Women Driving Health Innovation: Celebrating Excellence in Entrepreneurship

Aortico, presented by Daniella Eliathamby 
Built on over a decade of research, Aortico leverages mechanical assessment of the aorta and machine learning to predict aortic failure before it can occur – ensuring the right patients are identified at the right time for the right treatment.

ArteraNova, presented by Nazli Hassanpour  
ArteraNova is addressing the urgent problem of restenosis following atherosclerosis interventions, which affects millions of patients despite the use of modern drug-eluting technologies. Using NanoSmooth, our proprietary peptide-nanoparticle platform, we selectively inhibit smooth muscle cell migration while preserving natural vessel healing, reducing the need for repeat interventions and improving patient outcomes. 

Iglu Therapeutics, presented by Lyra Vania 
Iglu Therapeutics is a gene therapy company developing disease-modifying treatments for GRIN-related neurodevelopment disorder, a group of devastating pediatric conditions caused by dysfunction of the NMDA receptor. Our mission is to restore normal receptor function and deliver meaningful, lifelong clinical benefit to patients who currently have no effective treatment options.   

Re:Pair Genomics, presented by Shiron Lee 
Current gene therapies often fail because of low efficacy and off-target toxicity. Re:Pair Genomics aims to fix this with AI-designed synthetic promoters, precise biological switches that ensure life-saving therapies activate only in the right cells at the right time. 

TechInu, presented by Jasmine Jing 
With our unique AI and MAPIS (Matrix Pinhole Image Sensing) technology, TechInu is turning diabetes care into what it should be: proactive, personalized, and pain-free. 

Tranquilo Wearables, presented by Maryjo Antonio 
Tranquilo Wearables Inc. is an early-stage med-tech startup dedicated to transforming mental health care for individuals living with bipolar disorder through an innovative wearable device and AI-powered app that detects early signs of mood episodes from digital and physiological biomarkers. Our team aims to support users’ mental health care journey and helps them prepare for crises before they escalate. 

Professor Denise Belsham, PhD, is an award-winning educator, researcher, and entrepreneur in the Department of Physiology, Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Neuroendocrinology. Dr Denise Belsham was named one of the Top100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network in 2025. She was awarded the prestigious President’s Teaching Award in 2023 at the University of Toronto for innovative teaching and course/program development. She is currently working on her fourth venture ZAPetite that aims to take a natural bio-identical alternative for weight management to the market by 2027. 

Dr. Fahima Osman is a breast surgical oncologist and digital health entrepreneur passionate about building programs that truly work—programs that improve access, enhance quality, and support patients and care teams. She is proud to have led the work that resulted in Canada’s only NAPBC-accredited Breast Cancer Program and inspired the development of MyJourney, an award-winning digital navigation platform implemented and validated in real clinical settings. 

Dr. Osman believes data is the engine of better care. With experience in cancer program design, quality improvement, start-up leadership, and digital health commercialization, she thrives at the intersection of clinical leadership and technology—turning innovative ideas into scalable, system-changing solutions. 

Dr. Ghale Ghale is passionate about translating scientific innovations into real-world impact. As Associate Director of Programs & Strategic Partnerships at OBIO, she supports the commercialization and scaling of health and life sciences companies. She also spearheads the OBIO Women in Health Initiative, a program dedicated exclusively to supporting women entrepreneurs in the health and life sciences sector. She teaches business model development in McMaster University’s Master of Biomedical Innovation program. Prior to joining OBIO, she was a Venture Manager at the Creative Destruction Lab (Toronto), where she evaluated technologies and supported early-stage ventures. Her expertise includes life sciences diligence, fundraising strategy, commercialization, stakeholder management, and communications. Dr. Ghale holds a PhD in Chemistry from Germany and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her work has been published in top-tier peer-reviewed journals, including Science, Nature, and JACS, with over 1,000 citations. She is a recipient of the DFF-MOBILEX mobility grant from the Danish Council for Independent Research and was selected as one of the young scientists to attend the 59th Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting. 

Outside of her professional work, Dr. Ghale is a proud mom — a role she considers her most meaningful. 

Jessica Galli is a Principal at Intrepid Growth Partners, a growth equity firm that invests in companies applying artificial intelligence across North America and Europe. At Intrepid, she focuses on healthcare, backing founders building category-defining businesses at the intersection of AI, clinical care, and life sciences. Her work spans sourcing, diligence, and portfolio support, with a particular interest in technologies that drive measurable improvements in patient outcomes and healthcare system efficiency. 

Prior to joining Intrepid, Jessica worked at General Atlantic in New York, a leading global growth equity firm with over $100 billion in assets under management, where she focused on healthcare services investing. She began her career in healthcare investment banking at J.P. Morgan in New York, advising companies across the broader healthcare ecosystem. 

Ayesha Rashid is a Senior Life Science journalist at Xtalks and host of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast. She covers the latest news and trends across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and healthcare industries. Ayesha received her PhD in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto. 

Dr. Nardin Samuel is a neurology resident and clinician-scientist trainee at the University of Toronto, working at the intersection of neuroscience, AI, and health innovation. Her research focuses on biomarker-driven approaches to neurological disease, with expertise in neuromodulation and non-invasive brain stimulation. She has authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications and received multiple national awards and has been named among Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. 

She is also Co-Founder of Cove Neurosciences, developing data-driven tools to improve quantitative biomarkers of brain diseases. Dr. Samuel is a passionate advocate for women in science and entrepreneurship, mentoring emerging leaders and supporting women-driven innovation in healthcare. 

Parnian Majd is a biomedical engineer and the Founder & CEO of Fibra Inc., a women’s health technology company developing patented smart-textile wearables to close the largest data gap in healthcare. Fibra transforms everyday underwear into an always-on platform that passively captures physiological biomarkers and provides personalized reproductive health insights through an integrated mobile app. 

Parnian holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto and an Entrepreneurship Certificate from Harvard Business School. She was selected for the NEXT Canada program and has received several recognitions, including the 2024 Women Empowerment Award for Innovation and the EY Woman in Tech Award. Through Fibra, she is working to transform how women understand their bodies by building a data-driven platform for women’s health. 

Rachel Katz is a PhD candidate at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science & Technology at UofT. Rachel studies ethical issues in the ways novel technologies change or disrupt human relationships. Rachel’s dissertation examines the therapeutic alliance between a patient and (human) therapist, and the ways that the use of an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot in lieu of a therapist changes the nature of this relationship. More generally, Rachel is interested in interpersonal trust. She has used trust as an avenue to explore epistemic humility and the use of AI for pain management and topics related to pandemic ethics. 

Dr. Sarah Farr joined Genesys Capital in 2020 as an Associate, bringing to the team eight years of experience at the bench in laboratory research and discovery. She is responsible for deal sourcing and carrying out diligence on biotech and medtech investment opportunities. She serves on the Board of Directors of Antegrade Medical Inc. and is a board observer for Giiant Pharma Inc. and Questat Inc. Past board affiliations include Adapsyn Bioscience, Inc. and EBT Medical, Inc. Dr. Farr currently volunteers on the review committee for the McMaster University Seed Fund. 

Before Genesys, Dr. Farr worked as a Business Development Officer in the Industry Partnerships & Commercialization office at the Hospital for Sick Children, where she managed IP, industry partnerships, and start-up opportunities.