Suzanne Hill

Worth knowing

She works at the point where bench science becomes a product, taking photonic chip technology into diagnostics and therapeutics, and she has built and run companies of her own in skincare, publishing and property. Canadians moving a life sciences idea from lab to market, or looking for a way into the Dallas-Fort Worth biotech scene, will find her worth writing to.

Story

Suzanne did all three of her degrees at McGill, from medical microbiology through a master's in cell and molecular biology to a 2002 PhD in neurochemistry, where she characterized the rate-limiting enzyme in serotonin biosynthesis in Schistosoma mansoni. She went on to doctoral research on a G protein-coupled receptor in C. elegans and earlier work on ABC transporter pumps in chemotherapy. Around Montreal she taught cellular biology, biochemistry, bioinformatics and scientific writing at John Abbott College, and built her own companies: a private-label skincare firm that became the exclusive Canadian importer for the Endure Beauty line, a commercial and residential property business, and a publishing house with its own photography arm. Since 2022 she has been in Texas, running clinical R&D at Strike Photonics.

Highlights

• PhD, Neurochemistry and Molecular Biology, McGill University (2002)
• Director, Clinical Research and Development, Strike Photonics (2022-present)
• Founder and President, Beautés MSK Inc., private-label skincare, Montreal
• Co-founder and President, Miniskirt Publishings Inc. and Zannelly Photography
• FCAR full scholarship; NRC and NSERC full scholarship