The PREVENT Team

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.

Mr. Dale Botting has been a high profile Canadian business leader and "serial CEO" – having led five different corporate organizations – a national industry associations (CFIB), a large non-profit social services enterprise (SARC and SARCAN), the engineering and environmental industry (Regional Manager, MacLaren PlanSearch), economic development (SREDA Inc.), and international trade promotion (STEP). Dale's last corporate position was as Deputy Minister in the Brad Wall government, and he retired in 2010 after serving as the founding CEO of Enterprise Saskatchewan and Innovation Saskatchewan. He is a member of the International Coaching Federation; Program Chair of the Prairie Professional Coaching Association, and holds the designation of Certified International Trade Professional (C.I.T.P.).

After retirement from various CEO positions, Dale formed his own business in spring 2010. Botting Leadership Inc. offers three core services – Leadership Coaching, Leadership Training and Corporate Strategy Development. In his consulting work, he assists dozens of industrial clients in all sectors of the Canadian economy. He also assists aboriginal economic development corporations, communities, universities, and international research institutes. Dale has an added interest in commercialization of technology. He is actively supporting this work with the U of S College of Engineering, the U of S industry Liaison Office, and as a contract COO with the Pan-Provincial Vaccine Enterprise (PREVENT Inc.).

He has three university degrees with Highest Distinction in Biology and Geography (Double Honours, 1975) and Education (1977) - all from the University of Saskatchewan. He also conducted post-graduate studies in environmental design and resource management at both the U. of S. and the University of Calgary. In 2011 he graduated from the Newfield Network International Coach Training Program, based in Denver USA.

Dr. Brown has significant input into the selection of promising vaccine technologies, and responsibility for the establishment of collaboration, co-development and partnership agreements enabling progression of selected projects along the commercialization path. His mandate includes intellectual property assessment and protection, technology transfer, industry liaison, and regulatory activities.

He originally trained in cell biology, physiology & immunology and psychology, with post-graduate work in biochemistry and molecular biology. Over the past 25 years he has developed a broad background in agricultural biology, agronomy, and the development and commercialization of new product opportunities.

Within the private sector, he has worked with the Plant Cell & Molecular Group, and the Microbial Inoculants Division, of Allelix Crop Technologies, the Ag Biologicals Team within the Esso/Exxon environment, Agrium Biologicals, and was the Principal Research Scientist, and Innovation and Intellectual Property Manager – New Products for Agrium Inc.

Following this, Dr. Brown joined the Saskatchewan Research Council as Director of SRC's Business Development Branch, with responsibilities ranging from marketing and communications to new product development, technology mentoring, investment, licensing and commercialization activities. His involvement with SRC's activities included mining, mineral exploration, petroleum recovery, climate change, ground water, analytical services, small industry services, intelligent systems and alternative fuels technologies.

Later he became the Vice-President of the Agriculture & Biotechnology Division of SRC he was responsible for: i) Bova-Can Labs, a joint venture partnership with seven major cattle breed associations in Canada focusing on purebred certification, genomics and genetic diagnostics for livestock and companion animal breeds, ii) the Fermentation and BioProcessing Business Unit, a pilot plant facility providing bioprocessing and process development expertise and pilot plant production of veterinary and human vaccines and therapeutics, and microbial inoculants, and iii) GenServe Laboratories, a high-throughput sequencing genetics/genomics facility servicing animal, plant and microbial interests.

Dr. Brown is currently vice-chair of the Board of Genome Prairie.

Mr. Peter Yim has been PREVENT's Director of Outreach and Partnerships since 2008. In this capacity he is responsible for building awareness of, developing relationships with, and providing marketing support for academia, industry, governments, international non-governmental organizations and private sector partners. Through partnership building and understanding, research companies, corporations, foundations and the public healthcare sector can more effectively work together to provide vaccines to address Canadian public health priorities.

Mr. Yim also fosters and facilitates initiatives that provide the organization with focus and the capacity to harness funding opportunities that will ensure PREVENT's long term sustainability. This includes engaging the services of external parties with expertise in partnership development, where necessary.

Mr. Yim was born in Shanghai, China, and was raised in Hong Kong. Upon finishing high school, he moved to Austin, Texas, where he attended the University of Texas and received a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree. After returning to Hong Kong, Mr. Yim took a position with a textile company as an international sales and marketing representative.

In 1978, Mr. Yim came to Canada and was hired by Merck Sharp and Dohme as a professional service representative. In 1982, the company expanded and created the Merck Frosst Division and Mr. Yim was recruited to join the new venture. In 1983, he was promoted to the position of Hospital Specialist Representative and subsequently, to senior hospital representative, focusing on infectious diseases and antibiotics.

