Committed to developing the
most comfortable breathing
experience for OSA patients

Hamed is a Microelectronics engineer (B.Sc. and M.A.Sc.), and a respiratory mechanics expert with a Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Dalhousie University. After his Ph.D., he participated in numerous entrepreneurial opportunities, which introduced him to the start-up ecosystem in Halifax. Following this, Hamed founded NovaResp to commercialize his game-changing cMAP™ technology with the goal of developing superior respiratory technologies. In addition to NovaResp, he also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dalhousie University and holds multiple patents (granted/pending) in his field.

Neil is an experienced Surgeon and successful entrepreneur, having established the largest private sleep clinics in Canada (Resolute Health). He has worked in both the private and public sector as a CEO, President, and board member, as well as Executive Chairman of a publicly traded company. He has experience in transitioning companies from the private to public markets as well as raising capital, particularly for early start-ups in the biotech space.

Neil’s years of experience as a surgeon treating and diagnosing sleep-disordered breathing, coupled with his extensive business acumen, provides NovaResp unique insight into the needs and expectations of patients.

Mr. Sodhi has served on our board of directors since August 2023. He has more than 28 years of experience in global informatics, software service technology and ecommerce business solutions, across the healthcare, financial, and telecom industries.  Previously he served as the President of ResMed’s software as a service (SaaS) business (2016-2021) and as President of Healthcare Informatics (HI) (2014-2018) leading the development of ResMed’s HI solutions and ResMed itself to its current standing as a global digital health leader, with an expanding portfolio of device- and SaaS-based offerings. He joined ResMed in 2012 through the acquisition of Umbian Inc. of which he was co-founder and President. Before ResMed and Umbian, Mr. Sodhi worked in the financial services industry, designing, developing and managing SaaS solutions. He was Senior Vice President of Business Development and Chief Technology Officer for Skipjack Financial Services from 2005 to 2009, and co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of TransActive Ecommerce Solutions from 2000 to 2005. Mr. Sodhi is on the board of directors of Tandem Diabetes, Forefront Dermatology and EyeCare Partners. Mr. Sodhi holds an M.B.A. and a B.S. in Mathematics and Statistics from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Stephen brings 40 years of experience in both clinical diagnostics and venture capital. Steve is currently a director at Precision BioLogic – a NS-based developer and manufacturer of in vitro hemostasis diagnostics – where he had a 26-year career and served as co-CEO. In 2014 he became president and CEO of Innovacorp, a Nova Scotia early-stage venture capital corporation, and over a 5-year period led a team that made 52 investments totaling $23 million while leveraging a further $48 million in venture capital and private equity. Stephen holds a B.Sc. and an MBA from Dalhousie University and has earned the ICD.D designation in board governance excellence from the Rotman School of Management.

Stephen brings a valuable set of skills and experience to NovaResp, with his many years of experience in financing and venture capital.

Bill is the founder and President of Power Forward, where he helps start-ups and scale-ups achieve their missions by executing the right operational plan. Bill received a B.Eng. in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia in 1988, and in 1993 he received an MBA from Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario. During his career he has built a business operations skillset, especially in the areas of strategy, finance, human resources, and business development having held senior positions with direct responsibility in each of these areas.

Bill’s extensive experience and hands-on advisory and consulting work for early-stage medical technologies, and high complementary skill set, has been a vital addition to the NovaResp team.

Tom is a strategic business leader with over 30 years experience leading teams in high-growth market- leading medical device companies (ResMed, Medtroinc and Empi). He is a visionary in identifying opportunities and trends and executing to outpace market growth. Tom has 15 years experience with ResMed, a Global leader of products for screening and treatment of Sleep Disordered Breathing, leading Corporate Accounts, Sales and Marketing for the Americas and Healthcare Economics Departments.

Tom’s sales and marketing expertise has given NovaResp key insight into our core areas of respiratory care/sleep-disordered breathing, including market and trends.

Dr. Debra Morrison completed medical school at the University of Toronto and completed residency training in internal medicine and subspecialty training in respiratory medicine, as a postgraduate trainee at the University of Toronto. This was followed by a respiratory based sleep medicine fellowship at the University of Calgary. She is a staff respirologist at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax and Professor of Medicine at Dalhousie University. She is actively involved in both undergraduate and post-graduate medical education. Dr. Morrison is the clinical director of the QEII Health Sciences Centre Sleep Disorders Program in Halifax and the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Director. Dr. Morrison is active in the Canadian Thoracic Society and is on the Scientific Planning Committee for the Canadian Respirology Conference and an active participant with the Home Mechanical Ventilation and Sleep Disorders Committees. Dr. Morrison’s academic interests include heart failure and sleep disordered breathing, home diagnostic testing for the diagnosis of sleep apnea and innovations in sleep apnea therapy.

