Shawn Ritchie, PhD. CEO and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Ritchie is the CEO and CSO of MLD, and is responsible for the scientific and strategic direction of the company. Dr. Ritchie obtained his BSc (honours) in Biochemistry (University of Saskatchewan), a degree in Technical Writing and Communications (Simon Fraser University), and a PhD in Biochemistry (University of Saskatchewan). Dr. Ritchie has nearly 20 years of experience in multiple fields including diagnostics, mass spectrometry, metabolomics, analytical chemistry, informatics, biostatistics, epidemiology, and disease risk modelling. He is the primary inventor of the GTA-446 and PC-594 test kits, and has numerous patents and publications relating to the discovery and validation of GTA fatty acid metabolites as markers for various cancers. Dr. Ritchie has supervised PhD level students in the OMICS field, currently sits on the editorial boards of several peer-review journals, and is an industry representative for the Bioinformatics Program in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan.
Tara Smith, PhD. Vice President, Therapeutics
Dr. Smith earned her BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Regina and PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Smith has worked for the last 10 years on the pre-clinical development of plasmalogen precursors as therapeutic interventions for neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis. In addition, she is dedicated to developing and bringing to the clinic a custom plasmalogen precursor for individuals with the ultra-rare inborn error of metabolism, Rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata (RCDP). Dr. Smith has several publications relating to the augmentation of plasmalogen lipids with precursor compounds, and the functional effects thereof, in a variety of model systems. Dr. Smith also has extensive experience in the organization and management of large preclinical and clinical research collaborations, and is responsible for the preclinical and clinical development programs of MLD's plasmalogen replacement compounds.
Jinghui Shen, MSc. LABORATORY Manager
Jinghui Shen is the Manager of the tandem mass spectrometry kit manufacturing division and is responsible for overseeing the production of the GTA-446 and PC-594 Test Kits. Jinghui has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from East China University of Science and Technology. She previously worked at Phenomenome for four years as an Analytical Chemist in the manufacturing devision, and before that at PharmaDerm Laboratories and Helix Biopharma Corporation. Jinghui brings nearly 20 years of experience in quality control relating to pharmaceutical development, HPLC method development and validation, ISO13485 guidelines, stability studies relating to medical device products and analytical standards, and quality systems management.
Vinod Kumar, Manager, Quality Affairs
Vinod Kumar is MLD’s Manager of Quality Affairs and brings decades of experience implementing and overseeing quality programs in GMP pharmaceutical manufacturing. He has held senior executive positions at several large pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, and has been responsible for implementation of quality systems and regulatory compliance for all stages of pharmaceutical manufacturing, from the synthesis of raw active ingredients to finished drug product.
Vinod will be responsible for overseeing and ensuring that the ongoing GMP manufacturing of PPI-1040 meets all FDA regulatory standards.