STEMCORE - Key Persons
Our lab is uncovering some of the factors that lead to depression and determine whether patients will respond to antidepressants. Antidepressants like serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are only effective in 30% of depressed patients and require over three weeks. Thus, better ways of predicting response or alternative treatments are needed. To address these questions, we have examined the genetic and epigenetic regulators of the serotonin system and their effects on behavior and antidepressant response. To do this we use mouse models of mental illness, as well as human samples from collaborators.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
Anne Ferguson has over 25 years of experience in the Canadian health sector working with industry and not-for-profit organizations. Most recently, she was the CEO of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, a national medical professional association for cardiovascular specialists dedicated to research dissemination, knowledge translation and advocacy for quality cardiovascular care in Canada. Anne earned a BA in Economics from McGill University and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business. Her expertise includes governance, operations excellence and fund development.
Anne lives in west Ottawa with her husband, Andrew, two children, Leigh and Jay and the dog, Harley. Having recently retired from her day job, Anne is focused on the potential of the city of Ottawa and realizing her passion for travel.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Senior Research Technician
Caroline Vergette has been with StemCore Laboratories at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute since 2003. She obtained a BSc in Biology from the University of Ottawa in 2001 after which she perfected her Biotechnology skills at La Cité Collégiale, earning a Biotechnology Diploma in 2003. Caroline has performed various roles within the core facility; she was the dedicated operator of the MoFlo flow cytometer and cell sorter for 5 years after which she applied her knowledge of genomics to perform Sanger sequencing, Affymetrix microarrays and Illumina next generation sequencing. Caroline has also participated high-throughput research projects such as the Stem Cell Genomics Project and International Regulome Consortium, performing large-scale cell culture and differentiation assays.
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- Director, StemCore Laboratories
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Chief Operating Officer
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Program Director, Regenerative Medicine )
- Senior Scientist, Regenerative Medicine / Ottawa Hospital Research Institute / Associate Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Dr. Baptiste Lacoste's research career started at University of Bordeaux (France) where he developed his passion for neurobiology, for instance studying Parkinson's disease-associated neuropathological deficits in a mouse model of the disease. Seeking new scientific and life challenges, Dr. Lacoste left France and pursued his graduate training at University of Montreal (2003-2009) under the supervision of Dr. Laurent Descarries. His M.Sc.-Ph.D. work allowed him to acquire a solid expertise in neuroanatomy and neurobiology, while investigating the trafficking of substance P receptors using pharmacology and electron microscopy. Desiring to expand his knowledge in neurobiology of disease, he continued his training with a first postdoc position at the Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University (2009-2012). From Dr. Edith Hamel's lab, he investigated the involvement of bradykinin B1 receptor in the cerebrovascular and cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), using transgenic AD mice, neuropharmacology, neuroanatomy, biochemistry, cerebrovascular physiology and animal behavior. During this postdoc, Dr. Lacoste developed a new passion for vascular biology, which motivated him to further investigate the intimate relationships between neuronal and vascular systems in the healthy and diseased brain. To gain a thorough understanding of neurovascular interactions from a developmental (and genetic) point of view, Dr. Lacoste continued with a second postdoc in Boston at Harvard Medical School (2012-2015). From Dr. Chenghua Gu's lab, he examined the influence of neural activity on cerebrovascular patterning during postnatal development, as well as the mechanisms governing blood-brain barrier formation and integrity. This allowed him to deepen his knowledge of vascular biology and imaging techniques, and to learn the power of mouse genetics. Along his training, Dr. Lacoste thus established an original research niche based on the conviction that studying neurovascular interactions in the healthy and diseased brain is a very promising avenue in neurobiology at both basic and translational levels.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Chairman, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee )
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Vice - Chair, Research, Department of Medicine )
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Deputy Scientific Director, Clinical Research )
- Senior Scientist & Deputy Scientific Director of Practice - Changing Research
- Senior Scientist, Methodological & Implementation Research / Ottawa Hospital Research Institute / Deputy Scientific Director, Clinical Research
Dr. Fergusson is a Senior Scientist & Deputy Scientific Director of Practice-Changing Research, at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He is also a Full Professor, Departments of Medicine, Surgery, & of the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa. Dr. Fergusson holds the position of Endowed Chair, OHRI/uOttawa, Clinical Epidemiology Program and is the Scientific Lead of the Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Associate Program Director, Inflammation and Chronic Disease )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Program Director, Inflammation and Chronic Disease )
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Acting Program Director, Cancer Research )
- Senior Scientist, Cancer Research / Ottawa Hospital Research Institute / Acting Program Director, Cancer Research
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Professor With the Department of Emergency Medicine
- Program Director, Acute Care Research )
- Senior Scientist, Acute Care Research / Ottawa Hospital Research Institute / Director, Acute Care Research
Dr. Perry is a Professor with the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Ottawa, and a Senior Scientist with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He completed the family medicine residency program at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and emergency medicine residency at the University of Manitoba and subsequently completed the Emergency Medicine Research Fellowship at the University of Ottawa, and obtained a Master of Science in Epidemiology in 2002. He holds a Research Chair in Emergency Neurological Research from the University of Ottawa. He previously held a Canadian Institutes for Health Research New Investigator Award and an Ontario Ministry of Health Career Scientist Award.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Program Director, Methodological and Implementation Research )
- Senior Scientist and Director of the Methodological & Implementation Research Program
- Senior Scientist, Methodological & Implementation Research / Ottawa Hospital Research Institute / Program Director, Methodological & Implementation Research
Dr. Presseau is a Senior Scientist and Director of the Methodological & Implementation Research program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and Associate Professor in the School of Epidemiology & Public Health and School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. As a behavioural scientist, he leads the Psychology and Health Research Group (PaHRG) and the Centre for Implementation Research at the Ottawa Hospital. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen (UK). His research program operates at the intersection between behavioural science and implementation science, focusing on developing and evaluating interventions to support healthcare professional behaviours and health behaviours of patients and the public.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Associate Scientific Director, Training )
- Scientist, Acute Care Research / Ottawa Hospital Research Institute / Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Program Director, Neuroscience )
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Acting Associate Program Director, Cancer Research )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Associate Program Director, Neuroscience )
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Deputy Scientific Director, Basic Science )
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Scientific Director
- CEO and Scientific Director )
- Executive Vice - President, Research and Innovation / the Ottawa Hospital / CEO & Scientific Director
Dr. Rebecca Auer is interested in all aspects of cancer surgery, from diagnosis to surgery for metastatic disease. As a Surgeon-Scientist, Dr. Auer heads a research laboratory and is the principle investigator in related clinical trials. Her translational research program focuses on understanding the promotion of metastatic disease in the perioperative period, following surgical stress. In particular she is studying novel perioperative cancer therapies, including oncolytic viruses, cancer vaccines and low molecular weight heparin, which inhibit the formation of metastases postoperatively.
Dr. Rebecca Auer is the CEO and Scientific Director at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute as well as the Executive Vice-President, Research and Innovation at The Ottawa Hospital. She is a Surgical Oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital and a Professor in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Auer leads a translational research program focused on understanding the promotion of metastatic disease in the postoperative period. She had defined a mediating role for Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells and effector Natural Killer and T cells in cancer recurrence following surgery. Using surgically relevant preclinical animal models, Dr. Auer has identified candidate immunotherapies capable of counteracting the immunosuppressive effects of surgery. Dr. Auer has led six translational clinical trials of perioperative cancer therapies based on this preclinical research. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and received over $30 million dollars in peer-reviewed funding to support her work. Dr. Auer is also the co-founder of the Canadian Cholangiocarcinoma Collaborative (C3) which aims provide hope to Canadian patients with biliary tract cancers by integrating research into care, funded by the Canadian Cancer Society.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Senior Counsel With Dentons Canada LLP
Greg Kane is a Senior Counsel with Dentons Canada LLP practising Regulatory/Administrative Law before government departments and agencies, including the CRTC, the Copyright Board, Innovation, Science and Technology Canada, Canadian Heritage, and the Lobbying and Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioners. He has also appeared before the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada in judicial proceedings to review department and agency decisions. Throughout his legal career, Mr. Kane has been actively involved in a volunteer capacity in organizations relating to health, education, international development and the arts.
