IGAN PARTNERS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Executive Assistant for Sam Ifergan
Anita Nunes works as an Executive Assistant for Sam Ifergan at iGan Partners. She brings to the Leadership Team over 25 years of administrative, project management, and senior level support experience. Her knowledge is augmented by her 16 years of international experience in Dubai.
Prior to joining iGan, Anita worked at Russell Reynolds Associate, a management consulting firm that specializes in leadership advisory and executive recruiting services. She supported the Senior Partner, Board and CEO Advisory.
Anita earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Bombay University.
Armando has been working in the entrepreneurial ecosystem for several years. He has been investing and mentoring startups for more than 8 years. Before Igan he founded Geno+ a leading genetics company in Latam. Armando holds an MBA from iE business school and he was designated by CNN/EXPANSION as the "Mexican Superpower", selected as one of the 10 Mexicans that inspire by Forbes, Guest Speaker 30 under 30 Forbes Mexico, Youth state award in 2014 and Mexican representative at the youth meeting of the World Economic Forum 2014 in Geneva, Swiss.
Billy is a Principal at iGan Partners. As a member of the investment team, he is responsible for leading deal sourcing, structuring, and diligence activities. He also works closely with existing portfolio operations, actively supporting with new transactions (financings and acquisitions) and strategic planning initiatives. He sits on the boards of eSight, Exact Imaging, MolecuLight, and COSM.
Billy graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business. He is a CFA Charterholder and has passed CPA Canada's Common Final Examination.
Chris was previously the Managing Partner and Founder of Hawthorn Equity Partners. Hawthorn is the successor to Genuity Capital Partners, a private equity business that he founded in 2005 in conjunction with Genuity Financial Group. Mr. Payne was Managing Partner of this business and primarily responsible for all of its investing activities, representing assets under management at its peak in excess of $400 million. Previously, from 2000 through 2005, Mr. Payne was a Managing Director within the Merchant Banking Group of CIBC. Mr. Payne was responsible for sourcing and managing a large pool of private equity investments for the bank in early stage North American businesses. Mr. Payne worked closely with the head of CIBC World Markets and the head of the Retail Banking operations on various investment strategies. Prior to CIBC (1998 - 2000), Mr. Payne was an entrepreneur working with a group of investors and executives in Silicon Valley on the formation of a business that ultimately became PayPal. Prior to these activities (1992 - 1998), Mr. Payne worked at BMO Nesbitt Burns as a vice President in M&A and later helped start BMO Nesbitt Burns Equity Partners, a North American mid-market focused merchant bank. In his formative years, Mr. Payne worked for Merrill Lynch (1985 - 1987) in M&A and then for The Blackstone Group (1987 - 1990) working on many large public M&A transactions and leverage buyouts. Mr. Payne holds an Honour's Bachelor's Degree in Commerce from Queen's University and an MBA from The Wharton School.
Physician informaticist experienced in diverse areas of healthcare systems including business intelligence & analytics, biomedical informatics, telemedicine, academic health sciences centres, and health administration. Alma has authored peer-reviewed publications in high-stakes assessments, artificial intelligence in medical education, ethics, and social media for healthcare providers. She also works as an independent consultant for health innovation, medical sciences and education projects.
Dr. Jurado holds a medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a Master's of Science in eHealth from McMaster University.
Dr. Andrew Dueck obtained his medical degree from Queen's University in 1999 and then trained in General Surgery at the University of Toronto during which time he also completed a Masters degree in clinical epidemiology. He then went on to complete a Fellowship in Vascular Surgery at the University of Toronto. Following this he did additional training at Arizona Heart Institute in minimally invasive and image-guided cardiovascular surgery.
Dr. Dueck is the head of the division of vascular surgery and co-director of the vascular laboratory at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and an assistant professor in the department of surgery at University of Toronto. He has sat on a variety of regional, provincial, and national committees for the planning and delivery of vascular surgery services including the Executive of the Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery, the Cardiac Care Network, and CorHealth. He is an associate scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute and an adjunct scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knolwedge Institute.
