ApconiX Welcomes Susan Tantawi
ApconiX is delighted to welcome Susan Tantawi who joins the Project Toxicology team and will be working with Dr Richard Knight. Based in Montreal in Canada, Susan has over fifteen years’ experience working in CROs, consultancies and biotechnology companies. With broad toxicology expertise, Susan also has specialist knowledge of inhalation toxicity. Always keen to support the progress of a compound to the next stage, she particularly enjoys the structured organisation involved in timelines and gap analysis. Susan is a board certified toxicologist.
Career
Susan graduated from Concordia University in Montreal with a degree in Specialization Biology before joining Charles River. Initially working as an inhalation toxicology technician, Susan soon became a Study Director working mainly on inhalation toxicology studies and then a Client Portfolio Manager becoming a client advocate within the company.
Joining InSymbiosis, a consultancy working with large pharmaceutical companies and small biotechs, and moving into development, Susan managed and designed multiple regulatory toxicology projects and managed pre-clinical IND enabling programs as well as Phase I trials.
After working briefly in business development, Susan returned to nonclinical development initially working as Senior Director at Galecto Biotech and becoming Vice President, Toxicologist & Nonclinical Development.
Working at ApconiX
Susan joins ApconiX with significant experience and expertise in inhalation toxicology, commenting, “Although inhalation is a niche field, COVID saw an increased interest in delivering compounds directly to the lungs. It’s a fascinating area, having to appreciate the various effects of particle size, area of action, delivery, conditions and compliance. Understanding the potential of aerosol generation equipment used is a crucial part to successfully deliver the desired dose.”
“Although I have specialised in inhalation, my experience is much broader. I have worked on many routes of administration including oral, dermal and ocular, in general, repro and genetic tox and safety pharmacology, mainly dealing with small molecules,” added Susan.
Dr Richard Knight, Director and Co-founder, commented, “Susan is an experienced toxicologist with broad experience in biotechs and CROs and comes with a great reputation. She adds to our growing group of toxicologists in North America and we look forward to working with her and having her join the ApconiX family”.
Interests Outside Work
Susan is very entrepreneurial and also runs a spa in Montreal with a team of 12 employees as well as an online gift box company. Not having a great deal of spare time and with a young family, Susan enjoys traveling and trying out new restaurants.
