Board of Directors
Kevin Giese - President and CEO
Kevin Giese is the founding President and CEO of Medwell Capital. Kevin has a B.A. in economics, a law degree, and an M.B.A.
Kevin practiced law in Vancouver , has been the past president of Mr. Lube U.S. and was a director and the chief financial officer for NQL Drilling Tools (a TSX listed oilfield equipment company). Kevin has in the past served on the board of a number of private and public companies and is currently on the Executive Committee of the Edmonton Chapter of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and is a member of the Board of Directors of BioAlberta.
Laine Wollard - Director
Mr. Wollard received his degrees in Pharmacy and Law from the University of Alberta. He spent four years in private practice then four years as in-house counsel and subsequently a member of the Board of Directors of a drug research subsidiary company of Tahiho Pharmaceutical Company of Japan. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Metabolic Modulators Research Limited. Mr. Wollard joined the University of Alberta Industry Liaison Office in 1994, where he has provided legal counsel to the University of Alberta research community on matters dealing with technology transfer, intellectual property, management of patent prosecution and litigation, licensing research contracts and corporate/commercial issues. Mr. Wollard recently received his Queens Council (QC) from the Alberta Provincial Government.
Dr. John Wetherell - Director
Dr. Wetherell has over 20 years experience in intellectual property law. His counseling experience includes intellectual property acquisition, transactional due diligence, patent infringement and validity analyses, freedom-to-operate opinions, as well as licensing and strategic counseling. Dr. Wetherell’s patent prosecution experience includes obtaining U.S. and foreign protection in biotechnology areas such as molecular biology, immunology, nanotechnology, medical diagnostics, microbiology and pharmacology. He also evaluates intellectual property portfolios for both companies and investors.
At Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Dr. Wetherell is Head of Intellectual Property in the San Diego Office, Head of Intellectual Property for the National Life Science Practice Group, Chair of the Stem Cell Outlook and Planning Effort (SCOPE) and co-chair of the National Nanotechnology Practice Group.
Dr. Wetherell received a B.S. degree in Chemistry, and a Ph.D. degree in Microbiology/ Immunology, both from the University of Florida, and a J.D. degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. He conducted post-doctoral research, including studies on the humoral and cellular immune responses in periodontal disease, at Forsyth Dental Center in Boston, where he concurrently held an NIH post-doctoral fellowship and a Young Principal Investigator’s award. Before becoming an attorney, he gained extensive experience as a research scientist and manager during his five-year tenure in the biotechnology industry.
Dr. Wetherell has written and lectured extensively for organizations and institutions around the world on patent law, biotechnology patent law, IP strategy, and related IP transactional issues.
Gordon Politeski - Director
Mr. Politeski brings extensive international biotech development experience to Medwell Capital. He was the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Biomira, Inc., a cancer diagnostics and therapy company, and one of Canada’s first publicly traded biotechnology companies. He also served as Director of the Pharmaceutical Group at Pharmacia Canada, Canadian President and General Manager for US-based Allergan Pharmaceuticals, a world leader in ophthalmology and the developer of Botox®, and was seven years on the board of AMEX listed Genetronics (now Inovio). Mr. Politeski is a board member of Novation Pharmaceuticals Inc., a private biotech company developing novel drugs to modulate messenger RNA in the treatment of various diseases.
transactional issues.
Will Sawchyn - Director
Mr Sawchyn received a Bachelor of Commerce (graduating with distinction) degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1991. He received his designation as a Chartered Accountant two years later while working with the Auditor General of Canada in Ottawa. Mr Sawchyn’s career has included spanned the areas of business acquisition and integration, strategic planning, business development and operations. He has served as a director on the boards of early stage companies including Pionetics Inc., a clean-tech venture-backed company, and he has acted as a limited partner representative with Nth Power, on a venture capital investment funds. Most recently, Mr Sawchyn holds the role as Controller at Caterpillar Mining Canada Limited.