Praxis Innovation Team and Network
The Praxis Innovation Team is made up of experts in commercialization, direct SCI PLEX engagement, research, and knowledge translation to support startups across the Incubate and Accelerate programs on concept and market validation, prototyping, sales strategy, and more.
Innovation Team
PLEX Team
Innovation Team
Arushi Raina, Director of Innovation
Arushi is an experienced healthcare strategy consultant, focusing on healthcare innovation, strategic planning and execution. She has completed complex engagements at Providence Health Care, BC Children’s Hospital and the Ministry of Alberta, among a number of other clients, which she pairs with hands-on experience. She also has experience in setting up a local health-tech pre-seed start up in the neuroscience space. She led the design and execution of Praxis SCI Accelerate, Praxis’ inaugural program, and building key partnerships for commercialization in the organization.She is passionate about the social determinants of health, health access and equity issues, and currently serves as a board member at Portland Hotel Society in BC. She brings a background of management consulting with KPMG, holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and an Economics degree from Vassar College in NY. She was recognized as part of BC Business Magazine’s Top 30 under 30 in 2020.
Andrew Forshner, Associate Director, Fundraising & Partnerships, Innovation
Andrew is a fundraiser and non-profit strategist, focusing on developing partnerships between the private sector, benefactors, universities and non-profits. He has led fundraising teams with several non-profits including the Vancouver Writers Fest, Variety – the Children’s Charity and Canadian Bipolar Association. Andrew has dedicated his career to ensuring that organizations fill the social, economic and health needs of our communities and develop operational resiliency to ensure the prolonged benefit to society. He currently serves as a board member to the Granville Island Theatre District Society, Vancouver Curling Club and Rumble Productions. Andrew brings a wealth of complex partnership development knowledge. He holds an MBA from the SFU Beedie School of Business and Political Science and a degree in History from the University of British Columbia.
Tathagata Ray, Manager, Innovation
Tathagata has extensive experience developing products and services ranging from software, biotechnology, medical devices, and engineering. He has experience in product development both in a research university ecosystem and in the start-up ecosystem. He is an inventor on multiple issued patents in the field of digital RT-PCR, which are currently part of a commercial product portfolio. Tathagata also has experience consulting multiple Fortune 500 healthcare companies on product, go-to-market strategy, and execution. He also brings experience working with innovators and guiding them through the commercialization process at the Entrepreneurship Center at the University of Minnesota.
He is passionate about entrepreneurship, developing innovative new healthcare products that positively impact people’s lives, and developing strategies to successfully bring those products to market. Tathagata holds an MBA from the Carlson School of Management, specializing in the medical industry and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University.
Weiqi Li, Health Innovation Associate, Innovation
Weiqi is a healthcare innovator with a strong background in digital health, strategic partnerships, and business development. At Praxis, he is responsible for identifying and engaging startups and key stakeholders for the Innovation programs. Prior to Praxis, Weiqi served as Senior Manager roles in innovation and commercialization at Roche and Sanofi, where he developed digital transformation initiatives for breast cancer early detection and chronic diabetes management, leveraging AI and IoT to improve care outcomes. His entrepreneurial journey began with MassChallenge, a nonprofit accelerator in Boston, and continued with founding roles at two AI-driven startups in Shanghai, where he focused on product and business development. Weiqi holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
Shweta Shekhar, Program Coordinator, Innovation
Shweta has a strong background in project management, data analysis, monitoring & evaluation, and research, having previously worked in these areas. Shweta holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Delhi and a master’s degree in Public Policy from the National Law School in Bengaluru. As part of her master’s program, she conducted ethnographic research on the impact of menstruation on girls’ education in rural India.
At Praxis, Shweta ensures the SCI Innovation Programs run smoothly.
PLEX Team
Hon. Dr Kevin Murphy, ECNS
Director of Persons with Lived Experience (PLEX) Engagement, Praxis
At Praxis, Kevin brings over 40 years of lived experience of spinal cord injury to his role as Director of PLEX Engagement. He leads a skilled team of individuals with lived experience to ensure their voices are meaningfully embedded in all Praxis work aspects.
John Chernesky
PLEX Program Manager, Praxis
With over 25 years of lived experience of SCI since being paralyzed, John has participated in dozens of research studies in addition to be a co-investigator on a number of research projects. He works closely with SCI PLEX (persons with lived experience) of SCI including people living with SCI, their family, friends, care providers, PLEX-focused community organizations and advocacy groups to ensure research is addressing their priorities. His strong connection to the local SCI community as well as an international network of people living with SCI brings local, national and international PLEX perspective to the SCI research field. He is recognized as a leader in engagement and integrated knowledge translation has helped develop leading best-practices in engagement policy, advises funding agencies and research institutes on their engagement policies.
James Hektner
Regional Community Liaison, Praxis
James’ passion truly lies with peer support and assisting others to improve their quality of life and participation in an active and thriving community of opportunities. With 20+ years under his belt living with an SCI, working at Praxis Spinal Cord Institute and volunteering as President of Accessible Okanagan, strengthens a collaboration between community, research and education for SCI and healthcare supports. James has a T6/T7, AIS-A injury since 1997.
