BRI Biopharmaceutical Research Inc. is a contract research organization based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, that has been providing research services to the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and biotechnology industries in Canada, USA and Asia since 1999. Providing high quality services and excelling at meeting today’s shrinking drug development deadlines has made BRI a successful CRO with a substantial range of experience and expertise.

The vision of BRI is to establish a globally diversified operation recognized as a group highly skilled in the discovery and development of life-saving medicines. Working towards this vision is a team of skilled and dedicated scientists and management professional with a mission to build a technology-based research company characterized by its ability in integrating all phases of preclinical and clinical studies.

BRI Management Team

David Kwok, Ph.D., President & CEO

Dr. David Kwok is the founder and current President and CEO of BRI. Dr. Kwok is a key scientific and technical member at BRI, providing the company with a broad scope of drug development experience and practical expertise on many challenging technical issues encountered during preclinical development. Dr. Kwok graduated with a Pharmacy Bachelor’s degree from the University of British Columbia, followed by his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in medicinal analytical chemistry in 1991. He served in a variety of management and scientific positions at Health Canada from 1991 to 1998, responsible for botanical safety and quality control, anti-microbial drug resistance and veterinary drug safety laboratory programs. He has been an invited speaker at numerous professional conferences and has contributed to over 30 scientific publications in bioanalytical chemistry applications and drug candidate optimization studies in peer-reviewed journals, poster presentations, and scientific review journals.

Clara Faan, B.Sc., VP Business Development & COO

Ms. Faan is a senior management member of BRI. Her current position as Vice President of Business Development & Chief Operating Officer lends her a critical role in implementing BRI’s business plan during the growth phase of BRI, integrating business and operational needs and maintaining a healthy and consistent annual growth. Ms. Faan graduated from the University of Alberta and has over 12 years of experience in the management and operation of a chemistry service laboratory business. She held a variety of previous appointments including the dairy industry in BC, Canada, serving as a certified Food Safe Instructor and an ISO 9000 auditor. In her current role at BRI, Ms. Faan partakes in technology due diligence and has been instrumental in successfully negotiating technology transfer and licensing agreements for the development of new drug candidates.

Larry Cai, M.Sc., Senior Research Scientist & Project Manager

Mr. Cai is a Senior Research Scientist at BRI who has developed a broad and in-depth understanding of the large variety of preclinical CMC, safety / toxicology, ADME, PK/DM and LC/MS/MS studies performed at BRI. His experience lends him the critical and challenging function of coordinating the delivery timelines and instrument resources required for multiple parallel study teams. Mr. Cai earned his M.Sc. in organic chemistry from California State University, Los Angeles. Mr. Cai’s previous experience also includes a strong background in organic synthesis operating within a structural-based drug candidate screening biotech environment.

Rosario Bermúdez, B.Pharm, Quality Assurance Manager

Ms. Bermúdez is a vital part of BRI’s Quality Assurance Unit, serving as Manager of the QAU. Ms. Bermúdez has brought leadership to her working unit supported by two other quality assurance professionals. During her time at BRI, she has brought a heightened sense of GLP awareness, with continuing improvements in many existing procedures and implementation of new initiatives. In parallel with Ms. Bermúdez’s role with the QAU, she also serves as a regulatory advisor on many of BRI’s activity relating to cGMP, GLP and OECD regulatory issues ranging from assay method validation to submission of IND, CTA and DMF. Ms. Bermúdez holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Antioquia, Colombia. She is a current member of the Society of Quality Assurance and her past experience includes cGMP QC activities in two large pharmaceutical companies.

Key Scientific Staff

Xiaoyun (Tina) Liu, Ph.D., Research Scientist & Project Manager

Dr. Liu prides herself in attention to detail and in her promptness meeting committed study timelines and deliverables. Her sense of unfailing accountability and straight work ethics serves a role model for many of her peers and supporting scientists within her study team. Dr. Liu completed a Ph.D in organic chemistry from Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada and her past experience includes applied analytical chemistry research and development in the forestry industry and the quality control laboratory of a GMP API manufacturing facility.

Mirela Gorjanu, M.Sc., Research Scientist, Method Development

As one of the most experienced Research Scientists at BRI, Ms. Gorjanu has participated in many bioanalytical projects involving the design, development and validation of LC/MS/MS and HPLC assays in support of clinical phase I and phase II studies at BRI. Ms. Gorjanu’s skill and experience in assay procedures is highly regarded by her peers as a valuable resource at BRI. Ms. Gorjanu completed her Master’s degree in organic chemistry from the University of Bucharest, Romania, and she has extensive past experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing quality control testing in Europe.

Boling Liu, M.Sc., Research Scientist, Method Development

Ms. Liu is among one of the highly experienced Research Scientists at BRI, and is involved in the development and validation of many difficult LC/MS/MS assays reaching down to low pg/ml assay LLOQ. Ms. Liu’s success is built on her hard work and dedicated ethics. Her mild gentle manner and her experience is well respected by all her peers at BRI. Ms. Liu is a Master’s degree graduate from the Department of Pharmacy at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her career experience includes research and development positions in pharmacology and analytical chemistry with biotech companies.

Amanda Fuller, B.Sc., Clinical Logistics Coordinator

After joining BRI in September 2002, Ms. Fuller began her role in the coordination of an ongoing Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) program involving an ongoing LC/MS/MS screening and quantitation of protease inhibitors in bio-hazardous clinical samples from across Canada. Also serving as the Biological Safety Officer for BRI, Ms. Fuller has a broad scope of knowledge and experience in coordinating the collection and shipment of all types of biological samples from worldwide international locations for importation to Canada. This includes working with clinical sites to provide sample collection and shipping kits and providing documentation support for shipments across international borders. Amanda also manages raw material inventory and logistics relating to BRI’s role in outsourcing and managing cGMP manufacturing of APIs and clinical products, including packaging and distribution of clinical finished products to clinical sites.