Malcolm Kendall has over 28 years of operational management, entrepreneurial, venture capital investment and leadership experience, the majority of which has been focused on company creation and building value in technology and biotechnology companies. Before founding Microbiome Insights, he was the co-founder and CEO of Indel Therapeutics Inc., a Vancouver-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing new drugs to address the global health crisis caused by antibiotic resistance. Prior to this, Malcolm was an investment professional with life science focused venture capital firms MDS Capital (now Lumira Capital), BioVista Capital (now Hatteras Venture Partners) and Intersouth Partners. Before entering business, he served in the U.S. Army where he honed his leadership skills as an Infantry and Special Forces officer. Malcolm has been an advisor and board member to numerous companies and organizations and is currently a member of the board of directors of Semios BIO Technologies, a mentor for the entrepreneurship@UBC program and an adjunct professor at the MBA MOT program at Simon Fraser University. He received his undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University and an M.B.A. from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina.
Dr. B. Brett Finlay is a Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories, and the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia. He obtained a B.Sc. (Honors) in Biochemistry at the University of Alberta, where he also did his Ph.D. (1986) in Biochemistry under Dr. William Paranchych, studying F-like plasmid conjugation. His post-doctoral studies were performed with Dr. Stanley Falkow at the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he studied Salmonella invasion into host cells. In 1989, he joined UBC as an Assistant Professor in the Biotechnology Laboratory. Dr. Finlay’s research interests are focussed on host-pathogen interactions, at the molecular level. By combining cell biology with microbiology, he has been at the forefront of the emerging field called Cellular Microbiology, making several fundamental discoveries in this field, and publishing over 460 papers (h index=84). His laboratory studies several pathogenic bacteria, with Salmonella and pathogenic E. coli interactions with host cells being the primary focus. He is well recognized internationally for his work, and has won several prestigious awards including the E.W.R. Steacie Prize, the CSM Fisher Scientific Award, CSM Roche Award, a MRC Scientist, five Howard Hughes International Research Scholar Awards, a CIHR Distinguished Investigator, BC Biotech Innovation Award, the Michael Smith Health Research Prize, the IDSA Squibb award, the Jacob Biely Prize, the prestigious Canadian Killam Health Sciences Prize, the Flavelle Medal of the Royal Society, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Prix Galien, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, is a Member of the German National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Microbiology, Chair d’État, Collège de France and is the UBC Peter Wall Distinguished Professor. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and Order of British Columbia. He is a cofounder of Inimex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., scientific cofounder of both Vedanta Pharmaceuticals and Commense Inc, Director of the SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative, and Founding Director and Senior Fellow of CIFAR’s Microbes and Humans. He also serves on several editorial and advisory boards, and is a strong supporter of communicating science to the public.
Dr. Bill Mohn is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology in the Life Sciences Institute at the University of British Columbia. Bill earned his B.A. from Colgate University and his Ph.D. from Michigan State. He was a Research Associate at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa prior to moving to UBC as an Assistant professor in 1993. Bill has done pioneering research on bacterial metabolism of chlorinated compounds, terpenoids and steroids. He has also been a leader in microbial ecology and development of methods to investigate highly complex microbial communities. Bill’s current research employs classical, molecular, genomic and metagenomic approaches to study (1) interactions between the host microbiome and immune system, (2) forest soil microbial ecology and (3) metabolism of lignocellulose and steroids. Bill has over 115 peer-reviewed publications and is internationally recognized for his research. He was awarded the UBC Killam Research Prize and was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Society for Microbial Ecology. Pseudomonas mohnii was named in recognition of his pioneering contributions. He has led or co-led several interdisciplinary collaborative research projects. He served on the Editorial Boards of Applied & Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology and on advisory boards for several major research initiatives. Bill teaches microbial ecophysiology and has supervised 15 postdocs, 33 graduate students and 47 undergraduate researchers.
Michael Liggett brings 30 years of experience in the health care and finance industries. Michael was a practicing pharmacist for 7 years before obtaining his training and certification as a Chartered Accountant. After spending 7 years at Price Waterhouse Coopers (then Price Waterhouse), he joined Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in the capacity of Chief Financial Officer. He provided leadership through multiple financings and other strategic initiatives before successfully transitioning the company to establish its footprint in the forestry sector as Eacom Timber. His background includes over 14 years as a public company CFO with strategic and operational expertise and proven success in finance, M&A, strategic partnerships, restructurings, and risk management. BSc in Pharmaceutical sciences at the University of British Columbia. Chartered Accountant designation.
Anusha Gandhi joins the Microbiome Insights team as Senior Director of Sales and Business Development. She has nearly ten years of medical device experience. Prior to joining the team she held various positions as Channel Manager, Microbiome Product Manager, and Director of Sales at DNA Genotek Inc (now an Orasure company) and most recently Director of Sales at Puritan Medical Products Company LLC. Anusha’s focus has been on the development of collection devices that enable non-invasive high quality DNA for use in various fields. She has had exposure to a wide range of academic, commercial and diagnostic companies all over the world, with a strong understanding of study design, regulatory requirements, and commercialization. Anusha gained her MSc of Neuroscience at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
