PHAC Training Portal

Kimby Barton is the Director General for the Centre for Biosecurity at the Public Health Agency of Canada. Kimby trained as a biochemist and has worked with the Federal Government since September 2002, holding a variety of roles including in post-market surveillance of pharmaceuticals, premarket approval of pharmaceuticals, pre-market approvals of medical devices, oversight of drug establishment licensing and good manufacturing practices’ inspections.

Dr. Samuel Bonti-Ankomah holds a PhD degree in economics. Prior to joining the Public Health Agency of Canada, he held several roles in other departments including as Deputy Director at Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, and was an assistant professor at McGill University. He also worked as an economist in South African, providing policy recommendations to its government.

Dr. A. Verena Eireiner is a researcher at the Universities of Lübeck (Germany) and Cambridge (UK) where she researches hormone sensing technologies and their governance. She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge; her doctoral research examined the DIY biology movement from a cross-country perspective, focusing on regulatory frameworks and community approaches. She has published multiple articles about DIY biology.

Adrian Filip is the founder of Ottawa Bio Science, a community dedicated to advancing citizen science and molecular biology education in Canada’s capital. With a diverse background spanning engineering, computers, and molecular biology, Adrian brings a unique multidisciplinary approach to the field, including previous research in adeno-associated virus vectorology. He also serves as the organizer for the How to Grow Almost Anything (HTGAA) node in Ottawa. An advocate for the open-source movement, Adrian has developed several accessible designs—such as a custom bioreactor—to lower the barrier to entry for researchers.

Dr. Gina Graziani earned a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Ottawa and is currently the Emerging Technology Lead in the Centre for Biosecurity at the Public Health Agency of Canada. Prior to joining the public service a decade ago, Gina was involved in basic and clinical trial research.

Dr. WhiteFeather Hunter is an SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Simon Fraser University's School of Interactive Arts & Technology, and founder of BioArt Coven, an international collective of artists, academics, medical professionals, and DIYbio enthusiasts. Working across bioart, feminist technoscience, and DIY biology, her practice investigates biomaterials, experimental biofabrication, and the social, ethical, and political dimensions of emerging biotechnologies. Her work brings together art, research, and public dialogue to imagine more inclusive, critically engaged, and culturally responsive biotechnological futures.

Dr. Derek Jacoby is a PhD computer scientist who primarily works in artificial intelligence, including major projects in geospatial intelligence and satellite analytics. Derek founded the local makerspace in Victoria, BC and has been involved in synthetic biology since 2008, having deep interests in genetics and medicine. He is currently on the teaching team for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) course How To Grow Almost Anything. Besides publishing highly cited remote sensing and AI research, Derek is a passionate educator focused on equity and diversity in AI education.

Dr. Scott Pownall earned his PhD in genetics from the University of British Columbia. He has since held numerous research positions and has been involved in multiple research and development initiatives including the development of the open-access Open Yeast Platform with the creation of the original Open Yeast Collection, released in 2021, and with the more recent Yeast Protein Expression Toolkit, released in 2024, both of which are now in more than 50 countries. He continues to expand the Open Yeast Platform with the new Yarrowia Collection whose parts for engineering Yarrowia lipolytica and parts for glyco-engineering in yeast arrived in April 2026. He has also supported community labs, startups and academic institutions worldwide.  Since 2022, he has served on the iGEM Engineering and Technology Committees and helped organize the first four Biosummits at the MIT Media Lab.

Dr. Jennifer Willet is an artist, a Canada Research Chair in Art, Science, and Ecology, a Professor in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Windsor and the Director of the INCUBATOR art lab, founded in 2009. She is a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists in the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Willet is a leader in the Canadian and international bioart community. In 2018, Dr. Willet opened a new state-of-the-art bioart laboratory, and in 2020, a storefront bioart studio and community engagement centre in Windsor, Ontario.