Our research and services are built on a firm foundation of academic excellence and a vast therapeutic experience. We translate those intellectual assets into innovation in medicine and success for our clients.
Our leaders have individually and collectively made academic contributions to clinical, biostatistical, and translational research that drive the evolution of clinical trial design and the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. We are tackling the most difficult unmet research and medical needs and providing solutions to improve human health. Client access to and collaboration with these academic experts differentiates Alimentiv from traditional Contract Research Organizations.
Collaboration expands our clinical and therapeutic expertise and our ability to address unmet medical needs. Our academic partners are internationally recognized experts in target indications, outcomes research, and disease assessment. Their contributions are fundamental to the design and conduct of efficient trials and improved patient outcomes.
Executive
R&D Leadership
Senior Leadership
Scientific Advisors
Collaborators
Board Of Directors
Trustees
MDGastroenterologist / Hepatologist
MD, FRCPCGastroenterologist
MD, MScPediatric Gastroenterologist
MD, PhDGastroenterologist
MD, MPHGastroenterologist
MD, PhDRadiologist
MD, MS Gastroenterologist
MD, FRCPCGastrointestinal Pathologist
Chief Executive OfficerEx-Officio
Pierre joined Alimentiv as Chief Executive Officer in January 2024, he is responsible for Alimentiv’s strategic direction, financial prosperity, and operational excellence.
Pierre is a Biopharmaceutical executive and thought leader in the healthcare industry, with more than 25 years of executive experience in managing multi-billion dollar businesses in the Asia Pacific Region, China, Japan, Europe and Canada.
Pierre led diverse commercial organizations, and go-to-market model transformations, as well as developing in-depth knowledge about multiple healthcare systems and archetypes across the globe. He has a proven track of transforming organizations to achieve significant growth and has a real passion for diversity & inclusion and leadership development.
Before joining Alimentiv, Pierre’s most recent position was President of Asia Region and China at Pfizer Biopharmaceutical Group.
Pierre holds a Science degree in Molecular Biology from Laval University in Canada. He is married and has four daughters.
Chief Clinical Solutions Officer
Hershell has led the Clinical Research division since 2019. He is responsible for end-to-end clinical trial services and the continuous development of resources and capabilities.
Background
Hershell has over 25 years of experience in medicine development. Prior to this role, Hershell was Senior Managing Consultant at Navitas Life Sciences and held senior roles at GSK and ICON Clinical Research where he was the Director of Clinical Process and Change Management. He also has a strong CRO services delivery background resulting from years as a clinical trials project lead and CRA.
Achievements
Over the past 20 years, Hershell has defined strategy and provided leadership for major R&D process improvement and organization redesign initiatives to resolve current issues and enable future success. He drove implementation of a change management framework throughout the clinical research organization, implementing standard methodologies and tools for managing change and leading complex change initiatives to the expected benefit.
Ethos
“Be authentic, breathe, listen. The time is now. There is no other opportunity than this moment to give your very best.”
Chief Medical Officer
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).
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.
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.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle
Chief Financial Officer
Mike has been CFO of Alimentiv since spring of 2021. He oversees the overall strategy and business operations of the company as well as leading the Finance/Accounting, IT, Legal, Quality Assurance, Facilities, and Enterprise Analytics areas at Alimentiv.
Background:
Mike is a senior executive leader with decades of demonstrated success in business transformation expertise. With more than 20 years of experience in the CRO space, his accomplishments have spanned driving growth within Venture Capital, Private Equity, Private and Public Organizations. Prior to Alimentiv, Mike was President of a US based technology company and before then he was CFO of BioStorage Technologies. He also spent nearly a decade in leadership roles at Covance (now part of LabCorp). Mike holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees in business administration.
Achievements:
As a founding executive of BioStorage Technologies, Mike was instrumental in driving the organization from start-up to an international market leading business, ultimately navigating the company through a strategic sales process and acquisition by Brooks Life Sciences (NASDAQ: BRKS). He has won awards such as “CFO of the Year” as well as recognized by the Association for Corporate Growth for its annual transaction honor.
