Bio

TIFFANY SPINO, BRE, B.Ed., WPICC

Tiffany’s love for nature was birthed in the shelter of the towering birch tree in the backyard of her childhood home. There, she felt held. Held and curious. All the time spent exploring the forest and creek behind the house felt like an invitation to know the Creator of it all.
And so she followed that curiosity to Theological Studies, earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Religious Education, and serving as Children’s Pastor in some local churches.

Serving and teaching children had captured her heart, and so she felt a profound certainty that returning to Tyndale University to earn her Bachelor of Education degree was the right course for her life. Experiencing the beautiful unfolding of her students – most sacredly her students with designated exceptionalities – will forever be one of her greatest rewards.

In love with a world so remarkably made, Tiffany found herself needing to express her gratitude in more ways, however, and so she began to write for a charity, teach piano, operate a wedding planning business, and cater parties and events. It wasn’t until her son, Noah, was born that she settled into her purpose of developing a line of nurturing and natural skincare that would care for people in a way that her birch tree did for her. So it all came full circle…back to being held by nature.

Dr. Michael Spino, PharmD, BScPhm, is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.  Previously, he was a full Professor at the Faculty, where he established research laboratories at both the Hospital for Sick Children and the Faculty, conducting research on drug disposition, particularly in patients with cystic fibrosis. He later accepted a position in the pharmaceutical industry, while maintaining his U of T appointment, where his focus transferred to the study of diseases associated with iron-induced disorders, like thalassemia.  He became President of ApoPharma Inc., a Toronto-based pharmaceutical company that engaged in the discovery and development of new drugs in areas where there were no adequate treatments and retired from the pharmaceutical industry in June 2020.

Dr. Spino holds a BScPhm degree from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, a doctorate in clinical pharmacy from the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. His postdoctoral research fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology was carried out at the Toronto Western Hospital and the Addiction Research Foundation.  He has been issued several patents in Canada, the US, Europe and other jurisdictions around the world for his inventions associated with drug discovery and development.

Dr. Spino’s background in pharmacy, research and the pharmaceutical industry are being utilized to help Birch + Balm in its development and testing of products through scientific rigor and in guiding the company in developing quality products to meet or exceed regulatory standards.