Our Team
Management team & Board of directors
Management & Board of Directors
Chandra J. Panchal, PhD.
Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Panchal founded Axcelon in 2001 and was a co-founder of Procyon Biopharma Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company involved in development of wound healing, cancer therapeutic and diagnostic products, which listed on Alberta Stock Exchange in 1998, the TSX in 2000 and changed its name to Ambrilia BioPharma Inc.. He served as Procyon Biopharma Inc.’s Chairman, President and CEO and Ambrilia Biopharma Inc.’s Senior Executive Vice-President, Business Development, Licensing and Intellectual Property in charge of both out-licensing, in-licensing and M&A activities. He retired from Ambrilia Biopharma Inc. in February 2008. Since then, Dr. Panchal has served as a consultant in the biomedical industry and has been an investor in technology. Prior to founding Procyon Biopharma Inc., Dr. Panchal was a senior scientist/group leader supervising activities related to yeast genetics, fermentations and product development at John Labatt Ltd., a multinational food and beverage company. Dr. Panchal was a director of Procyon Biopharma Inc. from 1989 to 2006. Dr. Panchal is on the board of directors of four public companies and MaRS Innovation. Dr. Panchal has authored over 50 scientific papers and has edited a book entitled Yeast Strain Selection, published in 1990. Dr. Panchal has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Ontario where he obtained his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering.
Dino Mili, CPA, CA,
President & Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Mili has more than 30 years experience in the industrial and renewable energy sectors and he has worked on projects representing investments of more than $450 million. Work experiences centred on development, acquisition, and project financing for energy sector and industrial projects. Mr. Mili worked with Enerkem, gasification technology waste-to-biofuel, Domtar Inc., a pulp and paper company, CHI Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Enel GreenPower, a world leader in the renewable energy sector as well as a consultant for a number of other start-up bioproducts companies . Mr. Mili is a CPA,CA, and worked for with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, a major international accounting firm, before moving to the private sector.
Wankei Wan, PhD.
Director of R&D, Chief Technology Advisor
Dr. Wan is Director, Transgenic Spider Silk Research, AFMNet and Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, and a Full Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at The University of Western Ontario (UWO). He is the inventor of the patent for dissolving and casting bacterial cellulose as well as co-inventor on three other biocellulose related patent and patent applications (assigned to Axcelon). He is a chemistry graduate from the State University of New York at Buffalo, N.Y. and has had extensive industrial experience as a Senior Scientist for the Exxon Research and Engineering Company and Imperial Oil Limited. Dr. Wan is an inventor of several processes which are the subject of patents and patent applications and is the Chair of the Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering at UWO. He has published extensively and has been a recipient of several peer-reviewed grants.
Chris Ho, M.E.Sc, P.Eng
Senior Technical Advisor
Mr. Ho over 35 years process engineering & project execution experience in industrial gas applications, chemical, waste water and water treatment, pulp & paper and fermentation industries. The last 26 years he spent at Praxair Canada with responsibilities from Senior Development Engineer to Business Development Professional with activities in the Canada, US and China. He has designed, built and started-up processes for major clients working on gas/liquid mixing, gas dissolution, CO2 pH control, and fermentation.
Chandra J. Panchal, PhD.
Please refer to the biography set forth under management team.
Gordon E. Peterson BBA (Hons), LL.B, MBA.
Mr. Peterson is a founding partner at Carlyle•Peterson, a London, Ontario law firm which was established in 1995. Prior thereto he was a partner in the law firm of Harrison, Elwood in London, Ontario, where he practiced corporate-commercial law with emphasis on securities law since 1989. Previously, he was with the law firm of Aird & Berlis, Toronto, Ontario. Over the past 10 years, Mr. Peterson has been a director and corporate secretary of a number of public and large private companies. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) degree from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia and his MBA and LL.B degrees from The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. He has been a lecturer at UWO Faculty of Law, the Law Society of Upper Canada Continuing Education and an instructor in the Law Society of Upper Canada Bar Admission course and the Canadian Institute of Management program.
James Youmans
Mr.Youmans has worked in the pharmaceutical field for the past forty plus years, starting as an employee in his father’s independent pharmacy. His first industry job was with Eli Lilly and Company, holding various positions of growing responsibilities, in sales, medical and marketing. For the next 13 years he worked for Glaxo Pharmaceuticals as head of marketing, new product market planning and business development. He initiated the start up of North and South American operations for Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals before accepting the position as President, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in Basel, Switzerland. He later was named as COO for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, again stationed at the headquarters in Switzerland. In 1997 he returned to the United States and co-founded RX Sample Solutions, a marketing company in the field of prescription sampling alternatives. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Youmans has held more than 20 Board positions with US and/or international pharmaceutical companies.