Dr. Simmonds received his BSc from the University of Western Ontario in 1990 and a PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Alberta in 1997. In 2002, he completed his post-doctoral training at Charles H Best Institute, at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry welcomed Dr. Simmonds back as a faculty member in 2002 where he rose to the position of professor in the Department of Cell Biology. He has received several awards for his teaching and research, including the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry 2019 Mentoring award for Excellence in Mentoring Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellows, a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Scholar and Senior Scholar awards. He has served as the president and board member of the Canadian Society for Molecular Bioscience, and was previously the vice-president of the Genetics Society of Canada. He is currently an associate editor of the journal Genome (Canada).
Matthew is an experienced finance executive advising Future Fields on strategy and finance. He obtained his BComm. degree with a major in Finance and Accounting from the University of Alberta. After obtaining his degree, Matthew articled at Alberta’s largest full-service accounting firm where he obtained his Chartered Accountant Designation. He has significant experience with private for-profit businesses in the manufacturing, construction and oil and gas industries. Matthew also has experience with international business and has overseen companies with operations in the USA, Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Matthew has a passion for entrepreneurship and is active in operational accounting, internal and external reporting, strategic planning, budgeting, and internal controls.
GROW is a technology accelerator located in Singapore, launched by AgFunder, the online venture capital investor and Rocket Seeder, and the Australian agrifood accelerator. Future Fields is part of the inaugural cohort of GROW and continues to work closely with the team on establishing operations in regional and international locations.
Future Fields was accepted into the University of Alberta Health Accelerator for a second year in 2019. Our lab space is provided through this program, as well as extensive business support. The University of Alberta Health Accelerator identifies and advances early-stage opportunities. The program provides an environment for entrepreneurship ventures to build, test, validate and grow through mentorship, education & workshops, connections to resources and service providers, and a physical environment, including co-working and lab space in TEC Centre Labs.
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