Board of Directors

Dr. Lorne Babiuk joined the University of Alberta in 2007 as the Vice-President of Research.

Dr. Babiuk has devoted his career to Canadian-based vaccine research designed to safeguard the health of people at home and abroad. He specializes in immunology, pathogenesis, virology, molecular virology, and vaccinology. He is also a world expert in infectious diseases and their control, specifically by vaccination.

Prior to joining the University of Alberta, Dr Babiuk was the Director of VIDO. While at VIDO, he built the organization into an international powerhouse, carrying out major research in immunology, pathogenesis, virology, molecular virology, and vaccinology. As an example of his leadership, in 2005, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Dr. Babiuk and his colleagues from VIDO US $5.6M over five years to develop a single-dose vaccine to protect newborns against whooping cough (pertussis), a respiratory disease that kills 400,000 babies annually.

Dr. Babiuk is an Officer of the Order of Canada, Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and Member of the European Academy of Sciences. He was also awarded the 2012 Canada Gairdner Wightman Award.

Dr. Babiuk completed his Master’s in soil microbiology, earned his Ph.D. in virology from the University of British Columbia, and a DSc from the University of Saskatchewan’s Department of Veterinary Microbiology.

He has published over 500 manuscripts and 80 book chapters or review articles on infectious diseases and holds 35 issued patents (with 14 patents pending).

Dr. Andy Potter first joined VIDO in 1985 as a research scientist when he was recruited from Health Canada in Ottawa. In 1994 he was appointed as VIDO’s Associate Director of Research. Since 2007 he has been the CEO and Director of VIDO.

In 2011, Dr. Potter was elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Science (CAHS). The CAHS works in partnership with the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Canada to form the Council of Canadian Academies. Comprised of Canada's leading minds in health research and practice, the Council provides assessments and advice on key issues relevant to the health of Canadians. Dr. Potter has served on a number of public and private sector committees, and has been instrumental in transferring technology from the VIDO laboratories to the private sector. He interacts frequently with major animal health companies and serves as a consultant to numerous smaller ones.

Dr. Potter is internationally recognized for his visionary research into how bacteria cause disease. His work at the interface of human and animal health has bolstered VIDO-InterVac's international reputation in this critical area of research. His ground-breaking projects have contributed to several "world firsts", including the world's first genetically engineered animal vaccine.

He currently runs a successful research program that is well-funded by competitive grants at the national level. Recently, he has been working on the application of genomics to the animal health field and is forging links between the animal and human infectious disease research communities to ensure that technologies common to both fields can be leveraged to their greatest benefit.

Dr. Potter completed his undergraduate studies at CARLETON University and received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the university of Otago (New Zealand) in 1981.

He has mentored more than 30 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who currently hold positions in industry, academia and government worldwide. He has also contributed to more than 50 patents for human and animal vaccines and therapeutics.

Dr. Scott Halperin is extensively involved in research and education pertaining to infectious diseases. He has lived in Halifax since 1985 where he is the Director of the Canadian Center for Vaccinology. He is also a Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University, and the Head of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Dr. Halperin was educated in the United States, completing his undergraduate degree in Biology at Stanford University and his medical degree at Cornell University. His postgraduate residency training was in pediatrics at the University of Virginia and his fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Virginia and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Halperin is a former Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Clinical Research Chair in Vaccines.

His research focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of pertussis and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

Dr. Luis Barreto has 30 years of experience in academia, public health and industry. Dr Barreto is currently the President of the consultancy Dr. Luis Barreto and Associates. He is the former Vice-President of Clinical and Medical Affairs and Vice-President of Immunization and Science Policy at Sanofi Pasteur where he spent more than 23 years in research and development, leading clinical trials and shaping immunization policy in Canada and around the world.

Dr. Barreto led the clinical development and commercialization of many vaccines, including technologies such as acellular pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b and polio combinations for children, adolescents and adults. These vaccines bring over a billion dollars yearly in sales back to the Canadian economy and reduce disease and death around the world.

Dr. Barreto has been part of the Canadian pandemic influenza vaccine scientific advisory groups led by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Infection and Immunity, and the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada. He has also been part of Health Canada’s Policy Advisory Committee.

Dr. Barreto is a member of various boards including Research Canada, PREVENT, VIDO/InterVac (ex-Chair). Dr Barreto is a member of the Board of the International Consortium of Antivirals. He has been appointed as the member of the Policy and Public Support working group of the Decade of Vaccines of the Gates Foundation, and Senior Advisor to the National Research Council of Canada, Vaccine Group and Biosciences Education Canada. He has recently also been appointed to the Advisory Board of the Masters of Health Sciences in Global Health at McMasters University and to the Business-Led Private Sector Advisory Board of the National Centres of Excellence.

