Michael is a two-time startup founder and two-time first technical hire, leading to one IPO and two acquisitions. As an entrepreneur and software/data engineer, Michael identified the opportunity to link a physical product to its digital supply chain, and leads Index’s vision to leverage biology for improved supply chain traceability. 

David is an experienced entrepreneur with 15+ years of business development experience, pioneering in markets where the introduction of new technology meets government policy. Leveraging his experience in bringing technologies to international markets, David leads Index’s business development and regulatory strategies. 

Alessandra is an experienced scientist in the field of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, with a great emphasis in yeast gene editing. She is a Bioprocess Engineer and Biotechnologist, with a Doctorate in Science from the Federal University of Parana, Brazil, and now leads Index’s Bioengineering team. Alessandra is focused on advancing Index’s IP portfolio through research and methodology design, strain engineering and product development.

Anita has a strong background in deep tech innovation through the recruitment and management startups spanning multiple industries with the Creative Destruction Lab. She has co-developed multi-million dollar applied research projects in the life sciences sector, and leads the management of innovative projects for Index.

David has 9+ years of experience in software, building robust solutions in highly regulated industries. At Index, David leads the development of our software projects, including Trailhead.

Zhenhua is an experienced scientist in the field of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, with 13+ years of experience conducting research involving genetics and genomics, as well as microbiome DNA barcoding and metagenomics. At Index, Zhenhua is responsible for the research and development of BioTag recall in various use cases.

Dr. David Acheson has more than 40 years of medical and food safety experience, having practiced medicine for several years and serving in prominent roles with both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service prior to forming TAG in 2013.  David graduated from the University of London Medical School and practiced internal medicine and infectious diseases in the United Kingdom until 1987 when he moved to the New England Medical Center and became an Associate Professor at Tufts University in Boston, studying the molecular pathogenesis of foodborne pathogens.

At the USDA, David served as the Chief Medical Officer of the Food Safety and Inspection Service. He then joined the FDA as the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Chief Medical Officer; from which he moved to Director of CFSAN’s Office of Food Defense, Communication and Emergency Response; and was then appointed as the Assistant and then Associate Commissioner for Foods. In this role, David held agency-wide leadership for all food and feed issues, and he developed the 2007 Food Protection Plan, which served as the basis for many of the authorities granted to FDA by the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Since founding TAG, David has used his regulatory insight, food safety knowledge, and expertise in crisis response to advise food industry clients around the globe on how to best manage risk in a global supply chain and evolving regulatory landscape. He has published extensively and is internationally recognized for both his public health expertise in food safety and his research in infectious diseases. He is a sought-after speaker and regular guest on national news programs; serves on a variety of boards and food safety advisory groups of several major food manufacturers; and is a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians (London) and the Infectious Disease Society of America.

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Jeremy is an accomplished scientist, speaker and entrepreneur. He has founded several companies in the health, cultivation and technology space, serving in various senior executive roles. 

Prof Martin is a Professor and Concordia University Applied Synthetic Biology Senior Research Chair, as well as the Founder and Co-Director of the Centre for Applied Synthetic Biology, which is home to Canada’s unique Genome Foundry. In 2003 he co-founded Amyris Inc. with support from a $43M grant from the Gates Foundation, and leverages that experience as Chief Scientific Officer for Concordia’s District 3 Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Phyllis is an accomplished Regulatory & Scientific Affairs executive with 15+ years of experience in food and agriculture, consumer packaged goods, and B2B ingredient sectors globally.  She served the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in several roles before entering the private sector, where she has developed horizon scanning capabilities for R&D organizations, advised start-ups, and led regulatory teams within Fortune 500 companies.

Dr. Farber worked at Health Canada for a number of years as a research scientist, Research Division Chief, Associate Director and then Director of Microbial Food Safety. His research centered on mycotoxins, Listeria monocytogenes and Cronobacter sakazakii, and played a large role in developing many of the food safety policies that are currently in place at Health Canada.

Michael is a two-time startup founder and two-time first technical hire, leading to one IPO and two acquisitions. As an entrepreneur and software/data engineer, Michael identified the opportunity to link a physical product to its digital supply chain, and leads Index’s vision to leverage biology for improved supply chain traceability. 

Paul is the founder of Vanedge Capital and is focused on investments in SaaS businesses that target underserved markets and digital media technologies.

Paul is the former President of Electronic Arts and has been a successful angel investor for over 25 years. Paul serves on the Premier’s Technology Council, the UBC Sauder School Faculty Advisory Board and the Vancouver Public Library Foundation’s Campaign Cabinet.

He is also Chair at D-Wave Systems. Paul has received many awards including Business in Vancouver’s “Forty Under 40”, British Columbia Technology Industries Association Person of the Year, and an Honourary Master’s degree from the Centre for Digital Media.

Paul is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and holds a B.Comm with honours from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia.

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