Officers
Dr. Steve Slilaty
Dr. Slilaty was appointed as our chief executive officer and chairman of our board of directors on October 15, 2009. Dr. Slilaty is an accomplished scientist and business executive. His scientific publications are widely cited. Sunshine Biopharma is the third biotechnology company Dr. Slilaty founded. The first, Quantum Biotechnologies Inc. later known as Qbiogene Inc., was founded in 1991 and is now a member of a family of companies owned by MP Biomedicals, one of the largest international suppliers of biotechnology reagents. The second, , Genomics One Corporation, conducted an initial public offering in 1999 and on the basis of its ownership of Dr. Slilaty’s patented TrueBlue® Technology, Genomics One became one of the key participants in the Human Genome Project and reached a market capitalization of $1 billion in 2000. Formerly, Dr. Slilaty was a research team leader at the Biotechnology Research Institute (Montreal), a division of the National Research Council of Canada. Dr. Slilaty is one of the pioneers of Gene Therapy. He developed the first gene delivery system applicable to humans in 1983. Dr. Slilaty’s other distinguished scientific accomplishments included the discovery of a new class of enzymes, the S24 Family of Proteases (IUBMB Enzyme: EC 3.4.21.88). In addition, Dr. Slilaty developed the first site-directed mutagenesis system applicable to double-stranded DNA, cloned the gene for the first yeast-lytic enzyme, developed a new molecular strategy for increasing the rate of enzyme reactions, and constructed a powerful new cloning system for genomic sequencing. More recently, Dr. Slilaty in collaboration with Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (France), State University of New York at Binghamton (USA), École Polytechnique (Canada) and Université de Montréal (Canada), designed and patented Sunshine Biopharma’s anticancer compound, Adva-27a, a small molecule capable of destroying multidrug resistant cancer cells. These and other works of Dr. Slilaty are cited in research papers, editorials, review articles and textbooks. Dr. Slilaty is the author of 18 original research papers and 12 patents (10 issued and 2 pending). These and other works are cited in research papers, editorials, review articles and textbooks. Dr. Slilaty received his Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Arizona in 1983 and Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics and Biochemistry from Cornell University in 1976. Dr. Slilaty has received research grants from the NIH and NSF. He is the recipient of the 1981 University of Arizona Foundation award for Meritorious Performance in Teaching.
Dr. Abderrazzak Merzouki
Dr. Merzouki was appointed as a director and our chief operating officer in February 2016. In addition to his positions with our Company since January 2016 he has been self-employed as a consultant in the fields of biotechnology and pharmacology. From July 2007 through December 2016, Dr. Merzouki worked at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, where he taught and acted as a senior scientist involved in the research and development of plasmid and siRNA-based therapies. Dr. Merzouki is a molecular biologist and an immunologist with extensive experience in the area of gene therapy where he performed several preclinical studies for pharmaceutical companies involving the use of adenoviral vectors for cancer therapy and plasmid vectors for the treatment of peripheral arterial occlusions. Dr. Merzouki also has extensive expertise in the design of expression vectors, and production and purification of recombinant proteins. He developed technologies for production of biogeneric therapeutic proteins for the treatment of various diseases including cancer, diabetes, hepatitis and multiple sclerosis. Dr. Merzouki obtained his Ph.D. in Virology and Immunology from Institut Armand-Frappier in Quebec and received his post-doctoral training at the University of British Columbia and the BC Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS research. Dr. Merzouki has over 30 publications and 70 communications in various, highly respected scientific journals in the field of cellular and molecular biology.
Mr. Camille Sebaaly
Mr. Camille Sebaaly was appointed as our chief financial officer, secretary and a director of our Company on October 15, 2009. He resigned as a director of the Company in October 2021. Since 2001, Mr. Sebaaly has been self-employed as a business consultant, primarily in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical sectors. He held a number of senior executive positions in various areas including financial management, business development, project management and finance. As an executive and an entrepreneur, he combines expertise in strategic planning and finance with strong skills in business development and deal structure and negotiations. In addition, Mr. Sebaaly worked in operations, general management, investor relations, marketing and business development with emphasis on international business and marketing of advanced technologies including hydrogen generation and energy saving. In the area of marketing, Mr. Sebaaly has evaluated market demands and opportunities, created strategic marketing and business development plans, designed marketing communications and launched market penetration programs. Mr. Sebaaly graduated from State University of New York at Buffalo with an Electrical and Computer Engineering Degree in 1987.