Team | Albert Labs

Meet our team

Everyone has been impacted by mental health and our expert team is no exception. Our people bring experience and expertise across multiple fields to deliver a real solution to the mental health crisis.

Dr. Michael Raymont

Chief Executive Officer & Chairman

Dr. Michael Raymont

Chief Executive Officer & Chairman

“I am proud to be leading such a world-class team, who are pioneering a rigorous yet accelerated development of a novel mental health treatment”

Dr. Raymont’s career has spanned leadership roles in venture capital, agricultural and healthcare investment, tech company leadership and senior Government service, where he ran the National Research Council (NRC), Canada’s largest R&D organization. With a background in both science and business, Dr. Raymont has advised corporations and governments, worked extensively internationally and has sat on the boards of over 50 public and private companies.

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Dr. Michael Raymont

Chief Executive Officer & Chairman

“I am proud to be leading such a world-class team, who are pioneering a rigorous yet accelerated development of a novel mental health treatment”

Chand Jagpal

Director, Chief Financial Officer

Chand Jagpal

Director, Chief Financial Officer

Chand Jagpal has over 20 years of experience in public company management and accounting including Financial, Disclosure and Compliance Responsibilities in medical cannabis, agriculture, biotech, nutraceuticals, real estate development and business software systems industries. Past experience includes Director and CEO of Grand Peak Capital Corp., a publicly listed Venture Capital Corp investing in a portfolio of Resource and Technology Companies. Chand’s comprehensive understanding of new technology and IP development has led to close relationships with federal and provincial government funding agencies.

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Chand Jagpal

Director, Chief Financial Officer

Professor Sara Tai

Principal Investigator

Professor Sara Tai

Principal Investigator

Dr. Sara Tai is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester and Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Cheadle Royal Hospital and Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Sara is an experienced practitioner, trainer, and supervisor of transdiagnostic approaches for working with people with serious mental health problems and their families; providing one-to-one interventions, group interventions, and family work. She has an international reputation as a trainer in CBT and has published widely in this area, including the book “A principles-based approach to counseling and psychotherapy”.

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Professor Sara Tai

Principal Investigator

Dr. Malcolm Barratt-Johnson

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Malcolm Barratt-Johnson

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Malcolm Barratt-Johnson has over 22 years in the pharmaceutical industry specialising in Medical Affairs, Product Development and Regulatory Strategy. Malcolm has worked extensively in senior positions in both Industry and Government. Holding positions at AstraZeneca, Roche, the UK Medicines Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA). Most recently Malcolm acted as a Clinical Specialist and Chair of the European Commission’s Biomedical Research Programme (Horizon 2020) and lectured in both Europe and the United States on medicinal development. Dr. Barratt-Johnson continues lecturing at King’s College and Imperial College, London.

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Dr. Malcolm Barratt-Johnson

Chief Medical Officer

Santoke Naal

Chief Operating Officer

Santoke Naal

Chief Operating Officer

With well over two decades within commercial Pharma, Santoke brings a wealth of experience working with large and small organisations with various collaborations with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Having worked with organisations such as Bristol Myers Squibb and Novartis with increasing responsibilities in sales management, marketing and market access across the NHS landscape, Santoke has experience working with payor bodies, patient organisations and the UK government to influence change and provide access for patients.

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Santoke Naal

Chief Operating Officer

Katie Shelton-Innes

Director

Katie Shelton-Innes

Director

Katie has been advising and raising funds for growth companies, since 2005, working for various full-service small-mid cap investment banks. She currently sits on the boards of Northern Leaf, Change Agronomy, and Alinova Biosciences. Katie has a first-class honours degree in Economics from Loughborough University, graduating top of her class. She qualified as an accountant in 2004 and is also involved with various charity ventures, including one she founded during lockdown relating to the sustainable fashion industry.