Richard Peter
Indigenous Peoples’ Liaison, Praxis
With over 40 years of lived experience with an SCI, Richard is the Indigenous Peoples Liaison for the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, a proud member of the Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island and looks forward to collaborating with individuals, communities & organizations to improve quality of life for the SCI PLEX. Richard has a T10, AIS-B incomplete injury since 1977.
Spring Hawes
Regional PLEX Engagement Liaison
Spring Hawes is the Regional PLEX Engagement Liaison at the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute. Spring has 18 years of lived experience with a C-6, AIS-A injury, as a result of a terrain park injury in 2005. At Praxis, Spring works with the SCI community, Canadian SCI networks, provincial, national and international SCI groups and associations, research teams, and funders to build strong partnerships and networks that will work together to improve the lives and the health of people with SCI.
Sydney Heschuk
PLEX Program Coordinator
Sydney has experience working across the Entertainment and Legal fields and has a keen interest in the Healthcare sector, specifically in SCI research and advocacy. At Praxis, Sydney brings her experience in project coordination to support the organization and implementation of programmatic activities for the PLEX Engagement Team. She works closely with the team by coordinating their involvement in a range of projects through communication, meeting management, project tracking, and reporting. Sydney is also responsible for facilitating relationship building with an array of stakeholders in the SCI Community.
Meet the Mentors
James Laskin
Researcher in Residence, Praxis
James brings deep expertise as a clinician, academic and researcher in the area of Spinal Cord Injuries and mobility. He pairs a research and teaching background with clinical expertise as a physiotherapist. He has overseen, developed and ran a number of clinical trials testing novel technology, protocols and treatments for individuals with disabilities, including in collaboration with Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, SportsUnited, among other organizations. He has held a tenure position at the University of Montana, among other prestigious teaching appointments internationally.
Innovation Programs Mentors
Hans Keirstead
AIVITA Biomedical (Lead Mentor)
Dr. Keirstead is the Chairman and CEO of AIVITA Biomedical, and an internationally known stem cell expert and serial entrepreneur who has led therapy development for cancer, immune disorders, motor neuron diseases, spinal cord injury and retinal diseases. He has founded four successful biotechnology companies and holds Board positions in several prominent biotechnology companies. Dr. Keirstead was a full Professor at the University of California, Irvine where he founded, directed and erected a building for the UCI Stem Cell Research Center. He was a founding advisor of the California Stem Cell Initiative that resulted in a $3 billion stem cell fund (CIRM). Dr. Keirstead received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of British Columbia, and received the Cameron Award for outstanding PhD thesis. He has been a long-time advisor to several governments on biomedical policy and received the distinct honor of election as Senate Member of the University of Cambridge and Fellow of the Governing Body of Downing College, being the youngest member to have been elected to those positions.
Gabe Kalmar
Entrepreneur-In-Residence
Dr. Kalmar spent 12 years supporting the strategic goals for Genome BC. He has taken on roles as the Executive Director of Operations, Vice President of Sector Development, and Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Commercialization. He is a mentor at Creative Destruction Labs, Entrepreneur in Residence for entrepreneurship@UBC and Innovation Boulevard, and is also on the board of companies including MRMProteomics and HeadCheck Health. Dr. Kalmar holds a BSc in Biochemistry and MSc in Virology from the University of British Columbia, and received his PhD in Virology from Simon Fraser University.
Michael Bidu
Michael Bidu is the Founder and CEO of INTERFACE Health, the world’s first virtual global digital health accelerator based in Vancouver, BC. The accelerator is a global platform and business community that connects 5,300+ members, 1,200+ organizations from 20+ countries; a global challenge “the Olympics of digital health innovation” that discovers the world’s best innovators, an online showcase for Canadian digital health products and services and an annual global digital health summit that inspires, educates and shares ideas about innovation and the future of health.
Michael is a serial entrepreneur with eight start-ups under his belt and 30 years of experience in technology, innovation, business and creativity. He is an award-winning marketer. Since 2007 he mentored, advised and judged more than 300 startups in web, wireless, digital media and digital health.
Roger Flowerdew
Mr. Flowerdew CPA, CA has provided interim and full-time executive level services to life science, information technology, specialty manufacturing (extraction, isolation and purification of high value compounds for bio-tech clients) companies in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom since 1986. Roger’s areas of expertise are strategic and tactical planning, tactical implementation, business development and corporate finance. He has also served as a director and board chair (Northern Lipids Inc. and Chromos Molecular Systems Inc.), CEO (Cognetix Inc.), COO, VP Business Development, Managing Director – European Operations and CFO/Director Finance (Incisive Genetics Inc.) of various listed public and unlisted companies and not-for-profit organizations (Pacific Salmon Foundation, Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund Society, Vancouver Opera Association, Vancouver Opera Foundation). He obtained his Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, from Simon Fraser University in May 1980 and his Chartered Accountant designation with Thorne Riddell (now KPMG Canada) in December 1982.
