"Sucessful Commercialisation of Natural Products Through Clinical Trials"

Dr Iona Weir gained her PhD comparing plant and mammalian apoptosis from Auckland University, receiving international awards for Outstanding PhD and Young Scientist. She worked for HortResearch for 12 years establishing the flow cytometry screening platform, undertaking a Marsden-funded sabbatical at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto, and as Chief Scientist for Aegis BioActives, a joint venture between ENZO Nutraceuticals and HortResearch.  In 2003, she became the Research Director for BioDiscovery NZ a privately owned company focused on high throughput bioactives screening. 

In 2006, Iona established the consulting company TSI NZ Ltd working with a number of New Zealand and overseas companies in the areas of nutraceuticals, functional foods and pharmaceuticals.  Iona is the Chief Scientific Officer for Vital Foods and has managed their research for their new product Phloe Healthy Bowel, a long term gut health and IBS product developed from kiwifruit.