Dr. Walker left the position of COO of the Toronto General Hospital to join Spectral Diagnostics Inc. as President and CEO in April 2001.  

Previously, Dr. Walker was Surgeon in Chief and Vice President of the Surgical Directorate of the University Hospital Network.  Dr. Walker was an active Vascular Surgeon and the Director of the Intensive Care Program, and Professor of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Toronto.  

Dr. Walker received his M.D. from the University of Western Ontario, his Ph.D from the Salgrenska University of Göteborg Sweden, and is the author of over 100 scientific publications.  Dr. Walker is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program from Harvard School of Business.  

Mr. Businskas leads the Spectral finance organization.  He works closely with other members of the senior management team to develop and implement business strategies.

Mr. Businskas is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of business experience.  He has held senior financial positions in both public and private companies, as well as in public practice. Mr. Businskas has significant experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, business partnerships and alliances, tax planning and finance.

Mr. Businskas graduated with a B.A from the University of Toronto in 1971 and became a chartered accountant in 1975.  He further studied general management at the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada and at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia.

Dr. Shaikh joined Spectral Diagnostics in 1992 as a Director of Lipid Research and Special Projects.  Along with the President of the corporation, he was responsible for all Design Review activities.  As a Director of Special Projects, he promoted the development and use of the Plasma Separation Membranes that made Spectral Cardiac STATus™ Products true point of care tests.  Over the past 14 years, Dr. Shaikh has also served as Director of R & D, as Director of Quality Programs and as VP Corporate Quality & Scientific Affairs of the corporation.

In these positions, he was one of the key personnel responsible for the design, development and manufacturing of Cardiac test products, for establishing quality programs, and achieving and maintaining the regulatory approvals and QSR certification of the facility from both Health Canada and the US FDA.  He was also responsible for the Technical Support function of the company.

Dr. Shaikh graduated with both medical and science degrees in 1966, received his Ph.D. in 1976, and post-doc fellowship at Banting & Best Institute at University of Toronto. For the past 28 years, he has been a Faculty member of the Departments of Medicine, Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology, University of Toronto.  He has been an elected fellow of the Canadian Heart and American Heart Associations and has published over 120 scientific papers.

Ms. Foster brings a clinical background and expertise in clinical trials to Spectral Diagnostics.  Ms. Foster began her professional career in 1984 as a Registered Nurse, specializing in the adult critical care area.  In 1993, she graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Human Biology.

Ms. Foster’s clinical research experience began in 1990 working as a clinical research coordinator for the Medical Surgical Intensive Care Unit of Toronto General Hospital.   This included being an active member of the Canadian Critical Care Trials group.   

In 1997, Ms. Foster became a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC) of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals and has lectured many times to medical professionals on the topics of sepsis and clinical trials for sepsis.  She has presented over 20 abstracts at scientific meetings, published more than 10 articles in peer-reviewed journals and lectured for academic and industry audiences.

Mr. Verhagen has over 15 years of business development experience in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industries, including small cap biotechnology companies and large multi-national corporations. He has had particular success in the completion of products licensing agreements and strategic alliances. Mr. Verhagen will play a significant role in the commercialization of Spectral's EAA™ and the RapidWN™ West Nile Virus IgM Test, as well as seeking new growth opportunities.