Chemistry alum seeks paw'sitive solution to pet fertility

“I love dogs,” says UBC Chemistry alum Dr. Sherry Zhao. “I had dogs growing up in China. My husband had dogs.”

But recently, when the couple looked in to adopting a puppy in Vancouver, Dr. Zhao was surprised to find out that most dogs in North America are “fixed” by surgery.

“In Qingdao, my dogs were never neutered,” she says. “It just wasn't part of the culture. And it was also a very urban environment—we just raised our dogs in our apartment—so neutering was less of an issue.”

She thought that there must be a better, less intrusive way to deal with animal fertility. After graduating from UBC in 2015 with a PhD, Dr. Zhao has spent the past decade at the intersection of research, industry and entrepreneurship in Vancouver's biotech community. She tapped into her extensive network, looking for a solution.

“I started interviewing pet owners, veterinarians, people at the animal shelters trying to understand whether this is a problem that’s as big as I think it is.”

Clearly it is. In 2024, the American SPCA reported that about 334,000 dogs were euthanized in U.S. shelters, often due to overcrowding. For veterinarians, spaying and neutering dogs is the priority when they’re brought in. But this surgery takes up such a large portion of shelters’ veterinary resources that dogs with other uncared-for medical issues may not get treatment.

The situation for our feline friends is not much better. There are about 1.3 million homeless cats in Canada.

Dr. Zhao’s findings led to her newest entrepreneurial effort, Kalino, a biotech company that is developing a method to spay and neuter dogs and cats with injections. The product is now undergoing studies.

“Using injections rather than surgery, we can help dogs get the treatment they needed faster and allow a longer window for veterinarians to have a permanent solution.”

The path to UBC

In 2009 Dr. Zhao earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Peking University, and attended university in Taiwan as an exchange student. Lectures there were conducted in Mandarin, but the textbooks were written in English, allowing her to explore an English-speaking environment prior to applying to UBC.

She landed in Vancouver in 2009 with a scholarship offer and $3,000 to her name. Throughout her PhD program, Dr. Zhao worked as a teaching assistant.

“UBC offered a lot of professional training alongside the academics. As an international student that was my way to build my understanding of the culture and discover what I'm interested in.”

What Dr. Zhao particularly enjoyed were the social aspects of research. She found that working in a lab day in, day out, and writing grants wasn’t the career route she wanted to follow.

“When I arrived at UBC I wanted to become a professor. But as the degree went along, it became very apparent that I could make an impact faster by focusing my studies a bit more externally—on solving the hard problems industry is facing.”

Dr. Zhao later moved to the U.S. to work on pharmaceutical development with Genentech, a San Francisco biotech company. But she decided she wanted to build her life in Vancouver.

“One thing I discovered when I first came to UBC is that Canadians are very kind. There's always somebody who's willing to help you. I figured I benefited from others’ generosity and kindness along the way, and I wanted to be one of those people.”

Upon her return to Vancouver, she applied for a Mitacs position as a business development specialist. It was an entry level position but she thought it was worth taking the risk.

“It was university research applied to an industry setting—exactly what I wanted to do. I got to utilize my science background to understand the technology while learning about the business.”

She thought she’d give it a year. Ten years later, Dr. Zhao progressed to become the Mitacs director for the Pacific region. Along the way she cultivated a strong network in Vancouver’s business world, volunteering as Chair of the Business Council of British Columbia’s NEXT Leaders Council, and serving as an advisor to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. She also provides mentorship at entrepreneurship@UBC, helping to launch spin-off companies.

Excited about AI

Hers may be an atypical path for a chemistry graduate, but Dr. Zhao asks, “Isn't it what our university trained us for? The number one asset from a university degree is proving to yourself that you know how to learn. There’s just so much learning out there, and with AI, it becomes so much more accessible and easier.”

Dr. Zhao describes herself as “the chief everything officer” at Kalino, which has only two full time staff along with part time scientists and external contractors. To compensate, she relies on AI to smooth out Kalino’s operations and bolster business acumen.

“AI enables people to do more of what they’re good at, and also helps them learn about what they are not yet good at.”

This spring, Dr. Zhao started teaching an AI course at Simon Fraser University.

“I come from a science background which allows me to explain the technology in a scientific manner. But more importantly, I've been a practitioner in business. So the way I look at it is more along the lines of: How do I utilize AI? How do I adopt it?”

Dr. Zhao acknowledges there is a level of fear about AI which she chalks up to a lack of familiarity.

“Changes are not easy, and when changes are coming, it’s nerve wracking if people don't see how they can benefit or how they can adapt. I don’t think we should be afraid of AI. We’re witnessing the evolution of our society, our economy, our culture, and maybe higher education at really extensive velocity. I'm really excited for it.”