ECHO Pitch Judging Panel

As Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS Canada, Dozie is responsible for external engagement, innovation sourcing, company onboarding, portfolio management, operational excellence, educational programming and P&L. He catalyzes and supports the translation of science and technology into valuable solutions for patients and consumers across the pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and healthtech sectors. Dozie joined the JLABS team from the Nonclinical Safety – Pathology function of the Discovery, Product Development and Supply Organization at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson where he led the US Discovery and Project Pathology team. Dozie and his team helped drive the acquisition and internal discovery of over 20 biopharmaceutical entities across 10 modalities from early discovery to clinical development, and some up to approval. Dozie also initiated and led the cross-functional oligonucleotide working group that has helped shape strategies for RNAi therapies in discovery and was a critical driver for understanding the pathobiology of cancer immunotherapies in discovery and development. Dozie earned a dual-major Ph.D. in Comparative Medicine and Integrative Toxicological Sciences at Michigan State University and completed a residency in Veterinary Pathology at Michigan State. He also received a D.V.M from University of Nigeria and is a Diplomate with American Board of Toxicology, as well as a Diplomate of American College of Veterinary Pathologists.

Evelyn Pau joined Amplitude Ventures as an Operating Principal in August 2024. Evelyn works directly with Amplitude’s Portfolio Companies and Pre-Amp Venture Studio, while supporting the deal team on active diligence and nomination. Prior to joining Amplitude, Evelyn was the Vice President, Investment Banking at Bloom Burton & Co., Canada’s leading healthcare focused investment banking firm. At Bloom Burton, her responsibilities included deal origination, strategic advisory, and venture creation for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and healthcare companies. Evelyn also established and led Bloom Burton’s recruiting and talent management efforts as the Recruiting Lead. Prior to joining Bloom Burton, Evelyn was a Business Development Analyst at Tornado Medical Systems (acquired by Bruker) and a Research Fellow at SECOR Consulting (now KPMG). Evelyn completed her PhD in Immunology at the University of Toronto, specializing in genetics and autoimmunity, and her Bachelor of Medical Sciences Honours in Microbiology and Immunology at Western University. Evelyn has been a member of the McMaster Seed Fund Committee since 2021 and served on the Board of Directors of the McMaster Innovation Park from 2016 to 2022.

Heather Cartwright is President of Power Ten Investments Ltd, a private holding company. She is an investor, philanthropist and advocate. Her philanthropy supports leadership development in athletic coaching, Indigenous youth sports and fellowships in cardiology, as well as advancing research of inherited cardiac arrhythmias. Her advocacy is in protecting girls and women’s sport and patient rights. A former rower, Heather was diagnosed at age 20 with ARVC and later, with heart failure. Heather has an ICD and CardioMems, and is deeply interested in the future of AI and wearable and implanted technology to manage cardiac conditions while protecting the rights, safety and privacy of patients.

With over 20 years of life science, IT and business development executive-level experience, Jacki is a key member of the senior investment team sourcing, conducting diligence on, structuring deals terms for and working closely at the board level with portfolio companies. Jacki has a strong reputation for providing the focus, clarity and cohesion required to drive projects from efficient inception to effective completion. Jacki focuses on early to mid-stage private companies involved in all aspects drug discovery and development utilizing a variety of platforms from complex biologics to small molecules in a variety of indications including oncology, neurology, rare disorders and inflammatory diseases. In addition to her investment activities, Jacki is also Lumira’s COO with responsibilities that include directing all aspects of Lumira Ventures’ information technology initiatives having developed a world class venture capital analytics platform. Prior to joining Lumira Ventures, Jacki worked at Base4 and Open Text Inc. where she developed, sold and provided support for enterprise content management solutions targeted to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in North America and Europe. Jacki has published several scientific articles and two book chapters, and is the recipient of three major academic research awards.

