Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan is Vice President of Research (Life Sciences) at the National Research Council of Canada, one of the country's most influential science organizations in the country. The NRC connects industry, academia, and government to drive innovation and often is quietly behind-the-scenes helping steer some of the most significant advances in Canadian Life Sciences.

In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with Lakshmi about her journey that began in Chennai, India, wound through New Delhi, Edmonton, and Ottawa, and eventually lead to her becoming one of the most senior leaders in the Canadian Life Sciences community.

Lakshmi shares insights about the mentors and unexpected moments that have helped shape her path, what it was like to lead the NRC's Life Sciences division through the COVID pandemic, and why she believes Canada is at a turning point in its ability to build and commercialize world-class science.

Today we reach into the archive to rebroadcast our interview with Maura Campbell, President & CEO of OBIO.

Maura is one of the key leaders in Canada's life sciences community and it was a pleasure to speak with her. Listen in as she shares her thoughts on surviving a severe car accident, some of the obstacles she has faced as a woman working in life sciences, the disappointment of doing everything right but still having a company fail, and how keeping an open mind is important to success.

NerView Surgical is a medtech startup based in Hamilton, Ontario developing a handheld imaging device that gives surgeons the ability to visualize nerves in real time during surgery. It sounds like something that should already exist. It doesn't. The current standard of care is the naked eye.

In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with founder and CEO Mann Parikh about a company born out of a university course at McMaster, driven forward by a thousand cold emails to surgeons, and now supported by advisors at some of the most respected medical institutions in the world including Mayo Clinic, Stanford Medicine, and Harvard Medical School.

Mann also opens up about the challenge of proving credibility as a student founder, the mentors who helped shape his thinking, and why he believes the best thing any young entrepreneur can do is stop waiting and start building.

Based in Kitchener, Ontario, BioHub is an applied research facility at Conestoga College that helps companies move ideas from concept to commercialization.

Their model is simple but powerful: instead of renting space or equipment, they provide hands-on technical expertise and student talent to solve real industry challenges in biotechnology and biosciences. With seven lab spaces including biosafety level two certification, state of the art analytical equipment, and a team of subject matter experts, BioHub is quietly becoming one of the most useful resources in the Waterloo Region life sciences ecosystem.

In this episode, host Jim Wilson speaks with research lead Anthony Bauer about a facility that is only a year old but already gaining serious traction. Anthony explains how BioHub fills a gap that incubators and universities often miss, why companies at any stage can benefit from what they offer, and why the Waterloo Toronto corridor is one of the most exciting places in Canada to be building something right now.

Vasomune Therapeutics is a clinical stage biotech company that spun out of Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto. Their lead molecule targets vascular leak, a common underlying factor in some of the most serious conditions in medicine including sepsis, pneumonia, cerebral edema, and severe burns.

In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with the President and CEO if Vasomune, Brian Jahns, about a company that has made remarkable progress to date and secures nearly $10million USD in non-dilutive funding. 

Brian makes a passionate case for Canadian self-reliance in life sciences... and asks Jim to share how the NGBi podcasts started.

This week we reach into our archive to replay one of our most popular interviews from 2024 with Brad Wouters, Executive Vice-President of Science and Research at University Health Network. Brad and I discuss his passion for medical biophysics, his accomplished academic career, what brought him to Europe, his return to Canada and the incredible research he and his team are doing at UHN.

Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Kare Chemical Technologies is a synthetic chemistry company working on something that sounds unlikely but could change how we treat chronic pain. By converting a byproduct of citrus orange peels into pharmaceutical grade cannabinoids, the company is developing non-psychoactive alternatives to opioids for patients dealing with long-term pain.

In this episode, host Jim Wilson speaks with co-founder and COO Kareem Abdur-Rashid about a company that began with a family member's diagnosis, a father's decades of experience in organometallic chemistry, and a young scientist who signed up before fully realizing what he was getting into. Kareem walks through how the technology works, how the company bootstrapped its way to its first licensee, and why chronic pain remains one of the most underfunded areas in pharmaceutical development.

This conversation is a candid look at early stage entrepreneurship from someone who is still in the thick of it, learning as he goes and building something that could genuinely help people get their lives back.

We thank the NRC for supporting the NGBi podcasts. The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) is the Government of Canada's largest federal research and technology organization, focused on accelerating innovation, research, and development.

Claudia Krywiak is President and CEO of the Ontario Centre of Innovation which is a government-funded organization that helps small and medium-sized enterprises commercialize research by connecting industry, academic, and government partners to drive innovation across the province.

In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with Claudia Krywiak about her journey that began in a small town in Poland, wound through Dubai and Toronto, and eventually lead her to the heart of Ontario's innovation ecosystem. Jim speaks with Claudia talks about growing up between cultures, finding her footing in Canada, and how curiosity has been the common thread in her career.

Claudia also shares her perspective on what is on the horizon in quantum computing and AI, why she believes the next two years will bring more technological change than the last decade, and why there has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur in Ontario.

In this episode of NGBiLab, Jim Wilson speaks with HygenX.AI co-founder and CTO Kris Rupay about a company that started in a garage during the pandemic and was originally founded to help restore confidence in air travel. What began as a UV disinfection robot for airplane aisles evolved into a potentially life-saving technology now being deployed in hospitals across North America.

The team at HygenX.AI have developed an autonomous AI-driven robotic UV disinfection technology that is designed to make healthcare spaces safer, faster, and cleaner. Their robot, RAY, can disinfect a patient room in minutes rather than hours, while generating a real-time digital map of exactly what has been treated.

Kris also talks about the challenges of pivoting from aviation to healthcare, the steep learning curve of building a medtech company without having a background in healthcare, and why he believes hospital-acquired infections are one of the most underreported public health crises in the world.

In the next episode of NGBideas Jim Wilson sits down with Gerald Prince who is Senior Director of GMP Manufacturing Gerald Prince at Bluerock Therapeutics.  Gerald's professional journey has wound through some of North America's largest food, consumer goods, and pharmaceutical companies and ultimately landed him at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto.  Gerald's story began in Stockton, California where his childhood home was unfortunately touched by gun violence but teachers and coaches believed in him before he believed in himself and their encouragement helped set Gerald on a career path defined by leadership, ambition and perseverence.  His journey eventually brought him to Canada and the forefront of cell and gene therapy where he and his team are helping change the future of medicine.  It is an inspiring story and we know you will enjoy learning about it.