Our DNA

Experienced biotech executive and entrepreneur with depth of expertise across clinical asset investment strategy, evaluation, financing and execution. Additional leadership experience within R&D, Medical, and strategic corporate functions.

Dr. Price was previously responsible for the strategic and tactical management of all business at Drug Safety Solutions. After a successful 20-year history, Drug Safety Solutions was acquired in June 2017 by Linden Capital Partners. From that date to January 2020, Dr. Price served as the Chief Medical Officer for the global ProPharma Group, a Linden subsidiary.

Over the years Dr. Price has served on multiple corporate boards, including public, private, and not-for-profit.

His board duties have included the Chairman’s role on Compensation and Governance as well as a member’s role on Audit. He has served on boards that report to; TSX, NYSE American, and NASDAQ.

His most recent experience, Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: RNN) he served on Compensation, Governance, and Business Development. In his previous role with Sarepta Therapeutics NASDAQ: SRPT, he helped to guide the company transition from $80 million market (2008) to its 2019 market cap of $8.4 billion.

Dr. Price is a clinical trial Medical Monitor and Pharmacovigilance expert. He has years of experience as the head of Safety Management Teams (SMTs), multiple Data Safety Monitoring Boards, as well as protocol development and safety support from FIH to Phase IV clinical trials.

While his therapeutic horizon is broad, it has been dominated by oncology, infectious disease, and rare disease.

Christian Kollmannsberger, MD, FRCPC, is staff medical oncologist at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) Vancouver Cancer Centre and Clinical Professor at the University of British Columbia. He graduated from the Technical University in Munich, Germany and received his clinical training in internal medicine, haematology and medical oncology, mainly at University of Tuebingen, Germany.

Dr. Kollmannsberger’s research is focused on genito-urinary malignancies with a special interest in testicular and renal cell cancer. This includes phase I, II and III clinical trials, the development of new therapeutic options and investigation of mechanisms of treatment resistance. Nationally and internationally, he has contributed to numerous trials in the field of renal cell carcinoma and testicular cancer. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals that include the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, Annals of Oncology, the European Journal of Cancer, Cancer and the British Journal of Cancer. He has repeatedly served as faculty for the Annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, and the Annual Meeting of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO).

Currently, Dr. Kollmannsberger serves as chair of the BC Cancer Genitourinary Cancers Tumor Group, the BC Cancer Genitourinary Cancers Systemic Therapy Group, chair for the Genitourinary Clinical Trials Unit at BC Cancer Vancouver Centre, chair for the Canadian Clinical Trials Group Testis Cancer Disease Oriented Group, and member of the Canadian Clinical Trials Group Kidney Cancer Disease Oriented Group.

Experienced Global medical Director/Medical Monitor for oncology, rare disease, nephrology, pulmonology, CNS, Dermatology, hematology, GIT, DM, cardiovascular and hematology clinical trials from Phase I to III.

Dr. Haytham (Sam) Elgammal has been internationally trained, educated and practiced on 3 different continents.  Now making his roots in Florida, USA, he has had the privilege to work in key research institutions and have managed many different positions and practiced in many different disease areas.

He has experience working in an Emergency Room setting, as an internist and as a Clinical Research Fellow in Surgical oncology.  Most recently, he has provided inpatient care for immunological and cancer patients. Dr. Elgammal first became involved in Clinical Trials, when working as an intern.  Now, his experience has taken him to become a Medial Director, working on many clinical trials as the main Medical Monitor which include devices, CNS and many Immuno-Oncology studies.

Dr. Tracy Sexton is a Radiation Oncologist at the London Regional Cancer Program and has specialized in the treatment of breast, prostate and pediatric cancers since 2007.  She is also an Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario. 

Dr. Sexton is actively involved in clinical trial research and education and was the Program Director of the Radiation Oncology Residency Program for 10 years.  Her passion is survivorship and as the SouthWest Ontario lead for the Breast Cancer Survivorship Program, she helped create educational materials on follow up and long-term side effects for family physicians and patients that are now used throughout the province.