Vice President, Statistics
As Vice President, Statistics, John develops the strategic vision of Alimentiv Statistics and manages its progress towards that vision. John joined McDougall Scientific in April 2008 as a senior statistician. As his tenure increased, he assumed several roles, including managing day-to-day operations, employees, and service delivery, running business development and sales activities and maintaining the computing infrastructure. These varying responsibilities prepared John for his role as VP when McDougall was acquired by Alimentiv in March 2021. John most enjoys bringing value to clients through leading-edge statistical designs and analyses and helping them leverage existing resources to improve their business processes. Following the lead set by Janet McDougall, he also gravitates towards mentoring the next generation of Alimentiv statisticians and managers.
Prior to joining McDougall, John was Senior Statistician at SAS Institute (Canada) where he taught statistics and programming and consulted with clients in health care, pharmaceuticals, retail, manufacturing, finance, and government. Prior to joining SAS, John was a Mathematical Statistician with the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he designed probability-based surveys of the U.S. agri-business sector. John was Chair of SAS Global Forum 2017, the annual conference of SAS users worldwide. He earned his Master of Statistics at North Carolina State University, Master of Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and Bachelor of Science at Penn State University.
Dr. Arab is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada. Trained at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Chile and Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. Dr. Arab is a Gastroenterology and Hepatology specialist, Transplant Hepatologist, and Clinical Researcher with an interest in clinical/translational research and epidemiology in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and alcohol-related liver disease.
He has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers, co-authored several book chapters, and delivered lectures on liver-related topics at national and international meetings. He is an Associate Editor for Hepatology (flagship AASLD journal). He has also participated in the generation of clinical practice guidelines for alcohol-related liver disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and hepatorenal syndrome and regularly serves as an expert reviewer of research grants and scientific research abstracts for multiple societies, funding agencies, and international peer-reviewed journals.
Additionally, he is spearheading international collaboration groups aiming to study alcohol-associated liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (AH-LATIN and Global AlcHep BigData Network). Dr. Arab is a member of the AASLD Global Outreach and Engagement Committee. He is currently the Vice-Chair of the Special Interest Group on the alcohol-associated liver disease of the AASLD. Additionally, he is the President of the Chilean Hepatology Association and Vice-Chair of the Education & Scholarship Committee of the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS).
MD, PhD
Dr. Eric P. Brass is Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has previously held faculty appointments at the University of Colorado and Case Western Reserve University, and is past Chair of Medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Dr. Brass has had a productive research career spanning basic, translational, and clinical research. Major areas of interest have included metabolic diseases, peripheral arterial disease, and clinical trial design. Additionally, he has extensive experience in drug discovery, development, and regulation. He has worked on development programs in a number of therapeutic areas and has served as a consultant to the FDA and on FDA Advisory Committees. Based on this background he has served as a consultant to a number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Brass has authored over 200 scientific papers, review articles and book chapters. He has won numerous awards for both his research and his teaching. He has served in a number of leadership positions in academia and international societies.
Dr. Panaccione is a Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at the University of Calgary. He also serves as the Dean of MD Admissions and Director of the IBD Fellowship Program. He has been honored with the Crohn’s Colitis Canada Endowed Research Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the University of Calgary.
He is the 2020 Crohn’s Colitis Canada Outstanding Physician of the Year and has been recently recognized as a 2020-22 Clarivate Research Scholar for being cited in the top 1% of researchers cited in the world. He has co-authored over 350 manuscripts, 7 book chapters, and 426 abstracts including publications in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, JAMA, Nature, and Annals of Internal Medicine.
He is a founding member of the Crohn’s Colitis Canada PACE initiative ( 5 million dollar grant) Dr. Panaccione is the principal investigator on several studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of new agents in subjects of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. His special interest lies in the fields of advanced therapies, biological therapy, and delivery of care. He is a recognized authority on IBD therapeutics and has co-authored numerous guidelines for the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology. He actively participates in clinical trials of new therapeutic agents for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He reviews for prestigious journals including NEJM, Lancet, Gastroenterology, and Gut.
Dr. Eileen Crowley completed her honours medical degree at the National University of Ireland and subspecialty training with the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland. Moving to SickKids, Toronto for fellowship training in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and submitted her Master’s thesis entitled ‘Towards Personalized Care in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease’. She completed postdoctoral training and subspecialty Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease training in the laboratory of Dr Aleixo Muise and received CIHR grant funding for supports. She was co-supervised by Dr Anne Griffiths working on the Canadian (CIDsCaNN) IBD network.
