Leadership

Dr. James Schellenberg, Founder and CEO, has participated in start-up technology companies from 1989 to the present. He has executive management experience with Broadband Networks Inc., Nortel Inc., Centara Corporation, James Schellenberg Inc. and most recently with IMRIS Inc. He has participated both as an investor and contributor for numerous technology-based companies, including Texar Corporation, Edge Networks Inc., Esion Networks Inc., Photonami Inc. and iMagicTV. James graduated with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1990 and has filed over 10 patents.

Dr. John Saunders has over 50 years of experience in the science and technology realm, with a particular focus on MRI imaging technology. John was the founder and initial CEO of IMRIS, later serving as the CSO of the company. John was one of the inventors of the original intraoperative MRI scanner, amongst other medical device technology. He has over 200 peer-reviewed publications, as well as seven granted US patents and 20 US patents pending. John currently serves as Cubresa’s Chief Science Officer.

Bob Schellenberg, formerly the Director of Operations and Finance at Cubresa, has extensive experience in prototype and production manufacturing, assembly and test. Prior to Cubresa, he was most recently Production Supervisor at IMRIS Inc. from 2006-2011. Prior to IMRIS, Bob founded and operated a design and manufacturing company, HRS Enterprises. He has filed one patent.

Jonathan is a professional engineer with over 30 years of R&D design and V&V test experience with over half of the years focused on the medical device industry. He has built high performing engineering teams to design and deliver regulatory compliant new product innovations to market. Jonathan has received three US patent awards for his design innovations on the Intra-Operative MRI product during his tenure at IMRIS. Jonathan continues to drive his passion forward with Cubresa as the Vice President of R&D, bringing next generation PET imaging innovation to researchers and medical professionals around the world.

Lisa Bako has over 25 years of experience working with high-tech start-ups and research institutions, with the last 20 years focused exclusively on health-related initiatives and novel medical devices. She specializes in designing and delivering sales and marketing strategies for the medical device sector, in addition to leading contract negotiations, program management, and relationship management of customers and strategic partners. Lisa is responsible for spearheading Cubresa’s global preclinical and clinical sales to leading research centres, in addition to managing strategic partnerships for the company.

Manjari Murthy has extensive experience in clinical research and biomedical imaging and has been working at Cubresa since 2018. In her current capacity, Manjari has been involved in conception, development and early system prototyping, and works closely with both end users and the R&D team to ensure delivery of a robust product that meets the needs of the market. Manjari has an M.Sc. in Neuroscience from McGill University and an MBA from Saint Mary’s University. 

Leah Friesen is a professional engineer with over 25 years of experience in manufacturing and operations.  She has a wide breadth of experience in multiple industrial sectors including medical devices, aerospace, metal fabrication, plastics, composites and, most recently, the automotive industry.  Leah has rejoined the medical device sector as the company’s Director of Operations and will be leading the team building Cubresa’s preclinical and clinical product lines.

Ryan Sparkes has worked in medical imaging and medical device software since 1996. At Cedara, Ryan worked on solutions for 3D volume rendering including segmentation and classification of different parts of the anatomy. His time at IMRIS was spent focused on their navigation and robotic product offerings. At Cubresa, Ryan has been leading the development of software for nuclear medicine imaging, including the SPECT, NuPET, and now BrainPET software. Ryan has a B. A. Sc. in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo.