About Acorn Biolabs

As a pioneer and entrepreneur in the field of regenerative medicine, Dr. Drew Taylor is committed to making the latest advancements in this field accessible and personalized for everyone.

Prior to co-founding Acorn in 2017, Drew spent several years as Chief Science Officer at Epic Capital Management working across the flourishing biotech start-up community. Previous to his role at Epic Capital, Drew spent time as part of the Mount Sinai Hospital Bioengineering of Skeletal Tissues Team.

Drew received his undergraduate and Master’s degree in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan and went on to complete a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Dr. Taylor has also enjoyed a successful career in professional minor league baseball as a pitcher for both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies, charting parallel paths across both professional sports and science.

William is a corporate strategy and finance leader with experience scaling businesses in multiple industries. Bringing years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, optimizing financial systems, and constructing efficient team, he leads commercial operations at Acorn. His broad areas of expertise include business development and growth, operational excellent, internal structure and leadership. Prior to Acorn, he was responsible for corporate development at Busbud in the travel sector in Montreal which has expanded to over 80 countries and 14,000 cities and Perativ in the financial sector in Toronto which exited to Morgan Stanley Capital Partners.

Crystal brings nearly 25 years of experience in marketing, corporate communications/PR and commercial operations for global Fortune 500 companies and public start-ups. Most recently, Crystal served on the Board of Elevai Labs, a topical regenerative skin care company. Crystal was Chief Marketing Officer at Evolus where she led the re-launch of Jeuveau®, a disruptor brand to BOTOX® Cosmetic. Prior to Evolus, Crystal was Head of Global Strategic Marketing for Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage medical dermatology company. Crystal also spent more than a decade at Allergan in various leadership roles in US and International marketing and communications where she gained significant commercial launch experience with the company’s flagship BOTOX franchise and leading aesthetics brands.

Kate, a aesthetic medicine sales leader and trained Dermatologist, is the Director of Aesthetics Sales at Acorn. She is at the forefront of expanding access to Acorn and driving our efforts to engage the world of aesthetic medicine. Kate has over 20 years of proven success in driving revenue growth within the medical device and biotech sector, specializing in cutting-edge solutions for aesthetic medicine. Adept at building high-performance sales teams, forging strategic partnerships, and translating scientific advancements into compelling sales strategies. Committed to advancing the aesthetic medicine landscape through innovative biotech solutions.

Dave is a sales and service leader with 10+ years of experience overseeing sales and customer service teams in the hospitality and luxury goods space. Charged with leading the sales + events team for 5 unique properties across Toronto he’s worked with companies such as Mercedes Benz, The Royal Canadian Mint, Facebook/Instagram, as well as all of the leading major pharmaceutical brands. At Acorn, Dave is responsible for Partner Success and leads the launch of all new clinic partners, builds and conducts training modules, and acts as your day-to-day point of contact for all things Acorn. Dave is also active in the volunteer community with the Big Brother Big Sister Foundation and Parkdale Golden Age Foundation.

Amatullah's passion of regenerative medicine, the power that stem cell therapeutics holds, and what we as scientists can offer to the world was passed on to her from her mom, Dr. Farida Fatehi. This passion lead her to pursue her BSc in Biochemistry and MSc in Cell Physiology at the University of Toronto. At Acorn, Amatullah is the Director of Lab Science and is responsible for oversight of Acorn lab facilities. In addition to this Amatullah works closely with the research and development team to assign projects and build partnerships.

Andrew is the Director of Product and Technology at Acorn. He received his bachelors degree at Queen’s University in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He started his career as a developer for a marketing agency and later cofounded two companies. The first one was an interactive marketing agency specializing in augmented reality and virtual reality. The second company built an AI-based 3D lifelike avatar generator. At Acorn, Andrew leads a wide range of projects including developing and testing Acorn sample kits for transport and ensuring all of Acorns online systems are functioning well behind the scenes.

James is the Lab Manager at Acorn’s Torrance Facility. He has a Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019) and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Lynchburg (2012). As a Ph.D. candidate, his research was fundamentally focused on evolutionary biology. Over the course of multiple summers, James studied a diverse group of orchids situated in cloud forests of the Andes Mountains. After receiving his Ph.D., James taught biology and environmental science at Edgewood College for 2.5 years. From there, he spent a year in a coordinator role thereby overseeing a BSL-2 laboratory, training laboratory technicians, genotyping cows and pigs to identify genetic disorders, and assisting with research and development projects. At Acorn, James is currently tackling tasks such as grant writing to secure funding opportunities, content writing through the marketing team, and overseeing the construction of Acorn’s Torrance Facility.

Chris is a Lab Manager at Acorn. He has a BSc and MSc in Pharmacology from the University of Toronto. During his Masters, Chris worked on pre-clinical phase drug development. He has previously worked as a Laboratory Manager in Dr. Peter Roy's lab at the University of Toronto where he was responsible for lab operation, maintaining cryopreserved samples, regulatory compliance, and training new staff.

Muneera is the Research Specialist at Acorn. She’s responsible for leading the research we do at Acorn as well working with the science team and processing cell collections. She did her Masters and PhD in neurodegenerative diseases, focusing on developing ways to diagnose and treat Parkinson's disease early on. She then started her Post-Doc at the University of Waterloo, researching why and how cellular autophagy pathways are altered in neurodegeneration.

Noor is a digital marketer with a background in wellness, strategy and communications. At Acorn, she is responsible for driving brand awareness and demand through digital marketing channels. She has a Marketing Degree from Mount Saint Vincent University. Prior to joining Acorn, Noor led a brand marketing consultancy Dial In Media and hosted the SHE + ME podcast.

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Destinee is a Lab Technician at our Torrance facility. She graduated from Tuskegee University with a BSc in Clinical Laboratory Science specializing in clinical chemistry. She started her career as a stem cell processing specialist at California Cryobank (CCB), focusing on analyzing, processing, and  cryopreserving umbilical cord blood. While working at CCB headquarters, she became interested in understanding the schematics behind tissue regulations, leading her to pursue an M.S. in Regulatory Science from Johns Hopkins University(JHU). She's most excited about working at Acorn to apply her clinical laboratory and regulatory science skillset to ensure Acorn is committed to delivering a healthier future for its patients usingregulated guidelines.