Leadership Team
Michael Little, with 30+ years’ experience from the pharma, life sciences and diagnostics industries brings his passion of organizational development to Maternica. Mike serves as Advisor and Director for MyBiometry. Previous executive roles at Novartis include VP & Global Head of R&D, Medical, and Regulatory Affairs for Blood Screening Diagnostics, and VP & Global Head of CDx Development where RYDAPT and PIQRAY oncology precision medicines were brought to market. He has also served as COO of Adlyfe. His 16 years with Becton Dickinson culminated in his role as worldwide business Head of Molecular Diagnostics which launched flagship platforms based upon Strand Displacement Amplification representing the first real-time amplified DNA diagnostic systems to be cleared by FDA. Mike received his PhD in Microbiology from the University of Florida and completed molecular biology post-doctoral training at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Founders
Sylvain Chemtob received his MD degree (Université de Montréal) in 1980, followed by training in pediatrics and neonatology (1980-85) at McGill University affiliated hospitals. He then obtained a PhD in Pharmacology (McGill University) in 1989 and pursed vascular physiology post-doc at University of Iowa (1991). He was recruited to Université de Montréal and Hopital Ste Justine in 1991, and is now professor of Pediatrics, Ophthalmology and Pharmacology. He is a reputed neonatal pharmacologist and physiologist, with expertise on mechanisms implicated in ischemic retinopathies and other conditions involving inflammation including preterm labor. Among his accomplishments, he has developed a new technology enabling discovery of peptidomimetic drug candidates that target membrane receptors. His seminal work also triggered the approval of new therapies for closure of ductus arteriosus, which is now standard of care. He is author of more than 300 articles and inventor of 30 patents. He is a professor at Université de Montreal and McGill University, and has trained over 100 students. He has received numerous awards and is an elected fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He holds a Canada Research Chair (Vision Science) and the Leopoldine Wolfe Chair in Translational Research in vision research at Université de Montréal.
David Olson is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics and Physiology at the University of Alberta. His work is dedicated to improving maternal-child health, especially means to diagnose and treat preterm birth and understanding how prenatal maternal stress leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes. His salient work has revealed the Roadmap to Preterm Birth – the pathway on which diagnostics and therapeutics are based. He currently leads three international research programs, founded or cofounded several research institutes & centres and an annual national meeting plus led research teams supported by national and international funders. He has been President, Secretary-Treasurer or board member of national & international societies, centres and foundations. He has trained over 160 trainees, obtained $50 M in research funding, published over 200 papers and holds several patents. He has received numerous awards and is an elected fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. David performed his post-doctoral studies at Western University, London, Ont., received his Ph.D. from St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO; his M.Sc. from the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN and his B.A. from Augustana University, Sioux Falls, SD.
Christiane Quiniou is a research associate at CHU Ste-Justine. Her research focuses on the development of anti-inflammatory allosteric peptides that target cytokines and other major pro-inflammatory receptors resulting in the modulation of fetal-maternal inflammatory events. She is also interested in elucidating the role cytokines play in fetal outcomes. Christiane has many years of experience in protein chemistry and in silico modeling as well as conception and characterization of allosteric modulators. Christiane holds a PhD in Biochemistry from University of Montreal and a EMBA in Technology Management. She has authored more than 25 publications and is an inventor on 10 patents.
Dag Richter brings over 35 years of business development experience to Maternica. Currently he is chairman of the general partnership of venture capital funds HealthCap VI, VII, and VIII. Healthcap funds are dedicated to investing in biomedical science companies that address important unmet medical needs. In this function, Dag has overseen a range of investments, finance rounds and exits. Dag also has his own practice as an independent business development consultant. Dag holds an MSc in materials science from KTH Stockholm and an MBA from IMD Lausanne, he speaks 4 European languages and is a citizen of Switzerland and Sweden.
Clinical Advisory Board
Dr. Gravett is Professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Adjunct Professor of the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he specializes in prevention of preterm birth, global health, and perinatal infectious diseases. Dr. Gravett received his medical degree at UCLA and completed post-graduate training in Obstetrics & Gynecology and in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Washington. He has been active in research for more than 20 years, with an emphasis on prevention of preterm birth and global health and has authored more than 150 scientific publications and textbook chapters. He has received numerous national and international awards for his research on causes and prevention of preterm birth. Dr. Gravett is a past President of the Infectious Disease Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a member of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, the Society for Reproductive Investigation, and the Preterm Birth International Collaboration. He has served as the Scientific Director for the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth and as a consultant for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr. Amy Murtha is Chair, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences. She is a perinatologist and a specialist in maternal-fetal medicine, which focuses on managing the health concerns of high-risk mothers and fetuses before, during and for a short period after pregnancy. Her research has focused on understanding the causes and management of preterm birth. She chairs the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences.
Dr. Saroj Saigal is Professor Emerita at McMaster University, Canada. She is internationally recognized for her long-term studies of children from birth to adulthood. She has also participated as a collaborator in several multi-centre randomized perinatal clinical trials. Dr. Saigal co-founded Adult Born Preterm International Collaboration (APIC) and invited collaborators from around the world who were doing studies on premature infants at adulthood. She was awarded the 2018 Virginia Apgar Award of the American Pediatric Society for distinguished contributions to perinatal medicine. She was also recognized by her alma mater with the McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences Community of Distinction Award, 2018.
Dr. David K. Stevenson is the Harold K. Faber Professor of Pediatrics and has made many impactful contributions to the field of neonatology and pediatrics, including his seminal studies on neonatal jaundice, bilirubin production and heme oxygenase biology. As a neonatologist, his research has focused primarily on neonatal jaundice and more recently on the causes of preterm birth and its prevention. He is currently the Senior Associate Dean for Maternal & Child Health, the Co-Director of the Stanford Maternal & Child Health Research Institute, and the Principal Investigator for the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at Stanford University. Dr. Stevenson has received many awards including the Virginia Apgar Award, which is the highest award in Perinatal Pediatrics and the John Howland Medal and Award, the highest award in academic pediatrics. He has served as the President of the American Pediatric Society. In recognition of his achievements, Dr. Stevenson is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He served as Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs of the VCU Health System and Dean of the VCU School of Medicine. Dr. Strauss is a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and the International Academy of Human Reproduction. He received the Arnaldo Bruno International Prize in Gynecology from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the Research Award from the Society for the Study of Reproduction, the Transatlantic Medal of the British Endocrine Society and the President’s Achievement Award, the Distinguished Scientist Award, and the Naftolin Mentorship Award from the Society for Reproductive Investigation among other awards. He earned a Bachelor's degree from Brown University (1969), and M.D. (1974) and Ph.D. (Molecular Biology, 1975) degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Betty Vohr has been the Director of the Neonatal Follow-Up at Women & Infants Hospital Alpert Medical School of Brown University since 1974 and the Coordinator for NICHD Neonatal Research Network Follow-up studies from 1997 to 2016. Her primary clinical and research interests focus on improving the long-term outcomes of high-risk premature infants and infants with hearing loss. Dr. Vohr’s career has focused on prospective randomized trials and observational case control studies. The studies examine the comprehensive neurodevelopmental, cognitive, motor, functional, speech and language, educational, and behavioral outcomes of high risk infants. The focus has been especially on extremely low birth weight infants, infants with permanent hearing loss, brain injury, breast milk, the single room NICU, language environment in the NICU, health care disparities, and maternal mental health. Dr. Vohr has published over 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts. She has won numerous awards for her work, most recently the 2020 Virginia Apgar Award, Academic Pediatric Association Outstanding Mentorship Award 2019, Landmark Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2014 and the Gravens Award in 2015.