Dr Crowley’s area of clinical specialty include pediatric IBD. Her research interests include pediatric IBD, the genetics of IBD, therapeutic drug monitoring and precision medicine. Her work has served to better delineate the genetic phenotype of children with IBD as well as optimizing response to therapy in this age group. Dr Crowley works as a Pediatric Gastroenterologist at the Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences, Ontario, as an Assistant Professor with Western University and Clinician Investigator in Pediatric IBD. Dr Crowley intends to pursue further research in index development and clinical trials in Pediatric IBD.
Dr. Albert J (Arjan) Bredenoord studied Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. He subsequently worked on several clinical research projects on gastrointestinal motility at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands which resulted in the completion of his PhD thesis on gastroesophageal reflux disease in 2006. His clinical training was performed in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands and at the Royal London Hospital in London, UK. He currently works as a consultant Gastroenterologist at the Amsterdam University Medical Center where he is dedicated to patients care, scientific research and education in the field of benign esophageal diseases. He was appointed professor of Neurogastroenterology & Motility at the University of Amsterdam in 2019.
Dr. Bredenoord’s main focus is on achalasia, reflux disease and eosinophilic esophagitis. The esophageal clinic in the AMC Amsterdam hosts the largest population of benign esophageal diseases in the Netherlands. Dr Bredenoord is an author of over 250 papers, books and book chapters on esophageal diseases and organizes regular courses in Europe, North America and Asia. Dr Bredenoord is President of the European Society of Eosinophilic Esophagitis EUREOS, a member of the UEG Scientific Committee and co-founder of the International HRM working group. He collaborates with Alimentiv on studies on endpoint development for clinical trials in eosinophilic esophagitis and advises on all stages of trial design in drug development for eosinophilic esophagitis.
MD, PhD, AGAFScientific Advisor
Geert D’Haens graduated from medical school at the Katholieke Universiteirt Leuven, Belgium in 1987.
Professor D’Haens specialized in gastroenterology at the University of Chicago Hospitals, USA and University Hospitals Leuven in 1990-1992. He was board certified in internal medicine in 1992. He defended his Doctoral Thesis in 1996. Currently Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology at the Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Professor D’Haens is a specialist gastroenterologist with a clinical interest in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and gastrointestinal oncology. He has particular expertise in mucosal immunology, gastrointestinal endoscopy and immunosuppression related to IBD.
Professor D’Haens was elected to the International Organization for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD) in 2003 and is currently Chairman of the organization. In 1999, D’Haens was co-founder of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO).
He is a member of other societies including a Fellowship of the American Gastroenterological Association (2006) and the European Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Research Committee.
Professor D’Haens is the recipient of several awards including the “Silver Medal for Inflammatory Bowel Disease” from the World Congress on Gastroenterology, Vienna, 1998.
With over 250 peer reviewed scientific articles and 37 chapters in medical textbooks, Professor D’Haens has an impressive publication record and is widely recognized as an expert in the area of digestive diseases.
Evan S. Dellon, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Dellon received his undergraduate degree from Brown University and his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He performed a clinical and a research fellowship in Adult Gastroenterology at UNC, during which he also received a Masters of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from the UNC School of Public Health.
Dr. Dellon joined the UNC faculty and the Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing (CEDAS) in 2008, where his main clinical focus is on disorders of swallowing, and in particular eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and other eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs). He became Director of CEDAS in 2014.
Dr. Dellon’s research interests span the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of EoE and EGIDs. The goal of his research is to improve the lives of patients with EoE/EGIDs by learning how to better diagnose, treat, and monitor the conditions. He is widely published in this area, with more than 265 peer-reviewed papers in the medical literature overall.
Dr. Dellon is also an Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He collaborates with and advises Alimentiv Clinical Trials on studies related to EoE and EGIDs, including the areas of trial design, patient outcomes, and endpoint development.
Dr. van Deventer was trained as an internist and board-certified gastroenterologist, received a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Amsterdam, worked as a scientist at Rockefeller University and became director of the laboratory for Experimental Internal Medicine at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam in 1995.
