Team

Mirabel Akbari is a new Human Resources professional, having started her career at DRI Capital in September 2021.

As the Human Resources Coordinator at DRI Capital, Ms. Akbari is responsible for overall day-to-day HR operations, recruitment and onboarding, HR compliance and the interpretation of policies and procedures. Prior to joining DRI Capital, Ms. Akbari completed an internship at Revera Inc. in Talent Sourcing and Recruitment and spearheaded the HR department as the Director of HR at Women’s Health and Education Network (formerly known as Girl Up City of Toronto), a local non-profit organization focused on empowering women and providing access to education and resources.

Ms. Akbari is a recent graduate from the Human Resources Management program at George Brown College. Prior to this certificate, Ms. Akbari received a master’s degree in Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto and her bachelor’s degree in Criminology with honors at Western University. Ms. Akbari aims to receive a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) designation in the near future.

Chris Anastasopoulos joined DRI in 2015 and is responsible for overseeing DRI’s finance, human resources and information technology functions. Prior to joining DRI, Chris spent over ten years at the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (“OMERS”), an Ontario based pension plan. During his time at OMERS, Chris held progressively more senior Finance and Operations roles, including Vice President, Finance, Operations and Business Development with OMERS Investment Management, which raised domestic capital for OMERS; Vice President, Finance for OMERS Strategic Investments, which managed a portfolio of private markets assets and raised international capital for OMERS; and Director, Corporate Financial Reporting for OMERS Corporate office. Prior to OMERS, Chris spent seven years at TD Bank where he held senior finance roles in TD Bank’s Subsidiaries and Affiliates Department and Chief Accountant’s Department. Chris began his career at KPMG LLP where he progressed to the position of Audit Manager.

Chris holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto. Chris is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CA, CPA) and a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA).

Sree Anumolu is a healthcare investor with 18 years of experience in drug development, commercialization, evaluation and execution of transactions. At DRI, Sree is responsible for leading due diligence, forecasting, valuation, structuring and execution of investments.

Prior to joining DRI capital in 2020, Sree held Global and US roles of increasing responsibilities in various divisions of Novartis Pharmaceuticals- Novartis Global Oncology, Novartis US Pharma, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research and Sandoz. Sree’s industry experience at Novartis includes roles in Business Development and Licensing for Oncology and Pharma, Clinical Pharmacology, and Clinical Development. Sree’s academic experience at Rutgers University includes drug development for US Army ‘s “CounterACT” grant leading to an issued patent and several publications. Sree has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Rutgers University and MBA from Wharton business school, UPenn.

Ben is a life sciences commercial strategy professional with over 8 years of industry experience. Ben joined DRI Capital in 2018 and is a leader in DRI’s business development function and is an active member of DRI Capital’s Investment Team.

Prior to joining DRI Capital, Ben spent 2 years in management consulting in Boston with Promidian (now Eversana), a boutique life sciences advisory firm. Ben graduated from the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) in Claremont California with a Masters of Business and Science (MBA/MSc) majoring in Biotech Management. In his time in California, Ben worked in a variety of roles across the life sciences value chain; including portfolio optimization with Thermo Fisher, strategic marketing with Roche, clinical trial planning with Pfizer, and market research for Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). Prior to his time in California, Ben worked as an operations associate at a clinical trials research center in Toronto and interned at the University of Toronto (U of T) in the Innovations and Partnerships Office (technology transfer). Ben completed an Honors Bachelor of Science (H.BSc) with a specialization in Genetics and Biochemistry at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada.

Yassine Bensaada is an Analyst on the Investment Team at DRI Capital. Yassine has over 3 years of industry experience within the life sciences across Business Development, Commercial Operations, and Business Intelligence functions.

Prior to joining DRI Capital, Yassine spent 3 years with Purdue Pharma (Canada)/Elvium Life Sciences, a commercial-stage Canadian life sciences company with a focus in Neurosciences, Cancer-Supportive Care, and Consumer Health.

Yassine graduated from the Master’s in Biotechnology (MBiotech) program at University of Toronto and completed his Undergraduate degree in Neurosciences from the University of Calgary. He is currently pursuing his CFA Level 2 designation.

