R&D Leadership

Vipul Jairath, MBChB, DPhil, MRCP, FRCPC, oversees the global Medical R&D initiatives and services. In conjunction with the executive team and senior medical advisors, he assumes overall responsibility for research strategy, as well as performance of the organization’s Medical R&D services including medical operations, medical imaging, precision medicine, medical writing, medical monitoring, medical/biostatics advisory collaborations and IBD fellowships. He also provides medical oversight for the design of clinical trials, protocol development and imaging R&D endpoints. Vipul was previously VP Medical Research & Development (2019-2021) and Director of Academic Research and Development (2016-19).

Background

Dr. Jairath obtained his BSc (Pharmacology) and Medical Degree from the University of Leeds (UK), DPhil (PhD) in Clinical Medicine from the University of Oxford and post-graduate diploma in Clinical Trials from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is Professor of Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and holder of the John and Susan McDonald Endowed Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) at Western University.

His specialist clinical training in Gastroenterology was completed in London and Oxford, and he holds specialist certification in both Ontario and the UK. Prior to moving to Western in 2016, he was a National Institute for Health Research Clinical Trials Fellow at the Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit and Consultant Gastroenterologist at Oxford University hospitals.

He is a practising gastroenterologist and specialist in inflammatory bowel disease, and his research interests in clinical therapeutics for IBD include design of clinical trials, development and validation of outcome measures for use in clinical trials, patient reported outcome measures and prediction modelling for response to therapy.

Achievements

Vipul has driven the development and validation of several novel indices for use in IBD clinical trials, like the UC-100 and the novel patient reported outcome measures, SIQ-UC and SIQ-CD. In addition, he was instrumental to the delivery of the REACT2 trial and to the design of the VERDICT trial, both of which are important clinical practice questions for patients with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, respectively.

Ethos

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle

Dr. Feagan completed a medical degree at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in London, Ontario, Canada.

His postdoctoral training included a residency in Internal Medicine and a clinical fellowship in Gastroenterology in the Department of Medicine at UWO, and postgraduate training in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. A Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Dr. Feagan holds membership in the Canadian and American Association of Gastroenterology, the American College of Gastroenterology, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, Crohn’s and Colitis Canada (CCC) and European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO). He has authored over 480 articles and book chapters and has given over 600 invited presentations at national and international scientific meetings. In 1997, Dr. Feagan became Director of Robarts Clinical Trials at the Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario and in 2020, he became Senior Scientific Director of Alimentiv Inc.(formerly Robarts Clinical Trials) His research efforts focus on the design and implementation of randomized controlled trials of therapy for inflammatory bowel disease. He has been the principal investigator on numerous large-scale randomized clinical trials.

Dr. Ma supports medical R&D projects.

Background

Dr. Ma obtained his MD from the University of Calgary in 2012. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at the University of Alberta, adult gastroenterology training at the University of Calgary and advanced IBD fellowships at the University of Calgary and Western University. In 2018, he completed a one-year Robarts IBD Clinical Trials Fellowship and in 2019 he earned an MPH in Epidemiology from Harvard University.

Ethos

“Teamwork is everything.”

Gabriela provides medical leadership for sponsor clinical trials, operational oversight for research and development projects, and medical input to the business development teams.

Background

Gabriela obtained her medical degree at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iuliu Hatieganu in Cluj – Napoca, Romania. Since then, she has acquired more than 20 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry in Canada in various leadership roles and across multiple functions including medical affairs, drug safety and pharmacovigilance, clinical research and real world evidence, and patient support programs. Prior to joining Alimentiv, Gabriela led a team of scientific professionals as a Medical Affairs Director in IBD.

Achievements

Since joining Alimentiv, through her multidisciplinary experience, Gabriela has been able to bring significant contributions to the development and implementation of organizational strategies and best practices. Her focus on the medical research and development area ensures a continued adherence to delivering high-quality research and science, superior customer service and people development.

Ethos

“I approach my role with the conviction that what we do matters for patients and physicians, and through our work we advance our mission to support human health. I believe it is important that every member of the Alimentiv team is authentic and brings their full contribution to the success of the organization.”

Wendy provides leadership and oversight to the global activities and timelines related to precision medicine for sponsor clinical trials and research and development projects.

Background

Wendy obtained her PhD in Immunology at the University of Western Ontario and completed a Post-doctoral fellowship in Personalized Medicine focused on optimizing treatment strategies for oncology and inflammatory bowel disease patients. She has 10+ years of experience working with clinicians, scientists, and pharmaceutical organizations across multiple functions to implement the use of individually tailored therapies in the clinic and to support the identification of biomarkers during clinical drug development.

Achievements

Wendy joined Alimentiv in 2018 as part of our business development team and has been instrumental in shaping and growing our Precision Medicine team and service offering. Within the rapidly advancing precision medicine landscape, Wendy has a thorough knowledge of translational technologies and has established key collaborations and partnerships to ensure the successful delivery of custom solutions based on client needs.

Ethos

Life is a journey of discovery…ask questions often, keep an open mind and always be learning.

After completing PhDs in Biostatistics and Plant Science from the University of Connecticut, Dr. Zou joined Alimentiv in September 2002. He is currently Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University.

Background

Dr. Zou oversees statistical support for Medical R&D programs, as well as Alimentiv IBD clinical research.

He has over 20 years of experience designing and analyzing clinical trials, including cluster randomization trials. His research has primarily focused on development and evaluation of statistical methods for medical research. At Alimentiv, he’s also researching endpoint development and validation, larger-scale effectiveness research and strategy trials.

He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles, many of which have impacted medical and epidemiologic research. A single-authored 2004 article on regression models for estimating risk ratios has already received close to 3,000 citations.

Achievements

Dr. Zou wrote a 2004 paper on estimation of risk ratios that’s been cited close to 5,000 times, and a 2012 paper that Alimentiv uses to design reliability studies.

Ethos

“Results are only as good as the statistical methodology used to obtain them. My goal is to continuously create good statistical methodology for medical research.”