About us: Team

Dr. Jiahu Wang is the founder and President of Genvira Biosciences Inc.

Previously he was a cancer researcher at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute where he led a team which designed, constructed and produced customized viral products for academic collaborators and industrial partners. Prior to that he spent 7 years working as Director, Novel Biotherapeutics at Jennerex Biotherapeutics in the U.S.

Dr. Wang was a Postdoc from Cell Biology, University of Virginia. He received a PhD in Chemistry from Queens University.

Pamod Hemakumara is a corporate and business development consultant at Genvira Biosciences Inc.He brings nearly 10 years of experience in corporate strategy and BD across biotech, pharma, and life science sectors, having executed over $175M in transactions spanning licensing, M&A, fundraising, VC investments, and strategic partnerships. Previously, Pamod was Director of Corporate Development at Quibim, where he supported the company’s Series A and led pharma and medtech partnerships. Before that, he worked with the Samsung Group on global strategy initiatives, including Samsung Biologics’ expansion into next-gen modalities such as cell and gene therapy.

He holds an MBA from IMD, a Master’s in Biomedical Technology from the University of Calgary, and a BSc in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from UNBC.

Dr. Jiahu Wang is the founder and President of Genvira Biosciences Inc.

Previously
he was a cancer researcher at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
where he led a team which designed, constructed and produced customized
viral products for academic collaborators and industrial partners.
Prior to that he spent 7 years working as Director, Novel
Biotherapeutics at Jennerex Biotherapeutics in the U.S.

Dr. Wang was a Postdoc from Cell Biology, University of Virginia. He received a PhD in Chemistry from Queens University.

Dr. John Lin is the Co-CEO of Frontage Laboratories, Inc. Before this, he served as the Executive Vice President, Bioanalytical and Biologics Services, where he led operations for the company’s global bioanalytical labs. Before joining Frontage, he served as a business leader in AstraZeneca’s global drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK) division. Prior to AstraZeneca, Dr. Lin was Laboratory Director for Avantix Laboratories. Dr. Lin completed post-doctoral research in pharmacokinetics and metabolism at the College of Pharmacy and the Comprehensive Cancer Center of the Ohio State University. He earned a PhD in analytical chemistry from Dalhousie University in Canada.

Dr. Jim de Wilde (independent) is a career educator and venture capitalist, Dr. de Wilde has focused on global competitiveness and the commercialization of knowledge in both the private and public sectors. Dr. de Wilde was a member of the RBC Capital Markets Technology Fund Advisory Board and currently serves on the currently serves on the Investment Committee of iNovia Capital in Montreal and the Advisory Board of Enertech Capital in Toronto.
He has a PhD from McGill with a dissertation focusing on technology competitiveness.

John Bell is a world-renowned thought leader in cancer-fighting
(oncolytic) virus research and development. He is a Senior Scientist at
the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Professor in the Departments
of Medicine and Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology at the
University of Ottawa. For more than twenty years, John and his team have
been developing oncolytic viruses. He is a Co-founder of Turnstone
Biologics, a San Diego company developing novel biotherapeutics to treat
and cure patients with solid tumors. John is the Scientific Director of
BioCanRx - Canada’s Immunotherapy Network - a not-for-profit
organization working to accelerate the development of innovative
immunotherapeutics, designed to save lives and enable a better quality
of life for Canadian cancer patients. John was elected as a fellow of
the Royal Society of Canada in 2013 and the Canadian Academy of Health
Sciences in 2022. He serves on the Boards of Directors the Terry Fox
Research Institute and the Biologics Manufacturing Centre. John holds
Bachelor’s and Ph.D. degrees from McMaster University.

Dr. Evan Steeg has over 20 years of experience and deep expertise in Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning. Evan has successfully developed and commercialized AI-driven solutions for biopharma and other industries. He was a co-founder, President and CEO of Molecular Mining Co., a firm specializing in utilizing AI to streamline pharmaceutical processes. Evan has patented inventions in data mining, AI/ML and bioinformatics. He is well versed in technology commercialization and strategic foresight. Evan Steeg holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto under the supervision of “Deep Learning” AI pioneer Prof. Geoffrey Hinton

Dr. Georg Roth has over 30 years of experience in the biopharma industry. Until recently, Dr. Roth was the CTO of CG Oncology and held senior management positions at OncoMyx and KaliVir, in charge of product manufacturing. Prior to that he was the COO and SVP Technical Operations of Sillajen Biotherapeutics. Previously, he was VP at Jennerex Biotherapeutics. He also held positions at Dynavax, Berlex and Schering AG. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Technical University Berlin, Germany

Dr. Lance Wong has extensive experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. Since 2019, Lance is the VP, Manufacturing at IMVAQ. Prior to this, he was the Managing Director at Strand Bio, where he acted as senior advisor or in executive roles for start-ups. Lance has worked at Bavarian Nordic, Inc. as the Director for CMC strategy, operational support for pre-BLA/-MAA. Lance also contributed to partnership deals with major pharmaceutical companies. Lance also worked at MedImmune/AstraZeneca, successfully managed regulatory filings and site inspections. Lance Wong holds a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from UCLA