Contract Laboratory Management Team

The seasoned professionals of Diteba Research Laboratories have an average of over 15 years of experience in analytical and bioanalytical chemistry and are from the world largest CRO's and pharmaceutical companies. We also have available a wealth of academic resources, accumulated through years of teaching and research in academia.

As a contract testing laboratory, we are committed to our vision of providing you with the latest in scientific ideas with the highest level of personalized service available to help you expedite the process of bringing your product to market.

Dr. Theo Kapanadze, D.Sc., Ph.D

Chief Scientific Officer, Executive VP Science

Dr. Theo Kapanadze, D.Sc., Ph.D. Chief Scientific Officer, Executive VP Science Dr. Kapanadze is a co-founder of Diteba Research Laboratories Inc. He has more than 30 years experience as an academic researcher, university professor and leading research scientist at major Canadian pharmaceutical and CRO companies. Dr. Kapanadze possesses superior knowledge and experience in analysis, identification of organic and inorganic compounds and drugs. He has worked extensively in areas such as pharmaceutical research and development of solid and semisolid topical formulations, bioavailability and bioequivalence studies and drug interaction studies. He has led projects that provided analytical support for formulation development, stability studies, toxicology and clinical programs.

His latest research concern new aspects of in vitro drug release rate studies for quality control and development of more effective topical and transdermal delivery systems. His previous scientific studies involved isolation, purification and structural determination of biologically important systems: organic, organometallic or transition metal ion complexes. He has published more than forty papers and reports in leading industry magazines throughout his career.

Dr. Kapanadze has a Doctor of Science and Ph.D. in chemistry from Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia.

Dr. Steve Li, M.D., M.Sci. (Pharm)

Manager of Laboratory Operations

Dr. Steve Li has extensive pharmaceutical industry experience working in bio-pharmaceutical drug development including analytical and bioanalytical method development, validation and transfer, raw material testing, ICH stability testing, cleaning validation and finished product release testing. He has developed solid knowledge of GLP, cGMP and ICH regulations and quality assurance procedures. Dr. Li has excellent skills and experience with laboratory instrumentation including pharmacological, cellular biology (cytochemistry, EM, cell culture), molecular biology (PCR, DNA sequencing, and gene cloning), immunological (monoclonal antibodies, ELISA, RIA) and analytical (HPLC, UPLC, GC, AA, FTIR, LC-MS/MS) instrumentation.

During his 20 years of extensive academic research experience in the biomedical research, preclinical and clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and biotechnology fields, Dr. Li has developed specializations in antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs and non-classical HLA gene mutations. During his academic career, Dr. Li has published over forty papers and has received various awards.

Dr. Li obtained his M.D. and M.Sc. (Pharm) degrees at the West China University of Medical Science and completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and the University of Toronto.

Slavica Mogic, M.Sc., B.Sc.

Manager, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs

Slavica Mogic brings over 15 years of industry experience gathered in big pharma companies and leading Contract Research Organizations where she built a strong foundation of knowledge in Quality Systems through a variety of laboratory settings in the pharmaceutical industry. Slavica developed this knowledge and experience in the areas of raw material testing, finished product release testing, stability testing and analytical method development and validation. Her scientific strength is in the knowledge of structures and functions of biomacromolecules, including methodologies utilized for the analysis of proteins, enzymes and immunoglobulins. Slavica’s auditing expertise has evolved from review of laboratory documents, instrument qualifications, investigation reports and is combined with working knowledge and understanding of regulatory guidelines and industry standards such as Health Canada, U.S. FDA, EMA and ICH Guidelines.

Sam Ricchezza

Senior Vice President, Business Development

Sam Ricchezza, Senior Vice President, Business Development, brings more than 24 years of pharmaceutical and medical device industry experience to Diteba Research Laboratories Inc. Sam has extensive business development, sales management and marketing experience with some of the leading organizations in contract services. He has developed and executed strategic business, marketing and sales plans and successfully developed and negotiated long-term supply and services agreements with multi-national pharmaceutical, biotechnology and clinical research companies. Sam also has a background in consumer product marketing and finance in the medical device industry.

He currently sits on the "Contract Pharma" magazine Editorial Advisory Board and is a frequent guest speaker at strategic account management training programs.

Dmitry Baranov, MA

President of Diteba Research Laboratories Inc.

Dmitry Baranov is a co-founder of Diteba Research Laboratories Inc. Mr. Baranov has an MA in Finance and Economics degree from St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance, Russia.