Dr. Dueck's research interests include novel approaches to cardiovascular imaging, the evaluation of novel percutaneous or endovascular devices or therapeutics, and outcomes following cardiovascular interventions. He has done extensive research into peripheral plaque characterization and flow independent MRI Imaging for patients with peripheral arterial disease. This work has generated multiple patents. Dr. Dueck is the co-founder and director of Magellan Biomedical, a medical device company that seeks to enhance navigation during cardiovascular interventions.
Dr. Anish Kirpalani is an academic radiologist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, and Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto. He is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and has given over 50 invited lectures nationally and internationally, predominantly in the fields of abdominal and cardiovascular MRI. He has received multiple teaching awards from the University of Toronto radiology residency and fellowship programs, and has hosted the annual accredited St. Michael's MRI Symposium for radiologists and MRI technologists since 2014. He is also an experienced board member, founder/entrepreneur, and health technology seed investor with a history of helping to build profitable health services company infrastructure from the ground up. Through this dynamic and varied experience, he can provide valuable perspective to companies and investors on the technical and clinical aspects of how healthcare services & technology innovation can be successfully applied to healthcare systems.
Dr. Ariel Dalfen is a psychiatrist with over 20 years of experience treating women across reproductive life stages: from those trying to conceive, those who are pregnant and postpartum through to the perimenopause population. She ran the largest perinatal mental health program in Ontario for 12 years and started the first of its kind women's mental health telemedicine program in 2013. In 2022, Dr. Dalfen co-founded BRIA (www.betterbria.com) a virtual care platform for women with mental health issues and she serves as BRIA's CEO.
After completing her undergraduate degree at Princeton University, she attended McMaster University medical school, and then completed her specialty training in psychiatry at the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Dalfen has published in both academic medical journals and the popular media. She lectures for both medical and public audiences on an array of topics related to women's health and has been a medical contributor on various television programs. In 2008, she published a book, When Baby Brings the Blues: Solutions for Postpartum Depression. This book is highly regarded and utilized by both health care providers and the general public.
Job Titles:
- Associate Editor of the American Association of Hip
Dr. Backstein is Associate Editor of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeon's Journal of Arthroplasty and Deputy Editor of the Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. He holds a number of patents in the realm of Orthopaedic Surgery and is co-founder of Arthrlense, a company developing augmented reality platforms for surgery.
In addition to his Family Practice, David is currently on staff at St. Joseph's Health Centre, and is a Lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at The University of Toronto. Dr. Greenberg was the Chief of Family and Community Medicine, and Chief of Emergency Medicine, and Chairman of Continuing Medical Education at Doctors Hospital, a community hospital which had taken a leadership role in the industry wide transition to a focus on Ambulatory care. David is also a member of the Ontario Anti-Infective review panel, a group that is trying to ensure antibiotics are used more appropriately in Ontario. He is the Chair or the Review Panel of The Men's Health Guidelines for Family Medicine, distributed to over 25000 Family Doctors and Nurse Practitioners across Canada and in the UK , as well as having been involved as a GP advisor in the development of several other National Guideline programs.
Over almost 30 years David has been engaged by a number of pharmaceutical companies, "start-ups" and other health care related organizations in a variety of capacities. He has provided them with insights into the beliefs, values and behaviours of both consumers and physicians and has helped them apply these insights as part of due diligence and business planning as well as to develop highly effective, sales marketing and public relations strategies. He continues to act as a corporate and product spokesperson.
In 2003, Dr. Greenberg consolidated his consulting activities under the umbrella D. Dave HealthCare Solutions, a full-service health care related consulting practice. He brings to this project the values that guide his medical practice - accessibility, diligence and responsiveness, delivered with a candid, sensible, affable approach. D. Dave HealthCare Solutions allows Dr. Greenberg to partner with a wide variety of experts with whom he has developed close working relationships. This combination of "street knowledge" and project specific expertise ensures clients timely, practical solutions for all their health care related needs.
Dr. Denise Meckler, MD, MHA is a respected obstetrician-gynecologist in St Louis, Missouri with over 25 years of dedicated service to women's health. Throughout her career she has advocated for and provided care to thousands of patients ranging from adolescents to seniors, during life's most pivotal moments. Recognized annually on the "Best Doctors in America" list, Dr Meckler has recently transitioned to a Hospitalist role, specializing in managing pregnancy-related emergencies on Labor and Delivery.
