The Saskatoon branch of the Canadian International Council invites you to our next event, free of charge and open to the public, on the following important international issue:

TOPIC: Overview of successes, barriers, and challenges to scaling up innovation-The Story of Oral Amphotericin B and NGDI UBC
SPEAKER: Kishor Wasan, Co-Founder & Co-Director NGDI-UBC
DATE: Monday, February 9, 2026
PLACE: Saskatoon Club, 417 21st Street East, Saskatoon
TIME: 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
~~~ This is the sixteenth event of our 2025/26 program ~~~
[Read further below about the option for joining the speaker for dinner after the talk.]

Join us for this compelling story of the fight against neglected global diseases by a brilliant multidisciplinary team at the University of British Columbia.

Neglected Global Diseases (NGDs) are infectious diseases and other conditions that cause physical and cognitive impairments, contribute to mother and child illness and death, and make it difficult to earn a living, thereby disproportionately affecting the world’s poorest populations. They include maternal, infant and child health conditions, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as well as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a list of 21 NTDs that, combined, causes substantial illness for more than one billion people globally (see image on the right). These diseases thrive in conditions of extreme poverty; areas that generally have unsafe water, poor sanitation, substandard housing, and limited access to health care or essential medicines. In some countries this includes most rural areas, urban slums, or conflict zones, however, it is increasingly recognized that emerging middle-income countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) contain the highest numbers of people affected. Despite their impact, funding for NTDs research and treatment pales in comparison to supporting for diseases in the developed world.

There have been some important accomplishments to eradicate NTDs and still a number of remaining challenges. This Presentation will discuss recent accomplishments and successes in eliminating NGDs and the remaining challenges.

About our speaker:

Dr. Kishor M. Wasan is a Canadian pharmacologist, pharmacist and professor. He was the dean of the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Pharmacy and Nutrition from 2014 to 2019 and associate dean of research and graduate studies at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia (UBC) from 2011 to 2014. Previously at UBC, he was chair of pharmaceutics and national director of the Canadian Summer Student Research Program after first joining the faculty in 1995. Wasan’s research focuses on lipid-based drug delivery and the interaction between lipoprotein and pharmaceuticals. He has published more than 550 peer-reviewed articles and abstracts and has received over 25 prestigious awards. He is a founding member and co-director of UBC’s Neglected Global Diseases Initiative. Dr. Wasan recently received the 2025 MD Anderson Cancer Center Distinguished Alumnus Award and the 2025 CSPS Life Time Achievement Award. Dr. Wasan has received numerous awards (over 25) for his contributions to health sciences and is currently a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (one of the highest honors in Canada), the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, a fellow member of the Royal Society of Medicine (London, UK) and an elected member of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society. He is the co-inventor of a novel oral amphotericin B formulation to treat leishmaniasis and systemic fungal infections that is cost-effective, safe, tropically stable, accessible and with positive human phase 1 safety data.

Itinerary:
5:30 p.m. Doors open
6:00 p.m. Public presentation – free and open to the public
7:30 p.m. Event concludes
8:00 p.m. Dinner with the speaker (RSVP by email to dan.sutherland@canada.ca)
9:30 p.m. Dinner concludes

DINNER WITH THE SPEAKER:
Want to find out even more about the issues, and discuss them with the speaker and other internationalists? Consider buying a dinner ticket and joining us after the talk, at 8:00 p.m., also at the Saskatoon Club.

Register for dinner before noon on Thursday, February 6 by emailing dan.sutherland@canada.ca , indicating the number of seats you wish to purchase. Pay for meals by e-transfer.

Prices for dinner with the speaker, following presentation
$20 – Students
$40 – All other CIC members
$50 – Non-members
Register for dinner with the speaker before February 6, 12:00 noon. Dinner registrants will be expected to pay even if they cannot or do not attend. Persons with dinner reservations who cannot attend are encouraged to find someone else to take their place.

We hope you can make it!

Yours in service,
Dan Sutherland, Programming Chair
Canadian International Council – Saskatoon Branch