As a 15-year breast cancer survivor, Dr. Sexton has committed her professional and personal life to raising awareness of breast cancer and improving the lives of breast cancer patients after treatment. She is an avid dragonboater and has been a member of Rowbust, London Breast Cancer Survivor Dragonboat racing team, since 2010.    In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends and traveling the world.

Yuri Zaretsky, M.D. graduated from 2^nd Moscow State Medical University, Russia in 1987. He completed residency in abdominal surgery, also residency in anesthesiology, resuscitation, and intensive care. Following his post-graduate work, he served at the Vilnius University Hospital, Vilnius, Lithuania as a senior anesthesiologist/resuscitation specialist and director of pain management clinic.

Dr. Zaretsky’s professional career in clinical trials began as a primary investigator where his interest in the design, conduct of clinical trials and analysis of data evolved. Dr. Zaretsky has more than 20 years clinical trials experience in a variety of therapeutic areas. In 2004, he established ZM CRO GROUP, a medical affairs and drug safety group of CROs, which over the years, has evolved into a respected force in the CRO field.

Dr. Zaretsky’s continuing research interests lie in drug safety, medical monitoring, medical review, and data management. Therapeutic fields included but not limited to Oncology, Cardiovascular, Nephrology/Urology, Respiratory, Psychiatric, Metabolic, Immunology, Musculoskeletal, Pain Management, Genetic disorder. He has strong knowledge of ICH / GCP & GVP guidelines, NMPА (former CFDA), Roszdravnadzor, FDA, Health Canada, and EMA regulations.

Sherif Emil, MD, CM, FACS, FRCSC, FAAP is the Mirella and Lino Saputo Foundation Chair in Pediatric Surgical Education and Patient and Family-Centered Care in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He is also the Associate Chair for Education in the Department of Pediatric Surgery, and Professor of Pediatric Surgery, Surgery, and Pediatrics at McGill University. Since 2008, he has served as the Director of the Harvey E. Beardmore Division of Pediatric Surgery at The Montreal Children’s Hospital, which hosts Canada’s first pediatric surgery training program and one of the original five programs in North America. He also founded, and currently directs, Canada’s first multidisciplinary Chest Wall Anomalies Center at the Shriners Hospital for Children, Canada, and is the Pediatric Surgery Specialty Consultant for Mercy Ships International.

Dr. Emil was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in several developing countries, where his parents practiced as physicians. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He obtained his medical degree from McGill University in 1991 and then moved back to the United States to complete his surgical residency at Loma Linda University in California. During his residency, he spent two years in laboratory research at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, producing the first surgical publications on the use of inhaled nitric oxide for pulmonary hypertension. After completing his pediatric surgery fellowship at McGill, he returned to California in 2001 to join the surgical faculty at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), where he was rapidly promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. He led the Division of Pediatric Surgery at UCI from 2005 until late 2008, when he was recruited back to McGill.

Dr. Emil has been active in basic and clinical research, publishing more than 150 manuscripts and several book chapters on many topics in pediatric surgery. In 2020, he published Clinical Pediatric Surgery: A Case-Based Interactive Approach, the first single-authored major textbook in the field, which has since won two major publisher’s awards. With foundational grants, the book has been distributed free of charge to thousands of trainees and practicing surgeons in more than 300 institutions throughout 75 low and middle-income countries. He currently serves as the Founding Chair of the Canadian Consortium for Research in Pediatric Surgery (CanCORPS). His research results have been featured nationally in Surgery News and Medscape. Several of his patients’ stories have been featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as well as by the local Montreal press. He was named one of America’s Best Doctors, as well as one of Canada’s Best Doctors.

Dr. Emil has a passion for teaching. He is actively engaged in the full spectrum of medical education from mentoring and counseling high school and university students interested in medical careers to providing continuing medical education for physicians in practice. He is active in a number of web-based educational platforms, including Stay Current in Pediatric Surgery and The Hendren Project. He launched an innovative educational program on social media, #CBCLIPS, or Case-Based Clinical Learning in Pediatric Surgery.  This unique program has become one of the most followed educational events in pediatric surgery, with thousands of practitioners and trainees from around the world interactively learning and benefiting from each episode. 