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Katie Shelton-Innes

Director

Mike Thompson MBE

Non-Executive Director

Mike Thompson MBE

Non-Executive Director

25+ years in the Public Health, serving as CEO at The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), and in senior roles at GSK and Unilever. His service to the biotech, pharma industry and wider life sciences, led to an MBE in 2021. In his role as CEO of the APBI (2016-19), Thompson was intimately involved in ensuring that the UK could continue to supply medicines through any Brexit scenario. He oversaw the negotiations which secured agreement for over £60bn of expenditure on branded pharmaceuticals over 5 years. Thompson has worked closely with No 10, Treasury, DHSC, BEIS and the Office of Life Sciences. This has delivered tangible policy outcomes such as the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, which ultimately secured two Sector Deals bringing billions of pounds of new investment to the UK. During his time at GSK (1995 – 2015), Thompson held senior roles at Global, European Regional, and UK levels of the company that gave him insight into the dynamics and interplay of complex organisations. He ran the global Commercial Analytics, Digital, Payer, and Launch Excellence teams.

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Mike Thompson MBE

Non-Executive Director

Professor Joanna Neill

Clinical Advisor

Professor Joanna Neill

Clinical Advisor

Jo is a Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Manchester and Chair of the Medical Psychedelics Working Group for Drug Science, as well as a scientific advisor for Heroic Hearts UK, the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group, Psychedelic Experience and Beckley Psytech. She is co-founder of B-Neuro, a University-based Contract Research Organisation (CRO) developing new treatments for mental illness through animal models. Jo is past President of the British Association for Psychopharmacology.

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Professor Joanna Neill

Clinical Advisor

Robert Kang

Director

Robert Kang

Director

Robert Kang has 25+ years of public practice and company management advising corporations and their executives on financing, mergers and acquisitions, going public transactions, continuous disclosure obligations, and corporate governance. Rob spent 15 years as the Director of Listings for the TSX Venture Exchange. Rob also has extensive knowledge and expertise in Venture Exchange practices, policies, regulatory compliance and risk mitigation.

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Robert Kang

Director

Dr. Lauren Macdonald

Clinical Advisor

Dr. Lauren Macdonald

Clinical Advisor

Dr. Lauren MacDonald has a background in Psychology, Psychiatry and Integrative Medicine and works to support health, healing and optimal wellbeing. She advocates for incorporating nature into mainstream medicine, including the use of medical cannabis and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. In addition to working as a medical doctor, Dr. MacDonald is a podcast host, writer and speaker. She also facilitates healing and transformative retreats that awaken the inner healer and allow a deeper connection with self, others and the natural world.

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Dr. Lauren Macdonald

Clinical Advisor

Barney Neal

Vice President of Operations

Barney Neal

Vice President of Operations

mental health

Barney is a product & marketing entrepreneur. Previous experience in venture capital at one of the most active venture funds in biotech & alternative medicine. Barney is also one of the founders of the Psychedelic Medicine Association where he serves as Chief Technical Officer. The Psychedelic Medicine Association is aimed at bridging the gap between the advances taking place in the psychedelic research world and medical practitioners. Prior to his work in the psychedelic industry, Barney founded Noid Labs a consumer-facing cannabinoid company from the UK. Barney also holds a Masters degree in Engineering.

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Barney Neal

Vice President of Operations

mental health

Toby Sorabjee

Chief Communications Officer

Toby Sorabjee

Chief Communications Officer

Toby has a background in Economics and holds a Masters degree in Public Policy from the University of Bristol. He has experience working in central UK Government where he led on the technical development, strategic engagement and implementation of national policy, advising and briefing senior levels of HM Treasury and 10 Downing Street. His background largely comes from time spent operating in politically-sensitive areas, including Excise, Northern Ireland and EU-Exit where he supported the UK’s delegation.

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Toby Sorabjee

Chief Communications Officer

Ali Gulamhusein

Chief Development Officer

Ali Gulamhusein

Chief Development Officer

Ali has 15+ years of engineering experience in the development and commercialization of novel process technologies in oil and gas, pulp and paper, electrochemistry and pharmaceutical sectors. In 2011, Ali founded AGEIAS Engineered Systems Ltd., an EPCM focused on the design and build of modular systems for proof of concept, demonstration, and commercial prototypes servicing clients from academic institutions, contract research organizations and laboratories. Ali has extensive experience in the management of both short-term and multi-year R&D programs with a strong track record of commercialization.