Lahav Gil
Lahav Gil is a MedTech entrepreneur, angel investor and a Venture Partner at Zoic Capital. Lahav works with medical device startups on technology development, innovation culture, operations and commercialization strategies. Lahav began his career as an industrial designer in the late 80s. He has over three decades of experience as a founder, innovator, entrepreneur, executive and investor, mostly in the MedTech space. Over that time, Lahav has contributed to the development and launch of over 200 technology products. He has founded several companies and sold two. Most notably, he founded Kangaroo Group (ISO 13485) and spent fifteen years building it into a major Canadian brand for MedTech innovation, contract manufacturing and MedTech startup acceleration. In 2017, Lahav sold Kangaroo to its chief competitor, Starfish Medical.
David Granville
VCHRI
Dr. Granville brings with him a wealth of experience in research, innovation and commercialization. He is a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is also a scholar of the Royal Society of Canada and former Canada Research Chair and Canada Top 40 Under 40 recipient. His recent research has led to the formation of the UBC-spin-off company, viDA Therapeutics of which he is a Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Granville previously worked at QLT, where his R&D studies supported the approval of Visudyne® to be used as the first treatment for macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. In 1999, Visudyne® was approved by the FDA—the largest ophthalmic product release in history.
Jordan Gutierrez
Jordan is the COO of Wishpond, a B2B business that builds complete marketing funnels that get leads and customers for eCommerce businesses. He started his business career on the streets of Mexico City and has now helped Wishpond grow into a 120 person company. Jordan now focuses on the operations of Wishpond and most importantly, pivoting to the wants of its customers to continue to provide the products and services they need to grow their own businesses. Jordan also started laleo.com, the largest medical ecommerce site in Mexico.
Jennifer Hamilton
Biotechnology-focused PhD scientist with 25+ years experience in working for global venture capital firms, big Pharma, and independent biotechnology companies. Clients include pharma, medical device companies, venture capital, institutional investors and biotechnology companies in areas of Strategic Review, Business Development and Search & Evaluation including numerous BOD roles. Interests also include global health-care impact investing.
Jennifer has an MSc and a PhD in Experimental Pathology/Lipid Metabolism from the University of British Columbia and a BSc from the University of Guelph.
Phil Mundy
Phil is a deeply experienced entrepreneur and executive in the healthcare, home medical and assistive device space. He has led over 3 successful startups, serves as the Executive Director of the Home Medical Equipment Dealers Association of BC, has led product engineering for a number of devices and currently leads the development of a number of different products in the industry.
Yasmine Roulleau
Yasmine is a highly accomplished business executive with a 15-year track record in corporate strategy and acquisitions. She is known for her ability to create major growth strategies through new market penetration and industry roll-ups.
As a business strategist in the healthcare, gaming and technology industries, her expertise includes capacity building, P3 partnerships, and commercialization of data including intellectual property royalties and knowledge translation. Yasmine is credited as a visionary for the growth and evolution of the healthcare industry in Canada as evidenced by accolades from the Healthcare Leaders of Canada and the Certified Health Executives (CHE). Her clients include BC Children’s Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital, the Ministry of Health among several private healthcare companies.
Allyson Tighe
Amplitude Ventures
Allyson is an experienced investor, entrepreneur, and community builder. She is a co-founder of Amplitude Ventures and previous investor at the BDC Healthcare Fund. She brings an extensive background as a former medical device entrepreneur and biotechnology commercialization advisor passionate about creating, building, and growing world class healthcare companies in Canada and also serves as a mentor at Creative Destruction Labs. In addition, Allyson’s research and early career was focused on spinal cord injury, ranging from basic science to rehabilitation and quality of life.
Elise Huisman
Elise has a passion for creating better access to healthcare and this has led her to her current role as Sr. Principle Scientist at Medtronic. Her education is in Biomedical Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, after which she moved to Vancouver, to be closer to the mountains and did her PhD at UBC in Rehabilitation Sciences.
Shannyn A. Smith
Over 20 years ago, Shannyn launched her career in NYC advertising agencies, successfully growing medical education business units. She led the strategic communications, in partnership with Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, for a drug approved by the FDA to treat spasticity.
At Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Shannyn was named “Marketer of the Year” and recognized by PM360 ELITE (• Exceptional • Leaders • Innovators • Transformers • Entrepreneurs) as one of the most influential people in the healthcare industry. She is an Innovator in Residence at the MIT Innovation Initiative, on the Leadership Team for MIT Solve: Indigenous Communities Fellowship, a Judge for the Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge, and a Mentor for Startups Ignite. Advancing women has been a hallmark of her career as a leader, manager, and mentor. An indigenous woman of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, she has a personal mission to advance women of color and indigenous women. Shannyn earned her Executive MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and my AB, cum laude, from Harvard University in molecular biology
If you would like to be a part of our network, please email us at innovation@praxisinstitute.org