Dr. Mehra is a physician scientist, the new head of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Washington. Formerly a Professor of Medicine of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and Director of Sleep Disorders Research focused on investigation of sleep disorders and health ​outcomes with a focus on cardiopulmonary disease. She has almost 20 years of experience in the conduct of clinical and translational science and leading the Sleep Coordinating Center for multicenter studies pertaining to sleep disorders. She has served as Co-Chair of the American Heart Association Statement on Sleep Apnea and Cardiac Arrhythmia, Co-Chair of the NHLBI Autonomic Nervous System Cardiopulmonary Interactions workshop, immediate past Chair of the American Thoracic Society Sleep Respiratory Neurobiology Assembly, Chair of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Inpatient Sleep Disordered Breathing Task Force, and Associate Editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Mehra has over 200 publications including in the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA journals, has given >300 lectures, served as editor of the textbook Sleep Disorders: A Case a Week from the Cleveland Clinic and has mentored more than 40 trainees.

Ingo Fietze completed his studies of Biophysics and Human medicine. In 1990, he founded the first sleep laboratory at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin of which he was in charge. In 2005, he became the official director and head of the Interdisciplinary Center for Sleep Medicine at the Charité. He is specialist in internal medicine, pulmonology, sleep medicine and somnology. Also, he is an EEG physician and Chrono biologist.

After his doctorate and habilitation, Prof. Fietze was appointed adjunct professor (apl. Prof.) in 2015. Since 01/01/2018, he has been the Head of the newly independent Interdisciplinary Sleep Center at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin.

He was a Chairman of “Schlafmedizin Berlin Brandenburg e.V.” until 2019. During several years he was also a Chairman of the German Sleep Society (DGSM). Since 2014, he has been a Foundation Chairman of the “Deutschen Stiftung Schlaf” and since 2018 Chairman of the executive board of “Initiative Deutschland schläft gesund e.V.”.

Ingo Fietze is a member of the German Sleep Society (DGSM), German Society for Clinical Neurophysiology (DGKN), German Respiratory Society (DGP), German Cardiac Society (DKG), European Respiratory Society (ERS), European Sleep Research Society (ESRS), World Sleep Federation (WSF) and American Association of Sleep Medicine (AASM).

Ingo Fietze is author of four textbooks regarding healthy and disturbed sleep, more than 250 scientific publications, as well as book and congress contributions. He is reviewer of several scientific journals and member of the editorial board of the journals Somnology, Sleep and Breathing and Frontiers in Neurology.

His main research topics are: Methods of diagnosis and therapy of sleep disorders, Cardiovascular risks through sleep disorders, Space and chronobiology. He is a participant in several international Research Networks (ESADA, SAGIC, EIN, EURLSSG).

Next to his clinical-scientific commitment, Prof. Fietze also advises on sleep medicine and consults within occupational and sport medicine.

Thomas Penzel graduated from physics (1986), human biology (1991), and physiology (1995) at the University Marburg, Germany. In 2006 he moved to Berlin where he is the director of research of the Interdisciplinary Sleep Medicine Center at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany). In 2001, he received the Bial award for Clinical Medicine in Portugal, in 2008 the Bill Gruen Award for Innovations in Sleep Research by the American Sleep Research Society, and in 2014 the distinguished research award by the Chinese Sleep Research Society. He was IEEE EMBC 2019 conference chair, distinguished lecturer and is IEEE fellow. He is president of the German Sleep Society and Vicepresident-elect publications of IEEE EMBS. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Sleep and Breathing, and editorial board member of other journals. He has published 400 journal papers (Pubmed), 80 book chapters, and edited 18 books. His research interests are sleep medicine, biomedical signals, and wearables for sleep recording.

Dr. Sanja Jelic is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at the Columbia University in New York. She received her MD degree from University of Zagreb, Croatia and trained in internal medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at the Columbia University in New York. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction in disturbed sleep, including obstructive sleep apnea and sleep deprivation. Dr. Jelic was named Herbert Irving Professor at Columbia University, received awards from American Thoracic Society, American Academy of Sleep Medicine and American Lung Association. Dr. Jelic’s work is funded by the NIH/NHLBI, American Heart Association, American Thoracic Society and American Academy of Sleep Medicine. She is the Director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Dr. Robin LeBlanc, MMT, MD, FRCSC

Dr. Robin LeBlanc is a highly respected otolaryngologist based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. With extensive experience in treating a wide range of ear, nose, and throat conditions, Dr. LeBlanc is known for his expertise in general otolaryngology, obstructive sleep apnea, and treatment of thyroid and salivary gland neoplasms.

Dr. LeBlanc practices at Dartmouth ENT Associates, where he works alongside a team of skilled specialists to provide comprehensive ENT care.  He brings over 20 years of clinical and surgical experience to bear in this field.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. LeBlanc is involved in several professional organizations and continues to contribute to the field through research, continuous learning, and entrepreneurship.  His entrepreneurial activities have led him to co-found several companies specializing in OSA diagnosis and therapy, and equipment supplies.