Mr. Zaruby held various positions in sales, marketing and product development within the Bayer group of companies. Mr. Zaruby holds a B.Sc. from the University of Calgary. Stephen is also on the Board of Directors of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, Seattle Guild.
Pete Garrett , Calgary, Alberta.
President, Innovate Calgary
Pete Garrett has invested his entire professional career into various aspects of commercializing emerging technology. Initially as an engineer and later as a CEO and consultant, he has been a strong believer in the positive impact of new technology on society.
After graduating from the University of Calgary (BSc EE ’80 – with distinction), Pete joined Nortel Networks where he was at the heart of both the digital and wireless communications revolutions. Rising quickly through the ranks, he ultimately became Vice President of Wireless Networks R&D. There, he led a team of 1,200 engineers and scientists in seven labs on four continents developing and deploying over 50 new products per year. Seeking the next technology wave, Pete joined Global Thermoelectric in 2001 (an alternative energy/fuel cell company) as Chief Operating Officer then subsequently Chief Executive Officer, where he led the successful merger of the company with Fuel Cell Energy in 2003. Since then, Pete has been an active investor, business and technology consultant, and has served on a number of corporate and volunteer boards.
He is past chair of Calgary Technologies Inc (CTI), the University of Calgary Engineering External Research Advisory board and the UofC Project Management Advisory board. He also served on the Alberta Science and Research Advisory board (ASRA), where he was chair of the technology commercialization task force and co-chair of the access to capital task force.
As a third generation Calgarian with strong roots in the community, Pete has been a long supporter of the University. He has maintained close linkages with the University over the past 30 years through major equipment donations, numerous R&D and teaching contracts with professors, participating on a variety of boards and committees, and through personal friendships. He is married to a UofC Engineering graduate and has two boys in Engineering(one at UofC, and one at the University of Alberta) both of whom have worked summers at the UofC as research students.
Pere Santamaria M.D. Ph.D., Calgary, Alberta.
Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, Parvus Therapeutics Inc.
In addition to Parvus, Dr. Santamaria is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Chair of the Immunology Research Group at the Institute of Infection, Inflammation & Immunity, Julia McFarlane Chair in Diabetes Research, and Director of the Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Centre, all in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Pere has received several honors and awards, including the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Senior Scholar, Scientist and Senior Scientist awards, the Canadian Diabetes Association Young Investigator award and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Scholar award, amongst others. He has published over 100 publications, many in high-impact journals, and he is a regularly invited speaker at national and international forums. He sits on the editorial board of a number of journals and numerous national and international grant review panels. Pere received an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Barcelona and did his postdoctoral training at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis.
Phil Coggins Ph.D., Calgary, Alberta.
President & CEO, Parvus Therapeutics Inc.
Phil Coggins is the President and CEO of Parvus and the co-founder of SCOUTING3 Corp., a life-sciences consultancy. Prior to Parvus, Phil was the co-founder, director, and CEO of Osprey Pharmaceuticals a biotechnology company that developed therapeutics for an array of broadly defined immune system-mediated diseases. Phil took Osprey from an idea on paper to a first clinical trial, raising nearly $35 million in angel and venture capital and building a team of well respected industry veterans in the process. Phil was educated in the United Kingdom and received a B.Sc. in Pharmacology from the University of Manchester and a Ph.D. in Neurochemistry from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Phil moved to Canada in the mid-eighties for postdoc training at the University of Calgary — on an AHFMR Fellowship — and subsequent to that, at McMaster University. Phil's scientific work is recognized in numerous publications and over 30 patents, issued and pending. As one wit put it, Phil has been well dragged across the broken glass!
Phil Coggins Ph.D., Calgary, Alberta.
President & CEO, Parvus Therapeutics Inc.
Phil Coggins is the President and CEO of Parvus and the co-founder of SCOUTING3 Corp., a life-sciences consultancy. Prior to Parvus, Phil was the co-founder, director, and CEO of Osprey Pharmaceuticals a biotechnology company that developed therapeutics for an array of broadly defined immune system-mediated diseases. Phil took Osprey from an idea on paper to a first clinical trial, raising nearly $35 million in angel and venture capital and building a team of well respected industry veterans in the process. Phil was educated in the United Kingdom and received a B.Sc. in Pharmacology from the University of Manchester and a Ph.D. in Neurochemistry from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Phil moved to Canada in the mid-eighties for postdoc training at the University of Calgary — on an AHFMR Fellowship — and subsequent to that, at McMaster University. Phil's scientific work is recognized in numerous publications and over 30 patents, issued and pending. As one wit put it, "Phil has been well dragged across the broken glass!"
Pere Santamaria M.D. Ph.D., Calgary, Alberta.
Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, Parvus Therapeutics Inc.
In addition to Parvus, Dr. Santamaria is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Chair of the Immunology Research Group at the Institute of Infection, Inflammation & Immunity, Julia McFarlane Chair in Diabetes Research, and Director of the Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Centre, all in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Pere has received several honors and awards, including the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Senior Scholar, Scientist and Senior Scientist awards, the Canadian Diabetes Association Young Investigator award and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Scholar award, amongst others. He has published over 100 publications, many in high-impact journals, and he is a regularly invited speaker at national and international forums. He sits on the editorial board of a number of journals and numerous national and international grant review panels. Pere received an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Barcelona and did his postdoctoral training at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis.
Jord Cowan, Calgary, Alberta.
Business Development & Operations, Parvus Therapeutics Inc.
Jord has extensive background and training in medical research and early-stage company development, and he was instrumental in getting Parvus launched and operational. Prior to working at Parvus, Jord was a member of the Ignite team and a Manager of New Company Creation at University Technologies International, the technology transfer office of the University of Calgary. Prior to UTI, he was an associate with Argon Venture Partners, a cross-border early-stage venture capital firm. Jord has also worked as an analyst for the VentureAlberta Forum (formerly Keiretsu Forum), which is an investment community of accredited private equity investors, venture capitalists and corporate/institutional investors.
Scientific Advisory Board
Our Scientific Advisory Board is comprised of renowned experts in autoimmunity, clinical development, and advanced nanomaterials.
Dr. Jean-Francois Bach.
Permanent Secretary, French Academy of Sciences.
Professor Bach has been Permanent Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences since 2006. He is a professor of Immunology and past head of the Immunology Unit at Necker Hospital in Paris. He is a past Director of a research laboratory at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and of the Advanced Research Studies Postgraduate Degree Program in Immunology. Both a physician and researcher, he has made numerous discoveries in the field of autoimmunity as has had remarkable success in translating these discoveries to the clinic.
Dr. Warren Chan.
Professor Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, and Canada Research Chair in Bionanotechnology.
Professor Chan is an internationally recognized expert in the application of nanotechnology to medicine. He was the first to develop and use quantum dots and gold nanoparticles for biological imaging and the diagnosis of infectious disease.
Dr. Kevan Herold.
Professor of Immunobiology and Medicine, Yale University, and T1D TrialNet Principal Investigator.
Professor Herold is Director of the Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet Center at Yale and past Medical Director of the Columbia University Islet Transplant Center. He is at the forefront of national and international clinical studies of new T1D treatments and was the first to report the use of anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies to treat patients with new onset type 1 diabetes.