Arianne Bermas joined DRI Capital in September 2021 as an analyst. Prior to joining DRI, Ms. Bermas received her Bachelor of Science (Honours) at Queen’s University and went on to complete her Master of Science degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Guelph.

Faith Bowen has over 10 years in finance with robust compliance experience working at firms registered with the National Futures Association and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Throughout her career, she has worked at international asset managers helping them comply with U.S. financial regulations.

Ms. Bowen joined DRI Capital in 2021 and has ultimate responsibility for DRI’s compliance function. Prior to joining DRI, Faith was Head of U.S. Compliance at Stockholm based hedge fund, IPM Informed Portfolio Management, were she independently established the U.S. office, built the U.S. compliance program, and was responsible for all aspects of U.S. regulation. Faith began her career as a compliance examiner at the National Futures Association. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Investments from Baruch College, The City University of New York.

Arash Bozorgmehri joined DRI Capital in December 2021. His role with Asset Operations and Analytics team is to create and audit internal financial models for DRI Healthcare Trust.

Prior Joining DRI, Arash received his Master of Engineering Degree from University of New Brunswick, where he took courses in Entrepreneurial Finance, Total Quality Management and New Venture Creation and Entrepreneurship.

Christian is a technology professional with over 15 years of experience focused on the healthcare industry. Christian joined DRI in 2014 and is responsible for all aspects of information technology at DRI including systems implementation projects and core system maintenance. Prior to joining DRI, Christian lead IT teams at Millennium Research Group (Toronto, ON) and at Decision Resources Group (Boston, MA) – a medical device and pharmaceutical market research provider respectively.

Christian holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Cornell University and Queen’s University. He also has a bachelor’s degree in computer science, as well as technical certifications in cloud-based technologies.

Stewart Busbridge has 25 years of corporate finance and capital markets experience and has acted as financial advisor to public and private companies in a broad range of industries involved in mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings and restructuring transactions. Mr. Busbridge also has managerial experience directing key operational functions as well as having key roles in the development of broader strategy at his prior firms.

Prior to joining DRI, Mr. Busbridge was Managing Director and Co-Head of Canadian Mergers and Acquisitions at Canaccord Genuity Corp., Canada’s leading independent investment bank, where he worked for 11 years, advising on mergers and acquisitions and related financing transactions. At Canaccord Genuity he also had oversight role over the internal M&A group procedures and management responsibility over a group of approximately 15 investment banking professionals. Prior to Canaccord Genuity, Mr. Busbridge was a principal at Genuity Capital Markets, a boutique investment bank that he joined at its inception in 2005, after beginning his career in increasingly senior roles over 8+ years in the investment banking department at CIBC World Markets.

Brittney Cassidy is an Executive Assistant professional with 10 years experience. Brittney joined DRI Capital in February 2022 as the Executive Assistant to the CEO.

Prior to joining DRI Capital, Brittney worked as a Legal Executive Assistant with Kim Schofield and Associates.

Brittney has been active in the community working with the Change the Game Foundation which strives to improve the lives of youth by building sustainable programs, facilities, and empowering youth in marginalized communities through sports and recreation.

Brittney graduated from Saint Mary’s University where she completed her Honors Degree in Communications.

Gurminder Chahal is a strategic HR Business Partner with 15 years of progressive HR experience gained in the Financial and Technology industry.

Mrs. Chahal joined DRI Capital in 2019 and is responsible for the development and implementation of HR strategies, policies and programs to support business growth. Prior to joining DRI Capital she worked as a Senior HR Business Partner supporting TD’s Real Estate Secured Lending business and prior to that supported TD Securities’ Global Operations and Business Services team. Earlier in her career, she worked as the HR Lead for JP Morgan Chase’s Canadian Credit Card business. This included its divesture which involved the transition and integration of 600 employees. Prior to that she led progressive HR roles at Dell Canada.

Kiran Cheema is a finance professional with over 3 years of financial accounting and audit experience. Kiran joined DRI in 2021 and is primarily responsible for the accounting and financial reporting of DRI Healthcare Trust and its subsidiaries.