In 1998, he co-founded Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT; currently Uniqure), a gene therapy company that develops AAV-based gene therapy products. From 2001 until 2004, he chaired the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. Dr. van Deventer has had a critical role in the development of the first commercial monoclonal antibody (Remicade) and the first gene therapy to be granted market authorization in the Western world (Glybera). He currently is a Managing Partner at Forbion Capital Partners and Professor of Translational Gastroenterology Leiden University Medical Center. He is a member of the Boards of Argos Therapeutics (Durham, USA), Uniqure (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Hookipa (Vienna, Austria), Staten Biotechnology (Naarden, The Netherlands) and enGene (Montreal, Canada).
MD, FRCPCScientific DirectorEx-Officio
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.
CM, MD, MACP, FCAHS, FRCPC
Dr. Ross Feldman is a Professor (Emeritus) of Medicine, Western University. He just completed his term as Provincial Specialty Lead-Cardiac Sciences, Shared Health Manitoba.
A major focus of his efforts has been in the prevention and control of hypertension. Among past leadership positions, Dr. Feldman served as President of the Canadian Hypertension Society. He was the first Chair of the Steering Committee of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program. As well, he was also the founding President of Hypertension Canada- leading the process of integrating the efforts of the Canadian Hypertension Society, Canadian Hypertension Education Program and Blood Pressure Canada.
He is the author of more than 200 original manuscripts, reviews and book chapters. His clinical research focuses on the management of hypertension and specifically the development of innovative strategies to improve blood pressure control. His major fundamental research program focuses on the elucidation of novel cell signalling mechanisms of vascular regulation/dysregulation linked to the development of hypertension and atherosclerosis- especially related to elucidation of the determinants of heart disease in women.
He has received a number of awards and scholarships in recognition of his contributions in research, teaching and for his efforts in hypertension control including the George Fodor Award from Hypertension Canada for outstanding contributions to the prevention and control of hypertension. In 2018 he was awarded a Mastership from the American College of Physicians for his academic contributions. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in recognition of his efforts in hypertension control in Canada and most recently to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.
John J. Fox is a retired former Vice President with Johnson & Johnson. His last assignment was managing all aspects of Global Payroll, HR Services, and related finance functions.
From 2000 to 2009, John served as Vice President of Information Technology for the Pharmaceuticals Group and served as a member of the Pharmaceuticals Group Operating Committee. Before this, he was the Vice President of Information Management for the Pharmaceuticals Group, EMEA, and Asia/Pacific, based in Beerse, Belgium.
John began his career as a Medical Statistician at Janssen UK, moving into Information Management in 1982 and eventually assuming the position of IM Manager for Janssen UK in 1985. In the following seven years, John assumed responsibility for Finance in Janssen UK, eventually becoming the Director of Finance and IM and a member of the Management Board of the Company.
Since retirement in March 2018, John has been advising two “start-up” technology companies – both focused on healthcare.
Over the years, John built a strong reputation as an active business partner supporting the supply chain, research and development, sales and marketing, and administration areas of the business. After receiving a degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, John began as an actuarial trainee and later joined Janssen UK in 1979.
John is a native of Glasgow, Scotland. He and his wife, Margaret, are the parents of two sons.
Vice President, Clinical Research
Background / Ethos
Judi Hall is a clinical trials professional with over two decades of experience in clinical research across the academic, pharmaceutical, and Contract Research Organization (CRO) sectors. With a Master’s degree in Pharmacology from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University in Montreal, she brings a strong academic background to her role. Her journey in the industry has been marked by a continuous commitment to learning and growth.
In her current role as Vice President of Clinical Research at Alimentiv, Judi leads the global clinical services offering, and strives to foster a culture of collaboration and innovation to support our mission of transforming human health.
BA, ICDD
Lisa is an organizational strategist and operational leader who has been focused on the professional services, health-care and technology sectors for more than 35 years. Lisa has worked for and consulted with fast growing and high-change organizations to help them align and organize their operations and structure to support their strategies and objectives, with the goal to ensure these companies are ready for that next stage of growth.
Lisa retired in 2021 as Chief Operating (COO) and Global Privacy Officer for Alimentiv Inc. Previously, she served as COO for an international technology importer/exporter; as VP, Delivery Partner and VP of Organizational Development at an IT software development company servicing Fortune 100 companies; as COO for an international IT research and consulting firm; as Regional Operations Director and Director of Employee Development for an IBM Company; and as Regional Director of a Canadian medical rehabilitation company.
