Team

The GHPX team consists of corporate executives and applied PhD scientists specializing in epidemiology, digital health, life sciences, genomics, artificial intelligence and Frontiere exponential technologies. We have led digital transformation strategy, implemented proof-of-concepts and pilots, and implemented full-stack health technology system integrations in over 20 countries. Our passion is entrepreneurship. Collectively, we have founded, led, and advised over 40 entrepreneurial tech ventures from inception to exit.

Collectively our team members have published hundreds of peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals and regularly speak at industry conferences worldwide. We offer fluency in multiple languages including English, French, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, and Swahili.

**Aranka Anema, PhD**

**CEO. SCIENCE, INNOVATION, IMPACT**
Aranka has 20 years of experience in data analytics, business strategy and growth specific to global health. Aranka guides digital health companies, international governments and multilateral institutions in strategic growth and implementation of emerging technologies. Aranka advises health companies in strategic growth, partnerships and data commercialization. She is a subject matter expert in pandemic infectious diseases including (e.g. HIV, TB, Ebola, COVID-19) and non-communicable diseases. She has designed and led program evaluations for major bilateral and multilateral agencies such as Global Affairs Canada, USAID, the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Commission, spanning operations across 50 countries and representing >US $400M in foreign aid investments. Aranka has led the scientific strategy and implementation of novel artificial intelligence technologies in U.S. Federal Agencies (FDA, CDC, DoD, USAID). She has published >100 manuscripts and abstracts in scientific journals and conferences, and is a peer-reviewer for Lancet, JAMA and PLOS Medicine. Aranka was a three-year appointed academic advisor for the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Infectious Diseases and Food Security (2015-2018) and on the Leadership Team of the American Public Health Association’s International Health Group (2013-2019). Aranka led the design and launch of KPMG Canada’s first Ignition Centre—an innovation, analytics and technology hub that uses human-centered design, business model transformation and exponential technologies to help clients seize market opportunities. Aranka holds an MSc in medical anthropology (UCL), PhD in epidemiology (UBC) and a post-doc in computational informatics (Harvard Medical School). She is a Singularity University Alumni and is passionate about open innovation, healthcare in outer space and humanitarianism.

Amit Mathur, MD

COO. DIGITAL & VIRTUAL HEALTH

Dr. Mathur was the founding President and Director of CloudMD Software & Services Inc. (TSXV:DOC). In this role he led the growth of the company from inception to over 800 employees in Canada/US and is now recognized as one of Canada’s leading EAP, digital, and occupational health companies. This growth was rapid and inorganic in nature, including the roll-up of clinics and pharmacies. In his role as Global President, the company uplisted from the CSE to the TSXV, raised over $120M and acquired 14 companies in less than 2 years. Dr. Mathur transitioned the company to his predecessor after reaching a market cap of over $400M and continues to oversee the US side of the business. Dr. Mathur is an active strategic and growth advisor to North American and Asian companies. He is Senior Advisor Digital Transformation and Innovation for the world-renowned LV Prasad Eye Institute – the world’s largest eye care network with over 250 eye care centres, innovation lab, and teaching facilities which has serviced over 35 million patients since establishment; Founding Advisor to GetFresh Ventures business accelerator and their portfolio companies; Founding Medical Chair to Brains Bioceutical and integral in engaging WADA and NSF safety affirmations for a novel CBD pharmaceutical product produced in the UK and today distributed globally. Amit was previously Partner at the Vancouver-based prominent business consulting firm The Deetken Group; Founding Director to a Canadian public AI computer vision company addressing the sports and media industry; and Co-Founder and former COO at Livecare Health, an acknowledged Canadian pioneer company in telehealth and digital medicine. He has a special interest in new solutions to behavioural health and was a presenter at the 24th World Congress of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry on the topic of novel solutions for mental health.Previously Amit was Team Lead on a trade mission to India, along with the Secretary of State of Washington.

