Managing Director and CEO
Krystle van Hoof
krystle.vanhoof [at] mcgill.ca
Over the past two decades, Krystle has held a variety of leadership positions within the non-profit sector, the federal government and the United Nations—most recently as Assistant Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Gender and Health. She has been recognized for her skills in change management and team building and has a wealth of experience defining strategic goals and guiding day-to-day operations, including the administration of complex financial systems in the health research environment. An expert in knowledge translation, Krystle has led communications departments for two Canadian associations—work that has been recognized with national awards. As Managing Director and CEO, Krystle is responsible for carrying forward the strategic vision of the HBHL initiative while overseeing the ongoing implementation of a set of complex, high-profile funding programs and innovation partnerships within the neuroscience and related communities at McGill, in Canada and beyond.
Project Manager
Kim Reeve
kim.reeve [at] mcgill.ca
Prior to joining HBHL, Kim held the position of Administrative Officer in Department of Languages, Literature, and Cultures and East Asian Studies. Kim has worked in the non-profit sector and has over 15 years of marketing and administrative experience and holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Marketing Major from Concordia University.
Policy & Knowledge Exchange Officer
Cora Siebert
cora.siebert [at] mcgill.ca
Cora holds a Master’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Global Health from the University of Montreal and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Guelph. She has previously held positions in communications, knowledge translation and public policy at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the International Development Research Centre and the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has lived and worked La Réunion, the UK, Ghana and Uganda.
Funding and Reporting
Associate Director, Funding and Reporting
Jing Liu
jing.liu2 [at] mcgill.ca
Dr. Jing Liu graduated from McGill University with a PhD degree in genetics/genomics, followed by postdoc training at Harvard University. She joined HBHL with extensive experience in project management, business development and operation, acquired in academic institutions and biotech companies.
From April 2015 to July 2017, Dr. Liu was the Manager of the Infectious Diseases and Immunity in Global Health (IDIGH) Program at the Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) where she managed all aspects of the program’s activities, including financial, scientific, business, administration, outreaching, and training. Before this, Dr. Liu worked as a group leader, manager, director and consultant in various academic institutions including the Clinical Proteomics Platform and Systems Medicine Program, the McGill Life Sciences Complex High Throughput Screening Facility and biotech companies (PhageTech and New World Laboratories). She has a proven track record of competency, productivity, vision, creativity, and networking.
Senior Advisor, Metrics & Reporting
Alex Iugan
alex.iugan [at] mcgill.ca
Alex joined the HBHL team from the Desautels Faculty of Management, where he worked as Schedule Administrator. Prior to becoming a member of the McGill community in 2020, Alex held various roles in the financial services industry, focusing on employee development, training and continuing education.
Communications
Associate Director, Communications
Chris Maskell
christopher.maskell [at] mcgill.ca
Chris has held various positions as a communications professional—before joining the HBHL team, Chris worked as a Senior Communications & Production Coordinator at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. He has also been a freelance writer for CBC Music and the Ottawa Citizen JazzBlog, and has acted as a freelance assistant producer with CBC Music.
Communications Officer
Roberta Santangelo
roberta.santangelo [at] mcgill.ca
Roberta is a communications specialist with 10 years of experience in public relations, publishing and communications. She holds a Master's degree in Publishing and Journalism from the University of Rome "La Sapienza" (Italy), and she has completed a specialized training program in Marketing and Digital Communication at "Il Sole 24ORE" (Italy). Roberta worked for six years in public relations agencies in Italy, building expertise in event organization, content creation, media relations and social media management.
Communications Associate
Emilie Hackett
emilie.hackett [at] mcgill.ca
Emilie holds a Bachelor’s in English Literature from Bishop’s University and a Master’s in Media Studies from Concordia University. Before joining the HBHL team, Emilie worked as a reporter for The Sherbrooke Record, covering a wide range of topics from sports and community news to provincial and federal politics. During her time as a communications coordinator at a seniors’ residence amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Emilie worked closely with government officials and health care professionals to ensure the safety and well-being of seniors all while undertaking event planning, content creation and social media management responsibilities.
NeuroSphere
Associate Director, Business Development
Adrienne Crampton
adrienne.crampton [at] mcgill.ca
Adrienne Crampton graduated in 2021 from McGill University with a PhD in Rehabilitation Science (focusing on mild traumatic brain injury). Prior to this, she completed her Master’s degree in Sports Management from the University of Ottawa (’17) and her BSc in Kinesiology at McGill University (’15) while competing as a varsity athlete for the latter. Adrienne has worked for both non-profit and for-profit organizations spanning various fields, such as kinesiology, human performance, neuroscience and brain health. Throughout her PhD, she developed a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as for creating conduits between research and industry.
Program Officer
Eve Gesbert
eve.gesbert [at] mcgill.ca
Eve holds a Bachelor's in Media, Communications, and Culture and a Master's in Marketing from Oxford Brookes University. Since then, she has worked in Europe and North America for non-profits, for-profits, and governmental entities in Tech, Health, Mobility, Urbanism, and Culture. Throughout her career, she has worked for various entrepreneurial ecosystems, such as incubators and accelerators. Her expertise includes Content Strategy, Community Management, and Event Planning.
NeuroSphere Entrepreneur-in-Residence (Part-Time)
Laurent Balenci
Over the last 15 years, Laurent has held various executive roles in business development, management and operations in the biotechnology industry. He built his own consulting practice advising entrepreneurs, start-ups and mid-size companies in terms of business, product development, asset management and financing strategies. Laurent has been involved in multiple startup creations and has managed successfully over 35 different development programs ranging from ideation to late-phase clinical trials in both drug and medical device sectors. He helped raise $70 million in public and private transactional events for his clients. Laurent has run multiple due diligence assessments on diverse business opportunities for investor groups. He is also a regular commercialization grant reviewer and business mentor for many organizations. In 2019, Laurent received the DL. Patrick Commonwealth Innovation award for his mentoring contributions in the Boston biotech ecosystem. Laurent holds an executive MBA from the University of Washington and a PhD in Neurobiology from University of Grenoble-Alpes (France).
HBHL-Affiliated Staff
Awards Officer
Sarah Kaderabek
sarah.kaderabek [at] mcgill.ca
Dr. Sarah Kaderabek received her MA and PhD in Russian (Language and Literature) from McGill University. She taught at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and served for two summers as the Resident Director in Moscow for the American Councils for International Education Contemporary Russia study abroad program. From 2008-2017 Dr. Kaderabek worked in the Office of the Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies, in McGill’s Faculty of Arts. In 2017, she joined the Office of Sponsored Research as a member of the Awards Management team, where she oversees award activation for the HBHL project, Canada First Research Excellence Fund grants, Genome Quebec and Genome Canada funding.
Financial Officer
Louise Schratz
louise.schratz [at] mcgill.ca
Over the last 30 years, Louise has held various accounting and administrative positions both in the private sector and at McGill University. She brings to the HBHL team her extensive experience in overseeing large scale grants gained from administering CFI, Genome and MDEIE grants to name a few. Louise’s collaborative approach in coordinating with both internal and external clients serves to ensure the integrity of the financial reporting. As the HBHL Financial Officer, Louise is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements for the HBHL grant as well as fund(s) activations, monitoring spending of funds and ensuring compliance with sponsor guidelines.
