Dr Mario Callejo, new VP – Scientific Operations at IRICoR
IRICoR is very pleased to announce the appointment as of September 21, 2022 of Dr. Mario Callejo as Vice-President, Scientific Operations and new member of IRICoR’s Management team.
Dr. Callejo’s main responsibilities consist of supervising activities related to scientific affairs, such as leading and ensuring the preliminary scientific evaluation of potential projects, planning, developing and implementing a balanced portfolio strategy and making investment recommendations. He actively contributes to collaborations with pharmaceutical partners during the development of portfolio projects.
Before undertaking this position, he served as IRICoR’s scientific advisor for the evaluation of projects submitted through different funding competitions. He also provided support to IRICoR’s management team in monitoring milestones, evaluating deliverables, and reorienting projects as needed.
Prior to joining IRICoR, Mario Callejo was one of the deputy directors in Biology, at the Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of Université de Montréal. His involvement, as a biology group leader, on the first collaboration project between the DDU and Bristol-Myers Squibb entitled Development of antagonists of Protease Activated Receptors 4, contributed to the discovery of two (2) anti-thrombotic drugs currently in clinical stage.
He has more than 20 years of experience as a manager of scientific projects. He has been involved, as a group leader, in several pharmaceutical projects in Canada and other countries. His scientific experience spans several therapeutic areas, including oncology, cardiovascular, anti-microbial and vaccines.
Dr. Callejo holds a Ph.D in Biochemistry, from the Biochemistry Department of Université de Montréal. He led his post-doctoral training both in academia (McGill University) and several Biotechnology companies (Emerillon Therapeutics Inc. and Targanta Therapeutics Inc.). He also holds an M.Sc. degree from University of Havana (Cuba) and from the Center for Molecular Biology Severo Ochoa of Madrid (Spain).
“I am delighted to welcome Mario in our team. His expertise and scientific knowledge in translational science and on drug development within academic and biotechnology settings are important additional assets for IRICoR’s current and future endeavors”, commented Nadine Beauger, President – Chief Executive Officer at IRICoR.
