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Dr. Janowska-Wieczorek is the retired Professor of Department of Medicine, University of Alberta. Together with her collaborators at the University of Alberta, she established the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Laboratory for the collection/processing of peripheral blood hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) for their use in transplantation; her group was among the first in Canada to provide this service to cancer patients. She was also one of the founding members of the International Society for Hematotherapy and Graft Engineering (ISHAGE) which later became the International Society for Cellular Therapies (ISCT). Her basic research includes biology of stem cells (HSPC, mesenchymal stromal cells [MSC], and other adult stem cells) derived from cord blood, bone marrow, and peripheral blood, elucidation of basic mechanisms of HSPC mobilization and homing, and the development of novel cellular therapies using MSC. Professor Janowska-Wieczorek has received numerous awards throughout her career including The Killam Annual Professorships.

Dr. Burrell is the Professor and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta. Over the past 15 years, Burrell has helped design more than 15 medical processes and products. He is named as the inventor on more than 30 U.S. patents and patent applications. In 1995, he made an important breakthrough in dressing design using nanocrystalline silver technology, one of the most significant advances in wound-care history. While working for Westaim Corp.'s Nucryst Pharmaceuticals he invented Acticoat, a silver-based wound dressing that has antimicrobial properties and speeds healing. The dressing is often used in burn units and is now sold around the world. Along with his Canada Research Chair designation, Dr. Burrell has been awarded the World Union of Wound Healing Society Lifetime Achievement Award for recognition of contributions to wound healing around the world, and the 2009 ASM Engineering Materials Achievement Award.

Dr. Swanson has spent 30 years in the area of industrial biotechnology as a Director of Research and as a member of the Executive Management Team of both small and medium sized companies. He has over 40 scientific papers and 4 patents. He co-founded the MicroSystem Research Technology Institute (MSTRI) at the University of Alberta and has helped set the nanotechnology strategy in Alberta including the launch of Alberta’s Nano/MEMS Packaging Centre (ACAMP). He has traveled widely for International projects in various regions and been an invited speaker at various International conferences. Eric joined the National Research Council (IRAP) in 1993. Eric has participated on numerous Boards in Alberta and as a close strategic advisor to companies in the region. Eric was a key strategist for NRC’s Microsystem/Nanotechnology domain and a key advisor on the Provincial nano-strategy. He retired in 2014 and currently provides advice and council for strategic investments by NRC/IRAP into industrial projects in life science and industrial micro/nanotechnology. Eric was a Board member of NRC’s national Biomedical Sector Team (BMST) and regionally is a sector specialist for NRC/IRAP in biotechnology, microsystems and nanotechnology.

Dr. Coros is the Chief Commercialization Officer at Nanostics Inc. As a former Executive-In-Residence at TEC Edmonton, Dr Coros was part of the Health Accelerator program where he helped the commercialization efforts of a variety of health care related companies. Previous to that, Dr Coros was the CEO of the Delta Genomics a national, biobanking, genotyping, and sequencing company for the livestock industry. Dr Coros is also the co-founder of Helios Genomics a metagenomics company specializing in environmental microbial testing. His educational background includes a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA degree specializing in Biotechnology from the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan.