Our Story

An entrepreneur, engineer, inventor, Tamer currently serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer. Tamer co-founded Aspect in 2013 and has played a leading role in our overall corporate, business, and technology development. Under his leadership, we have secured significant funding, entered strategic collaborations with best-in-class pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and developed our commercial products. In his previous appointment as Chief Technology Officer of the company, Tamer drove the innovation and development of the company’s core technologies and intellectual property. 

As a leader in the field of 3D bioprinting, he has been invited to speak on this topic at venues ranging from TEDx to industry, scientific, and executive conferences. In 2017, he was awarded BC's Top 40 under 40 award for demonstrating excellence in business, judgement, leadership, and community contribution. Tamer serves on the Board of Directors for ACETECH, a non-profit training and mentoring organization for CEOs of technology and life sciences companies, and on the Board of Directors for The Stem Cell Network, an organization focused on building Canada’s stem cell and regenerative medicine research sector. 

Tamer holds a B.A.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering and M.A.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of British Columbia.

Sam is the Chief Scientific Officer at Aspect and is responsible for our scientific innovation and development. He has over 10 years of experience leading world-class tissue engineering R&D and currently leads our technical efforts in developing bioprinted tissue applications, both internally and externally. He is a recognized leader in the field of airway tissue engineering and has numerous publications in this area. 

As a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the UBC Institute for Heart and Lung Innovation at St. Paul’s Hospital, he spearheaded the BioAirway Research Offering New Concepts in Health (BRONCH) partnership, an interdisciplinary, cross-Canada research initiative to develop in vitro 3D human airway tissues. 

Sam holds a Ph.D. in respiratory cell biology from the University of Nottingham.

Simon is the Chief Technology Officer at Aspect and oversees Aspect’s microfluidic 3D bioprinting technology and product development. He leads our engineering team and the development of our core products including bioprinting systems, biomaterials, and microfluidic printheads. Simon is a principle inventor of Aspects microfluidic bioprinting technology with broad expertise developing advanced printing systems for applications including printed electronics, self-assembling nanomaterials, and biomaterials.

Simon holds a B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia.

Sandra Keyton is a growth-oriented Human Resources executive with 30 years of global HR experience in the biotechnology, technology, automotive and energy sectors. Prior to joining Aspect, Sandra held the position of Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources with Westport Innovations, where she led the global HR function in Westport’s high growth period. Driven by a passion to work with founding CEOs to bring technology to market, Sandra is committed to working with senior leaders and dedicated teams of employees to achieve business results through strong employee engagement.

Sandra is a past BC Human Resources Management Association Board Member and holds her CPHR designation. She is enrolled in the leadership and organizational development program at the University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business and is a graduate of the British Columbia Institute of Technology Human Resources Management Program. 

As Chief Business Development Officer, Eric leads the expansion of our global partnerships with biopharmaceutical innovators. He has over 30 years of experience in the development of biopharmaceuticals, cell therapies, and regenerative medicine products. His leadership roles in the cell therapy industry spanned a multitude of responsibilities including leading early phase development, process optimization, clinical trial execution, and business development. Most recently during his decade-long tenure at Thermo Fisher Scientific, he was responsible for building global strategic alliances and expanding their Cell & Gene Therapy Business Unit. 

Michael Liggett brings 30 years of experience in the health care sector. Michael was a practicing pharmacist for 7 years before obtaining his training and certification as a Chartered Accountant. After spending 7 years at Price Waterhouse Coopers (then Price Waterhouse), he joined Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in the capacity of Chief Financial Officer. He provided leadership through multiple financings and other strategic initiatives before successfully transitioning the company to establish its footprint in the forestry sector as Eacom Timber. His background includes over 19 years as a public company CFO with strategic and operational expertise and proven success in finance, M&A, strategic partnerships, restructurings, and risk management.

Mike holds a BSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of British Columbia and is a Chartered Accountant (CPA).

Spiro is the VP of Tissue Engineering at Aspect and manages all partnered and internal tissue engineering programs. Spiro was trained as a reproductive and developmental biologist at the University of British Columbia prior to pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship in cell biology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. At Northwestern, Spiro rose to the rank of a tenured Associate Professor of Dermatology and Director of Skin Tissue Engineering while securing federal and industrial funding for his team’s research on cell-cell adhesion and communication systems. 

In 2016, Spiro joined GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals in Collegeville, PA as a Director of Biology with a focus on delivering preclinical models for drug discovery and development.  He is an author on >60 research publications.

Backed by a passionate and talented team of technical and business professionals, Stephanie leads the expansion of our Discovery Ecosystem and the commercial development of our microfluidic 3D bioprinting platform by overseeing our Sales, Marketing, and Product Management efforts. With over 18 years experience in the commercialization of transformational life science research technologies, Stephanie has developed award winning campaigns and executed highly effective product and customer engagement strategies in large global and small to mid-size organizations. Prior to joining Aspect, Stephanie served as the Director of Marketing at Organovo, a 3D bioprinting company focused on the commercialization of their liver tissue models. 

Stephanie holds a Ph.D. in immunology from the Free University, Berlin, Germany.