Dr. Emil also has an active interest in global surgery and has participated in multiple missions to Africa, where he operates, teaches, and lectures. He has written about his mission experiences in The Globe and Mail, and his “dispatches” from several African countries have been published in the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, and shared widely on social media. He currently travels to Africa annually to serve with Mercy Ships and contribute to medical capacity building.

Dr. Emil has written a number of editorials in the lay press and has been an advocate for human rights. He has been interviewed on multiple radio, television, and internet programs. In 2012, Dr. Emil was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Governor General of Canada for his service to children around the world and his academic accomplishments in pediatric surgery. Most recently, he was awarded the E. P. Taylor Award by the McGill Alumni Association and the Haile Debas Prize for promotion of diversity by the McGill University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

On July 1, 2018, Dr. Emil was named the Mirella and Lino Saputo Foundation Chair in Pediatric Surgical Education and Patient and Family-Centered Care, becoming one of the few pediatric surgeons in Canada to be honored with an endowed chair.

Carrie Hamilton is the Senior Director of Clinical Science. In her role, she works with Sponsors on the development of their programs to provide insights on feasibility and placement of different studies. She is also responsible for providing the necessary guidance and training to the Stiris family with new clinical trends, newly discovered drug classes, and emerging therapeutic areas.

She has gained extensive experience during her 30+ year career, where she has been involved in many aspects of clinical research, from the early stages of drug development of clinical programs, to launching products on the market. Prior to Stiris, Carrie worked at large pharmaceutical companies, including over 20 years at Hoffmann-La Roche, during which time she was directly involved in the development of over 65 new molecular entities, involving over 200 Phase I to IV clinical trials.

Carrie has been instrumental with the success of large clinical programs, representing all country operations on global management teams, while being hands-on with the operations in North America. She has a proven success record of meeting and exceeding recruitment targets and timelines through leading an efficient team. In addition to being able to guide a highly effective team, she attributes her success to her ability to collaborate effectively with sites, establishing excellent relationships with Key Opinion Leaders and Investigators, and having meaningful, scientific discussions with participating sites during early feasibility.

Her therapeutic experience is extensive; however, it has been focused mainly on Oncology (including many years in Hematology), Neurology, and Infectious Diseases.

Fernando Lasso De La Vega is our Senior Director, Clinical Operations.  Within his role Fernando provides key strategic insights, protocol considerations and therapeutic expertise to medical advisors, sponsors and sites.  Fernando’s experience, both as a Medical Doctor and within the Pharmaceutical Industry, allows him to navigate and guide stakeholders in making key decisions to support programs and protocols. 

As a Medical Doctor, Dr. Lasso de la Vega was an attending physician at several tertiary hospitals in Mexico City, prior to transitioning over to the pharmaceutical industry. He has held various roles across 2 large pharmaceutical companies, most recently at Roche/Genentech, where he managed, led teams and provided oversight to over 150 clinical trials, from phase I to phase IV.

Dr. Lasso de la Vega’s strong Scientific, Medical and Operational expertise, coupled with his keen business acumen has allowed him to navigate complex challenges and implement strategic solutions to support stakeholders in making key decisions that have driven the advancement of their programs and portfolios.  He is recognized by his colleagues and peers for his strategic thinking and ability to quickly assess situations to identify issues and lead to risk mitigating strategies and solutions.   

His experience providing oversight and management spans across the clinical trial lifecycle, he has extensive experience supporting studies early on during feasibility and through start-up, conduct and close-out while operationally supporting and guiding teams and managing key strategic conversations with KOLs, sites and global study team leaders.  While he has worked directly within both Latin America and North America, he has experience supporting clinical trials globally providing him with an understanding of both local requirements and challenges but also the global requirements and challenges that impact sponsors, sites and studies. 

As a senior leader at Roche/Genentech, Dr. Lasso de la Vega led the implementation of initiatives at a departmental and company wide level, that resulted in the streamlining of several operational processes across North America.

Dr. Lasso de la Vega has extensive therapeutic experience but was instrumental in providing oversight and support to the Oncology portfolio, but also extends to Rare Disease, Neurology, Psychiatry, Ophthalmology, and Metabolism.