The team and the story behind Syantra

Rob joined Syantra in November 2023, bringing 23 years of experience in commercially disruptive technologies at private and public companies across the healthcare arena. In his leadership roles at companies such as Cardea, Specific Diagnostics and Sequenom, he has driven business growth, scaling and the successful sale of the company. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Limmi, an Artificial Intelligence company serving the life science sector, and Gaia Medical Institute, a company focused on saliva-based point-of-care diagnostics for brain health. Rob holds a degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Bob has over 25 years of experience in cell bioengineering research and development. He has co-founded several companies, including Syantra, to commercialize innovative technologies and is a co-inventor on ten international patents.

Kristina is a biomedical engineering innovation professional focused on technology development, translation to implementation, mentoring and training, and entrepreneurial thinking. Additionally, Kristina is co-lead of biodiagnostics and a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Calgary. She’s also a member in the Charbonneau Cancer Institute.

Randy is a consultant vascular surgeon with over 20 years’ experience in innovation, research and biotech development. Randy is a co-founder of Syantra and is currently the CMO of ViTAA Medical Solutions, a software as medical device company based in Montreal.

Francine brings over 15 years of experience in program management and business operations, with a strong focus on scaling innovation and driving execution in tech, biotech and R&D environments. As a strategic leader and trusted advisor, she translates vision into actionable plans, ensuring alignment across teams, accelerating decision-making, and driving enterprise-wide priorities forward. Known for her ability to bring structure to complexity, her expertise spans executive strategy, organizational transformation, and operational excellence, with a proven ability to build high-performing teams and design governance frameworks that promote agility and collaboration. Francine brings passion, precision, and purpose to every initiative— continuously pushing boundaries to make a lasting impact.

Kenneth completed his doctorate degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Calgary and is actively involved in assay development, optimization, and clinical demonstration of Syantra DX.

Olesya has over 17 years of experience working in the biotech industry, academia and research. She has an extensive experience in breast cancer, translational biology, drug discovery, epigenetics, and target validation. She has over 10 years of research and development experience leading oncology and discovery teams addressing resistance to current therapies as well as pre-clinical development of small molecule therapeutics and tool compounds. She holds a Ph.D. in bioinorganic chemistry from the Bowling Green State University, OH, USA. She has authored and co-authored over 35 peer-reviewed publications and is an inventor on several patents.

Rifat is chairman, president and CEO of Midway Pharmaceuticals based in Philadelphia. Previously he was founder, director and CSO of Cell Pathways Inc. where he was instrumental in obtaining over $140 million of capital and in transforming CPI into a public company.

A breast cancer survivor and TEDx speaker, Holly serves as CEO of Athena, leading efforts to advance women in STEM and drive gender equality across global industries. Her career spans transformative roles, including leading the launch, merger, and financial turnaround of three companies in cleantech, biotech, and STEM. Previously, Holly served as a Presidential Appointee in President George W. Bush’s administration, advancing critical legislative initiatives at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and State Department. She also was appointed a delegate in California Governor Jerry Brown’s Cleantech Trade Mission to China.

Paul is the medical director of Rejuvenation Dermatology, which has clinics in Alberta, Ontario and B.C., and a co-founder of Calgary-based mobile lab services startup, TapLabs Corp. He has published extensively on skin cancer topics including melanoma, squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma. He has a strong interest in laser and aesthetic dermatology and has trained with some of North America’s foremost experts. Paul is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s prestigious Dermatology Residency Training Program.

Rob joined Syantra in November 2023, bringing 23 years of experience in commercially disruptive technologies at private and public companies across the healthcare arena. In his leadership roles at companies such as Cardea, Specific Diagnostics and Sequenom, he has driven business growth, scaling and the successful sale of the company. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Limmi, an Artificial Intelligence company serving the life science sector, and Gaia Medical Institute, a company focused on saliva-based point-of-care diagnostics for brain health. Rob holds a degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Bob has over 25 years of experience in cell bioengineering research and development. He has co-founded several companies, including Syantra, to commercialize innovative technologies and is a co-inventor on ten international patents.

Randy is a consultant vascular surgeon with over 20 years’ experience in innovation, research and biotech development. Randy is a co-founder of Syantra and is currently the CMO of ViTAA Medical Solutions, a software as medical device company based in Montreal.

Dr. Rick Mangat has over 20 years experience as a medical device executive. While carrying out research at the University of Manitoba for his PhD thesis in Pharmacology, Dr. Rick Mangat invented the SPY Imaging System – a product that can be used in surgeries to assess blood flow and perfusion thereby impacting the lives of patients and doctors across the world. Through this, Dr. Mangat co-founded NOVADAQ Technologies Inc. in 2000 and has held numerous positions within the company including the role of CEO from 2000-2003 and from 2016 until the company was sold in September 2017.

An internationally recognized clinical translational medical oncologist, Dr. Perez holds the distinction of Professor Emeritus at Mayo Clinic with a career that has spanned academic and industry leadership in medical affairs, drug development, clinical operations, regulatory and medical affairs, pharmacovigilance, and biometrics. Dr. Perez served in multiple committees for the NIH and organizations such as ASCO and AACR, and has a focus on translating science for the benefit of patients. She most recently served as Chief Medical Officer at Bolt Biotherapeutics (2020-2024) where she directed the development of a novel immuno-oncology pipeline, and is now focused on a broad range of scientific pursuits in cancer screening, diagnosis, and therapy for both academic and community practices.

Dr. Toriola is internationally recognized for his research on the molecular basis of breast cancer. He is Professor at Washington University School of Medicine and has a multidisciplinary background in medicine (MD), public health (MPH), anesthesia (DA), and epidemiology (PhD). He is a William H. Danforth Washington University Physician-Scientist Scholar and co-leads the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Siteman Cancer Centre.

Recognized internationally for her impact on breast cancer care and the community, Dr. Theodoulou is a clinical oncologist and Program Director Breast Medicine with New York Oncology Hematology (NYOH). Prior to joining NYOH, Dr. Theodoulou was an attending physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and a Professor of Medicine at the Joan and Sanford Weill Medical College of Cornell University.