Job Titles:
- Research Administrative Assistant
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Director, Research Administration and Human Resources )
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Director, Communications and Public Relations )
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- Administrative Coordinator
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- Vice - Chair of the Board of Directors
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- Lab Manager, StemCore Laboratories / Senior Research Technician
Kathy Sheikheleslamy has been at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute since 2002. She received her BSc from Concordia University. She has an extensive background in Microbiology, Cellular, and Molecular Biology techniques. During her tenure at StemCore Laboratories she has been involved in several large-scale projects such as The Stem Cell Genomic Project and International Regulome Consortium. As lab manager she has acted as the Health and Safety Representative and has mentored junior technicians and cooperative students.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Principal and Co - Founder of the Hillbrooke Group
Lisa is the principal and co-founder of the Hillbrooke Group, a full-service communications firm established in 1995. Working in the public and not-for-profit sectors, the Hillbrooke Group offers clients a full range of services including strategic planning and implementation, internal communications, media relations, social media, stakeholder engagement, content development and special event planning and execution.
Lisa began her career on Parliament Hill working for a Member of Parliament. She then joined a federal Crown Corporation where she spent 11 years engaged in a wide variety of communication roles culminating in her final position as the Director of Communications.
Early in her consultancy practice, Lisa had the opportunity to broaden her skills through her involvement with several complex communication and media projects including the 1995 G-7 Summit meetings, the 1997 APEC Ministerial Meeting for Small Business, the 1998 International Meeting on Cultural Policy, the Ninth Conference of Spouses of Heads of State and Government of the Americas, the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada and the Canadian Nurses Association National Expert Commission.
Over the past 20 years, Lisa has assumed leadership of teams where she has worked closely with and managed a variety of communications specialists. In that capacity, she has developed, implemented and overseen assignments requiring a high level of project management expertise. She regularly plans and implements strategic internal and external communication initiatives, multi-stakeholder engagement projects and successful media relations campaigns.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Managing Director, Finance and Operations )
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- Member of the Board of Directors
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- Senior Scientist
- Senior Scientist, Regenerative Medicine / Ottawa Hospital Research Institute / Director, Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research
Michael Rudnicki is a Senior Scientist and the Director of the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He is Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Rudnicki is CEO and Scientific Director of the Canadian Stem Cell Network (SCN). Dr. Rudnicki's achievements have been recognized by numerous honours including being named a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, an International Research Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for two consecutive terms, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Society (London). He has been a founder in several spin-off biotechnology companies including Satellos Bioscience.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Director, Information Systems and Digital Solutions )
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- Research Administrative Assistant
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- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
- CEO of NeuroBot Inc.
Mr. Dane Bedward is the CEO of NeuroBot Inc., a strategic advisory company focused on assisting Medtech, Digital Medicine and Biopharma companies with their business strategies.
Prior to founding his advisory company, Dane was Senior Vice President International for Genzyme Corporation, one of the top 5 global biotech companies before being acquired by Sanofi-Aventis. His first assignment with Genzyme was as Managing Director and President of the Canadian subsidiary Genzyme Canada Inc. Genzyme Corporation is a pioneer in the development of products for rare genetic diseases.Throughout his career Mr. Bedward has also worked with other organizations such as Nordion International, Johnson and Johnson (in Canada and Europe), Flow Laboratories, and McMaster University.
Dane serves on the Board of Directors of The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO), The Capital Angel Network (CAN), and Panthera Cryosolutions, as well as chairs the Board of Directors for Spiderwort Inc. He is also a member of the L-Spark MedTech Advisory Committee, an Executive Fellow with Mistral Venture Partners, a Steering Committee member for Alacrity Ottawa, a medical markets strategic advisor for Welch Capital Markets, and a Charter Member of TiE. Dane has previously served on the following Boards: the Board of Governors of the University of Ottawa, the Board of Trustees for Bridgewater State University, The National Medical Devices Alliance, The Ottawa Health and Life Sciences Cluster, The New England-Canada Business Council, The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, The New England-Latin America Business Council, The Ottawa Life Sciences Council, and the Board of Directors for NeuroBiotech Inc.