Dr. Barreto spends considerable time in philanthropic activities with organizations like Health Partners International and Non-Governmental Organizations and is a member of the Board of the March of Dimes.

He has been an influential member of the Canadian vaccine landscape for over 25 years. He has published extensively on History of Vaccine Development and Canada’s contribution to global control of Small Pox and Polio as well as Clinical Trials and Immunization Policy.

Dr. Barreto completed his M.B.B.S and M.D. in Community Medicine in India and M.H.Sc in Community Health and Epidemiology at University of Toronto. He is married to Lorraine and has two boys Rohit and Rahul.

Dr. Robert C. Brunham is the Provincial Executive of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and Scientific Director of the University of British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (UBC CDC). The BCCDC and UBC CDC has become a national Centre of Excellence in infectious disease research and is widely recognized as Canada's model public health training and research centre. Under Dr. Brunham’s leadership the BCCDC proved especially crucial in the successful containment of SARS in 2003 and was co-lead in sequencing the SARS genome and fast tracking the development of a SARS vaccine.

Dr. Brunham is a professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at UBC. He is an internationally recognized authority on infectious diseases. His research centres on the immunology and epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases and on the origins of emerging infectious diseases. Much of his research has dealt with developing a vaccine for Chlamydia trachomatis. Recently, in collaboration with UBC scientists, he pioneered a cutting edge proteomic approach to Chlamydia vaccine development which has generated international interest and financial support from the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Brunham has received international recognition and awards for his contributions to the field of infectious diseases prevention. He was the 2004 recipient of the Thomas Parran Award from the American Sexually Transmitted Disease Association. In 2005 he received the the CIHR Partnership Award for his leadership in the SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative. In 2010 Dr. Brunham received the Order of British Columbia for his distinguished achievements in medical research.

He has published over 260 articles and book chapters on various aspects of infectious diseases.

Dr. David Burt is Director of R&D, North America for GSK Biologicals. He is based at GSK’s R&D facility in Laval, Quebec where he is responsible for a scientific staff of over 130, and the development of vaccines against various infectious diseases, cancers and Alzheimer disease. Prior to its acquisition by GSK, he was Vice-President, Research at ID Biomedical Corporation of Quebec. He was also Vice-President, Research for Intellivax International, an R&D company specializing in nasal delivery of vaccines that was subsequently acquired by ID Biomedical.

Before joining Intellivax, Dr. Burt spent 8 years in vaccine R&D at Pasteur Merieux Connaught (now Sanofi-Pasteur) in Toronto where he held various positions within the Division of Research including Section Head, Immunology and Project Leader for Influenza Vaccines. Dr. Burt was previously a research scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research, London, England.

He received his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Birmingham and a BSc. in Biological chemistry from the Essex University, UK. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and is co-inventor on 7 patent applications including a novel influenza vaccine that is given by nasal spray rather than by injection.

David has received various awards for his contributions to scientific endeavor and his activity in the community including the ‘African Achievement Award in Science’ in 1997 and the Harry Jerome Award for Health Sciences in 2006.

Dr. Karen Chad is the Vice-President Research at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) and is also a faculty member in the U of S College of Kinesiology. Building on the University of Saskatchewan’s renowned history of discovery and innovation spanning more than a century, Dr. Chad aims to enhance globally important research under the banner of “discovery with impact”. This includes focusing on a transfer of knowledge and bringing U of S expertise on issues of importance to communities and to society.

As the Vice-President of Research at the U of S, Dr. Chad plays a strategic leadership role in achieving key research objectives and goals. This includes attracting and retaining outstanding faculty; increasing campus-wide commitment to research; establishing the University of Saskatchewan as a major presence in graduate education; and recruiting and retaining a diverse and academically promising body of students.

Dr. Chad sits on a number of national boards and has chaired or overseen more than 100 key boards, committees, research programs, and teams. Honors include an International Award for “Innovation in Research”, the National Leadership Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and in 2011 was identified as a “Woman of Influence” by Saskatchewan Business Magazine.

Dr. Chad holds several research grants and contracts and has supervised numerous graduate students. She received the YWCA Woman of Distinction (Health and Education) award and was awarded the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal. In addition, she has earned five teaching awards including the U of S Master Teacher Award.