Prior to joining DRI, Kiran was a Senior Associate at PwC in the Asset and Wealth Management practice, where she led financial statement audits for multi-billion-dollar asset management organizations, investment funds and private equity funds. Kiran is a Chartered Professional Accountant, CPA and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (with High Distinction) from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Rosechell is an experienced accounting professional with over 10 years of experience.

Ms. Coronado joined DRI in 2021 and is responsible for assisting in the accounting and reporting for the management company. Prior to joining DRI, Rosechell worked for Drake International Inc. in Toronto as Accountant and was responsible for cash management, accounting, and reporting. Before Drake, Rosechell worked for various companies as a Bookkeeper.

Rosechell holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Mondriaan Aura College Philippines and a Bookkeeping certificate with High Honors at Centennial College.

Jenny Cui is a finance professional with over 4 years of experience focused on accounting and analytics.

Ms. Cui joined DRI in 2021 and is primarily responsible for preparing financial reporting needs for DRI Healthcare Trust and its subsidiaries. Prior to joining DRI, Ms. Cui worked as a Senior Accountant at KPMG LLP for over 3 years, where she led financial statement audits for local and multi-national clients in various industries. Ms. Cui holds a Masters of Accounting and Bachelors of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Shubham is a quality-driven, hands-on Information Technology engineer with more than 6 years’ experience in planning, implementing & delivery of technology products and business solutions. He is a virtuoso in being up-to-date of industry trends & technologies and leverages them when building innovative strategies that meet current and future business growth.

Mr. Dikshit joined DRI Capital in 2020 and has been a vital member since then. He works closely with research, investment, legal and various other teams for providing wholesome solutions for networks, securities and data. He started his professional odyssey with Genpact – Headstrong Capital market and later on joined IBM India, where he led a team for the various processes which included esteemed clients like Etihad Airways, Emirates Airways and HealthNet.

An Alumnus of engineering institutes of India, Dronacharya Group of Institutions. He went on to attain two Post Graduation Certificate in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Information Systems Security & Networking respectively from Durham College, Oshawa, ON. Shubham was bestowed with various certificates in the field of Mobile Application development, Embedded system technologies, SQT, .NET & OOPS from the leading software and networking companies around the world including Google and IBM.

Alexandra Djait-Paulien is a director on the investment team at DRI capital. Alexandra joined DRI capital in 2018 as an investor relations analyst and moved to the investment team in 2019. She is responsible for diligence on opportunities under consideration which includes commercial, financial and scientific diligence. Alexandra holds a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University. She is currently a CFA level 2 candidate.

Babak Farahmand joined DRI in 2010 after two summer internships with the firm and is responsible for performance analysis, valuations, FX hedging, and modelling in addition to assisting with debt issuances and fundraisings.

Babak holds a dual degree in statistics and economics from the University of Toronto.

Cindy Ip has over 40 years of experience as an Executive Assistant. This experience spans 20 years gained in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Cindy supports the DRI team in all administrative duties and organising global conferences events. Before joining DRI, Cindy worked for a number of financial institutions and corporate environments including BMO, CIBC, IBM and Canadian Tire.

Navin Jacob is Head of Investments and Research at DRI Capital.

Prior to DRI he was Senior Equity Research Analyst most recently covering Smid Cap Biotechnology & Large Cap Pharmaceuticals at UBS and before that covering Biotech at Deutsche Bank. Prior to that, Mr. Jacob was an investor covering Global Large Cap Pharmaceuticals at HealthCor Management and US Biotech at Surveyor Capital. Before that, he was on the I.I. #1 ranked Biotech & Pharma team at ISI/Deutsche Bank.

Mr. Jacob started his career in Finance/Business Analysis at Pfizer/Pharmacia. Mr. Jacob has a B.A. in Biochemistry from Cornell University.

Behzad Khosrowshahi became President and CEO in May 2002. Behzad subsequently re-organized DRI and has grown assets under management to over $2 billion. Prior to DRI, Behzad held increasingly senior posts at Future Shop Ltd. (“Future Shop”), where he rose to head its merchandising, marketing, e-commerce and supply chain functions. When Future Shop was sold to Best Buy Inc. for $580 million in 2001, the company was Canada’s largest consumer electronics retailer, having grown from $1.3 billion in revenue and 2,500 employees to over $2 billion in revenue and over 10,000 employees. Behzad began his career at Deloitte and Touche LLP.

