Our People

Martin spent over 20 years in international diplomacy with the British Government with appointments across the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and North America spanning counter-terrorism, conflict resolution, trade and inward investment. Following a posting as Consul-General to Western Canada, Martin settled in British Columbia and joined the private sector, serving as CEO and Director of several private and public companies in the public safety and defence sectors, including Patriot One Technologies (PAT:TSX), before joining Syniad Innovations in 2021.

He has also served as Honorary Colonel of a Canadian Army Reserve Regiment, Regional Director of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council, Advisory Board of the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission and Advisory Board of International Yacht Training Worldwide. Martin has a BA in International History and Politics with Economics from the University of Leeds.

Ceri is an advisor to Oxford Science Enterprises. She joined the team after 20 years on the public sell side. Ceri began her career as a Life Science / Healthcare analyst at Beeson Gregory, then founded / headed up the Life Sciences team as Specialist Sales at Peel Hunt and most recently Numis Securities. Both teams achieved #1 rankings by corporates and fund managers during her tenure, whilst she has been ranked #1 individually since 2009. Ceri has been extensively involved in both primary and secondary fund raisings for the UK healthcare and life science sectors and is passionate about supporting the commercialisation of UK assets and their role in securing the UK as the globally leading centre for innovation. Ceri has an MB ChB from University of Birmingham Medical School, and post-graduation specialised in cardiology and trauma medicine. Her love of adventure & nature seeded her passion for white water rafting & photography.

Prior to joining Syniad, Sage served as the co-CEO of the Ralmax Group of Companies, a diversified group of 11 (predominantly engineering) businesses centred around the West Coast’s maritime industry. Previously she was the founder and Chair of Q5 Innovations which specialized in sourcing photonic and optical technologies for commercialization.
She served as a board member for ViaTecVIATEC, Victoria’s technology and innovation community for 4 years and as an advisory board member for the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business for 3 years. For a decade she has served as a director of Coast Funds, a not-for-profit dedicated to empowering First Nations to achieve healthy and vibrant economies and communities.

Sage has also been recognized for her successes in building prosperity through business with a number of awards including winning BC’s Top 40 under 40,Top Influential Women in Business Award, being a finalist for the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliances Peter Brojde Award for Canada’s next generation executive leadership and being recognized by the Vancouver Island Advanced Technology Association for the Innovative Excellence Award for business process.

Matti Hautsalo is a Director at Bentmind Development, which is an investor and a development partner with early stage high technology companies, assisting them to build an international management team and to partner with high value-adding actors in science, industry and investment. Bentmind Group is involved with companies in fields covering AI, big data analysis, oncolytics, cell description optimisation, and medical imaging.

Matti has been involved with high technology start-up investments since the start of the millennium, including working as a partner at the privately owned Finnish VC company, Aura Capital from 2006-2013. There he held chairmanships and directorships in several companies with science based IP assets and technologies, from live-cell imaging to material sciences and software businesses. Matti is also an advisor of Confido Capital, a boutique asset management house regulated by the Finnish FSA. Prior to his startup life, Matti worked at McKinsey&Co and ING Asset Management. He holds an M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Helsinki and UA de Madrid.

John has over two decades of experience in the field of university research strategy and research commercialization. He holds a BA in law from Oxford, a MA from McGill and is a qualified chartered accountant. He was the Financial Director of IndexIT, a successful London-based technology advisory boutique and then went on to become a founding director, CFO and COO of IP Group plc (LSE: IPO), partnering with British universities to help commercialize their research assets. He subsequently joined the founding team of Scientific Research Capital, a business that invested in deep science origination and commercialization, primarily in Europe. In 2010 John moved to Vancouver, BC. He served as an adviser to UBC for a short period before setting up Syniad Innovations in 2016.

Caitlin Embury has 10+ years of experience in high-level administrative positions, most recently working as Executive Assistant to the CEO and Board of Directors of a fast-paced publicly listed company in the safety and defense sector (PAT:TSX) for 3+ years.  Prior to that Caitlin served as an Administrator for various government-funded programs through WorkBC, assisting clients in career and educational planning and with grant funding applications.

Caitlin ensures the smooth operation of the Company and its Board of Directors by facilitating a robust corporate governance structure and acting as a proxy for the management team. She has experience in project management, policy development, and maintaining proper board and committee effectiveness. She prides herself on cultivating long-lasting relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Caitlin is a Business Administration graduate and has completed programs in Project Management for Administrative Professionals, and Leadership Excellence for Administrative Professionals through the UBC Sauder School of Business.

