Board of Directors
Jamieson Bondarenko, CFA, CMT
Chairman of the Board
Jamieson Bondarenko is an active investor and provides strategic capital markets & corporate development advice to early-stage life sciences companies through his merchant capital company, JGRNT Capital Corp. Jamieson was most recently Principal, Managing Director, Equity Capital Markets at Eight Capital. | Show More
His previous roles include Equity Capital Markets and Investment Banking positions at Dundee Capital Markets, Wellington West Capital Markets, and HSBC Securities.Jamieson is a CFA Charterholder and a Chartered Market Technician. | show less
Vaughn C. Embro-Pantalony, MBA, FCPA, FCMA, CDIR, ACC
Director of the Board
Mr. Embro-Pantalony is chairman of the board of Soricimed Biopharma Inc., a private clinical-stage biopharma company developing targeted cancer therapies. He is also a director of Microbix Biosystems Inc., a leading manufacturer of viral and bacterial antigens and reagents for the global diagnostics industry, where he also served as president and chief executive officer from 2012 to 2017. | Show More
He has held other executive positions in life sciences with responsibility for finance, business development, strategic planning and information technology including vice president, finance, and chief financial officer of Novopharm Limited; vice president, information technology, and chief information officer of Bayer Inc.; vice president, finance, and administration of Bayer Healthcare; and general manager, nitrogen products, for Terra International (Canada) Ltd.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and his master of business administration degree from University of Windsor. He is a Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant and a Chartered Director (C. Dir.) and is Audit Committee Certified (A.C.C.) through the Directors College, McMaster University. | show less
Marc Lustig, MSC, MBA
Director of the Board
Mr. Lustig is a highly regarded investor, entrepreneur, and corporate finance veteran with a deep understanding of the life sciences industry, including biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, as well as the legal cannabis industry. Marc holds MSc and MBA degrees from McGill University | Show More and his professional experience includes working at Merck & Co., and his capital markets career includes roles in biotech equity research, corporate finance and as Head of Capital Markets. Mr. Lustig was the founder and CEO of Origin House which was sold to Cresco Labs Inc.(CSE: CL; OTCQX: CRLBF) in 2020 where he currently serves as a director. In addition to being a director of a number of public companies, Marc founded the Lustig Family Medical Cannabis Research & Care Fund of the Cedars Cancer Foundation that provides cannabis to palliative cancer patients. | show less
Martin E. Schmieg
Director of the Board
Having previously served as a member of BriaCell’s Board of Directors from 2016 to 2019, Mr. Schmieg is a “C” level executive with a diversified background in the global biotech, med-tech and pharmaceutical industries with 40 years of business experience. He currently serves as Co-Founder and CEO of ClearIt, LLC., a private company based in Florida. | Show More
Mr. Schmieg’s early career focused on accounting and financial leadership serving as Chief Financial Officer to privately held Cytometrics, Inc., Advanced Bionics Corporation and publicly traded Sirna Therapeutics, Inc. and Isolagen, Inc. With Cytometrics, he raised $55 million in four rounds of venture capital financing to bring the company’s Cytoscan® instrument to market. With Advanced Bionics, he was the financial architect of the company’s sale to Boston Scientific (BSX) for $4.2 billion. With Sirna Therapeutics and in collaboration with its venture owners, he co-developed the company’s strategic plan which led to the company’s acquisition by Merck & Co for $1.3 billion. In 2006, Mr. Schmieg assumed the position of Chief Executive Office of Freedom-2, Inc., a venture startup in novel dermatology applications. While at Freedom-2, Mr. Schmieg raised $14 million in venture capital and led the company in the development and market introduction of InfinitInk®, which was a Time Magazine “Invention of the Year” in 2008. In 2009, Mr. Schmieg reversed merged Freedom-2 into Nuvilex, Inc., now PharmaCyte, Inc. Since 2010, Mr. Schmieg, through his company, Soar Ventures, has been providing strategic and venture advisory services to numerous life science companies. Martin holds a BS from LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA and is a certified public accountant (inactive). | show less
Rebecca Taub, MD
Director of the Board
Rebecca Taub, M.D., currently serves as President, R&D, and director of the board for Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pursuing novel therapeutics, since 2016. She acted as chief executive officer and director of the board of privately-held Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., since inception through its merger with Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. | Show More