Dr. Meckler has completed a Master's in Health Administration (MHA ) augmenting her ability to offer consultation services in areas such as medical devices and women's health. She participates on several committees and boards in advisory capacities and performs medical malpractice reviews. Fluent in Spanish, she has embarked on mission work to Latin America which has been a career long aspiration.
Dr. Meckler began her academic journey at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina followed by obtaining her Medical degree from The Ohio State University Medical School in Columbus, Ohio. She completed her residency at Barnes Hospital of Washington University in St Louis, Missouri and furthered her education with an MHA from Webster University in St Louis, MO.
Dr. Tkachuk trained at the University of Toronto and Stanford University as an anatomical pathologist specializing in hematology. Doug has thirty years of experience in both public academic and private commercial lab diagnostics and is currently Medical Director at Dynacare where he oversees the largest medical diagnostic laboratory in Canada. Dr. Tkachuk is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto and has previously held positions at University Health Network and was Chief Medical Officer and executive VP at LifeLabs. He was founder and President and later sold Objective Pathology Ltd., a digital pathology company based in Toronto. Dr. Tkachuk has authored two hematopathology books, published numerous research articles in the molecular pathogenesis of leukemia, has medical imaging patents currently licensed by the University of California and is an avid kiteboarder.
Job Titles:
- Consultant to the Medical Device
Harold Wodlinger is a Consultant to the Medical Device industry with more than twenty years of experience in engineering, operations, sales, and management. He has a proven track record in the areas of strategic planning, business and new product development, and due diligence. He has an extensive network of physician and industry thought leaders, development and research resources, and investment professionals.
Dr. Wodlinger was a co-founder of Biomedical Instrumentation Inc., a world leader in cardiology systems used to diagnose electrical problems within the heart. He acted as Project Manager for the company's most successful product, a project that was completed on time and on budget, and was considered a major advance in the field.
Job Titles:
- Researcher at the Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit
Dr. Joshua Rosenblat is a staff psychiatrist and clinician-researcher at the Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit (MDPU; within the Poul Hansen Family Centre for Depression) at Toronto Western Hospital. He is also the Medical Director of the Canadian Rapid Treatment Centre of Excellence (CRCTE), Chief Medical & Scientific Officer of Braxia Scientific and co-founder of 1907 Research. Dr. Rosenblat completed his Bachelors of Science at the University of Toronto with a double major in Human Biology and Molecular Biology, minoring in Physiology and Chemistry. He then completed his medical degree at the Schulich School of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). He returned to Toronto to complete his residency training in the Department of Psychiatry where he also served as the Chief Resident of the Clinician-Scientist Program (CSP). Throughout medical school and residency, he conducted clinical research on novel pharmacological interventions for mood disorders. He then completed his graduate training in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, studying the effects of ketamine for depression.
Dr. Rosenblat's clinical focus is treatment-resistant unipolar and bipolar depression, with specialized expertise in pharmacological treatments of mood disorders. His research focus is conducting clinical trials to identify and evaluate novel psychopharmacological interventions for mood disorders that may substantially improve patient outcomes. Current novel targets of interest include the glutamate system, inflammation and the insulin pathway. He is also interested in targeting specific symptom domains, such as suicidality, cognition, anhedonia and mixed features, that do not respond as well to currently available treatment. Specific research programs currently underway include clinical trials evaluating ketamine, pentoxifylline and psilocybin assisted therapy for bipolar and unipolar depression.
Dr. Rosenblat is also actively involved in teaching medical students and residents, with a focus on improving assessment and management skills using a biopsychosocial approach in every patient encounter. His clinical, research and educational interests converge in studying ways to effectively translate research findings into improved patient outcomes through implementation of evidence-based practices in both primary care and specialized mental health care settings.
Physician-scientist specialized in cancer research and global health. Experienced in building clinical pathways and strategies for endorsing disruptive medical technologies into the health sector and strengthening the route to become standard of care. As Chief Medical Officer for iGan Partners, she introduces novel devices and digital health platforms to health systems in different regions with the purpose to improve diagnosis, clinical decision making, patient outcomes, and health economics.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Medical Biophysics
Dr. Martin Yaffe is Professor of Medical Biophysics and a Senior Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute. He is also Co-Director of the Imaging Research Program at The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. He holds the Tory Family Chair in Cancer Research.
