Scientific Advisory Board
B. Brett Finlay, Ph.D., O.C., F.R.S.C. (Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board)
Dr. Finlay is co-founder of Inimex and a highly respected researcher in the field of host-pathogen interactions, having published over 250 papers. Dr. Finlay is a Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories and in the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Finlay's work was central to the development of the E. coli 0157 vaccine and he is Director of the SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative and Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Canadian SARS Research Consortium. He also leads an international research consortium supported by grant offer to the University of British Columbia of US$8.7M from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) as part of the Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH) initiative. Dr. Finlay has received numerous prestigious awards including the Canadian Killam Prize, the E.W.R. Steacie Prize, the CSM Fisher Scientific Award, a MRC Scientist, four Howard Hughes International Research Scholar Awards, a CIHR Distinguished Investigator, the BC Biotech Innovation Award, the Michael Smith Health Research Prize and the IDSA Squibb award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the UBC Peter Wall Distinguished Professor. Dr. Finlay received his Ph.D. from the University of Alberta and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine.
R.E.W. (Bob) Hancock, Ph.D., O.C., F.R.S.C.
Bob Hancock is co-founder of Inimex, Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at the UBC, and a Canada Research Chair holder. He was the founding Scientific Director of the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network and currently heads the UBC Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research. His research interests include antibiotic uptake and resistance, functional genomics and the development of small cationic peptides as novel antimicrobials and modulators of innate immunity. He has published more than 380 papers and reviews, being one of ISI's highly cited authors in Microbiology, and has 21 patents awarded. He has won many awards, including the Canadian Society of Microbiologists Award in 1986, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1994, the Canada 125 Silver Medal in 1995, MRC Distinguished Scientist 1995-2000, Jacob Biely Faculty Research Prize 2000, BC Biotech Alliance Innovation and Achievement Award 2001, Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology 2002, the QEII Jubilee Medal 2002, the Aventis Pharmaceuticals Award 2003, the Zellers Scientist award and BC Innovation Council Chairman's award in 2004, the McLaughlin Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, 2005, the Michael Smith Prize, 2006 and the Killam Prize, 2007. In 2001 he was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada. Dr. Hancock has served as a Scientific Advisory Board Member or consultant with 21 biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
David R. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D.
Dr. David R. Fitzpatrick is the founder and owner of Biotech Clarity Consulting LLC. He has more than 30 years of experience in biotechnology and biomedical research and development, including three years consulting for over 20 clients in the USA, Canada, UK, China & Australia. The clients include venture capital, startup biotech, listed biopharma and big pharma companies, in areas ranging from discovery platforms to preclinical drug development to translational research to early-stage clinical trials. He also has seven years at Immunex and Amgen, rising from Senior Scientist to Acting Director of Inflammation Research. His group helped advance over 5 projects into phase I clinical trials, and over 12 other projects towards clinical development, for diseases such as asthma, atopic dermatitis, cancer, hepatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, lung fibrosis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis. Beyond research, he functioned on the Licensing, Extramural Research, Portfolio Review, Patent Review, R&D Training and R&D Strategy Committees. Ten years in biomedical research in Australia, where he established international reputations in epigenetics, T cell immunology and cytokine biology, in the context of transplantation, autoimmunity, cancer and infectious diseases. He is an author on over 70 publications, an editorial board member of the Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a former associate editor for the Journal of Immunology, a reviewer for over 25 other journals and funding agencies, and an active member of many biotechnology, immunology & scientific associations.
Philippe Gros, Ph.D.
Philippe Gros obtained his Ph.D. in Experimental Medicine from McGill University and following post-doctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital and MIT, joined the Department of Biochemistry at McGill, where he has been a full Professor since 1994. He is a member of the Center for the Study of Host Resistance and the Director of the Complex Traits Program at McGill. His main area of investigation concerns the genetic analysis of susceptibility to infections, pre-disposition to neural tube defects, and models of carcinogen-induced cancer. Dr. Gros has been an International Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a Distinguished Scientist of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and he is a James McGill Professor. He has received the Wilder Penfield Prize for Health Sciences (Prix du Quebec), the Canada Council Killam Prize for Health Research, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Gros acts as an advisor to several governmental organizations including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Eric G. Pamer, M.D.
Dr. Eric Pamer is an Infectious Diseases physician specializing in immunology and cancer-related infections that can occur when chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation compromises the body’s immune system. His research focuses on how the immune system combats infection and how the commensal microbial flora protects against infection. Dr. Pamer's laboratory is also investigating mechanisms that prevent invasive fungal infections and the role of T lymphocytes in defense against bacterial infections. This work is providing fundamental insights that will enable us to optimize immune defense against the range of clinically important infections.