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Ali Gulamhusein

Chief Development Officer

Daniel Sanders

Drug Development Lead

Daniel Sanders

Drug Development Lead

Daniel has a decade of experience researching medicinal mushrooms, biohacking, and extraction. He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for molecular biotechnology with an emphasis in genetics. Daniel has served multiple years on a clinical trial for a neurodegenerative research company and he also helped found and pioneer Marygold Laboratories for the analytical testing of botanicals and ARextracts for the extraction and refinement of botanical products.

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Daniel Sanders

Drug Development Lead

David Wood

Legal Advisor

David Wood

Legal Advisor

David’s regulatory practice includes drafting applications for, interacting with Health Canada in respect of and otherwise advised in relation to, activities under dealer’s licences for LSD, DMT, psilocybin, MDMA and other psychedelics, including the international sale of psychedelics manufactured in accordance with GMP as an API in drug products for use in clinical trials. David’s intellectual property practice includes drafting and prosecuting patent applications, assessing the patentability of technology, the validity of patents and potential patent infringement exposure. David also holds a PhD in biochemistry. His graduate-level education in structural biochemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, physical chemistry, plant biochemistry and natural products chemistry provides a strong technical background for advising clients working with psychedelics.

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David Wood

Legal Advisor

Denzil Phillips

Medicinal Plant Licensing, Product Registration and Compliance

Denzil Phillips

Medicinal Plant Licensing, Product Registration and Compliance

Denzil has worked for over 30 years in the field of botanicals and natural productions, particularly in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Denzil specializes in the design and implementation of projects in the field of medicinal plants and related botanical products. Providing advice on regulations and certifications for new plant-based medicines, Denzil also serves as an associate consultant at Global Regulatory Services, one of the leading regulatory consultancies in Europe.

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Denzil Phillips

Medicinal Plant Licensing, Product Registration and Compliance

Dr. Jean Saayman

Lead Researcher and Engineer

Dr. Jean Saayman

Lead Researcher and Engineer

Dr. Jean Saayman is a senior Research and Development engineer with 12 years of experience working in the corporate research environment. Jean is a Ph.D. chemical engineer with an extensive background in product and process development, pilot-scale research, hydrodynamics, and transport phenomena. He has transferred technologies from both lab-scale to industrial-scale and industrial-scale to lab/pilot-scale to develop and optimize operations and has a passion for developing novel processes. His knowledge goes beyond traditional petrochemical engineering and include green, biological, and pharmaceutical engineering technologies with extensive exposure to quality assurance methods and practices, with specific experience in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) methodologies.

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Dr. Jean Saayman

Lead Researcher and Engineer

Dr. Jonathan Curry

Microbiology Expert

Dr. Jonathan Curry

Microbiology Expert

Dr. Curry holds a PhD in Environmental Toxicology and is highly knowledgeable in a range of laboratory techniques including microbial cultivation and screening, chemical analysis, method validation, safety testing, regulatory compliance, and study design. With a strong foundation in mycology, he is experienced in maintaining microbial culture collections and optimizing growth parameters while preventing cross-contamination. Dr Curry currently works as a scientific consultant on global projects which require his knowledge of the behaviour of chemicals within complex biological systems, including commercial mushroom producers and biotechnology companies around the world.

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Dr. Jonathan Curry

Microbiology Expert

Dr. Naeem Khan

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Naeem Khan

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Khan holds a PhD in Chemistry and has over 60 years of experience in industrial pharmaceutical production. Naeem provides notable competence for EU GMP certification, development of Quality Management systems, validation of manufacturing processes and analytical methods, supplier approval and Pharmacovigilance.

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Dr. Naeem Khan

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira

Toxicology and Pharmacology Lead

Dr. Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira

Toxicology and Pharmacology Lead

Dr. Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira, PhD, European PhD, DSc, is an expert Toxicologist and Pharmacologist. His scientific and academic focus is in the areas of toxicology and the pharmacology of psychoactive substances and medicines, focusing on their preclinical, and clinical development stages. He is a member of the editorial boards and ambassador to several international scientific journals. Dr. Dinis-Oliveira is extremely well-published, having authored more than 170 published articles in international indexed journals and peer-reviewed, and acted author of some thirty-six book chapters, four books and four national and three international patents. In 2021 he was included on the world’s top 2% of Scientists List, which ranks the most highly cited scientists globally.

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