Our Story

A bioengineer, inventor, and entrepreneur, Tamer currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Aspect Biosystems. Tamer co-founded Aspect in 2013 and has played a leading role in 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 built a world-class team. 

As a leader and visionary in the field of regenerative medicine, Tamer has been invited to speak at venues ranging from TEDx to industry, scientific, and executive conferences. He was selected as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst in 2022, named among the Top 50 Healthcare Technology CEOs in 2022, and has received awards for both BC's Top 40 Under 40 and Top 30 Under 30 for demonstrating excellence in business, judgement, leadership, and community contribution. He is also a Board Member at The Stem Cell Network, an organization focused on building Canada’s stem cell and regenerative medicine research sector.

Tamer holds a BASc in Biomedical Engineering and MASc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of British Columbia.

As Chief Scientific Officer at Aspect Biosystems, Sam is responsible for our scientific innovation and development. He co-founded the company in 2013 and currently leads our technical efforts in developing bioprinted tissue applications, both internally and externally. 

Sam has over 15 years of experience leading world-class tissue engineering R&D and is a recognized leader in the field. He has publications in multiple engineered tissue types including airway, skeletal muscle, neuronal, cartilage, liver and pancreas. Prior to Aspect, Sam was a Research Fellow at the UBC Institute for Heart and Lung Innovation at St. Paul’s Hospital where he spearheaded interdisciplinary, cross-Canada research initiatives to engineer complex 3D human airway tissues and developed cell culture media products that have since been successfully commercialized. 

Sam holds a PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Nottingham.

As Chief Technology Officer at Aspect Biosystems, Simon oversees the advancement of our biomanufacturing technologies. He co-founded the company in 2013 and currently leads our engineering teams and the development of our core technologies, including bioprinting systems, microfluidic printheads, biomanufacturing automation, software, and machine learning. 

Simon is a principal inventor of Aspect's microfluidic bioprinting technology with broad expertise developing advanced printing systems for applications including printed electronics, self-assembling nanomaterials, and biological tissue.

Simon holds a BASc and MASc in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia.

As Chief Human Resources Officer at Aspect Biosystems, Diane oversees the entire HR function, including team expansion, talent development, and HR operations. Diane is an accomplished Human Resources professional with more than 30 years of experience in the biotech sector, including executive-level roles in both private and public biotech companies.

Throughout her career Diane has established herself as a creative and adaptable HR executive, developing and deploying HR strategies and practices in order to support rapid growth. Before joining Aspect, she served for eight years as Senior Vice President Human Resources and Administration with Sierra Oncology, which was acquired by GSK in 2022 for US$1.9 billion. Prior to joining Sierra, Diane held executive-level HR roles with Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (now Arbutus Biopharma), Aquinox Pharmaceuticals, and The Centre for Drug Research and Development.

Diane holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.

As Chief Business Development Officer at Aspect Biosystems, Eric leads the expansion of our global partnerships with biopharmaceutical innovators. 

Eric 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. 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. 

Eric holds a BSc in Biochemistry from McGill University.

As Chief Technical Operations Officer at Aspect Biosystems, Lloyd oversees all facets of technical operations, including facilities and lab operations, manufacturing, quality control and assurance, regulatory, and project management. 

Lloyd is a seasoned biopharmaceutical development executive with over 25 years of strategic leadership experience spanning all stages of drug development across therapeutic areas, from discovery through to late-stage, global clinical trials. Prior to joining Aspect, Lloyd served on the C-suites of several clinical-stage life sciences companies, including Symvivo Corporation, NervGen Pharma Corp., and Aquinox Pharmaceuticals. His diverse experience extends to chemistry manufacturing and controls (CMC), quality, regulatory, clinical operations, and technical operations. 

Lloyd holds a BSc in Biochemistry from Simon Fraser University.

As Chief Financial Officer at Aspect Biosystems, Ray is responsible for the company's financial management and business operations.

Ray is a seasoned financial executive with over 25 years of experience leading finance teams in rapidly growing businesses. He started his career at Ernst & Young before joining global specialty pharmaceutical company, Eurand. As its VP, Finance, he helped grow the US company revenue tenfold, develop and launch Eurand’s first clinical product, and complete a $110M IPO on the NASDAQ. Most recently he was CFO of Cross Pacific Capital Partners and several of their portfolio companies in the high-tech space, where he played a leading role in raising significant capital while providing strong financial and operational leadership to multiple corporations across several countries.

Ray is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BSc in Mathematics and Computation from Loughborough University.

As Senior Vice President of Preclinical Research & Development at Aspect Biosystems, Spiro manages our preclinical R&D program focused on type 1 diabetes, overseeing our in vivo sciences, biomaterials, and tissue therapeutic research groups.

Spiro completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cell biology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, where he was a tenured Associate Professor of Dermatology and Director of Skin Tissue Engineering. He later joined GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals as Director of Biology with a focus on delivering preclinical models for drug discovery and development.

Spiro holds an MSc and PhD in Reproductive and Developmental Biology from the University of British Columbia and is an author on 75+ research publications.

As Senior Vice President of Process Development and Manufacturing at Aspect Biosystems, Jack oversees the build-out of our clinical and commercial-scale GMP biomanufacturing for our bioprinted tissue therapeutics. 

Jack has over 30 years of strong scientific, cell therapy development, and manufacturing experience. He has deep expertise in the development and optimization of cell-based production systems in complex regulatory environments, with a proven track record of guiding and executing organization-wide product development strategies from concept to commercialization. He most recently served as Vice President of Bioprocessing for Humacyte, Inc. and has previous held leadership roles at Lonza and other major pharma and biotech companies. 

Jack holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Harvard University and a Master of Public Health in Health Law from Boston University.

As Head of Strategic Communications at Aspect Biosystems, Natalie manages our corporate communications, digital marketing, branding, and conference planning. 

As one of the first full-time hires at Aspect, Natalie has broad knowledge and experience across various business functions in the company. She is a skilled and adaptable communicator who is passionate about sharing the amazing science and technology at Aspect with the world. Outside of professional life, she is an avid ice hockey player and coach, and has been awarded BC Female Coach of the Year by Hockey Canada.

Natalie holds a BCom in Marketing & International Business from the University of British Columbia and an MSc in Strategic Marketing from Imperial College London. 

As Senior Director of Licensing & Intellectual Property at Aspect Biosystems, Joel performs critical business development functions and oversees all matters related to our agreements and intellectual property.

With more than 15 years of experience in management and commercialization of intellectual property assets, Joel has held a cross section of roles in the life science industry, providing expertise in business development and licensing, intellectual property management, technology assessment, and venture financing. Prior to joining Aspect, Joel worked for STEMCELL Technologies where he provided business development support to an emerging product diversification strategy and contributed to various senior level corporate development projects including M&A.

Joel holds a BSc in Cell & Developmental Biology from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Biomedical Technology from the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.

As Head of Bioprinting Innovation at Aspect Biosystems, Erin leads the team working to expand the potential applications of our microfluidic 3D bioprinting platform through internal R&D activities and external partnerships with academic researchers. 

Erin originally joined the company as an Applications Scientist and brings a wealth of technical knowledge and experience in microfluidic 3D bioprinting and the bioprinting space.

Erin holds a BASc in Nanotechnology Engineering from the University of Waterloo and a PhD in Nanotechnology Engineering/Chemistry from the University of Waterloo and the Université Pierre et Marie Curie.