The promise of growth.

Our Company

Performance Plants Inc. (PPI) is a Canadian, privately owned and internationally recognized agricultural biotechnology developer with a series of powerful, validated ‘game-changing’ technologies that can be readily applied to major staple crops for significant improvement of their productivity.  

Our Kingston, Ontario-based R&D lab conducts gene discovery, trait development and commercialization of technologies for seeds to protect and enhance yields.  Our technology will allow farmers around the world to adapt to climate change by reducing the need for irrigation and improving heat tolerance, while still increasing yields to feed a growing population. Furthermore, our technology can also contribute to climate change mitigation by increasing biomass yields for non-food biofuel crops.  

PPI does not introduce any foreign genes into our climate-ready products - we regulate the plant's own genes to increase or decrease expression of those responsible for key traits. 

Our Mission:

To provide solutions that enable agricultural products to flourish in a rapidly changing global climate.

 

Our Vision:

A world in which biotechnology allows humankind to adapt and thrive under increasingly volatile climatic conditions.

 

Our Team

  • Dr. Yafan Huang

    CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

    Dr. Yafan Huang joined PPI in 1998 and became President and CSO of the company in 2010. Dr. Huang has authored extensive research papers on plant signal transduction and stress tolerance. He has presented many keynote seminars and symposia at prestigious research conferences and research institutes around the world. Dr Huang was the President of the Canadian Association for Plant Biotechnology from 2014 to 18.

    Dr. Huang received his PhD in Biology from Queen’s University in plant molecular biology and biochemistry in 1995.

  • Dr. Jiangxin Wan

    PRESIDENT & CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

    Dr. Jiangxin Wan joined PPI in 1998 and was promoted to the position of Director of Research in 2010. Following this, in 2021 she was once again promoted to the title of President and Chief Technology Officer for the company. Dr. Wan, who is the key inventor of most of the company’s patents, has authored many research papers, which have been published in prominent academic journals.

    She received her PhD in Plant Molecular Biology from the Biology Department at Queen’s University in 1996. Dr. Wan also completed postdoctoral research work in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago.

  • Jo Ann Hamilton Varey, CPA

    DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

    Ms. Hamilton Varey has extensive experience with manufacturing industries and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, specializing in fixed assets, manufactured costing and project controls.

    Ms. Hamilton Varey received her Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queen’s University in 1991. She became a CPA in 1999 while working with DuPont Canada Inc.

Our Advisors

  • Eric Baker, B.Eng., MBA

    CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, ANGEL INVESTOR

    Mr. Baker was the first investor in the company and currently a majority shareholder. He is the President of Miralta Capital Inc., one of the oldest and most successful Canadian private equity investment firms.

    He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Dr. Rebecca Baker, D.V.M., D.V.Sc., A.C.V.P.

    PAST CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

    Dr. Baker is a Board Certified Veterinary Clinical Pathologist. She taught veterinary pathology at the University of Guelph and has consulted for several Canadian veterinary diagnostics firms. She is the co-author of the veterinary reference textbook, and is currently involved with several Canadian private equity funds specializing in new technologies.

    She is a graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph.

  • Dr. Roger Beachy, Ph.D

    CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR, DIRECTOR

    Dr. Beachy is the founding President of the world-renowned Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA since 2001 and in 2009 was appointed by President Barack Obama as the first Director of the National Institute of Food & Agriculture. In 2020 he was appointed to the National Science Board.

    He obtained a Ph.D. in plant pathology from Michigan State University and completed postdoctoral research work at Cornell University.

  • Dr. Gord Surgeoner, Ph.D

    DIRECTOR

    Dr. Surgeoner is a Director at PPI and the retired President of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies. Previously, he was a professor at the University of Guelph in Environmental Biology and Plant Agriculture. Dr. Surgeoner was invested with the Order of Ontario in 2005 and received the 2017 Leadership and Legacy Award.

    He holds a BSc in Agriculture and an MSc in Economic Entomology from the University of Guelph. He obtained his PhD in Forest Entomology from Michigan State University.

  • Christopher Winn, B.Comm.

    PAST DIRECTOR

    Mr. Winn was a partner at Innocan and subsequently co-founded and became the Chief Financial Officer of Miralta Capital Inc. He is a chartered accountant and a member of the Ordre des comptables agrées du Québec. Before joining Innocan, Mr. Winn gained experience in the industry with Dominion Textile and as an accountant with Touche Ross.

    He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University.