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.
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.
Josh 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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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.
Sébastien Alazet, Ph.D.
Principal Scientist III
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Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Université of Lyon 1 (2015) and Post-doc at EPFL Lausanne and University of Toronto.
Research focus: Medicinal chemistry from hit identification to lead optimization. Expertise in the design and synthesis of small molecules in integrating SAR and ADME properties to drive medicinal chemistry strategy.
Sebastien also worked as a medicinal chemist at Nuchem Science, Evotec SA and adMare Bioinnovation, before joining MFI.
Agathe Fayet, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist II
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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.
Ophelie Rostaing, M.Sc.
Senior Scientist I
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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.
Anne Labarre, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist I
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Ph.D. Chemistry and B.Sc. Pharmacology from McGill University. Anne has worked in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at McGill University. Research focus: Structure-based drug design and organic synthesis.
Antoine Moitessier, B.Sc.
Associate Scientist II
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Jonah Zoldan, B.Sc.
Associate Scientist I
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Benjamin Weiser, B.Sc.
Mitacs Fellow
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Mathieu Geoffroy, B.Eng.
Software Developer II
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Justin Buschman-Dormond, B.A.
Operations Coordinator
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Emily Martin
Summer Intern
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B.Sc. Honours in Computer Science and Biology with a minor in Mathematics at McGill University. Emily has previously worked in synthetic biology research at McGill iGEM and citizen science research at McGill’s Games for Good lab.
Nicholas Weiss
Summer Intern
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Undergraduate student in Chemistry and Computer Science at McGill University. Nicholas previously completed an internship under the supervision of Pr. Nicolas Moitessier working on machine learning tools.
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.