Dr. Chad graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Queensland in Australia.

Dr. Greg Hammond is a professor in the Departments of Medical Microbiology and Medicine, at the University of Manitoba. He is an Infectious Diseases physician and clinical consultant at the Health Sciences Centre and Grace General Hospital. Previously, he was Director of the Cadham Provincial Laboratory and Laboratory and Imaging Services for the Province of Manitoba. He also became the Director of the Public Health Branch and Director of Communicable Disease Control for Manitoba Health.

Dr. Hammond has served in many organizations, including as president of the Canadian Infectious Diseases Society (CIDS now AMMI), and president of the Canadian Association of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (CACMID). He has been a member of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). He was co-chair of the National Immunization Strategy (NIS) and co-chair of the Canadian Immunization Committee (CIC).

He has consulted on public health and immunization issues for Manitoba Health, Public Health Agency of Canada, Sanofi Pasteur Ltd. and the World Health Organization. He is the Director of the Alliance Coordinating Office of the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI). He is Executive Director of the Manitoba Medical Service Foundation, which provides start up grants and educational grants to new investigators in Manitoba.

Dr. Hammond is a graduate of McGill University (BSc and MD,CM). His post graduate medical training was in internal medicine (U of Alberta and U of Toronto) and infectious diseases (U of Manitoba) and microbiology (Centres for Disease Control, Atlanta).

He has been a member of PREVENT since its inception in 2008 and is chair of the Nominations Committee.

Dr. Paul Hodgson is the Associate Director and member of the senior leadership team at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) at the University of Saskatchewan. His responsibilities include business development and communications. In this capacity, he oversees new business recruitment, strategic development, contracts, and licensing agreements, as well as coordination aspects associated with communications.

Prior to joining VIDO-InterVac, Dr. Hodgson worked as a business development analyst with Newfound Genomics Inc., and as a project manager for several multi-million dollar projects from Genome Canada and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

He is currently a board member and Secretary for the Pan-Provincial Vaccine Enterprise (PREVENT), a non-profit company aimed at facilitating the commercialization of early stage vaccine technologies. He is also President of the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Saskatoon and area. He served as the Chair of the United Way Science and Technology campaign from 2007-2011.

A native of Toronto, Dr. Hodgson completed his BSc. (Biology) and MSc (Pharmacology) at Dalhousie University, his PhD (Medicine) at Memorial University and his MBA (Technology Commercialization) at the University of Alberta.

Dr. Kay is a recognized authority on vaccine development and commercialization, with special expertise in the field of aquatic animal vaccinology. He has coauthored a wide variety of patents ranging from protein and peptide expression systems to transgenic plants. He has also pioneered the commercialization of ten vaccines, including bacterial and viral polyvalent vaccines.

Dr. Kay has been an early biotechnology entrepreneur, founding and co-founding several biotechnology enterprises among which are: Microtek International Inc. (now Pfizer Animal Health – (aquaculture biologicals); Micrologix Biotech. Inc. (now Migenix Inc.) (anti-infective pharmaceuticals); Stressgen Biotechnology Corp. (now Akela Pharma Inc.) (biologicals/pharmaceuticals/diagnostics); SynGene Biotech Inc. (disease resistant crops). He has successfully negotiated joint ventures with Bayer AG, and Diversa Corp. (now Verenium) and acquisitions by Pfizer Animal Health, where he is currently is special consultant (via Nemo Consulting Ltd.).

Dr. Kay's is Professor Emeritus and past Head of the University of Victoria's Dept. of Biochemistry and Microbiology. His long academic research career has been both broad and prolific encompassing the fields of bioenergetics, molecular pathogenesis, and transgenic plants. He has been a member of and chaired a variety of national granting agencies and currently is a member of several Scientific Advisory Boards.

Dr. Khachatourians is an educator, researcher, graduate student mentor and entrepreneur. He has active research programs in various disciplinary areas of agriculture and life sciences, and interdisciplinary aspects of the relationship between science/knowledge-based industry, innovation and society. During his 38 year career at University of Saskatchewan he has supervised 20 Post-doctoral Fellows, 22 PhD, 32 MSc and 30 undergraduate theses.

Dr. Khachatourians received his B.A. and M.A. from California State University, San Francisco, and his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. This was followed by a Medical Research Council of Canada Post Doctoral Fellowship at the Biology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Cold Spring Harbor.