Heather Ross, MD, MHSc, FRCP (C), FACC, FCCS is the Head, Division of Cardiology at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at UHN and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She was named to the Order of Canada in 2020 (CM). She is the Site Lead for the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, and holds the Loretta A. Rogers Chair in Heart Function and the Pfizer Chair in Cardiovascular Research. She received her BSc (Honours Biology) from Queen’s University, her MD from the University of British Columbia, her Cardiology training at Dalhousie University, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Cardiac Transplantation at Stanford University, California. She earned her MHSc in Bioethics from the University of Toronto. Dr. Ross has had numerous leadership roles including President of the Canadian Society of Transplantation in 2005, Executive of the International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation (ISHLT 2002–2005) and ISHLT Secretary Treasurer 2007–2010. She has served 11 years over two terms on the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Council, and is a past president of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. She spent 6 years on the Board of the CCS Academy. She served 4 years on the Executive of the Heart Failure Society of America. She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. She is the past Ted Rogers and Family Chair in Heart Function 2010–2017. She has published over 420 peer reviewed articles and won numerous teaching awards including the inaugural CCS Women in Cardiovascular Medicine/Science Mentorship Award (2020), Canadian Heart Failure Society Annual Achievement Award (2019), University of Toronto Teacher of the Year (2017), and the UHN Department of Medicine Michael Hutcheon Mentor Award (2017). She is the founder of www.TestYourLimits.ca dedicated to improving heart health and research in heart failure. In 2015, she was named by Canadian Geographic as one of the top 100 modern day explorers.

Jennifer Silva is Director of Pediatric Electrophysiology and a Professor of Pediatrics and Biomedical Engineering at Washington University School of Medicine/St. Louis Children’s Hospital, and serves as the Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship for Washington University SOM. She serves in leadership roles within the Heart Rhythm Society (leadership roles in Women in Electrophysiology, Growth and Leadership Opportunity for Women in Electrophysiology, HRX, Digital Health Committee), Pediatric and Congenital Electrophysiology Society (President), American College of Cardiology (leadership roles on the Innovation Council, Industry Advisory Forum, Applied Health and Innovation Council) and the NIH-SBIR study section for Cardiovascular Innovation. She is a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors and serves on the Editorial Boards of numerous journals including Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Heart Rhythm O2, and Cardiovascular Digital Health journals. The scope of her research has been in innovation and emerging technologies with on developing and identifying clinical applications of new and emerging technologies within cardiac electrophysiology, particularly in the scope of wearable and advanced wearable technologies, including the extended realities. Jennifer is the co-inventor and co-founder of SentiAR, Inc, a venture-backed software device spinout from Washington University which is developing the first mixed reality platform to display intraprocedural 3-dimensional holographic visualization of a patient’s cardiac anatomy with real time catheter locations for cardiac electrophysiology studies with FDA clearance in 2020. In 2018, the company received a NIH-SBIR Fast Track award, and has raised >$10M in venture funding. Most recently, she has co-founded a second company, Excera, Inc. which aims to improve outcomes for ultrasound-guided minimally invasive procedures. She has worked with several medical device companies including AliveCor, St Jude Medical/Abbott, Medtronic and Biosense Webster regarding development and implementation of novel technologies targeted to unmet clinical needs and development of regulatory pathways.

Dr. Seema Mital is a Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologist and Head of Cardiovascular Research at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. She is Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the SickKids Research Institute. She is also the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada / Robert M Freedom Chair of Cardiovascular Science, and Scientific Lead of the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research. Mital has a strong translational research program focused on genomics, pharmacogenomics and stem cell applications to model childhood heart disease and discover new therapies. She has extensive experience in the genetics/genomics of congenital heart disease and heart failure, personalized medicine and clinical trials. She established the SickKids Heart Centre Biobank, a multi-centre biorepository of children and adults with childhood onset heart disease for genomics research, one of the largest international repositories of its kind. Mital is the Principal Investigator of the CIHR-funded INSERT-HCM multi-centre project aimed at implementing digital health technology, the NIH-funded Pediatric Heart Network for clinical trials, and leads the international ERAPerMed funded PROCEED network for Personalized Genomics in congenital heart disease.