Dr. Yaffe has been actively involved in research on breast cancer detection and breast cancer imaging for over 40 years and has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles. His group pioneered the development of digital mammography, now used worldwide, and developed methods for quantitative measurement of breast density, an important risk factor for breast cancer. He has collaborated with scientists internationally studying to the role of breast density in causation, diagnosis and prevention of breast cancer. He also contributed to the early development of contrast-enhanced digital mammography. He is the Canadian Study Chair of TMIST, a large international randomized trial of breast tomosynthesis and is also developing imaging methods of cancer biomarkers to more accurately characterize cancers to guide precision therapy. He is a co-founder of the New Zealand company, Volpara Health which develops software for breast cancer imaging. Several of his former graduate students are now in leadership positions in North American universities and in the medical imaging industry.
In February, 2016 Dr. Yaffe was inducted as a Member of The Order of Canada.
Matt Mesnik, MD, is an accomplished physician and business executive with over 30 years of healthcare experience. He is an emergency physician and former emergency department and urgent care medical director. He is also an accomplished healthcare executive with a reputation for bringing innovative solutions to market, leveraging technology, developing strategic partnerships, practice management, and leadership.
Mesnik has worked as an independent consultant to medical device and health IT companies. More recently, he was the CMO of a health IT company that developed the first evidenced-based, objective and quantifiable diagnostic tests for depression and other mental illnesses. Prior to that, Mesnik was the CMO of CVS-MinuteClinic, the originator of retail healthcare.
Mesnik received his MD from the University of Minnesota and trained in general surgery and emergency medicine at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Dr. Ralph DaCosta received his PhD from the Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto. His graduate research focused on the development and pioneering clinical application of advanced optical molecular imaging technologies for endoscopic diagnosis of early gastrointestinal cancers.
This work contributed to major improvements in the accuracy of conventional diagnostic endoscopy. These continue to directly benefit endoscopic cancer screening strategies around the world. Dr. DaCosta is a Scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network (UHN). He is developing a comprehensive research program at UHN that focuses on accelerating the translation of these "bioimaging" capabilities directly into clinical practice. He also is a member of the Radiation Medicine Program (Princess Margaret Cancer Centre) and the Spatio-Temporal Targeted and Amplification of Radiation Response (STTARR) Innovation Center at UHN.
Dr. DaCosta is one of Canada's leading experts in the area of biophotonics. His ongoing contribution to the field of cancer imaging has been recognized by numerous awards and invited presentations at international meeting
Job Titles:
- Principal Investigator
- Endocrinologist, Researcher and Founder
Dr. Ronnie Aronson is an Endocrinologist, researcher and founder of LMC Diabetes and Endocrinology (LMC). Dr. Aronson led the growth of LMC to become the largest practice group of Endocrinologists globally and steered the sale of LMC to a Canadian private equity group (Persistence Capital) in 2014.
The LMC clinics support > 60 Endocrinologists, and provide care to > 45,000 people with diabetes, supported by diabetes-specialized educators, pharmacists, podiatrists and optometrists. Dr. Aronson continues to steer the medical care and faculty growth at LMC, in his continuing role as Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Aronson has served as Principal Investigator in >300 clinical trials in diabetes and its complications. His own research focus has centred on individuals who are challenged to achieve optimal diabetes health outcomes. He has led projects that have defined their barriers, validated new devices, and developed novel tools and strategies to assess/overcome these barriers.
Gary is a Senior Associate at iGan Partners. As a member of the investment team, he is responsible for deal origination, due diligence, and research activities. Before joining iGan Partners, he worked in portfolio management and analytics at a healthcare-focused hedge fund.
Gary graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Engineering Science - Mathematics, Statistics, and Finance Program from the University of Toronto.
Gregory is an avid entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience in 6 different countries: USA, Canada, France, Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania. Prior to joining iGan, Gregory worked with companies such as Europ Assistance, Webhelp or Spir, where he served mainly as Vice President of Sales leading Business Development. In addition, he worked at AT Kearney, where he served as Senior Manager with engagements focused on improving sales and business performance in New Technology companies. Gregory is also an experienced entrepreneur as Founder/co-Founder at 4 Start-Ups, and has had 2 successful exits to date. Gregory also has a strong experience in raising funds for corporations. He has participated in different capital raise operations in the USA/Canada and France for over $56M.
Gregory holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from ICS Business School and an Executive Program Degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Associate of the Creative Destruction Lab
- Venture Partner
Joel Finlayson is now a Venture Partner and LP with iGan. He supports the Investment Committee and several portfolio companies after having stepped back from day-to-day Partner responsibilities in March when he accepted a role with Accenture as a Managing Director for Healthcare. Joel joined iGan in 2017 and helped refine and deliver on iGan's investment thesis in digital health and connected medical technologies. In this time he was also seconded to Think Research, a portfolio company, to support with strategy & growth and stayed with that company until its listing on the TSX Venture exchange in December 2020.
Joel joined iGan with 20 years of strategy consulting & investing experience in healthcare & technology. He was the Co-Founder & Managing Director of WellNovation a family-office funded healthcare incubator based in Riyadh & Dubai that established businesses in diagnostic imaging, primary care and medical education. Previously, Joel was the Middle East Healthcare Partner with PwC and the leader of the firm's Healthcare Strategy Practice. There he worked closely with regional governments on the comprehensive restructuring of national healthcare systems. Joel moved to the Middle East with MONITOR Group where he was an Associate Partner & General Manager after working with MONITOR in Canada and the US for many years.
Joel is an Associate of the Creative Destruction Lab in Toronto, a Board Director of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada (International) and serves on the boards of MedChart and SomaDetect, two iGan portfolio companies.
Joel holds an MBA from Cambridge University in the UK, an undergraduate degree in Politics & Economics from Dalhousie University in Canada, and has completed executive healthcare programs at Berkeley School of Public Health and INSEAD.
Julie is an Associate at iGan Partners. As a member of the investment team, she is responsible for deal origination, due diligence, and research activities. Before joining iGan Partners, she worked in marketing within Janssen's (J&J) portfolio of oncology brands, and in corporate strategy at a Toronto hospital.
Julie holds a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Queen's University, and an MBA from McMaster University.
Sam is the Founder and Managing Partner of iGan Partners and has over 20 years of entrepreneurial, technology and venture capital experience. Sam founded iGan Partners in 2013 and is now the largest healthcare venture capital investor in Canada. Sam is actively involved in evaluating, structuring and executing iGan's investments. Collectively iGan has supported the creation of over 20 successful medical device and tech companies in Canada.
Sam works very closely with portfolio companies and is actively involved in their commercialization. He serves as the Chairman of eSight and MolecuLight and sits on the board of seven other MedTech companies. Prior to founding iGan Partners, Sam co-founded and exited several tech companies including Visual Sonics, Tri-Link Technologies and Brighter Minds.
Sam holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from McGill University and an MBA from the John Molson School of Business.
Tom has held numerous management and leadership positions over the course of his career which began in the volatility markets of Japan in the early 90s. He has direct experience with derivative structuring, risk management, options strategies, capital raising, and investor relations.
His 29 years of experience includes positions with: Merrill Lynch (1994 -2005) where he was an MD in the Global Derivative Products group, Natural Selection Investors Japan as a co-founder of a micro-cap, long/short fund (2005-2009), and founder of JonesTrading Canada (2009-2016) where he was head of derivatives and the firm's Canadian office. Most recently, Tom was a partner with Sphere Investments Canada which was sold in Jan 2018 and Murchinson Ltd. (Global Special Situations fund).
Tom has lived and worked in Tokyo, New York, and currently resides in Toronto. He has an engineering degree from Penn State University and an MBA, as a full Rotary Scholar, from the International University of Japan.
Job Titles:
- Finance Manager
- Finance Manager With
Wendi is a Finance Manager with iGan Partners. She is responsible for preparing finance and investment reports as well as helping Investor Relations and Deals team.
Prior to joining iGan, Wendi has been working at Citco after graduation, supervising operations team on reconciling Private Equity clients activities, and working on process enhancement.
Wendi is pursuing CFA designation and has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Dalhousie University.