Derek Sheppard

Gowling WLG

Derek Sheppard is an associate in Gowling WLG's Hamilton office, practising in the Intellectual Property Group. Derek's practice focuses on drafting and prosecution of applications for patents before the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. He advises on patentability, patent validity, freedom-to-operate, and patent infringement issues. Derek also drafts and reviews IP related aspects of agreements (e.g., non-disclosure, employment, consulting, joint venture, purchase, license, and assignment), and performs due diligence on IP assets in support of transactions. Derek completed his JD at Western University, with a concentration in intellectual property, information, and technology. During law school, Derek was an active member of the Western Intellectual Property Association and served as vice-president, finance, during his second year.

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Prior to law school, Derek completed a MSc at the University of Ottawa, where his research focused on joint cell regeneration. During his undergraduate studies, Derek was a research assistant at the Ottawa General Hospital, where his work concentrated on retinal regeneration in both in vivo and in vitro models. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals. In his spare time, Derek enjoys hockey, golf, and reading.

Suman Rao

Lumira Ventures

Suman comes from a strong life science background, with special expertise in oncology and developing multi-targeted strategies to treat advanced cancers. Suman joined Lumira in 2021 as an Associate and focuses on conducting scientific and technical diligence of investment opportunities. She remains extremely passionate about understanding drivers of complex diseases and through her work at Lumira Ventures, hopes to bring novel therapies to patients by promoting cutting-edge technologies and medicines.

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Prior to joining Lumira Ventures, Suman worked in healthcare consulting at L.E.K. Consulting in Boston as a Life Sciences Specialist. During her time at L.E.K., she provided strategic advice on growth opportunities, pipeline expansion, potential M&A partnerships and financial modeling. Her clients included start-ups, biotech and pharma companies developing cell & gene therapies, protein degraders, small molecules and RNA-based therapies within oncology, neurology, rare diseases and ophthalmology.

Jonathan Bramson

Triumvira Immunologics

Jonathan Bramson, PhD, is the Vice Dean, Research for the Faculty of Health Sciences and a Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University. He holds the John Bienenstock Chair in Molecular Medicine. His research is focused on the use of cells as drugs. Specifically, his lab is developing methods to manufacture white blood cell “drugs” that attack cancer. To optimize the anti-tumor activity of these white blood cell drugs, his research team is using a combination of genetic engineering, synthetic biology, and chemical biology approaches to re-wire relevant signaling pathways within white blood cells to bolster their anti-tumor potency. Together with Dr. Christopher Helsen, Dr. Bramson developed the T cell antigen coupler (TAC) receptor in 2014 and founded Triumvira Immunologics in 2015. Dr. Bramson served as the CSO for Triumvira from 2015 – 2020 and currently serves as the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee.

Along with being on the Board of Directors for the Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence, Jonathan is the Vice-Dean for Research at the McMaster Faculty of Health Science.