Leadership Team

Meet iSpecimen's experienced leadership team with a shared commitment to our mission.

Robert Lim

Chief Executive Officer

Robert Lim is a dynamic, results-driven business leader dedicated to advancing iSpecimen’s mission of revolutionizing healthcare research by streamlining access to high-quality biospecimens. With a strategic vision and a diverse professional background, Robert focuses on driving operational excellence, fostering innovation, and expanding iSpecimen’s impact within the biotechnology and life sciences industries.

Robert brings extensive experience in corporate leadership, legal strategy, and business development. As a seasoned commercial litigator, he has significant expertise in resolving complex business disputes for numerous public companies and approaches legal disputes with a business forward approach. Before joining iSpecimen, Robert co-founded and served as the principal of a boutique law firm in downtown Vancouver, Canada, specializing in corporate law, commercial law, real estate law, and civil litigation.

Beyond his legal practice, Robert has a proven track record in corporate governance, having served on the boards of numerous publicly traded companies, including a technology services company and a therapeutics company. In these roles, he has been a key contributor to audit, compensation, and governance committees, where his strategic insights have guided corporate decision-making, ensured regulatory compliance, and enhanced shareholder value.

Before pursuing a legal career, Robert excelled in business marketing, serving as a marketing coordinator for a regional environmental consulting firm before establishing his own digital marketing agency, where he developed tailored solutions that helped clients across British Columbia expand their reach and profitability.

Robert holds a Juris Doctor from Thompson Rivers University and a Bachelor of Commerce with a concentration in marketing from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. He is a licensed and practicing lawyer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada.

Robert Lim

Chief Executive Officer

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Board of Directors

The following individuals sit on iSpecimen's board of directors

Katie Field

Board Member

Katharyn (Katie) Field has a background that includes positions spanning both the private and public sectors and brings a wealth of experience and expertise in strategy consulting and executive leadership. Ms. Field is currently the chief executive officer and Chairman of Halo Collective Inc., a cannabis company, where she has served since May 2019, an Executive Director at Akanda Corporation, a medical cannabis company, where she has served since June 2022, the Chairperson of Aerwins Technology, a technology company, where she has served since June 2023, and the director of Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRPX), a preclinical-stage pharmaceutical company, where she has served since July 2024. Previously, she served as a director of Elegance Brands from March 2021 until March 2022. She has held prominent positions at renowned organizations such as The White House in the office of the public liaison, The Brookings Institution as a manager of operations, and Bain & Company as a consultant. In 2014, Ms. Field entered the cannabis industry and played a pivotal role in the procurement, build-out, and sale of one of the original vertically integrated licensed medical marijuana treatment centers in Florida. Subsequently, she operated a strategy consulting practice focused on cannabis and served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development at MariMed from 2018 to 2019. Ms. Field holds an MBA in Economics from Columbia Business School and a BA in Public Policy with honors from Stanford University.

Katharyn Field

Board Member

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Richard Paolone

Board Member

Richard Paolone is a securities lawyer. His work focuses on securities, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. He has a wide range of corporate experience from representing companies in private and public offerings of debt and equity securities. In June 2020, Mr. Paolone founded Paolone Law Professional Corporation, where he has been the principal since such date. From February 2019 to October 2019, and again from September 2020 to January 2021, Mr. Paolone was a director of Evolution Global Frontier Ventures Corp. (formerly Ascension Exploration Inc.), a company that is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Mr. Paolone also serves as Director and CEO of several private and reporting companies. Since February 2019, Mr. Paolone has also been the CEO and director of Rotonda Ventures Corp., a public company in Canada. Since February 2021, Mr. Paolone has also been the CEO, CFO, and director of Republic Goldfields Inc., a public company in Canada. Also, since February 2021, Mr. Paolone has been the CEO, CFO, and director of Emerald Isle Resources Inc., a public company in Canada. Since April 2022, Mr. Paolone has also served as a director of Critical Infrastructure Technologies Ltd., a mining technology company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Since December 2022, Mr. Palaone has also served as a director of SBD Capital Inc., a company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Since June 2023, Mr. Paolone has also served as a director of Xander Resources Inc., a mining company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Since November 2023, he has also served as a director of Ashington Innovations Plc., a special purpose acquisition company listed on London Stock Exchange. Since September 2024, Mr. Paolone has served on the board of Safe Supply Streaming Co Ltd., an investment issuer listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Since May 2019, he has served as a director of Red Pine Petroleum Ltd., a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and also served as its CEO from October 2020 until September 2021.

Richard Paolone

Board Member

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Avtar Dhaliwal

Board Member

Avtar Dhaliwal has served as a director and a member of the compensation committee of the board of Halo Collective Inc. since March 2022, which is a cannabis extraction company that develops and manufactures quality cannabis oils and concentrates, and he has been a member of its audit committee of the board in August 2024. Since August 2024, Mr. Dhaliwal has been a director of Advent Technologies Holdings Inc., a US corporation that develops, manufactures, and assembles complete fuel cell systems as well as supplying customers with critical components for fuel cells in the renewable energy sector. Since December 2021, Mr. Dhaliwal has been the Chief Executive Officer of Modern Plant Based Foods, a Canadian food company that offers a portfolio of plant-based products. Previously, Mr. Dhaliwal worked in operations and logistics with Modern Plant Based Foods Inc. beginning in October 2019, and has also been the Chief Executive Officer of Pontus Protein Ltd., an agricultural food and technology company focused on creating and acquiring the best technology, since March 2022. From January 2024 until May 2024, Mr. Dhaliwal was the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Trilogy AI, a company committed to transforming the beauty industry through its artificial intelligence technology. Mr. Dhaliwal holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Avtar Dhaliwal

Board Member

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John L. Brooks III

Board Member

John L. Brooks III, a director nominee, will join our board of directors upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. He currently also serves as a director of Hemoshear Therapeutics since November 2008, Noxilizer since March 2009, Hygieia since June 2016 and Atentiv since March 2020. He also serves as the chairman of Thermalin, Inc. since January 2009.

In January 2012, Mr. Brooks founded Ammonett Pharma and continues to serve on its board of directors since then. He has also served as the managing director of Healthcare Capital LLC since February 2007. Previously, Mr. Brooks served as the Chief Executive Officer, President and a director of NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from March 2018 to December 2019 and as the chairman of Cellnovo, Ltd. from 2012 to December 2019.

Mr. Brooks is also involved with several non-profit organizations. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Worldwide Network for Innovation in Clinical Education and Research (WNICER) since January 2019 and also serves as a director of T1D Exchange since March 2020, the ADA New England Chapter since January 2015, Population Health Alliance since January 2014, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation since January 2012.

He also chairs the College Diabetes Network since January 2011 and is also on the board of trustees of Suffolk University since March 2012. Mr. Brooks received his BBA and MSBA in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is well-qualified to serve on our Board due to his expertise in healthcare and life sciences.

John L. Brooks III

Board Member

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Access our latest tissue and biofluids inventories, available for shipping now:

Leadership Team

Robert Lim

Board of Directors

Katharyn Field

Richard Paolone

Avtar Dhaliwal

John L. Brooks III

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