Alice Gheorghiu
Manager of Industrial Hemp and Import/Export
Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch
Health Canada

Alice Gheorghiu is the manager of the industrial hemp and import/export units within the Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch at Health Canada since 2019. Her work focuses on establishing and enforcing legal and regulatory frameworks in the field of industrial hemp and cannabis in Canada, overseeing the authorizations necessary to conduct various activities in these fields as well as establishing and maintaining stakeholder relations.

Alice has over ten years of experience in the federal public service and in public administration questions and issues.

Alice has a bi-disciplinary bachelor's degree in political science and communication from the University of Montreal and a master's degree in public and international affairs from York University.

Vincent Sliwoski
Partner
Harris Bricken

Vincent Sliwoski is a partner with Harris Bricken. He runs the firm’s Oregon office, and his clients run the gamut from individual investors and entrepreneurs to widely held domestic and international corporations. Since 2011, he has represented a large number of cannabis entities through corporate structuring, commercial transactions, and early stage dispute resolution.

Marion Zammit,
Malta’s Government economic development agency,
responsible for supporting the Medical Cannabis Industry, along with other sectors

Marion Zammit works in the Investment Promotion Department within Malta Enterprise, Malta’s economic development corporation.

Marion holds a Bachelors Degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Malta, and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the same University.

Her career has included various positions in the advanced manufacturing sector, including quality, production processing, as well as logistics and supply chain. Marion has worked and gained experience in the Pharmaceutical Sector, both in manufacturing as well as sales and marketing.

At Malta Enterprise, Marion supports various sectors including Medical Cannabis, Pharma, and other projects of national interest. Over the past two years, Marion has been focusing specifically on the Medical Cannabis Sector, working very closely with all the stakeholders, in order to ensure an effective roll-out of the strategy for this new ecosystem in the Maltese Economy.

Marion has established herself as a prominent figure in the International Medical Cannabis arena, having attended various international conferences and medical cannabis events, as well as contributed to articles and interviews in various renowned publications

Daniel Podestá
Partner
Estudio Podestá

Daniel is a lawyer with more than fifteen years of experience, he is partner at Estudio Podestá, law firm based in Montevideo, founded in 1978.

Since 2013, he has specialized in regulatory framework for hemp and cannabis industries in Uruguay, advising companies throughout the process of obtaining the various authorizations before public authorities, as well as import/export process, implementing and controlling them for the correct development of the project.

Daniel also assists cannabis companies on corporate needs and M&A.

On October 2018 Daniel was appointed as general secretary of the Chamber of Medicinal Cannabis Companies for the period 2018-2020

Martha Smit
Partner, Qualified registered nurse and lawyer
Fasken, Johannesburg

Martha Smit is a partner in our Johannesburg office and a member of the firm’s Life Sciences practice group.

Qualified as both a registered nurse and lawyer, Martha brings compelling experience in the legal, medical and pharmaceutical industries.

Having practised as a litigation attorney and legal advisor in the corporate sector as well as coordinating clinical data trials for an international pharmaceutical company, she is able to bring the best of both worlds in finding innovative solutions for clients and businesses in the Life Sciences area. She also holds a current Good Clinical Practice Certificate for Clinical Research.

Martha’s practical experience of having worked across a number of professional health bodies and corporates has afforded her first-hand knowledge and an in-depth understanding of the challenges, opportunities and regulatory environments of this sector.

Karina Lahnakoski, MBA, B.Sc, PMP
Partner, Risk Advisory
CCI Deloitte

Karina is a Partner in Deloitte’s Risk Advisory Practice and oversees CCI Deloitte’s regulatory and compliance operations to provide end-to-end business solutions at every stage of the cannabis business cycle including Licensing, Operational Compliance, Auditing, NHP, GMP implementation, Cultivation, Security and Business planning for the cannabis industry.

Karina brings the skillset of navigating challenging regulatory pathways in new markets to the cannabis space. Prior to joining CCI Deloitte Karina was Vice President of Quality and Regulatory at Cannabis Compliance Inc. (CCI) working with the cannabis industry to achieve licensing and improve their operations. Karina comes from a bio/pharmaceutical and medical device background where she held leadership positions with Dalton Pharmaceutical Services, Contract Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Amorfix Life Sciences. Karina has worked on commercialization and regulatory path for over 150 cannabis, pharma and device products in her time.

Karina holds a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from York University and B.Sc in Biochemistry from University of Guelph. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Dr. Valentina Vaguengueim, MBA
Senior Manager, Risk Advisory
CCI Deloitte

Valentina, a Senior Manager, Risk Advisory at CCI Deloitte, has over 15 years of Pharmaceutical, Clinical Research, Biotech and Cannabis industries experience in regulated environments of Canada, USA, South America, Asia and Europe. In the course of her career, Valentina worked for pharmaceutical and clinical research giants as well as smaller innovative firms providing strategic leadership of all aspects of operations, regulatory compliance, innovation, client relationships and project management. She was involved in research of innovative technologies and the development and growth of a small business. Valentina holds a PhD in Technical Sciences - Pharmaceutical Technology and Biotechnology and an Executive MBA.

Deepak Anand, MBA
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Materia

Mr. Anand has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the global cannabis industry. He is a public speaker and is regularly engaged with Canadian and International media on all subjects related to the Cannabis industry. Mr. Anand holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and Management from Vancouver Island University. He is a recognized thought leader and brings 15 years of leadership experience in the health, charitable/non-profit, and private sectors in Canada.

Within the global cannabis sector, Mr. Anand has worked with senior government officials, politicians, policy makers, health professional organizations, clinical practitioners, educators, investor, patients as well as producers. He has also served on the boards of various pharmaceutical associations across Canada, the United States and Europe.

Currently, Mr. Anand serves on a variety of boards within the international cannabis space which include not for profit, advocacy and patient driven organizations

Prominent positions, Mr. Anand has previously held in the Cannabis industry include:

• Vice President of Business Development and Government Relations at Deloitte- CCI., Canada.
• Vice President for Zenabis Global Inc. (A Health Canada License Holder) with operations in Canada and Malta.
• Adjunct Professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU). At KPU, Mr. Anand wrote, and taught Canada’s first and only Cannabis course titled ‘Cannabis Professional Series’ taught via an online module.
• Executive Director for the Canadian National Medical Marijuana Association (CNMMA). The CNMMA was the first and only industry association that factored in all facets of the nascent Cannabis industry in Canada.

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Conference Chair:
Laleh Bighash, B.Sc., MBA
President, Dean of Scientific Affairs
AAPS

Ms. Bighash has a Bachelor of Pharmacy, and a Bachelor degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology from University of Toronto, Canada. She also obtained her Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Schulich School of Business. She is a recipient of 2019 UC-University of Toronto alumni of influence award.

She has over 25 years of experience working for number of multinational pharmaceutical and food companies such as Genpharm Inc., Bayer Corp. and Eli Lilly & Company and number of Food and Cannabis organizations in various capacities such as Research and Development, Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Regulatory and Compliance, Financial Planning, and Business development. In her current role as the President of AAPS, she oversees the consulting, educational and training direction of AAPS.

Ms. Bighash has lectured extensively and has been an invited speaker at many academic and industry events focusing on pharma and cannabis related topics such as regulatory, compliance and efficient operations. She has worked closely with the pharma and cannabis Industry players and stakeholders in formulating efficient operating systems, ensuring regulatory compliance and GMP certification.