Previously, Dr. Taub served as senior vice president, R&D, of VIA Pharmaceuticals, and as vice president, research, metabolic diseases, at Hoffmann-La Roche where she oversaw clinical development and drug discovery programs for a number of indications including the conduct of a series of Phase I and II proof of concept clinical trials. She led drug discovery including target identification, lead optimization and advancement of preclinical candidates into clinical development. She previously worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and DuPont Pharmaceuticals Company in a variety of positions. Prior to becoming a pharmaceutical executive, Dr. Taub was professor of genetics and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She has authored over 120 research articles, served as an assistant professor at the Joslin Diabetes Center of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, and was associate investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She received her Doctor of Medicine degree from Yale University School of Medicine and bachelor’s degree from Yale College. | show less
Jane A. Gross, PhD
Director of the Board
Dr. Jane Gross is a highly experienced biotech executive with over 30 years in leading research and development teams from discovery through preclinical evaluation and clinical development of therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Dr. Gross currently serves as an Independent Director for aTyr Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: LIFE), a biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for respiratory diseases and multiple cancer indications. | Show MoreDr. Gross’s experience includes roles as Chief Scientific Officer and SVP, Research and Non-Clinical Development at Aptevo Therapeutics (Nasdaq: APVO), during which she led the discovery of novel antibody-based, bispecific protein therapeutics as immunotherapies to treat diseases like cancer. Previously, Dr. Gross served as VP, Applied Research and Non-Clinical Development at Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE: EBS), during which she successfully introduced a drug to patients from design stage into clinic. This drug was partnered with Morphosys in a co-development transaction for treatment of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer. Formerly, as VP, Immunology Research at ZymoGenetics, Dr. Gross discovered and developed 30+ new product candidates, completed partnerships and out-licensing of assets, and helped position ZymoGenetics for a successful acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) in 2010. Dr. Gross earned her PhD in Immunology from the University of California, Berkeley under James P. Allison, PhD, who gained fame as the co-recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for being a pioneer in cancer immunotherapy, and her Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the University of Washington in Immunology under Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter, MD, PhD, formerly of Merck Research Laboratories and Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN). | Show Less
William V. Williams, MD, FACP
President & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Williams is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with over 35 years of industry and academic expertise, including significant clinical management in multinational pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Williams has served as BriaCell’s President & CEO since Oct 2016. | Show MorePreviously, Dr. Williams was appointed as VP of Exploratory Development at Incyte Corporation during 2005 – 2016. He facilitated entry of over 20 compounds into the clinic, including approvals for ruxolitinib (Jakafi) and baricitinib (Olumiant).As VP of Clinical Pharmacology and Experimental Medicine at GlaxoSmithKline, Dr. Williams evaluated numerous molecules in clinical studies in various therapeutic areas. He was involved in new or supplemental drug authorizations for a number of oncology drugs including Bexxar (lymphoma), Hycamtin (ovarian cancer), and Navelbine (non-small cell lung cancer) as well as ibandronate (Boniva) for osteoporosis.As Head of Rheumatology Research at the University of Pennsylvania, he ran a major research program in receptor biology, collaborated with David B. Weiner, PhD to develop DNA vaccines and was able to bring novel DNA vaccines into the clinic for the treatment of cutaneous T cell lymphoma.Dr. Williams earned his BSc. in Chemistry and Biotechnology from MIT and Medical Doctorate from Tufts University School of Medicine. He has worked in the molecular immunology laboratory of Mark I. Greene, MD, PhD, FRCP, at the University of Pennsylvania, developed novel methods of bioactive peptide design, and collaborated in the study of the activation of the p185/Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) receptor. HER-2 is a protein which is known to promote the growth of cancer cells. Dr. Williams is the named author at over 130 peer reviewed publications, over 15 patents and numerous Investigational New Drugs (INDs) and NDAs. | Show Less
