Leadership

Dr. Salama is Chief Scientific Officer at Fedora Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Advisor, Antimicrobial Resistance Steering Committee, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC); Executive Board Member, Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub;  Member of the Oversight Committee, Li Ka Shin Alberta Virology Institute (LKSAVI); Chair, Canadian Antimicrobial Resistance Coalition (CAIC); Director, BioAlberta Board of Directors; Consultant, Brass Dome Ventures Ltd., Chair, Al Rashid Education Foundation (AREF), and advises for or serves on several committees for a number of not-for-profit organizations.

Dr. Salama has over 25 years drug discovery experience across several disciplines including the discovery and development of new antibacterial and antifungal agents.  He also held several C-level positions in both the drug discovery and contract research sectors.

Additionally, Dr. Salama is business development professional with over 20-year experience in strategic planning, evaluation of new business and scientific opportunities, partnership establishment and management, contract negotiations, as well as in-licensing and out-licensing of assets. He was actively involved in dozens of licensing and partnership agreements, including the licensing of Fedora’s Beta-lactamase inhibitors to F. Hoffman La Roche in a US$750 million license deal.

Dr. Salama received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Salford, UK, and published over 50 original research articles and presentations at international congresses. He is also an inventor on several original patents in the anti-infective and anti-inflammatory disease areas.

Nezar Rghei is a Board Member and Treasurer of the Canadian Antimicrobial Innovation Coalition whose mandate is to protect the Canadian population from the rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by positioning Canada as a leader in AMR research and product development, economic growth, and investment.  Nezar held a number of Executive Roles in the Life Sciences & Diagnostics industry for the past 30 years.  Currently, Nezar serves as the Scientific Liaison & MeMed BV Program Lead at Diasorin Canada with a special focus on infectious diseases. Diasorin is a leading, global Diagnostics company offering molecular and immunodiagnostics products to clinical laboratories across the globe. 

Prior to that Nezar was the Senior Vice President, Commercial Development at Psomagen Inc, a leading US Clinical Genomics and Next Gen Sequencing Provider where he led the North American Business Development, Marketing & Sales. Before that, he was the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Resource Development at Ontario Genomics.  He was also the Vice President of Business Development at Norgen Biotek Corp, a Canadian Biotechnology company.  He also held progressively Senior Roles at Amersham Biosciences/GE Healthcare Lifesciences (now Cytiva). 

Nezar holds a bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Victoria as well as a Master of Science degree from Brock University in Biological Sciences.