Behzad received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He is also a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Artour is a finance professional and has over 7 years of experience.

Mr. Khouzine joined DRI in April 2018. He is involved in modelling, valuations, deal structuring and contributes to capital market activities. Before joining DRI, he worked at a discretionary investment management firm analyzing investments across the capital structure with a focus on diligence, asset allocation and strategy using derivative instruments.

Artour holds a Bachelor of Business degree from Mount Royal University and is a CFA Charterholder.

Ani is a finance professional with over 10 years of industry experience. Ms. Kirakosyan joined DRI in January 2021 and has since been responsible for the public and investment accounting functions of DRI.

Prior to joining DRI, Ani was a Director at Onex, a Canadian private equity firm, responsible primarily for the company’s public financial reporting. Ani led numerous finance function optimization and system implementation projects. She also led the company’s private equity valuation process alongside the investment professionals, was responsible for implementing a FP&A process and reporting on budget to actual variances, and assisted the management of the acquired companies by supporting their financial reporting functions. Ani also assisted with transaction and regulatory filings for the company’s newly acquired investments. Prior to joining Onex, Ani was a senior associate at a large Canadian accounting firm and was an internal auditor at the Canadian branch of a Dutch banking and financial services company.

Ani is both a Chartered Professional Accountant, CA and a Certified Public Accountant (IL). Ani holds a Bachelor of Commerce (with High Distinction) from the University of Toronto.

Alyssa Klapper is a life sciences attorney with nearly 10 years of experience in patent litigation and intellectual property transactions.

Ms. Klapper joined DRI in September 2020 as Associate General Counsel. In this capacity, Ms. Klapper serves as a key member on deal teams, conducting intellectual property and legal due diligence, negotiating transaction documents and progressing transactions to closing. Prior to joining DRI, Ms. Klapper worked primarily as a patent litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Paul Hastings LLP. She holds a J.D. from NYU Law School, a Masters in Biology from NYU and a B.A. in Biochemistry from Columbia University.

Matt is an experienced finance professional and has over 20 years of experience.

Mr. Lawrie joined DRI in April 2020. He is involved in financial modelling, valuations, deal structuring and contributes to capital market activities. Prior to joining DRI, Matthew’s previous work experience includes: Vice President responsible for Acquisitions and Business Analysis for Wesbild Properties in Vancouver and division CFO for the O’Neill Properties Group in Philadelphia. He also worked as a financial analyst with private equity firms in San Francisco and New York City that invest in value-add real estate and distressed debt. Previous to working in the financial industry, he lived and worked around the world as an architect including time in Toronto, Los Angeles, London, Rome and New York City. Matthew spends his leisure time hanging out with his family, trail running, and skiing.

Matthew holds an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the Stern School of Business, New York University and a Masters of Architecture from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

David is a capital markets professional with over 5 years experience in finance and pharmaceuticals. He joined DRI Capital in 2022 to lead the Investor Relations department.

David began his career at Scotiabank with roles in risk management and corporate banking where he conducted counterparty credit analysis of corporate clients in the energy, healthcare, shipping, communications, and technology sectors. Most recently, David was the head of investor relations and corporate secretary at EmpowerPharm, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, where he helped raise $50 million from over 150 shareholders.

David holds a BA in psychology from McGill University and a joint JD/MBA from Queen’s University. He is a founding member of Lay-Up, a charity that has sent over 2500 underprivileged children to leadership basketball camps across Toronto. He is a member of New York State Bar and the Governance Professionals of Canada.

Catherine Love has more than 20 years of experience focused on life sciences investing including sell side, buy side, corporate and not-for-profit roles.

Ms. Love joined DRI in 2021 and is responsible for leading the DRI Sourcing team. Prior to joining DRI, Catherine was Senior Advisor, Capital for MaRS Discovery District. Catherine’s additional work experience includes work as an Equity Research Analyst, Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals with Research Capital Corporation, Venture Capital Director with BDC Venture Capital, and held senior Investor Relations positions with MDS Inc. and Medicago.

