Board of Directors
Simon Pimstone, MD, PhD, FRCPC (Chair)
President and CEO, Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Simon Pimstone is founder, president and CEO of Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a life sciences company focused on developing innovative therapeutics based on clinically and genetically validated drug targets.
Simon serves as the Chair of the Providence Healthcare Research Trust, and as past-Chair and Director of Lifesciences BC. Simon has served as a consultant physician at the St. Paul’s Hospital Lipid Clinic in Vancouver, a Director of the AllerGEN National Centre of Excellence, an Advisory Member of the SFU Biotech MBA program, and as a Director and Vice-Chair of BIOTECanada.
Simon is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. He has received the Top 40 under 40 from both Business in Vancouver and The Globe & Mail. Simon is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and is also a regular guest speaker at international scientific meetings and healthcare conferences.
Simon received his MD from the University of Cape Town. He is an internal medicine specialist with an interest in cardiovascular disease and obtained his PhD through the University of Amsterdam in cardiovascular genetics.
James Helliwell, MD
CEO, Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Eupraxia founder James Helliwell holds a medical degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC), with a specialization in anesthesiology. He also received sub-specialty training in cardiac anesthesiology and transplantation, and board certification in Perioperative Echocardiography.
Prior to founding Eupraxia, he held a clinical practice at a quaternary academic cardiac center in St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver. He also served as Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
With an active interest in administration, systems analysis and public policy reform; James has held many positions of leadership, most recently the presidency of the provincial body guiding anesthesiology care in British Columbia. Involvement with Eupraxia is a natural extension, allowing use of his scientific and administrative knowledge to lead a progressive company dedicated to providing patients with innovative pharmacologic treatments to relieve suffering and improve lives.
John Montalbano, CFA
Principal, Tower Beach Capital Ltd.
John is the principal at Tower Beach Capital Ltd. John built his career in asset management, first as an equity analyst and then as an institutional portfolio manager at Philips, Hager & North Investment Management Ltd. (PH&N). Throughout, he assumed successive leadership roles until his appointment as President in 2005. In 2008, when RBC acquired PH&N, John became CEO of RBC’s newly expanded asset management business, known as RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM). By 2015, when he retired as CEO, the organization was managing in aggregate more than $370 billion worldwide. RBC GAM, with clients in over 40 countries, managers Canadian, global and emerging market equity and fixed income mandates, including absolute return and “quant” strategies.
In recent years, John has completed a term as Chair of the UBC Board of Governors and remains a strong supporter of the UBC Sauder School of Business, where he and his wife Dana, established the Montalbano Professorship in Leadership Studies: Gender and Diversity in 2014. They have also established several fellowships at the University of Victoria in Ocean and Earth Sciences and at UBC in International Relations and Law. As a trustee of the Killam Trusts, in support of graduate studies, he also serves as a member of the Investment Committee for the Canada Council for the Arts. John is passionate about supporting the arts and sciences, and especially about providing opportunity for youth. In 2015, John has been appointed Chair for the Vancouver Public Library Capital Campaign and has joined the Boards of Junior Achievement British Columbia, The Vancouver Police Foundation and St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation.
Paul Geyer, PEng
CEO, Light Integra Technology
Paul Geyer is CEO of LightIntegra Technology Inc. LightIntegra has developed the ThromboLux technology, which is used as a point of care device to determine platelet quality for blood transfusions. Paul is also Chairman of Neovasc Inc., a new specialty vascular device company. From its inception in 2001 to June 2008, Mr. Geyer held the position of CEO at Medical Ventures and was responsible for raising over $40 million in Equity financing in the Private and Public markets and growing the company’s product portfolio through both internal development and the acquisition of three other companies.
Paul graduated with a B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia in 1988. A Professional Engineer, he has taken numerous postgraduate courses in Bio-medical Engineering and medical technology and has completed the Canadian Securities Course.
In 1991 he founded Mitroflow International Inc., a tissue heart valve company. Paul was President and CEO of Mitroflow and grew the company from 9 employees in 1991 to more than 125 employees in 1999. In 1999 Paul sold Mitroflow to Sulzer Medica, a large Swiss Medical Device company for more than $50 million. He continued as President of Sulzer Mitroflow Corp. unit the end of 2001, when he left to become President of Medical Ventures Corp. At Mitroflow, Paul was instrumental in the commercialization of the tissue heart valve products and the growth of Mitroflow from no revenues to more than $8 million per year and to over 175 employees. Mitroflow continues to be one of the largest medical device companies in the Vancouver area, currently employing more than 200 people.
In 1998, Mr. Geyer received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Richmond Chamber of Commerce. He is an active supporter of the local Angel investment community. In 2010 Paul was awarded the BC Angel Investor of the year. In 2011 he was awarded the UBC Engineering Community Service award and the Lifesciences BC Leadership award.
Michael Wilmink, MD
Chair, Dept of Orthopaedics, Banner Good Samaritan Hospital
Michael Wilmink is an orthopaedic surgeon and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics at the Banner Good Samaritan Hospital, where he teaches orthopaedic residents and serves on the Board of Managers for the Orthopaedic Surgeons of North America (OSNA). Michael pioneered the muscle sparing anterior approach technique for hip replacements and he currently lectures and teaches this technique to surgeons across the United States.
Outside of the medical world, Michael was elected to be a Phoenix Thunderbird and is one of 55 business leaders in the community that run and operate the Waste Management Phoenix Open PGA Golf Tournament.
Michael completed his undergraduate education at UCLA in Physiological Sciences and was an All American Water Polo player for the UCLA as well as a member, and captain, of the Canadian National Water Polo Team for ten years. In 1993, Dr. Wilmink returned to Vancouver to complete his Medical Degree and Orthopaedic Surgical Residency.