About ScopeSys

We've created a unique single-molecule platform to answer your most challenging questions

ScopeSys is a Canadian company with a mission to help translate the value of our unique single-molecule imaging platform to real-world applications, such as the advancement of new medicines, and offers career opportunities to young Canadian biophysicists and bioengineers. Spun out of the LeslieLab at UBC, this company is translating the value of its unique multi-scale microscopy technology platform via select industry partnerships. Through synergistic and strategic partnerships, we aim to maximize the potential for social benefit of our unique technology and capabilities. Potential impacts may eventually include widespread use of our technology to help enable and accelerate the design, development and discovery of drugs and vaccines. Other partners in this effort include Fasken, UBC, McGill, and Harvard, as well as our Vancouver-based commercial advisory board. ScopeSys has also placed early-access technology packages in the labs of select researchers to pursue a range of applications.

Our Team

Padma Kodukula, Ph.D., MBA

Chief Executive Officer

Padma Kodukula is the Chief Executive Officer of ScopeSys, leading the company's strategic vision, business development, and growth initiatives as it scales its single-molecule imaging platform into the drug development market. She brings more than two decades of experience in life-science tools and analytical technologies, spanning leadership roles in R&D, product development, and commercialization. Prior to joining ScopeSys, Padma held executive and senior leadership positions at A-Alpha Bio, Precision NanoSystems, and Thermo Fisher Scientific, where she successfully drove product innovation, strategic partnerships, and global market expansion. Her expertise bridges the scientific and business needs of the biopharmaceutical industry, enabling ScopeSys to deliver advanced analytical solutions that accelerate the design and quality of next-eneration therapeutics. Padma earned her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Illinois and an MBA from San Diego State University.

Sabrina Leslie, Ph.D.

Co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer

Sabrina is founder of ScopeSys and lead inventor of the CLiC technology. She leads a single-molecule microscopy group in the Michael Smith Labs as well as the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of British Columbia. She has pioneered the research and development of the CLiC technology, while investigating DNA, protein, RNA, nanoparticle and single-cell applications. She earned her B.Sc. in Honours Math and Physics at UBC in 2002 and Ph.D. in Physics at U.C. Berkeley in 2008. From 2009 to 2011, she was a Mary Fieser post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard, where she co-invented and began to develop the CLiC technology with Adam Cohen. Sabrina was a professor in the Physics Department at McGill University from 2012 to 2020 and relocated with her team to UBC in 2021.

Albert Kamanzi, Ph.D.

Lead Scientist

Albert is leading the single-molecule and single-particle analytics development team at ScopeSys using the CLiC imaging platform. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Physics and Applied physics from the University of Massachusetts Boston, as well as a few years' industry experience, and subsequently earned his PhD in Biophysics at McGill University with Dr. Leslie in 2021. Albert has held a Mitacs Post Doc Fellowship in Dr. Leslie's lab, sponsored by ScopeSys, from 2021 til 2024, and is transitioning to Analytics Lead at ScopeSys in 2024.

Michael Venier-Karzis

Software Developer

Michael is a software engineer on the ScopeSys team. His work focuses on developing software for performing and analyzing new experiments as well as building databases and Python tools. He recently graduated from the Honours Math & Physics program at McGill University.

Board of Directors

James Taylor, Ph.D.

Chairman, Director

James was a co-founder and the CEO of Precision Nanosystems Inc. (PNI), a company which commercializes scientific instruments and services for developing lipid nanoparticles for drug delivery applications. PNI was acquired by Danaher in 2021 and joined the Cytiva family in 2023. James has a B.A.Sc. in engineering physics from UBC and a Ph.D. in genetics from the Institute for Systems Biology. Dr. Taylor has worked at the venture capital firm, Accelerator Corporation, and has over a decade of experience in microfluidics, nanotechnology and systems biology. Dr. Taylor is also a member of the Board of Directors of Life Science British Columbia.