**Riad Hartani, PhD**

**5G, AI, WEB 3.0**
Riad has spent the past two decades designing and scaling-out foundational Internet technologies in high- and low-income countries, and is a renowned thought leader in the Future of the Internet. Riad views Internet infrastructure as the cornerstone of socio-economic development for global health. He has lived, travelled and worked in over 100 countries, and contributed to the development of notable world-firsts in Mobile Internet technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Security and Blockchain. Riad advises some of the world’s top 10 technology corporations and top 10 global investment firms. He has co-founded and led teams in multiple technology startups and innovation labs, including Xona Partners (a global telecom, media, technology advisory firm) and iValley.co (a Fintech startup co-creation studio), including various Silicon Valley startups, with successful exits. Riad holds two Engineering degrees; PhD in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence); post-doctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley and completed the Executive Education in Business at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Riad is an active contributor to various industry fora, such as the IETF, ATMF, ITU-T, OIF, IPv6, IEEE and 3GPP, and a frequent invited speaker, chairman and panellist at global industry and technology events.

**Norma Sebestyen**

**LIFE SCIENCES**
Norma has extensive experience over a 28 year career with Merck and Co. in North America/MSD globally in Sales, Marketing, Strategic Planning, Corporate Affairs, Health Education, Government Relations, Operations, Policy, Outcomes Research and Market Access. Most recently she was involved in developing and managing key partnerships for Merck in Health Information Technology, and Health Data Science along with Life Sciences Accelerators/Research collaborations. During her career at Merck she was responsible for operations and plans to achieve annual sales objectives of over $200 Million including management of more than 140 personnel. In addition, she led plans to impact revenues (15-30%) by implementing and executing strategies for public and private sector access of Merck’s innovative products. Norma holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Finance/Marketing along with a MBA in International Business. She completed diplomas at Duke University in Biotechnology and McGill University in Pharmacoeconomics and Board Governance training (Watson). In addition, over the period of her career at Merck she was involved in extensive training and international senior leadership programs. She has also published articles in Healthcare Management Forum on healthcare partnerships and collaborations. Norma is currently a board member of the Glyconet National Centre of Excellence and is active in the EDI Committee. She is also a member of St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation Board and is the board delegate on the Providence Board Innovation and Research Committee. She is also a Board member of Ayogo, a leading digital health company and an EIR (Executive in Residence) for the National Research Council – IRAP LSBC Investment Ready Program.

**Kausar Samli, PhD**

**GENOMICS, AI**
Kausar specializes in commercializing applied-technologies (including bio, quantum, and blockchain). His experience includes building/scaling companies, securing/deploying capital, and demonstrating significant stakeholder value generation across industries, non-profits, and academia. Kausar served as SVP Global Services for Learning Machine (acquired by Hyland Software). He served as COO at 1QBit, a quantum computing software company developing hardware-agnostic platforms and services for applications in machine learning, optimization, and simulation. He also served as CEO at Lectenz Bio, a biotech company developing novel biomarker detection technologies and products using high performance computing (HPC) and protein engineering. In service to communities, he is an Expert for Horizon Europe (previously Horizon 2020) for the European Commission, a member of Singularity University’s Faculty, an Investigator for Creative Destruction Lab (Vancouver), and an Ignite Review Panelist for Innovate BC. He serves as a Director on the Boards of Genome BC, Lectenz Bio, and Women@TheFrontier. Kausar also has a unique blend of scientific expertise in cell-specific targeting, high-throughput screening, molecular evolution, protein engineering, and computational chemistry.He was the recipient of a Marie Curie Fellowship, an NIH awardee, and is a co-inventor on patents. He holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology (computational chemistry) from the University of Georgia, a M.S. in chemistry from Arizona State University, and a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin.

Aisha Sheikh, MA

**METAVERSE UX/UI**
Aisha is a Product and Design Director with 15 years of experience working across North America, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. She uses human-centered design principles to solve complex Extended Reality (XR) (Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality) problems. She is passionate about democratizing access to an open Metaverse. Most recently Aisha oversaw the strategic and design direction of the world’s largest metaverse to date - the 2020 Expo in Dubai, and 4km2 site connecting millions across the physical and digital worlds (Expo Xplorer) with Magnopus. She is now building a platform with tools to help creators build their own cross-reality experiences. Aisha has led major design projects for esteemed design institutes including Stanford Change Labs and IDEO. She has advised World Bank and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) programs aimed at advancing student entrepreneurship across 15 Middle East countries. Aisha has a Bachelors of Design from OCAD University, the largest art and media design university in Canada, and a Masters of Architecture from McGill University. On her spare time, she enjoys giving back through Advisory Boards in Sub-Saharan African startups and running high-impact networks of global entrepreneurs. Aisha is a recipient of the Coaching Fellowship, an executive leadership coaching program for female leaders, and Alumni of Singularity University's Global Solutions Program and Ventures Incubator.