Board of Directors
James A. McEwen PhD, P Eng.
Dr. McEwen is Chairman of the Board. He is also president of a group of successful biomedical companies based in Vancouver that focus on the development and worldwide commercialization of new medical technologies. He and his companies currently hold over 100 issued patents. He is a professional engineer and was recently elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society. Dr. McEwen has successfully developed and commercialized a number of new medical devices that are in widespread use around the world. From 1975 to 1990, Dr. McEwen founded and served as director of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the Vancouver Hospital & Health Sciences Centre. He is also a founder and director of the Medical Device Development Centre (MDDC), a successful not-for-profit center associated with the Vancouver Hospital that facilitates the collaborative development and evaluation of new medical technology. As a result of the success and widespread impact on the public of some of his innovations, Dr. McEwen received the $100,000 Principal Award for Innovation in Canada from the Ernest C. Manning Foundation in 1997. Dr. McEwen received his PhD in electrical engineering (biomedical) from the University of British Columbia.
Heiner Dreismann PhD
Previously, Dr. Dreismann served as President and CEO of Roche Molecular Diagnostics (RMD) where he created an industry leading product portfolio and spearheaded global marketing and sales efforts resulting in the doubling of the overall sales of the company during a six year period. During this time, he was also appointed member of Roche Diagnostics' Global Executive Committee. Prior to RMD, he was head of the Integration Office for Roche Diagnostics where he managed the merger of Boehringer Mannheim with Roche Diagnostics. Additionally, Dr. Dreismann is currently on the boards of several public and private biotech and diagnostic companies. Dr. Dreismann received both his M.A. in Biology and his Ph.D. in Microbiology/Molecular Biology from Westfaelische Wilhelms University in Muenster, Germany.
Jim Heppell LLB
Mr. Heppell is President and Fund Manager of BC Advantage (VCC) Funds, a venture fund focused on financing early stage life science and technology companies. Over the past twenty years, Mr. Heppell has acted as a director, officer or advisor to approximately one-third of the life science companies that have spun out of BC universities. He has also worked with a number of US life science companies. Mr. Heppell is currently Chairman of the Board for Inovio Biomedical (AMEX:INO) and a director of Protox Therapeutics (TSX-V:PRX) and Urodynamix Technologies (TSX-V:URO). He is a past director of BC Biotech and a past member of the Securities Policy Advisory Committee to the British Columbia Securities Commission. Over the years, he has written a number of articles and taught numerous courses on corporate finance and corporate governance issues as they relate to life science companies. Mr. Heppell has a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and an LL.B. from the University of British Columbia.
Amos Michelson MBA
Mr. Michelson was the Chief Executive Officer of Creo Inc from June 1995, until Kodak purchased Creo in May 2005. He joined Creo in 1991 and served in various positions as Vice President Business Strategy, Managing Director and Chair of the Board of Directors until his appointment as CEO. Prior to joining Creo, he was the CEO of Opal Inc., a semi-conductor equipment company and prior to this Mr. Michelson held various positions with Optrotech Ltd., a developer and manufacturer of optical and imaging systems for the electronic industry, most recently as its Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Michelson holds a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Business School and a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. He is a past member of the Premier's technology Council and in 1999 was named Entrepreneur of the Year, along with Dan Gelbart, by Ernst & Young. In 2005, Mr. Michelson was named the BCTIA Person of the Year, an award presented to an individual, who has made an outstanding contribution to the technology industry during the year.
Bradley Popovich MSc, PhD, FACMG
Dr. Popovich brings a wealth of diagnostic and commercial expertise to Sirius. Preceding his role as director, Dr. Popovich was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Sirius Genomics. Prior to joining Sirius, Dr. Popovich was Vice President of Operations at Xenon Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, Dr. Popovich was a tenured professor at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) focusing on the characterization of the fragile X syndrome. Concurrently, he was also the Director for both the Clinical Genetic Laboratories and the DNA Diagnostic Laboratory in the University Hospital at OHSU where he was responsible for the development of molecular assays for a wide variety of genetic diseases. Dr. Popovich has been on the boards of Tm Bioscience and the American College of Medical Genetics, and he currently sits on the boards of the American College of Medical Genetics Foundation, DNA Direct, and Genome British Columbia. Dr. Popovich received his PhD from McGill University, and did his postdoctoral studies under Nobel Laureate, Dr. Oliver Smithies. He received his Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and Clinical Training at the University of Wisconsin and the University of North Carolina Schools of Medicine.
Patrick Terry
Mr. Terry is a social entrepreneur who has founded a series of innovative philanthropic, research, and commercial organizations based on the life sciences, applied technology, and social-network theory. In 2000, he and a group of prominent leaders in the fields of genomics, bioinformatics and biotechnology founded Genomic Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX), a pioneering personalized medicine company based in California. His perspective is forged from personal and family experiences with genetic disease, cancer, and extensive work in the patient advocacy community. He is a lay person: his scientific, technical, and medical knowledge is all self-taught. Mr. Terry has published dozens of peer-reviewed scientific papers, articles, and book chapters in the field of genetics, personalized medicine, and biomedical research. Some of his activities include leadership positions on numerous trade associations, professional societies, corporate boards, and he sits on a number of federal advisory bodies. He has experience doing hands-on bench science, coordinating human genetic research programs, conducting basic research on rare diseases, and manages multiple life science patents. Mr. Terry has received many honors and awards in the business, medical, and scientific communities in the U.S. and internationally. He has dedicated his career to helping people and advancing a patient-centered perspective in research and translational medicine. Mr. Terry has also founded the following organizations: Personalized Medicine Coalition, Coalition for 21st Century Medicine, PXE International, Genetic Alliance BioBank, Technic Solutions, and the International Genetic Alliance. Mr. Terry will launch and lead a new global Pricing & Market Access Practice at Scientia Advisors LLC based in Boston, MA.
Chris Wagner BSc
Chris Wagner has over 19 years of experience in marketing, sales and business development. Preceding his role as President and CEO, Mr. Wagner was Vice President of Business Development at Sirius Genomics. Previously, Mr. Wagner was with Aspreva Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ASPV; TSX: ASV) as the Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of Business Development. Prior to Aspreva, Mr. Wagner was with Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) as an international service employee working in Europe, North America and Asia with positions based in Toronto, Indianapolis and Boston. Mr. Wagner sits on the Board as an advisor to several not-for-profit genomics research organizations. Mr. Wagner holds a BSc in Organic Chemistry from the University of British Columbia.