Dane is a proud graduate of the University of Ottawa Science program. He has participated as a panel member in numerous conferences globally.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
Paul Davidson has played leadership roles in government, the private sector, and the voluntary sector for over 30 years.
He joined Universities Canada in May 2009 as President and CEO. ¯Universities Canada is the voice of Canada ™s universities at home and abroad. In addition to increases in research funding, Mr. Davidson has achieved increased resources for work-integrated learning and international opportunities for students. He has also advocated for increased attention to issues of access and success for indigenous students.
Prior to joining Universities Canada, Mr. Davidson was the executive director of World University Service of Canada (WUSC).
Mr. Davidson also held senior positions in Canadian book publishing including five years as executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers. In the early 1990s, Mr. Davidson led the Toronto office of a prominent government relations firm after having served as a political advisor to Ontario ™s Leader of the Opposition, Treasurer and Deputy Premier.
Mr. Davidson is married to Elly Vandenberg, and they have three young adult sons.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
Pauline is the Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President of Corporate Services at Canadian Blood Services. She is responsible for providing the executive management team and board of directors with advice and counsel relative to financial and procurement strategies. Pauline is leading a key strategic objective to achieve productivity targets and savings of $100 million. Pauline is responsible for shared services, facilities and equipment services. She is also the chair of the Canadian Blood Services ™ Defined Contribution Pension Plan and co-chair of the Canadian Blood Services ™ Defined Benefit Pension Plan.
She joined Canadian Blood Services in 1999 as director of financial operations. She brings extensive senior level leadership experience in internal audits, financial management, operational services, logistics, facilities, procurement and the implementation of information technology solutions.
Prior to Canadian Blood Services, Pauline spent five years in public accounting followed by senior roles in internal audit and finance at CARE Canada, an international humanitarian and relief organization. She has bachelor ™s degrees in arts and commerce and is a chartered professional accountant.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Director, Clinical Research Administration )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
Richard Meadows was selected by FORBES Magazine as one of the top ten Life Science Investors in North America in 2013.
Richard was a Managing Partner and one of the co-founders of CTI Life Sciences Fund, a successful Quebec-based Cdn.$100 million biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical devices investment fund (CTI I vintage 2007). He joined CTI from his previous position as a Venture Partner with VantagePoint Venture Partners, a US$2.8 billion private equity fund based in San Bruno, California. Richard was also a Partner in the Biotechnology Group of CDP Capital Technology Ventures, a Cdn.$1.2 billion fund affiliated with the Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec. A few examples of some of his exits:
ENOBIA Pharma " acquired by ALEXION for $1.081B
TARGEGEN " acquired by Sanofi Aventis for $575M
EXEMIAS Therapeutics " reverse merger into YM Biosciences; just before its acquisition by GILEAD for $510M
CGI Pharma acquired by GILEAD for $125M
Mr. Meadows has extensive experience in operations, clinical development, general management and finance in the biotechnology and medical device sectors. He has made, managed and exited numerous investments in the cancer, cardiovascular, auto-inflammatory, central nervous system, orphan disease, orthopaedic, medical diagnostic and immunology areas. He has represented venture capital and private equity investors on some 20+ corporate boards of directors.
Richard received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and a M.Sc. in Cardiovascular Physiology, both from McGill University. Richard is also a graduate of the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto where he received his M.B.A. and a Certificate in Financial Strategy.
Job Titles:
- Research Administrative Assistant
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- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Director, Corporate Governance & Compliance )
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- Research Technician, StemCore Laboratories
Shahriar joined the StemCore laboratories in 2020 after graduating from the Advanced Biotechnology program at Algonquin College in Ottawa. He had priorly worked as the manager of a clinical laboratory for over a decade and has extensive experience in biochemical, immunological, and hematologic diagnostic tests. He is in charge of the Sanger sequencing services and performs flow cytometry experiments part-time. He also mentors COOP students working in DNA Sequencing facility.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Director, Research Safety and Facilities Operations )