In 2022 she achieved her Institute of Corporate Directors accreditation and she currently serves on the Boards of a number of public and private organizations.
Vice President, People and Culture
Amanda Harvey has worked in HR for nearly 20 years with a focus on business partnering, organizational development and change management across the manufacturing, financial services and staffing industries.
Amanda most recently held the role of People and Culture Director for Hays Canada where she built the Canadian operations first People and Culture function and supported the organization through rapid growth and the launch of multiple new business lines. She is experienced in leading large scale multi- disciplinary projects and is a big proponent of change management concepts. She is passionate about developing people and is a strong believer that the role of a leader is to serve as advocate for their people and to champion the culture and values of the organization.
Amanda holds her CHRL designation and is an active member of the HRPA and Strategic Capability Network.
“Authenticity encourages a culture where people feel more connected and loyal to the organization and its purpose, which helps attract and retain people to do their best”
MD
Stef Heylen, MD, is the Managing Director of Heygieia Consulting BV, based in Belgium. He is a Board Member of the University Hospital UZA, Antwerp and the General Hospital AZ Turnhout. He also represents the Belgian Federal Investment Company FPIM on the Board of two clinical-stage biotech companies: ExeVir Bio and reMYND.
Stef retired in 2020 from Johnson & Johnson as CEO of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Belgium and as COO for Janssen R&D Worldwide. In these positions, he was a member of the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Executive Committee and Chairman of the Management Board of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV. Stef has 35+ years of drug development and executive management experience. His expertise extends over a wide range of areas: the development of small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, and vaccines; clinical research in neuroscience and infectious diseases; regulatory affairs, drug safety, medical affairs, development operations, project/portfolio and general management. Stef obtained his M.D. at the University of Leuven, Belgium, and the Prince Leopold Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium.
Stef has a passion for sustainable development and global public health. He is also a mentor for “Duo for a Job”, an intergenerational mentoring program for young people with a recent migration background.
Lawyer and Strategic Advisor
Amita is an experienced General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary who has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 34 years. She has held executive positions in private and publicly listed companies, including Merck, Schering Plough, Pfizer, Pharmacia and Novopharm, and most recently, Almirall, located in Spain where she currently resides. She has extensive background in areas including, Business Development, Data Privacy, Regulatory, Human Resources and Litigation.
Amita has a Bachelor of Science degree from Dalhousie University in Biology and Physics, and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Windsor, Ontario.
She has served as a Director on several Boards and Advisory Committees, as well as a resource for startup companies in Canada and Europe.
Amita is passionate about mentoring and helping professionals expand their expertise in both the legal and business worlds.
LLB, ICD.D
Paul Knill earned his law degree from Western University, and is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors, Rotman School of Management.
Paul served as Managing Partner at the Canadian Law Firm, Siskinds LLP, during a period of significant expansion and change. His leadership encouraged innovative gathering and sharing of intellectual capital among business unit members. Paul went on to serve as an adjunct professor at Western University law school, and he currently contributes his corporate governance expertise by serving on the boards of a diverse number of Corporations.
Vice President, Information Technology
Since 2012, Jeremy has been responsible for leading and overseeing IT infrastructure and software development teams, operations and strategy.
Jeremy is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and began his career in IT in 2002. He has held several positions in not-for-profit, public and private life sciences environments, supporting thousands of users around the world. His credentials include Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) and IT Service Management (ITIL) certifications.
Jeremy has successfully led several large digital transformation and complex infrastructure migrations including the 2016 Robarts Clinical Trials head office and datacenter relocation, cloud adoption projects and multiple security initiatives.
“People and process are fundamental to the success of any technology.”
MD, MHScGastroenterologist
Dr. Rohit Loomba is a tenured Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, and Adjunct Professor in the Division of Epidemiology at the University of California, San Diego. He is a leading expert in translational research and innovative clinical trial design in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and steatohepatitis (NASH).
Dr. Loomba is the founding director of the UCSD NAFLD Research Center where his team is conducting cutting edge research in all aspects of NAFLD including non-invasive biomarkers, genetics, epidemiology, clinical trial design, imaging end-points, and integrated OMICs using microbiome, metabolome and lipidome. This integrated approach has led to several innovative applications such as establishment of MRI-PDFF as a non-invasive biomarker of treatment response in early phase trials in NASH, which has now been adopted in more than 25 clinical trials conducted worldwide. He holds two patents on non-invasive biomarkers of NAFLD and fibrosis.