Hannah joined Syniad Innovations in late 2018. Prior to joining Syniad Innovations, she held positions at two of the top national public health agencies (UK Health Security Agency and Public Health Wales) in the United Kingdom for six years and completed a two-year fellowship programme in field epidemiology (UK FETP). With a demonstrated history of working in epidemiology, Hannah specialized in the analysis and reporting of various disease surveillance systems, (co-)published several scientific papers, and served as a guest speaker at multiple national and international conferences. Earlier in her career, she also worked as a Research Assistant at Queen Mary University of London. Hannah holds a Master of Science in Public Health Research from Edinburgh University, and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology from Durham University.

Iain has over 15 years of experience in creating and investing in deep science. He is currently the Investment Lead at Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster. He has been instrumental in the foundation and development of the Supercluster’s technology leadership strategy, where it has funded companies and applied R&D focused on precision health, digital twins and data commons. Previously, Iain was a Director and Advisor to the President of UBC, with special focus on innovation and strategic partnerships. Before UBC, Iain had roles with Yaletown Venture Partners, focusing on sourcing, evaluating and monitoring of venture investments, TPV Ltd focusing on technology commercialization and the UN Environment Programme. Iain holds a degree in Geosciences from Edinburgh University, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge.

LeAnn Mogerman, CPA, CGA, has over 20 years experience providing financial management support to corporations, not-for-profits, and charities. After a decade in public practice, she made the switch to a controllership role, providing finance leadership to boards and executive teams across several sectors. LeAnn is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Anthropology from the University of Victoria. Outside of work, LeAnn volunteers in schools facilitating financial literacy workshops for kids of all ages.

Frédéric is a serial deep tech entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in medical and computational technology startups. Until 2020, he was CEO of Imagia, a healthcare AI company developing digital biomarkers to predict and personalize patient outcomes. He was CEO of Harmonic Medical, developer of next-generation focused ultrasound therapy for uterine fibroids. In 2000, he was Founder CEO of Resonant Medical, a leader in 3D ultrasound image-guided prostate & breast cancer radiotherapy (acquired by Elekta). In 1994, he co-founded Lateral Logic (now CM-Labs and Oryx Simulations), who pioneered in real-time rigid-body dynamics for visual simulation & virtual prototyping, whose physics software is still widely used in industry and academic research. He serves as Board Chairman of Noctem Health, the leader in digital therapeutics for behavioural sleep disorders. He holds a Physics BSc from McGill University.

Samuel is VP Finance of Syniad Innovations. Sam, who holds a B.Sc. in Economics and Econometrics, is a chartered management accountant. His professional expertise combines exceptional business analytical and business strategy skills. He began his career in the UK retail sector on the finance graduate program at Sainsbury’s (a national supermarket chain) and held several positions across their finance team culminating in finance business partner to the trading team. After relocating to Canada, he worked as a risk management consultant for HSBC before moving to Constellation Brands (a Fortune 500 company) and then Arterra Wines Canada, initially as finance manager before taking on a senior role in revenue growth management.

Prior to assuming his current role as an Analyst for Syanid Innovations, Brando served as a Technology Investment Analyst. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of British Columbia, specializing in market research and financial/competitive analysis with a concentration in social impact and sustainability. Brando’s previous scientific projects have been focused on energy storage, bioelectrocatalysis, quantum computing, and multi-functioning materials. His concentration in social impact investing has led him to work as a Responsible Investment Assistant for the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics.

John Martin has worked in capital markets for over three decades, managing investor relations for different sectors, including Mining, Tech and Medical companies. He lived in Switzerland, where he was President of Fibera AG, an Investor/Public Relations company. He also worked with Patriot One Technologies (TSE: PAT) under Martin Cronin, Syniad’s chairman, for 4 years, where he was Manager of Investor Relations and assisted in building the shareholder base from 500 to approximately 25,000. Throughout his career, John Martin has helped various companies raise over $200,000,000.

Cyrus Taghdissian is a highly accomplished materials engineer with a strong business background. He graduated with distinction from the University of British Columbia, where he excelled in materials engineering and business. Cyrus received the Robert Quarrington Maxwell Scholarship from UBC in 2020 and the BC Ministry of Education Academic Achievement Scholarship in 2018.
Cyrus has practical experience at Patronus Technologies, a Syniad Innovations venture, where he played a key role in developing ballistic body armour and advanced ceramic alloys. He also contributed to research and
development projects and managed timelines. In addition, at Syniad Innovations, he facilitated the commercialization of science and engineering research.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Cyrus enjoys playing ice hockey, tennis, and soccer. He is fluent in English, conversational in French and Farsi, and continually seeks opportunities to expand his language skills.
Cyrus Taghdissian combines his technical expertise, business acumen, and dedication to community service, making him a promising and well-rounded professional in materials engineering.