Vitafoods Europe 2025

Mr. Baisley joined SGS Nutrasource in 2013, bringing over 12 years of quality assurance, clinical, preclinical and regulatory natural health product experience and an additional four years of antibody/biologics development experience. Mr. Baisley has been an active member of the probiotic community as a member of the International Probiotics Association (IPA) Board of Directors, blogging for the IPA, and presenting at the probiotic workshops and other industry events. Having depth in both regulatory filings and project management of clinical trials provides Mr. Baisley with an understanding of regulatory body thinking and has led to his respected relationship with Health Canada. From 2011-2014, Mr. Baisley participated on a Health Canada expert working group as a member representing the dietary supplement industry to work toward harmonization of safety reporting for supplements, drugs and biologics.

Mr. Brown is a high-energy sales professional dedicated to establishing and growing client relationships and identifying strategic business opportunities. With a focus on regulatory and clinical services for the U.S. dietary supplement sector, Mr. Brown brings exceptional skills in strategic sales, customer service, and networking to provide clients with maximum value.

Elisa Fernandez is a highly motivated and results-driven sales professional who has been working in the natural product, dietary supplement, pharmaceutical & medical device industries for nearly 13 years. With a background in cellular biology and neuroscience, Mrs. Fernandez has experience in areas of natural health products with a focus in the probiotics segment and is quick to identify & assess the needs of clients while offering customized solutions that align with their goals. As Director of Business Development & Sales at SGS Nutrasource, Mrs. Fernandez has played a critical role in expanding the business and handling the accounts of some of the most prominent brands in the industry. She is a team player and is always willing to go above and beyond to support her clients and colleagues.

Mr. Barr joined SGS Nutrasource in 2017 to lead the development and launch of Nutrasource’s next-generation Omega Blood Score diagnostic test. With a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario and experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing for the whooping cough vaccine, Mr. Barr is well-versed in the opportunities and growth areas of the healthcare sector. Mr. Barr is also an international award recipient for innovations related to diagnostic devices.

Stéphanie-Anne Girard, PhD, brings over 15 years of natural health product/dietary supplement and pharmaceutical clinical research experience. Dr. Girard’s industry work experience includes a leadership position as Clinical Program Manager at Lallemand Health Solutions (LHS) where she oversaw study design and execution of clinical trials on probiotics, working closely with universities, CROs, private research sites, and KOLs. During this time, she published numerous scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and has presented at many international conferences and scientific meetings. More recently, Dr. Girard has managed clinical operations teams at ICON Strategic Solutions where she was assigned to Merck Canada.

Dr. Girard holds a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Florida, a Masters’ degree in Pharmacology from the University of Montreal and a BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University. Additionally, she completed a Post–Doctoral degree through an Industrial R&D Fellowship Program from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in collaboration with LHS.  Her academic training focused on pre-clinical research investigating the effects of probiotics on post-myocardial infarction depression, which resulted in an understanding of the effect of probiotics on the kinetics of biochemical and physiological cerebral changes following a myocardial infarction. In collaboration with Sponsors from the food industry, she also oversaw several clinical studies investigating prebiotics, specifically, galactooligossacharide (GOS), immunity and digestive health in older adults during cold/flu season.