His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health as a Principal Investigator currently leading three R01, a P01 and a U01 grant.
He is the Deputy Editor of hepatology, the official journal of the AASLD.
Dr. Loomba has published more than 250 manuscripts and has an H-index of 73. He is among the top 1% of the globally highly cited scientists across all fields in 2019 by Web of Science. He is an elected member of American Society of Clinical Investigation.
MDSenior Medical Director
Dr. Ma supports medical R&D projects.
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.
“Teamwork is everything.”
Chief Commercial Officer
Clare joined Alimentiv as Chief Commercial Officer in August 2023, she oversees the Business Development, Proposals and Marketing activities across the Alimentiv Holdings Companies (Alimentiv and AcelaBio).
In addition, she acts as an executive sponsor for key external collaborations supporting Alimentiv’s Innovation Initiatives.
Clare has over 25 years of pharma experience spanning clinical development and pharma manufacturing, holding senior positions in QA, Operations and Business Development.
The majority of Clare’s career to date was spent at ICON Plc where she was responsible for Central Lab Operations in Europe and Asia before moving into a Commercial Leadership role.
Her most recent role included commercial leadership of Central, Specialty and Imaging Labs.
She has been a key contributor to organic growth strategies as well as involvement in M&A activities, pre and post-acquisition. Clare has a demonstrated record of overcoming challenges to drive success and is adept at optimizing organizational resources to improve performance.
CPA
Joy M. Nassif has over 25 years of experience in financial and executive management in the healthcare, diagnostic testing, and pharmaceutical industries. She has a strong record of building and leading global, cross-functional teams while maximizing return on investment through working capital and expense management and customer focus.
Ms. Nassif is currently the Vice President & General Manager, Services for Orasure Technologies. Prior to joining Orasure, Joy was the Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer of Diversigen, Inc., a microbiome services company. She led the company from start-up to a leader in the microbiome services field. Diversigen was acquired by Orasure in November 2019.
Prior to joining Diversigen, Joy held leadership positions at Quest Diagnostics as Vice President of Clinical Trials, and Vice President of Anatomic Pathology. She held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Franklin Heath, Inc. (A Corning Company) and was responsible for all aspects of operations and administration for this start-up healthcare company. Additionally, Joy was Director of Finance for Covance, Inc. working in its Phase II-III contract research organization.
Joy graduated summa cum laude from Kean University with a BS in Accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). In addition to her corporate positions, she has served on the Board of Advisors for several non-profit groups and organizations.
Director, Clinical Operations
Daniel is responsible for the oversight and strategic direction of Alimentiv’s Monitoring and Site Management group, Trial Master File Operations group and Logisitics Group. He embraces continuous improvement and innovation to drive the development of more efficient and effective processes, technology and organizational design.
Daniel has over 20 years of progressive experience in clinical research, at both CROs and Pharma companies. Prior to joining Alimentiv in 2017, Daniel was Senior Manager and Process Lead within the Pfizer SBU at PAREXEL. He is a certified Clinical Research Professional, holds an honours Degree in Biochemistry as well as an MBA specialized in the Management of Technology and Innovation.
With a commitment to driving innovation, Daniel has been integral to the deployment of new processes and technology platforms facilitating internal efficiencies and external service offerings.
“Providing the environment and opportunity for this growth is a core responsibility. I love watching and encouraging the growth and development of people and ideas within the organization.”
Director, Quality Assurance
Responsible for Quality Assurance at Alimentiv, Sandy oversees the team that hosts agency inspections, conducts internal audits, assesses vendors and oversees QA for the organization.
Sandy has over 25 years progressive experience in clinical research, pharmaceutical and medical device Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Western Ontario, as well as a certificate from the Canadian Institute of Management.
Sandy has demonstrated quality leadership through the development and implementation of Quality Management Systems across various global organizations. She has a proven track record of delivering efficiencies through the identification, development, and implementation of Quality Management System process improvements to strategically meet the compliance needs of the business. In addition, Sandy has successfully led the development and execution of regulatory strategies across complex global markets to ensure timely approvals of pharmaceutical, medical device and clinical research submissions.
“Quality is a not a destination, but a journey”.
