Appointments

Qu Biologics announces the appointment of Dr. Julia Levy to its board of directors where she joins chairman Dr. Hal Gunn, and directors, Dr. Simon Sutcliffe and Mr. Robert Freeman. Dr. Levy first became involved with Qu Biologics as a member of its scientific advisory board in April 2011 and subsequently as an investor. As coinventor of Visudyne and co-founder of QLT, Dr. Levy served in several key senior positions at the company including chief scientific officer as well as president and CEO. Dr. Levy has earned numerous awards and honours including an appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada, the Female Entrepreneur of the Year for International Business, Pacific Canada Entrepreneur of the Year and the Future of Vision Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness. In 2002 she received, along with Dr. David Dolphin, the Friesen-Rygiel prize for medical research and the Prix Galien Canada research award. In her honour, the Julia G. Levy Professorship in Ophthalmology Chair was created at John Hopkins Hospital Wilmer Eye Institute in 2004, the same year she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the BC Biotechnology Association. In 2009, the province of BC permanently endowed the Julia Levy B.C. Leadership Chair in Macular Research at the University of British Columbia (U.B.C.) in partnership with U.B.C. and QLT.

Dr. David Brener joins the PROOF Centre of Excellence man-

agement team as chief business development officer. Dr. Brener has more than 30 years of senior experience including start-ups, multinational enterprises, contract research organizations, academia and government. Prior to his current role, Dr. Brener was director of R&D Alliances for Pfizer in Canada and a member of Pfizer World Exploratory Science and Technology Team. While at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada’s national health research agency, Dr. Brener created CIHR’s inaugural Commercialization and Innovation Strategy, and introduced novel initiatives (e.g., Proof of Principle; Science to Business) as well as collaborative opportunities involving academic research efforts with the multi-national pharmaceutical and the emerging biotechnology communities (e.g. CIHR/ SME Research Program). Some of his other activities within the life science sector have included: board member of Québec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM) as well as the Pfizer/CDRD Program (CDRD: Centre for Drug Research and Development); as a member of the vaccine industry committee of BioteCanada and the Vaccine task force of Rx&D, the Canadian Arthritis Network commercialization committee, the Canadian Centre for Regenerative Medicine commercialization committee and overseeing strategic implementation of OBEST for OBIO (OBIO: Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization; OBEST: Ontario Bioscience Economic Strategy Team). Dr. Brener holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from McGill University and received his post-doctoral training at the National Research Council of Canada where he was a Visiting Fellow and research associate before entering the private sector.

Jamil Hantash joins PharmaNet/ i3 as director of immunochemistry operations. Hantash brings a wealth of operational and scientific experience in large molecule bioanalysis. For the last 12 years, he served in senior laboratory management positions at other leading contract research organizations. At PharmaNet/i3, Hantash will manage laboratory operations related to macromolecule analysis.

The BC Cancer Agency names internationally-renowned oncologist Dr. Max Coppes as its new president. Prior to joining the BC Cancer Agency, Coppes served as senior vice-president at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, where he led the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. After completing his medical degree, Coppes trained in the Netherlands, Paris, Toronto and Cleveland before transitioning to medical administration at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. He spent 13 years in Calgary and became a Canadian citizen along the way. While there, Coppes also earned a Master of Business Administration at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business. In addition to his new role, Coppes will continue to teach and practice medicine in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital.

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. announces the appointment of Dr. Alan Tuchman to the role of chief medical officer and senior vice president, clinical and medical development. Throughout his medical career, he has held numerous academic and administration positions at a variety of medical schools in the New York area and is currently clinical professor of neurology at the New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY, and engaged in the private practice of neurology. Dr. Tuchman has staff privileges at the Montefiore Medical Centre, where he is the Attending, department of neurology. Previous to this, he spent almost four years as a sell-side analyst with Oscar Gruss & Son, advancing to the role of senior vice president, equity research. Subsequently he was a principal at Xmark Funds, a biotech investment fund. Today he is a managing director at MedPro Investors LLP, an angel investment group focused on biotech companies and chairman of Neurophysics Inc., a developer of non-invasive medical devices. He has served on the company’s scientific advisory board and been a consultant to Oncolytics since 2001. Dr. Tuchman has a B.S. from the City College of New York, an M.D. from the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, as well as an MBA from Columbia University, School of Business.

Genome Canada announces the appointment of Lorne Hepworth as the new chair of its the board of directors. Since 1997, Hepworth has served as president of CropLife Canada, the trade association representing developers, manufacturers and distributors of plant science innovations for use in agriculture, urban and public health settings. He has been a member of the Canadian Agri-Food Research Council, the federal government’s Pest Management advisory committee and National Biotechnology advisory committee. He is currently a board member with CARE Canada and the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF) scientific advisory committee. He has been a director of Genome Canada’s board since June 2010. A graduate of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan (1971), Hepworth was a practicing veterinarian in Alberta and Saskatchewan until 1982, when he was elected to Saskatchewan’s Legislative Assembly for the Constituency of Weyburn. He subsequently served nine years in Cabinet, during which time he was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Education, Finance, and Energy and Mines. From 1993 to 1997, he held several executive positions with the Canadian Agra group of companies. While there, he also led the development of the International Division’s Agricultural Project in the People’s Republic of China.

Pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing services provider Patheon Inc. announces it has appointed Harry Gill to the position of senior vice president, quality and continuous improvement. Gill joined Patheon in 2010. He has over 25 years’ experience in quality, plant operations, technical services and operational excellence.

Methanex Corp. announces it has appointed John Floren, currently senior vice president, global marketing & logistics, to president and CEO, effective January 1, 2013. Current president and CEO Bruce Aitken is retiring from the company, but will remain a member of the board of directors. Floren has been with Methanex since 2000. He has been in his current role as the global head of marketing and logistics for the past seven years. Prior to that, he held several senior management positions with Methanex and has worked in the chemical industry for over 27 years. Bruce Aitken, who spent 21 years with Methanex, served as president and CEO of Methanex since 2004.