About Me

My mission is to ensure that the most innovative and impact-driven human healthcare solutions see the light of day as viable commercial products and services

Rocket Scientist Turned Innovation Commercialization Specialist

I started out as a rocket scientist, working on satellite communications and Mars rover missions for scientific discovery. My attention turned to the medical sciences so I could have a more direct impact on people’s lives. The first new business line I orchestrated was to significantly speed up the cellular phase of the drug discovery process. Next, I set my sights on helping an enterprise hardware provider create an ongoing revenue stream with enterprise SaaS solutions. And from there, I went back to the medical sciences field and successfully spun out a radiation therapy device safety solution from University Health Network.

Overall, I have created over $100 Mn in new value for the organizations I have worked with. Currently, I am working on building a fourth business with one of the world’s largest technology providers in the oncology and neurological disorder treatment fields.

More About My Mission

Having worked in Ontario’s innovation sector for the bulk of my career, I have in-depth experience bringing innovations to the marketplace. While some of my ventures have benefited from government programs for innovation and research commercialization, I continue to see policy gaps that significantly slow the delivery and adoption of new technologies in the medical sector.

I believe the innovation ecosystem in Ontario, and Canada as a whole, must do a better job of defining an innovation road map, and ensuring that all relevant agencies and stakeholder groups are aligned and cooperative in implementation. Along the entire road map and at each stage of the process, there should also be clarity, transparency, and accountability.

Currently, the biggest gap in the ecosystem is related to the ability of Canadian health institutions to adopt new technologies. Specifically, I have experienced that the procurement policies of Canadian hospitals remain opaque, bureaucratic, and without clearly defined objectives that allow for efficient decision making.

For emerging companies with important medical innovations, it has meant a turn towards foreign markets for tangible revenue opportunities. The result of which is that Canadian hospitals miss out on acquiring new technologies that not only improve patient outcomes, but also often achieve cost or resource efficiencies. Most critically, from the view of the medical innovation ecosystem that governments have invested heavily to create, it means that homegrown innovations have limited means to flourish in their home markets, which prevents the ecosystem from contributing more robustly to the economy.

My experiences and observations have made me into a resource for government agencies, clinicians, hospital administrators, and the business community to close that policy gap, addressing four key areas:

• Clarity and transparency of health ministries’ policy goals and funding objectives;
• Clarity and transparency of guidelines for policy and funding implementation at the institution and clinic level;
• Clarity and transparency of new technology evaluation criteria and procurement procedures;
• A defined and integrated road map that connects all three of the above elements with metrics that ensure continued alignment and strong implementation.