Okey Igboeli

Dr. Igboeli has significant academic and practical experience in entrepreneurship and research commercialization. Prior to joining the Science and Business program, he founded and led the drug discovery company, True Spring Pharmaceuticals Inc. His research involved discovery of new chemical entities for the treatment of infectious and non-infectious diseases of veterinary and medical significance, as well as strategic risks involved in new drug discovery ventures.

Dr. Igboeli teaches several Science and Business courses and facilitates the integration of Science and Business students’ experience with entrepreneurial activities on campus and in the community.

• Veterinary pharmacology and toxicology
• Drug discovery and drug target validation
• Drug resistance
• Molecular biology
• Technology development and transfer
• Research commercialization

• 2015 MBA University of Prince Edward Island
• 2013 Ph.D. Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island
• 2006 M.Sc. University of Nigeria
• 2002 DVM University of Nigeria

• 2014 CERC Short-Term Research Placement Award (to the University of Bergen, Norway), UPEI, Charlottetown, PE
• 2013 MBA Entrance Scholarship, UPEI, Charlottetown, PE
• 2012 Innovation and Research Excellence Postdoctoral Fellowship, Innovation PEI, Charlottetown, PE
• 2012 Best Student Oral Presentation Award, Aquaculture Canada Conference, Charlottetown, PE
• 2010 Cooke Aquaculture Award, Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation, 20th APICS Aquaculture and Fisheries Conference, Fredericton, NB
• 2009 Innovation and Research Excellence PhD Fellowship, Innovation PEI, Charlottetown, PE
• 2008 Novartis Ph.D. Fellowship, Charlottetown, PE

• Reviewer, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms

• Member, American Academy of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics (AAVPT)
• Member, Society of Toxicology (SOT)
• Member, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)

• Velocity Science
• President and Founder, True Spring Pharmaceuticals Inc.
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island

• BIOL 439 - Environmental and Natural Products Biochemistry
  • Taught in 2024
• SCBUS 423 - Workshop 4: Strategic Management of Science and Business
  • Taught in 2024

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Poley J.D., Igboeli O.O. and Fast M.D. 2015. Towards a consensus: Multiple experiments provide evidence for constitutive expression differences among sexes and populations of sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) related to emamectin benzoate resistance. Aquaculture doi: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2015.06.026.
• Sutherland B.J.G., Poley J.D., Igboeli O.O., Jantzen J.R., Fast M.D., Koop B.F. and Jones S.R.M. 2014. Transcriptomic responses to emamectin benzoate in Pacific and Atlantic Canada salmon lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis with differing levels of drug resistance. Evolutionary Applications doi: 10.1111/eva.12237.
• Igboeli O.O., Burka J.F. and Fast M.D. 2014. Lepeophtheirus salmonis: a persisting challenge for salmon aquaculture. Animal Frontiers 4:22-32.
• Igboeli O.O., Burka J.F. and Fast M.D. 2013. Sea lice population and sex differences in P-glycoprotein expression and emamectin benzoate resistance on salmon farms in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. Pest Management Science 70:905-914.
• Igboeli O.O., Fast M.D., Heumann J. and Burka J.F. 2012. Role of P-glycoprotein in emamectin benzoate (SLICE®) resistance in sea lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis. Aquaculture 344-349:40-47.