Vice President, Medical Research and Development
Gabriela provides medical leadership for sponsor clinical trials, operational oversight for research and development projects, and medical input to the business development teams.
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.
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.
“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.”
Dr. J Rimola is a radiologist who sub-specializes in abdominal and gastrointestinal imaging. He is a member of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease unit directed by Dr. Julian Panés in Barcelona. He has had a leading role in the application of cross-sectional imaging techniques to the study of Crohn’s disease, development and validation of activity indices, and implementation of MRE and pelvic MRI in multicentric clinical studies. He participated in the ECCO-ESGAR guidelines elaboration and in different other expert consensus and recommendations document.
MAcc, CA
Jennifer is an accomplished and innovative business transformation consultant and executive leader with over 20 years of experience adding value and delivering exceptional results to clients.
Jennifer’s experience spans a wide range of clients: from start ups to publicly traded companies. She has worked across many industries including health and life sciences, technology and telecommunications, finance/private equity, public sector, loyalty/call centres and energy. She has assisted organizations with transforming their business processes, change management, governance and organizational realignment, costing and cost modeling, cost optimization and efficiency, as well as mergers/acquisitions/integrations/separations. She has international experience with clients and service delivery teams.
Jennifer graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Master of Accounting degree with a management specialization. Her Master’s thesis was in the area of health case costing and was governmentally funded. Jennifer is certified in Lean Fundamentals through Cardiff University. She is a CA/CPA. Jennifer is currently President of Roedding Associates Management Consultants. Prior to that, she was a Partner in KPMG’s Management Consulting practice.
Vice President, Precision Medicine
Wendy provides leadership and oversight to the global activities and timelines related to precision medicine for sponsor clinical trials and research and development projects.
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.
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.
Life is a journey of discovery…ask questions often, keep an open mind and always be learning.
Director, Diversity & Learning
Arti has led the Human Resources team at Alimentiv since December 2019. She has successfully partnered with her colleagues to implement many strategic initiatives and thrives on her ability to build strong relationships at all levels of the organization.
Arti’s professional journey began as a software developer and morphed into a music educator. Her love of teaching sparked a career shift, where she returned to school to enter the distance education and e-learning industry. In 2015, she joined Alimentiv as the primary learning consultant bringing along her expertise in adult education. In early 2019 she was appointed the Lead of Learning & Development before moving into her current role.
Arti holds a Master’s degree in education and is a certified Intercultural Competency facilitator. She has led many workshops on diversity and inclusion locally and internationally, as well as on other human resources related topics, such as communication and change management. She is happiest when travelling and enjoying an adventure around the globe and is passionate about music – listening to it as well as creating it.
In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “do one thing every day that scares you”. Taking every opportunity presented to you, ensures an opportunity to grow personally.
Director, Clinical Study Management
Managing Alimentiv’s highly experienced and dedicated global Full Service Project Management group, Christine’s focus is on ensuring successful project delivery, understanding client needs and helping her team members further develop and grow.
Christine’s career in clinical studies started in 1995 as a CRA with a global CRO. She managed 20+ global studies in a variety of indications as a Project Manager and Project Director prior to moving into her current role in 2016.
Christine has a Masters degree in Biology and English, and is a PMP certified Project Manager.
Christine helped to implement Alimentiv’s footprint in Europe by managing the organization’s first global UC study. She also implemented the Startup Specialist Role at Alimentiv and coordinated the streamlining of the organization’s site startup processes.
“I think that as a manager you need to ‘walk the talk.’ I strongly believe in integrity and in Alimentiv’s values. They are the basis of my day-to-day work and interactions with clients and my team.”
Bruce Sands, MD, MS, is the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Dr. Sands was awarded his BA and MD from Boston University, and trained in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. After completing GI fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and served as the Acting Chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit at MGH before moving to Mount Sinai in 2010 as Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology.
Dr. Sands is widely recognized for his clinical investigations of new therapeutics for the inflammatory bowel diseases and has published over 275 original manuscripts. He was the lead investigator of the landmark studies ACCENT 2, UNIFI and VARSITY, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and SEAVUE, published in the Lancet.
Prof. Schölmerich studied in Freiburg and Heidelberg. His further qualification in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology was obtained in Freiburg. He was also a research fellow at the University of California at San Diego.