Catherine holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from McGill University, Master of Science in Organic Chemistry from University of Toronto and is a CFA Charterholder.

Noah Manczyk is an analyst on the investing team. He joined DRI in 2019 and is responsible for both qualitative and quantitative diligence on deal opportunities for DRI. His work focuses on: market research, scientific and medical reviews, competitive assessments, pricing and reimbursement, product forecasting, and deal structuring and valuation.

Prior to joining DRI, Noah Manczyk obtained a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto (2019) and a BSc in Biochemistry, Immunology, and Microbiology (2012) at the University of Western Ontario.

Rhizza is an experienced finance professional with over 15 years of industry experience.

Ms. Marbella joined DRI in 2014 and is responsible for the financial operations, planning, budgeting and reporting for the firm. She has extensive experience in driving continuous process improvements including the implementation of various systems to support these processes. Prior to joining DRI, Rhizza worked for Kensington Capital Partners, a leading alternative investment management firm based in Toronto as Controller, responsible for Fund and Management company operations, accounting, and reporting. Before Kensington, Rhizza led the Accounting and Corporate Reporting functions at StorageTek Canada. Rhizza’s additional experience includes work as a Senior Internal Auditor at Nortel, where she was involved with SOX compliance testing and as an Auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she worked with clients across a number of industries.

Rhizza holds a B.A. with Honors in Accountancy from the University of Waterloo and she is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Jeannie Rojas has 24 years of healthcare industry experience, 15 of which have been in healthcare investing.

Dr. Rojas joined DRI Capital in 2021 and is responsible for diligence and deal execution. Prior to joining DRI, Dr. Rojas held positions of increasing responsibility at Johnson & Johnson in the Global Pharmaceutical Business Development Group, California Innovation Center and Janssen R&D. She has also served as an advisor for JLABs. Dr. Rojas holds a PhD from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton Business School.

Yosuf Saeedi has over 7 years of experience in network administration and server virtualization, Implementing and troubleshooting of critical IT systems, combined with 4 years of experience managing server infrastructure in a hybrid cloud environment.
He joined DRI in December 2017 and is responsible for managing DRI's day-to-day IT systems and network. Prior to joining DRI, Yosuf was a Network Technician at Digital Design Systems Inc, and has also worked at Skanna Systems & Investigation Inc as a Team Leader.

Yosuf holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from NMAA University in Kabul, Afghanistan. Yosuf has also completed certifications in Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate, CCNP, CCNA, MCSA, VCP, CompTIA A+ and IBM Certified Specialist - Midrange Storage Technical Support V5.

Jenna Schapiro is a corporate attorney who focuses her practice on healthcare transactional matters. In her role as Associate Counsel, Jenna participates as an investment team member, negotiating transaction documents and conducting legal due diligence on behalf of DRI.

Prior to joining DRI in January 2022, Jenna practiced law at Holland & Knight LLP, where she provided legal counsel to various stakeholders in the healthcare industry, including private equity funds, strategic investors, physician practice and dental practice management companies, hospitals and health systems, healthcare facilities, digital health companies, and physician and dental practices, among others, across a variety of specialties, particularly in connection with mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, private equity deals, commercial business arrangements, corporate governance, and other related matters.

Jenna holds a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law, and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health, cum laude, from Tulane University. She is admitted to practice law in the State of Florida.

David Shin is an Analyst on the Investment and Research Team at DRI Capital and is responsible for diligence on deal opportunities. David has over 6 years of experience in drug development, commercialization, and reimbursement.

Prior to joining DRI Capital, David worked as a Health Economist at BC Cancer where he conducted health technology assessments and developed managed access strategies for emerging technologies in precision oncology. David also worked at Analysis Group supporting drug development and reimbursement efforts for Fortune 500 biopharmaceutical companies and at Admare Bioinnovations supporting project management and R&D operations for pre-clinical assets.

David holds a MSc in Population and Public Health and a BSc (Hons.) in Biotechnology from the University of British Columbia