Dr. Alex Romanovschi, VP Scientific Affairs, AstraZeneca Canada

Dr. Alex Romanovschi, M.D., is Vice President of Scientific Affairs and a member of the Canadian Executive team at AstraZeneca Canada, one of Canada’s leading biopharmaceutical companies. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the global biopharmaceutical sector – including more than seven years previously with AstraZeneca Canada and AstraZeneca Global.

He began his career in Romania, taking on increasingly senior roles in medical, marketing and sales across a broad range of therapeutic areas for organizations, including Merck and Novartis. Most recently, he served as the Vice President and Country Medical Director for GlaxoSmithKline, where he was accountable for the Canadian medical organization across respiratory, HIV/infectious diseases, oncology and immuno-inflammation, and vaccines.

Alex is a trained medical doctor and earned his medical degree at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy ‘Carol Davila’ Bucharest in Romania.

Dr. Bertrand Roy, Country Lead, Canada, CSL Seqirus Canada

Dr. Bertrand Roy has led Medical Affairs at CSL Seqirus Canada since 2019.  Bertrand’s Medical Affairs experience spans more than 26 years in various therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Infectious Diseases and Vaccines. His vaccine experience includes transitioning Wyeth’s vaccine portfolio to Pfizer following its acquisition. While at Pfizer, Bertrand was responsible for launching child and adult indications of its pneumococcal vaccine. Bertrand has a B.Sc. in biomedical sciences and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Université de Montréal, Canada.

Dr. Bryan Tennant, Scientific Director, GSK

Dr. Bryan Tennant CD, PhD joined GSK in 2016 and spent over 5 years as a Medical Science Liaison on the Vaccines and Oncology teams.  In these roles he was instrumental in establishing strong relationships with external experts and partner organizations across western Canada, ensuring they had timely access to and a deep understanding of the science underpinning GSK’s vaccines and medicines to support informed health decision making.

In 2021 he assumed the position of Scientific Director for Vaccines and was later appointed to the position of Scientific Director for GSK Canada. In this role, he is responsible for managing pre-clinical activities in Canada, developing the strategic plan for partnership and investment in research and development and for interacting with key external partners, top scientific experts, and expert groups to further demonstrate GSK’s scientific leadership externally.

Prior to joining GSK, Bryan completed a PhD at the University of British Columbia and Master of Science at Simon Fraser University. Further, from 2002-2018, he was a member of the Department of National Defense and received the Canadian Forces Decoration and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his service. Bryan lives in Victoria with his wife and daughter where he spends his time enjoying West Coast living.

Dr. Shehzad Iqbal, Country Medical Director, Moderna Canada

Dr. Shehzad Iqbal is the Country Medical Director at Moderna Canada, leading research initiatives and implementation of mRNA vaccines and future medicines.

Shehzad comes from an extensive academic and industry-based Research & Development (R&D) background. He completed his doctorate in HIV Immunology under Dr. Francis Plummer, the former Scientific Director General of Canada and head of the Canadian National Microbiology Laboratory. His research into natural immunity to HIV led to the discovery of a novel anti-viral protein.

Prior to joining Moderna, Shehzad held increasingly senior roles with Sanofi Pasteur and GSK, combining a focus in public health with end-to-end experience in vaccines from early discovery to lifecycle management.

Dr. Ana Gabriela Grajales, Medical Affairs Director, Pfizer Canada

Dr. Ana Gabriela Grajales is a pediatric infectious disease specialist. Her expertise extends to clinical research for meningococcal, influenza and HPV vaccines. Her early career included roles in hospital surveillance and infection control. She is the Medical Affairs Primary Care Lead at Pfizer Canada since December 2022. Ana’s leadership and guidance to a team of medical affair scientists, ensures adherence to high medical, healthcare, and regulatory standards.

Dr. Jason Lee, Head, Vaccines Medical Affairs, Canada, Sanofi Canada

Dr. Jason Lee is the Head of Vaccines Medical Affairs at Sanofi Canada. Jason joined Sanofi Pasteur in 2014 and previously held several positions within the Medical Affairs team in Canada and North America. He holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Immunology from the University of Alberta and a Master of Biotechnology (MBiotech) from the University of Toronto and is also PhD candidate at the University of Toronto's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy with a thesis focused on the economics of vaccine development and immunization programs. Jason's research interests include health economic modelling, real-world vaccine effectiveness studies, systematic review and meta-analyses, and has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed studies in these areas.

Mr. Thomas Shin, Real World Evidence Lead, Sanofi Canada

Thomas Shin is the North America Vaccines Lead for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) at Sanofi Vaccines, where he oversees HEOR initiatives across multiple disease areas. Prior to joining Sanofi, he served as a Senior Economist at the Ontario Drug Benefit Program (ODB) within the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC), as well as at Cancer Care Ontario’s (CCO) New Drug Funding Program (NDFP) and Pharmacoeconomics Research Unit (PRU). Thomas also brings extensive experience in data-focused roles within the technology and finance sectors. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, a Master’s degree in Medical Anthropology, and a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Additionally, he earned a Master’s degree in Statistics from York University.