His scholarly contributions included two patented vaccines, and over 550 scientific and technical reports and publications. He has contributed to 82 book chapters and reviews, and 4 major chapters in encyclopedias of food science and technology, mycology and microbiology. He has coauthored or edited 10 books: in the areas of Food Biotechnology-Microorganisms, Applied Mycology and Biotechnology, Agriculture and Food Production(in two volumes), The Biotechnology Revolution in Global Agriculture (Saskatchewan Scholarly Book First Prize winner),Transgenic Plants and Crops, Fungal Genomics and Bioinformatics (in two volumes), Regulating the Liabilities of Agricultural Biotechnology, and Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (in two volumes).

He instructs a number of courses at the University of Saskatchewan, including FABS 212.3, Agri-Food & Resource Microbiology, FABS 334.3, Industrial Microbiology, and FDSC 898.3 Systematic Methodology of Research.

He has also established 3 successful private sector enterprises and made wide contributions to governance of international corporation boards and governments in biotechnology.

Dr. Pierre Meulien was appointed President and CEO of Genome Canada in October 2010. Prior to this appointment, he served as Chief Scientific Officer for Genome British Columbia from 2007 to 2010. From 2002 to 2007, Dr. Meulien served as the founding CEO of the Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre (now Molecular Medicine Ireland) which linked the three medical schools and six teaching hospitals in Dublin to build a critical mass in molecular medicine and translational research. The Centre managed the Euro 45 Million “Program for Human Genomics” financed by the Irish government and was responsible for coordinating the successful application for the first Wellcome Trust funded Clinical Research Centre to be set up in Ireland.

For over 20 years, Dr. Meulien has managed expert research teams with a number of organizations, including Aventis Pasteur in Toronto (Senior Vice President of R&D), and in Lyon, France (Director of Research). He also spent seven years with the French biotechnology company Transgene in Strasbourg, France as a research scientist and part of the management team.

Dr. Meulien’s academic credentials include a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and a post-doctoral appointment at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.

Dr. Peter Morand is president of an Ottawa-based consulting firm that undertakes assignments related to governance, business development, technology management and performance measurement with advanced technology companies, universities and other R&D organizations across Canada. He was a member of the International Review Committee that carried out an assessment of the performance of the Alberta Science and Research Authority for its initial six years of operation. He was also a member of the International Review Committee (2005-06) that carried out an assessment of the performance of Valorisation Recherche Québec, created in 1999 to accelerate and leverage research and innovation in that province. He served as founding President, CEO and Director of the Canadian Science and Technology Growth Fund Inc., a venture capital fund that invested in early-stage advanced technology companies from 1996 until its merger with Growthworks Canadian Fund in 2005.

Peter Morand is past President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC, 1990-95), Canada’s federal agency that currently invests more than $1 billion annually in support of university research and training. Prior to his NSERC appointment, Dr. Morand spent many years at the University of Ottawa as Professor of Chemistry and occupied the positions of Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering and of Vice Rector, University Relations & Development.

He is currently Special Advisor to the The Killam Trusts and to the Canada Council for the Arts in the adjudication of annual Killam Research Fellowships and Killam Prizes made possible by one of North America’s largest private trusts in support of research and scholarship. In this context he regularly visits research-intensive universities across Canada and keeps abreast of the latest advances in all disciplines.

He chairs the Board of SOVAR, the commercialization arm of ULaval and is a Board member of FOLIA (a vaccine company) and of NeuroDevNet (NCE – autism, FAS, cerebral palsy at UBC). Peter Morand has been a member of the Advisory Boards of the National Research Council of Canada’s Institute on Biodiagnostic (NRC-IBD, Winnipeg) and of the Institute for Biological Sciences (NRC-IBS, Ottawa) and has served as a director on the Boards of Adherex Technologies Inc. (TSX-AHX, founding Chair, 1998-2009) and of D-Box Technology Inc. (Longueuil, QC, TSX Venture, DBO-A, 2004-06). He is a past member of the Boards of Variation Biotechnologies Inc. (a vaccine development start-up), of the Ottawa Life Sciences Council (past Chair), of the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network, of the Institute on Governance, of the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (mental health), of the Ottawa Hospital and of the Ottawa Health Research Institute.

He obtained his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from McGill University and was a postdoctoral fellow with Professor Sir Derek Barton at Imperial College in the U.K. He is author or co-author of over eighty scientific papers published in Canada, Britain and the U.S. and holds twenty patents. Fluent in English and French, Peter Morand is a frequent speaker and writer on policy and advanced technology issues.