Our Leadership . . .
We sustain our values on everything we do
Dr. Mehrdad BARGHIAN,
Ph.D., M.Phil., B.Sc., C.Chem., QPIC
President and CEO
Mehrdad is the founder and CEO of Shields Pharma Inc. that provides advanced scientific and technological analytical laboratory services as well as cultivation of psychedelic mushrooms, R&D formulation, and production of psychedelic substances and finished products.
Mehrdad brings extensive pharmaceutical scientific, quality, compliance and regulatory affairs experiences driving Shields Pharma’s long-term strategic plans to develop and produce, safe and effective psychedelic medicines with the greatest potential to address patients suffering from addiction and mental disorders.
Under Mehrdad’s leadership, Shields Pharma has prioritized social impact by putting diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as health and environmental sustainability at the core of its long-term strategy.
Previously, Mehrdad was president of Avanti Rx and prior to that he held the position of President and CEO for 10 years QCL – Quality Compliance Laboratories which was acquired by SGS.
Mehrdad holds a Ph.D., M.Phil. degrees in Organic and Analytical Chemistry from Cardiff University in Wales, UK and his B.Sc. honors degree from University of North London in UK.
Lisa ZHANG,
B.Sc.
VP, Operation
Lisa is a member of the Shields Pharma Inc.’s Leadership Team. She has over 30 years of experience in the GxP related pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sciences. Her expertise includes a wide range of manufacturing, laboratory R&D and QC, validation, metrology and all aspects of equipment and instrument qualification and calibration. Lisa’s expertise expands to many areas of facility and equipment design review, process development and validation, project management, and utility, process, and equipment qualification.
In her role she is responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and overseeing Shields Pharma operational activities ensuring efficient implementation of systems to meet the company’s current and future needs.
Lisa is well versed in FDA, Health Canada, European regulatory requirements as well as USP, BP and ICH guidance requirements.
Mrs. Zhang is a former Chinese SFD Regulatory inspector. She holds a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering and Technology and a Post Graduate Diploma in Pharmaceutical Quality Control.
Ronald R. TURTON,
M.Sc., B.Sc.
Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)
Ron was appointed Chief Scientific Officer designate on January 2022 and became Chief Scientific Officer, with full accountability for Shields Pharma R&D and QC operations.
Ron is a highly respected scientist and one of the preeminent pharmaceutical R&D scientists.
Ron has been continuously serving the Health Canada and FDA regulated pharmaceutical industries for over 50 years working across diverse disciplines of R&D and QC to deliver scientific and technical platforms supporting the operation of pharmaceutical companies.
His expertise encompasses a wide range of Research and Development, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Compliance, Technical Services, and all aspects of validation. As head of scientific affairs, he oversees all areas of R&D, Quality Control, technical, and validation activities of the company from a senior management perspective.
Ron has worked for a number of multinational companies including; Warner Lambert, Sandoz, Novartis, Patheon, QCL, and SGS.
Ron has a BSc in chemistry and MSc from the York University, Toronto and Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Technology from Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Mary MASSOUDINIA,
BA (Hons)
VP of Finance & Human Resources
Mary is a member of the Shields Pharma Inc. Leadership Team. She holds the position of VP of Finance & Human Resources. Having worked in a wide range of commercial and financial investment positions for over 25 years.
Mary brings significant experiences in a wide range of commercial accounting, strategic and financial planning to Shields Pharma Inc. In her role she oversees the processing of financial and accounting operation activities of the company including payables, receivables, payroll, and tax preparation.
Mary is involved in establishing financial operations and guidelines for each department, identifying inefficiencies in the company systems, and advising on overcoming them to use resources more efficiently, devising strategies to save the company funds, setting financial goals for the company, and providing a strategy on how to achieve them.
Furthermore, she is in charge of analyzing financial data in order to make strategic decisions about the company’s future, such as how much capital should be invested into R&D or marketing.
Mary is also directly involved in overseeing Shields Pharma recruitment, and hiring processes, planning employee health benefits, payroll, and safety programs, facilitating and monitoring the implementation of standardize human resource processes, and adhering to all internal policies and legal standards.
Mary received her BA (Hon.) in Business from the University of Wales in United Kingdom.
Willis OR,
Head of IT & Security
Willis was appointed as the Head of IT & Security of Shields Pharma Inc. in 2022. He brings over 27 years of experience in Information Technology, Network development, IT security, computerized systems qualification as per FDA 21CFR part11, and programming.
Willis oversees qualification and validation of the company’s new and existing computerized systems in accordance with the company SOPs, validation program, and related regulatory requirements.
In addition, Willis is responsible for maintaining the security system of the company by preventing hacks, unauthorized user access and viruses, investigating safety conditions, analyzing and establishing the security requirements, defending systems, defining access privileges, identifying abnormalities, overseeing and monitoring routine security administration, and recommending security upgrades, mitigating cyber risk and improving operational efficiency.
Mr. Andrei PONOMAREV
Executive Regulatory and Compliance Advisor
Mr. Ponomarev is a former Health Canada Compliance Inspector, with over 40 years of expertise in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device compliance issues. He performs GMP / Medical Device (QSR), and due diligence audits of manufacturing, packaging / labeling, laboratory and distribution operations for sterile / non-sterile drugs, APIs and medical devices.
Andrei applies his experience to the evaluation and strengthening of Quality Systems, facilities/equipment, materials, production, laboratory and validation programs, systems and operations. He uses his proficiencies to develop, evaluate, monitor, and verify compliance of GMP/Medical Device (QSR) corrective action plans and enhance technology transfer and process/cleaning validation programs.
Dr. Kevin ROD
MD, CCFP, DAAPM, DCAPM
Executive Medical Advisor
Dr. Kevin ROD is a certified Family Physician with focused practice in Chronic Pain. He is a lecturer at the University of Toronto DFCM. Doctor Rod has spent more than 30 years in clinical practice, medical research and patient self management education. He believes in the Mind Body Medicine and the Whole Person concept of health. He is the founder of the Mind Body Temple concept of healing, described on his published book with the same title and his online course for managing pain and elevating life. Dr. Rod has multiple publications based on his researches on different therapeutic agents for pain management. He was part of an international group of experts consensus publication for how to use Medical Cannabis to reduce or stop using opioids. Dr. Rod actively guides patients using Psychedelics for treatment resistant depression and intractable neuropathic pain syndromes through his Mind Body Temple methodology of healing. He has received awards of Excellence from University of Toronto DFCM, The College of Family Physicians of Canada, and a Certificate of Recognition on behalf of the Prime Minster of Canada for his contributions to education and pluralism in Canada. Dr. Rod believes being a conduit and guide for healing is a purpose worth living for.