Arun Menawat PhD, MBA
Dr. Arun Menawat joined Novadaq® as President and CEO in April 2003, marking a key transition in leadership for the company, from founders to the establishment of a professionally experienced management team. Under his guidance Novadaq has taken its lead product, the SPY® System, through clinical trials to commercialization and is currently advancing its pipeline with products for minimally invasive surgical procedures. In addition to commercial success, Dr. Menawat has led the company through private financing and a successful listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) in June 2005.
Prior to joining Novadaq, Dr. Menawat held positions of increasing responsibility at Cedara Software, a leading independent medical imaging software company. While serving as President, Chief Operating Officer and Board Member at Cedara, he led the company to its first profitable fiscal year and introduced several new innovative products. Prior to joining Cedara, he held senior management responsibilities at Tenneco Inc and Hercules Inc in the United States. Dr. Menawat’s educational background includes a B.S. in Biology, University of District of Columbia, Washington, DC, Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, and a Fellowship in Biomedical Engineering from the National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD. He also earned an Executive MBA from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
David G. Brown, LLB, CA
Mr. Brown is a partner at Gray & Brown, an independent legal and accounting firm and a managing director of Richardson Capital Limited. Mr. Brown is a lawyer and a chartered accountant who provides professional services primarily to medium and large family businesses and investment companies in the areas of taxation, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, corporate reorganizations, financings and estate planning. He also serves as a member of the Investment Committee of the RFG Private Equity Fund. Mr. Brown serves on boards for a number of private companies including Richardson Partners Financial Holdings Limited, Richardson Capital Limited, Plastic Moulders Holdings Limited, and Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd. He is also a member of the Law Society of Manitoba, the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Tax Foundation and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba.
Aaron Davidson, MBA
Mr. Davidson is a Managing Director of H.I.G. Ventures and focuses on investment opportunities in the life sciences sector. Prior to joining H.I.G. Ventures, he was a Vice President with Ventures West with a focus on venture investing in life sciences companies. Aaron began his career with Eli Lilly Company (“Lilly”), one of the largest global pharmaceutical companies. He spent a decade with Lilly in various management roles in the US and Canada including business development, strategic planning, market research, and financial planning. After Lilly he spent a year as the Vice-President of Corporate Business Development at SYN-X Pharma. Mr. Davidson currently serves on the boards of Gemin X Biotechnologies Inc, HyperBranch Medical Technology, NeurAxon Inc., Oncogenex Technologies Inc, and Tranzyme Pharma and is a board observer at Avera Pharmaceuticals Inc. He served on the board of directors of Salmedix Inc. prior to Cephalon’s acquisition of Salmedix in June 2005. Mr. Davidson has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University.
Anthony F. Griffiths, MBA
Mr. Griffiths is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company and is currently an independent business consultant and corporate director. Mr. Griffiths became the Chairman of Mitel Corporation, a telecommunications company, in 1987 and also assumed the positions of President and Chief Executive Officer in addition to that of Chairman from 1991 to 1993. Mr. Griffiths is also the Chairman of Russel Metals Inc. and a Director of Vitran Corporation, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, PreMD Inc., Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., Hub International Limited, Jaguar Mining Inc., Northbridge Financial Corporation, Odyssey Re Holdings Corp, and Lindsey Morden Group Inc.
Harold O. Koch, Jr, BSc
For the past 28 years Mr. Koch has held senior management positions in R&D, regulatory, and business development in the pharmaceutical and Class III medical device fields. Mr. Koch was the Vice President of Business Development & Scientific Affairs at Pamlab L.L.C., a developer, licensor and marketer of pharmaceutical products since July 2002, and effective January 1, 2007, became the Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Pamlab. Prior to joining Pamlab, Mr. Koch held senior management positions with Rorer Group, Cooper Companies, Akorn, Inc., Santen, Inc. and has consulted for various ophthalmic biotechnology companies. Mr. Koch holds 3 US patents in ophthalmology, one of which is the leading viscoelastic product in the US (Viscoat), with annual sales in excess of US$100 million. Mr. Koch holds a Bachelor of Science degree in medical microbiology from Texas A&M University, is an active member of the Licensing Executives Society and a Director of Southern BioAlliance (a nine state biotechnology consortium).
Brent Norton, MD, MBA
Dr. Norton is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of PreMD Inc. (formerly IMI International Medicine Innovations Inc.), a publicly traded company and a world leader in predictive medicine, dedicated to developing rapid, non-invasive tests for the early detection of life-threatening diseases. Dr. Norton has been active in medical practice, management and research for over 15 years. Throughout his career he has represented and lead multiple medical groups and scientific initiatives. Dr. Norton is a member of various boards of directors for both public and private medical companies in Canada and the US. He is also an active volunteer and has previously served as Chairman, Friends Project, for the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and as a Committee Member of the Canadian Intergovernmental Economic Commission, Advanced Technology Group. Dr. Norton holds an M.D. from McGill University and completed post-graduate work in biomedical engineering at Ecole Polytechnique at the University of Montreal. Dr. Norton also holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.
Joseph T. Sobota, MD
Dr. Sobota has over 15 years of experience with life science startup companies as a founder, board member, senior management executive and consultant. Dr. Sobota is the Managing Director of Apjohn Group, LLC, a business development and accelerator group focused on life science opportunities, a position he has held since 2001. Dr. Sobota was a General Partner and Founder of Apjohn Ventures capital organization. Prior to this, Dr. Sobota was the Chief Executive Officer of Rubicon Genomics, a leader in nucleic acid amplification. Prior to joining Rubicon Genomics, Dr. Sobota was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Biopure and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Chugai-Upjohn. Dr. Sobota holds an M.D. from Georgetown University and completed his post-graduate residency training at Tulane University and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Sobota is board certified in anatomic and clinical pathology and has held faculty appointments as visiting Professor of Pathology at Dartmouth Medical School and as Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University School of Medicine. Dr. Sobota also serves on various corporate and scientific boards.
Julia Levy, PhD
Dr. Levy is the co-founder of QLT Inc., where she held several key positions, including President and CEO from 1995 to February 2002. Under Dr. Levy's leadership, QLT recorded the strongest period of growth in company history and earned a reputation for achieving milestones, including FDA approval for Visudyne® therapy to treat wet AMD. Following her doctorate degree in immunology from the University of London, Dr. Levy was awarded an Industrial Professorship in the Department of Microbiology from the University of British Columbia and is the recipient of several honorary degrees. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and former President of the Canadian Federation of Biological Sciences, Dr. Levy has earned numerous awards and honors including an appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001, the Female Entrepreneur of the Year for International Business in 1998, Pacific Canada Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000 and the Future of Vision Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness in 2001. In 2002 she received, along with Dr. David Dolphin, the Friesen-Rygiel prize for medical research and the Prix Galien Canada research award. Along with Dr. Gustav Huber of Novartis, she was presented with the 2003 Helen Keller Prize for Innovation in Eye Care. In her honor, the Julia G. Levy Professorship in Ophthalmology Chair was created at Johns Hopkins Hospital Wilmer Eye Institute in 2004, the same year she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Columbia Biotechnology Association. She is the author of many published scientific articles, a director of the Working Opportunity Fund (a Canada-based venture capital firm), and serves as a director with a number of public and private health care companies.