About Us
Innovative Software and Solutions to Advance Your Research
MFI
Patients deserve the best treatments possible. At MFI, we apply our knowledge, technology, and collaborative approach to advance your research and the development of life-changing therapies.

We support drug discovery efforts broadly and globally, by design. Everything we do is grounded in the belief that we have something to contribute to your development programs. Continuous innovation is also a given: in our science, software, and in our research-as-a-service approach to doing business.

Our Values
MFI has a strong, organically grown culture. Every one of us lives out MFI’s values, in the workplace and beyond.
Integrity
We only take on projects where we think we can help. We let the data speak for itself. We prioritize honesty and accuracy in our research and reporting.
Collaboration
We actively engage all knowledge, experience, and resources among team members and in partnership with clients to achieve the greatest possible results.
Transparency
We maintain an ongoing, open line of communication with our clients. We admit to mistakes if we make them.
Scientific Contribution
We aim to advance or accelerate as many drug treatments as possible through our early-stage model.
Due Diligence
We approach our work with curiosity and thoroughness. We don’t leave lingering questions unanswered.
Who We Are
Team MFI is a multi-disciplinary group of passionate medicinal, synthetic, and computational chemists, motivated to do good and change the world, fast-tracking preclinical pharmaceutical programs on an international scale.

Founded in 2019, MFI was created out of 15 years of research at McGill University and was part of the inaugural Accelerate Quebec Program within the adMare Bioinnovations Center in Montréal.

The MFI Team

Joshua Pottel, Ph.D.

CEO

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Ph.D. from McGill. Research focus: software development in chemo- and bioinformatics. Post-doc research as an NRSA and CERSI fellow at UCSF. Co-inventor of VIRTUAL CHEMIST platform.

Nicolas Moitessier, Ph.D.

Co-founder and CSO

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Full Professor at McGill and co-founder of Molecular Forecaster. Ph.D. from Université Henri Poincaré-Nancy (France), post-doc at UdM. Current interests: integrating computational chemistry, organic/medicinal chemistry, and software development.

Mihai Burai-Patrascu, Ph.D.

Director CADD

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He earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry (JUB, Germany, 2015) and Ph.D. (McGill University, Canada, 2020), specializing in computational tools for organic and medicinal chemistry. With expertise in drug design, cheminformatics, and software development, he holds two invention certificates and has received multiple awards and grants. His work appears in top journals, including Nature Catalysis and JACS.

Matej Janezic, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist I

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Ph. D. from the University of Tokyo. Research focus: structure and ligand-based drug design. Matej previously worked at the National Institute of Chemistry in Slovenia.

Ophelie Rostaing, M.Sc.

Senior Scientist I

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M.Sc. from Université de Paris (France). Research focus: structure-based drug design. Ophélie previously completed an internship at McGill under the supervision of Pr. Nicolas Moitessier.

Agathe Fayet, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist I

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Ph.D. From Sorbonne Université and Ecole Polytechnique. Research focus: DFT and Organic synthesis. Agathe also worked at the Broad Institute in Cambridge MA and completed an internship at McGill under the supervision of Pr. Nicolas Moitessier.

Antoine Moitessier, B.Sc.

Associate Scientist II

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B.Sc. Honours in Pharmacology from McGill University. Antoine worked in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at McGill and in the Human Health Therapeutics (HHT) Research Centre at the National Research Council (NRC).

Jonah Zoldan, B.Sc.

Associate Scientist I

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B.Sc. in Computer Science and Biology from McGill University. Jonah worked in Computational Neuroscience research at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI). Research focus: machine learning for predicting off-target drug interactions.

Benjamin Weiser, B.Sc.

Mitacs Fellow

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Ph.D. student from McGill University, B.Sc. Honours in physics and chemistry from Carleton University: Developing machine learning tools for therapeutical and molecular design applications.

Mathieu Geoffroy, B.Eng.

Software Developer I

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B.Eng. in Software Engineering from McGill university. Mathieu has previous experience in technical consulting at Deloitte, as well as in full-stack software development at CAE.

Justin Buschman-Dormond, B.A.

Operations Coordinator

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B.A from Bishop’s University with a Business & Marketing concentration and minor in Psychology. Dedicated to improve MFI’s operational and functional efficiencies.

Our Consultants

Rebecca Swett, Ph.D.

Director of Computational Innovation – X-Chem

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Dr. R.J. Swett is a Computational Chemist with over a decade of pharma experience. She holds a PhD from Wayne State University and completed a Presidential Postdoc at Novartis partnered with Stanford. Dr. Swett has worked on rare disease and oncology targets at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Relay Therapeutics. She is currently the Director of Computational Chemistry Innovation at X-Chem.

Didier Leconte, MBA.

Life sciences investor, leader and connector

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Didier is a seasoned investor and leader in the Canadian life sciences sector, with experience at Investissement Quebec and Fonds de solidarité FTQ. He has managed seed investment funds, collaborated with entrepreneurs, and advises life sciences clients. Didier holds an MBA in Technology Management and an engineering degree in Material Sciences.

Let’s talk about how we can support your research

Contact Us