From 1991 until 2010 he was Director of the Department for Internal Medicine I at the University of Regensburg. He was vice president of the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 2005 until 2011 and president of the “German Association of Internal Medicine” (DGIM) 2009-2010. From 2010 until 2016 he was Medical Director and CEO of the Hospital of Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt.
His research interests were: inflammatory bowel disease, complications of Liver cirrhosis and bile acid metabolism and effects.
He has published 93 monographs and chapters in teaching and reference books, he is editor or coeditor of 50 books, and his citations exceed 18,000.
BEngSc, PhD
Dr. Cecil Shewchuk, Principal of Shewchuk Consulting, provides consulting services to technology companies in the areas of business planning, technology and product development, sales and marketing strategy, and implementation roll-out. Many of these consulting engagements have been for international companies specializing in the energy sector.
Dr. Shewchuk has held various executive level positions with large technology companies like Aspen Technology and Honeywell where he was responsible for the strategic planning of sophisticated software products and services in such areas as process simulation, optimization, data analytics and advanced process control.
Dr. Shewchuk has been involved with numerous start-up technology companies in the roles of director, founder, manager or mentor. Many of these companies have been successful in growing into viable profitable operations.
Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, he graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Engineering Science degree in Chemical Engineering. He earned his doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University in England.
Practice Director, Enterprise Analyses
Minni has been with Alimentiv since 2016, currently leading the Enterprise Analyses department, and driving the effective use of technology, data and processes across the organization to increase operational efficiencies and to enable innovative solutions. Most recently her focus has been on defining and managing Alimentiv’s digital transformation strategy.
She has a computer science degree from University of Ottawa supported by over 30 years of experience in many flavours of the IT industry ranging from start-ups to large corporations such as Nortel, Comcast, and TD Canada Trust. In her previous leadership roles she has successfully introduced organizational, technological, and process changes in support of strategic business needs.
Over the past 15 years, Minni’s emphasis has been on providing thought leadership and oversight on solutions that bridge the gap between Corporate business strategy and current state. The resulting outcomes have ranged from the launch of new products, enhanced organizational processes or structure, to new technology solutions.
“Everyone has something valuable to contribute, make sure they are given the opportunity to voice their thoughts.”
Vice President, Medical Imaging
Courtney Sweet is the Director, Imaging Project Operations at Alimentiv Clinical Trials and is responsible for providing leadership and oversight of the global activities and timelines related to imaging projects.
Courtney has 18 years of experience in the clinical research field spanning over a number of clinical operations positions in pharmaceutical and CRO companies. Courtney started her career in 1999 as a Clinical Trial Associate for a biotechnology company. She then spent 5 years as a CRA at Pfizer, monitoring Phase I – III studies across multiple therapeutic areas in North America.
Prior to joining Alimentiv, Courtney was a Clinical Study Manager and Associate Director of project management at Quintiles, overseeing project delivery for large global trials in oncology and rheumatoid arthritis. Courtney joined Alimentiv in 2013 as a Project Director. Over the past 4 years she has lead full service trials as well as imaging studies involving endoscopy, histopathology and MRE. Courtney holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Psychology.
Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs
Jeff joined Alimentiv as a Regulatory Affairs intern in 2011. Since then he has been instrumental in shaping and growing the Regulatory Affairs team at Alimentiv. Through experience, expertise and key collaborations and partnerships, Jeff is able to successfully navigate complex regulatory environments in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. In 2017, the Regulatory Affairs group expanded and is now a multidisciplinary team that includes Clinical Safety services.
Jeff completed a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Guelph, followed by a post-graduate Regulatory Affairs certification program at Humber College in Toronto. Jeff has successfully built a growing team of in-house technical experts in Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Safety. He has been instrumental in supporting the geographical expansion of Alimentiv’s full service clinical research operations to over 30 countries and counting.
A strong work ethic is the key to success.
PhDBiostatistician Director
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
Dr. Schaeffer is an associate professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at University of British Columbia and the Head of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), where he practices as a gastrointestinal pathologist. Dr. Schaeffer obtained his medical degree from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. After a residency program in Anatomical Pathology in Vancouver, he completed his gastrointestinal pathology fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Schaeffer is the co-director of Pancreas Centre BC and the Pancreatic Cancer Research Chair at Vancouver General Hospital.
