MORPHOCELL - Key Persons


Claudia Raggi - CTO, Founder

Job Titles:
  • Chief Technology Officer
  • Co - Founder
Claudia is an expert in human development and stem cell differentiation. Educated in medicine at the University of Rome La Sapienza and at the Catholic University of Louvain, Claudia has been a full-time basis and translational scientist since 2009. Inventor of Morphocell's iPSC-based platform technology, with unique expertise in preclinical development of cell therapy products and cell manufacturing, Claudia built and leads the Company's passionate team of engineers and scientists that is bringing its engineered tissues to the clinic.

Cynthia Lavoie

Job Titles:
  • Member of the BOD
  • President and Chief Investment Officer of CCRM Enterprises Ltd
Cynthia is currently President and Chief Investment Officer of CCRM Enterprises Ltd., responsible for the investment portfolio. Cynthia is also a Managing Director of AllosteRx Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm she co-founded in 2018. She earned her MBA with first class honors from Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and earned her PhD in Molecular Biology with Dean's honors from McGill University. Before founding AllosteRx Capital, Cynthia was a General Partner with TVM Capital, a global fund with main offices in Munich and Montreal, and partner and co-head of the life sciences fund at VG Partners before that. Cynthia seats on many boards and is an independent member of Morphocell's BOD since 2022.

Dr. Margaret Bywater - CEO, President

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • President
  • Special Adviser
A senior executive with extensive experience in building biotechnology and life science-related businesses, Maggie is accomplished in identifying and commercializing technologies, as well as successfully bringing new classes of products to market in global biotech industry. With extensive experience of start-ups, and managing growth in small businesses, as well as in global organizations, she is a business developer and deal maker with over thirty years of industry experience in integration of technologies to answer difficult biological questions. Maggie co-founded Morphocell and has been leading the Company as an active member of Board of Directors since the very beginning. MONTREAL, April 15, 2019 - Morphocell Technologies Inc.announces that, as initially planned, Dr. Margaret Bywater Ekegärd is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer and President. As a co-founder, Maggie played an integral role in the start-up of the corporation and successfully led it through the completion of a seed financing investment round.

Massimiliano Paganelli - CEO, Founder

Job Titles:
  • Co - Founder
  • Interim Chief Executive Officer
Max is a pediatric transplant hepatologist, head of the Liver Tissue Engineering and Cell Therapy Laboratory at CHU Sainte-Justine and associate professor of pediatrics at the Université de Montréal. He earned his medical degree at the Sapienza University of Rome, and trained in pediatrics in Rome and in pediatric hepatology and transplantology in Naples and in Brussels. Max also has a Ph.D. in hepatology and cell therapy from the Catholic University of Louvain. Expert in cell therapy of liver diseases, he is a Stem Cell Network investigator and a CIHR/FRQS-funded scientist. Driven by the needs of his young patients, Max is seeking better ways to treat liver disease using novel stem cell therapies. Max has been leading Morphocell as president and CEO since 2019.

Susan Burkman

Job Titles:
  • Member of the BOD
  • Financial Consulting Executive
Susan is an experienced financial consulting executive with 35 years of experience in the investment banking industry. She has successfully led equity, M&A, and valuation and fairness opinion transactions in excess of $6 billion for Canadian companies across numerous industries. She is president of Burkman Capital Corporation, an investment banking boutique located in Bromont, Québec. She holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree and Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh and became a Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania. Among her many previous experiences, she was a partner at Griffiths McBurney and Partners and a Director at GMP Securities where she led the Investment Banking Group in Montreal. Susan has been working with Morphocell since its very beginnings, and is a member of its BOD since 2022.