In 1996, Mr. Yim joined the Merck Vaccine Division and promoted a number of novel vaccine products, during which time he received the highest award in the Division for outstanding performance. In 1998, Mr. Yim was further promoted to the position of Regional Business Manager (Western Canada), leading, motivating, and developing direct reports to aspire to higher levels of competency and success, establishing benchmarks of excellence to build stellar relationships with both internal and external customers.

From 2003- 2007, Mr. Yim was a Medical Science Liaison in the Merck Frosst Cardiovascular Division and subsequently the Urology Division, developing profiles and identifying areas of professional interest to motivate a change in perception amongst stakeholders and key opinion leaders.

Dr. Luis H. Martin is the Director of Product Development at PREVENT and is responsible for managing the development of specific vaccine projects. He brings to the group over 20 years of experience in commercial biotechnology. Prior to joining PREVENT, Dr. Martin was Chief Development and QA Officer at Mitomics where he was responsible for managing new product development, the clinical trial programs, and directing the implementation of a Quality Assurance program. Previously he was also the managing director and founder of Lumar Management Consulting Inc. (LMCI), a company providing operational management and executive mentoring to emerging biotechnology companies.

Dr. Martin has also held various senior management positions at biotechnology companies including, Director of Research and development at Arius Research Inc.; Vice President, Research and Development at GENSEL Biotechnologies Inc.; and Director of Immunobiology at Biomira Inc. He also previously served as Section Head of Molecular Immunology with the NRC Biotechnology Research Institute in Montreal, and held adjunct faculty appointments with the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University, and the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Guelph.

Dr. Martin holds a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Waterloo, an M.Sc. and B.Sc. in cell biology from the University of Toronto, and completed post-doctoral studies at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, UK under Dr. Cesar Milstein, FRS, and Nobel Laureate.

Dr. John Mapletoft is the Business Development Manager for PREVENT. Dr. Mapletoft has been a part of the Commercialization and Product Development teams at PREVENT since 2009. In this capacity he is tasked to prospect, evaluate, negotiate and maintain agreements and strategic alliances with third parties. He also plays a pivotal role in supporting ongoing Product Development activities at PREVENT.

Dr. Mapletoft has been working with vaccines for more than 10 years. He received a B.Sc. Honours in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Veterinary Microbiology from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Over the course of his Ph.D., he carried out research on vaccines and adjuvants at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In particular, his Ph.D. research focused on the use of novel adjuvants to modulate the immune response induced by vaccines against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). He has a strong background in the design and execution of pre-clinical animal studies.

Dr. Mapletoft is also a graduate of the WestLink Innovation Network Technology Commercialization Internship Program, in which he spent time working with PREVENT and Ag-West Bio Inc. in Saskatoon, as well as Red River College’s Applied Research & Commercialization Office and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)-National Microbiology Laboratory’s Business Development & Operations Office in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His training during the Internship Program focused primarily on agreements, intellectual property management and financing activities, all in the context of technology commercialization.

Dr. Élodie Pastural is a Product Development Project Manager within PREVENT.

Initially trained as an engineer by the École Polytechnique in France, Dr. Pastural received her MSc and PhD in immunology from University Paris VI / Pasteur Institute. Following a first post-doctoral fellowship in biochemistry funded by the EMBO at the Institute of Biology and Chemistry of Proteins in Lyon she moved to Canada. After completing a CIHR-funded post-doctoral training in biochemistry at the University of Saskatchewan, Dr. Pastural became a research scientist at Phenomenome Discoveries Inc. in the metabolomics field, and was in charge of the identification of metabolic patterns associated with cancers and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Now a Certified Associate in Project Management© and soon certified in Regulatory Affairs, she focuses on the development of promising Canadian vaccine candidates within PREVENT.

Gladys is retired from Law Enforcement where she provided administrative and human resource support in the areas of finance, procurement, project management, building maintenance, accommodation and administration, as part of a District Management Team. She also provided accommodation services in the area of building security, property management, and prepared business cases and supporting analysis for furniture procurement for facilities. She was responsible for the creation and implementation of a Criminal Operations transcribing unit and prioritizing major crime files for the Province, hiring and supervising employees, and procurement of office space and equipment. She is a graduate of Saskatoon Business College. She was awarded the RCMP Long Service Award for Exemplary Service and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Commemorative medal acknowledging outstanding work in both the community and on the job.

After retirement, Gladys worked in the Bio-Tech industry with the Executive Teams in two companies, the latter being her present position at PREVENT.

Gladys was born in rural Saskatchewan and has lived in Saskatoon for several years. She has two adult sons and a daughter in-law.