2025 Speakers

Murray Abramson, MD, MPH is a visionary and entrepreneurial professional with extensive experience in clinical operations and drug development. He earned his B.S. in Chemistry with honors and his M.D. from Duke University, followed by a clinical fellowship in infectious disease and a role as Chief Resident in the Department of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center.

Dr. Abramson spent 13 years at Merck, where he held various clinical, operational, and leadership positions, and later joined Biogen as VP of Global Clinical Operations, overseeing strategic planning and execution of clinical trials across all phases and indications. Subsequently, he was SVP, head of clinical innovation at Tempus AI. Murray is currently Chief Development Officer at Ascidian Therapeutics. He also co-hosted a bi-weekly webcast for ALS patients and care providers for Everything ALS.

Laura Acosta is the Vice President of Product Management for the eClinical Division at Anju Software, where she leads innovation in solutions that support global clinical research. With a strong foundation in software development and product management, Laura brings over two decades of experience in the life sciences software industry, including key roles at Oracle Health Sciences.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Boston University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Tufts University, combining deep technical expertise with a strategic product vision. Laura’s career has been defined by her ability to deliver impactful, user-centric solutions that address complex challenges in clinical trials and data management.

Laura is known for her commitment to excellence, continuous learning, and staying ahead of emerging industry trends. Her thoughtful leadership and passion for advancing clinical research through technology have earned her a reputation as a respected innovator in the field.

Connect with Laura on LinkedIn to learn more about her achievements and expertise: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-acosta-b2412212/

Shaurya leads the Life Sciences and Pharma industry vertical at Celonis. His mission is to transform how companies get life-saving therapies into the hands of patients faster and more efficiently. He focuses on revolutionizing core drug development processes, leveraging cutting-edge process intelligence to unlock new levels of speed and value. With a global career spanning nearly two decades—15 years of which have been dedicated exclusively to the Life Sciences sector— Shaurya brings a wealth of expertise to help organizations achieve process excellence and, most importantly, improve patient lives.

Gaurav Agrawal is a Senior Partner in McKinsey’s Life Sciences Practice, where he advises biotechnology, pharmaceutical, vaccine companies, global health institutions, and public sector organizations on innovation, R&D productivity, and growth. With more than 15 years of experience spanning therapeutics and vaccines, he helps clients design new innovation models, enhance clinical trial strategies, and accelerate the delivery of transformative therapies to patients.

He co-leads McKinsey’s global work in product development excellence, with a focus on advancing biopharma asset development and improving performance through patient-centric approaches and data-driven insights. Gaurav has guided leading pharmaceutical companies through major R&D transformations, supported public health organizations with funding strategies, and helped launch and scale biotech startups.

His expertise also extends to vaccines and global health, where he has advised private sector, philanthropic, and public health institutions on strategy and adoption. He led McKinsey’s R&D response during the Ebola epidemic and chaired the firm’s global COVID-19 taskforce, supporting clients on vaccine and therapeutic development and pandemic recovery.

Gaurav holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BTech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Rinol Alaj is Senior Director, Head of Clinical Outcomes Assessment (COA) and Patient Innovation at Regeneron. His professional focus is centered around integrated innovation, design thinking, and clinical operation with 15+ years of experience in the startup and pharma industries. A savvy, results-oriented leader, Mr Alaj has proven success in transforming and building eCOA organizations from the ground up. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science from New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he also went on to earn his MBA. Mr Alaj is currently pursuing his Master’s in Public Health – Epidemiology and Biostats program at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy.

Tara Aldoory is Vice President and Head of Clinical Trial Delivery at Biogen where she has responsibility for operational delivery of complex clinical development programs across all therapeutic areas and phases of development. Tara is a global clinical development leader with over 22 years’ experience in biotech, pharma, and the CRO industry. She is passionate about innovation and ensuring innovation drives efficiency, with a current focus on pioneering approaches using data and analytics to drive better & faster decisions to design clinical programs with a patient and site-centric and data-informed focus. Prior to joining Biogen, Tara worked at PAREXEL and Daiichi-Sankyo in positions of increasing operational and leadership responsibilities in clinical operations. Tara received her B.Sc. degree in Biology from University of Birmingham and her MSc in Human Genetics from University of Leeds.

Mo has been in the industry for over 24 years, working across multiple roles, from a site CRC to an executive role at multiple pharma sponsors. He has spent the majority of his career working in Clinical Operations and data analytics, working to bring novel solutions forward for patients worldwide. From eSource to VR, to AI led automation and mobile application development. He is based out of NJ and is an active member of ACRP working to elevate the recognition and awareness of drug development and all its stakeholders.

Nikki Amaratunge is a Vice President within the Clinical Development Operations at AbbVie, serving as the global head of the Clinical Site Management (CSM) organization.  With more than 25 years industry experience with posts in Europe, the United States, and China, Nikki’s expertise spans pharmaceutic and medical device clinical operations, including study, program, and therapeutic leadership as well as regional oversight and country management. Previously, Nikki served as Vice President of Clinical Study Leadership at AbbVie, overseeing multidisciplinary teams across Aesthetics, Eyecare, and Specialty therapeutic areas.  Earlier in her career, she was Head of Clinical Operations for Europe, Middle East, and Africa region at AbbVie and previously to that the Head of China Development Operations at Allergan.  She also has experience in academic research, working on Nikki’s leadership is distinguished by her ability to drive innovation, build effective global teams, and deliver high-impact results in complex environments. She has a strong track record of leading with a patient and site centric mindset, pioneering effective operating models and novel approaches to trial delivery within organizations she has led.

Dr Nadir Ammour brings more than 20 years’ experience in managing global projects in clinical development. He is working to bring eHealth/Digital innovation in clinical development to deliver new medicines to patients faster. He led several projects in that space such as the Verkko remote trial, wearables trials, use of electronic health records for research and is now leading efforts at bridging care and research. Dr Ammour was a member of the Executive Committee of the EHR4CR consortium project and led the EHR2EDC consortia. He is presently working on several consortia projects to advance the concept of clinical trials as a treatment option.

Salam Ammus is Head of Clinical Data Strategy, Systems, Reporting and Analytics at Bristol Myers Squibb, where she leads a large global organization that works cross-functionally across the entire drug development process, collaborating with teams such as Clinical Science, Biostatistics, Data Management, IT, and Statistical Programming. Salam oversees enterprise-wide efforts to optimize the way clinical data is collected, standardized, and transformed into insights that accelerate the delivery of life-changing treatments.

With more than 25 years of experience across the Pharmaceutical Industry, which includes senior leadership roles at Alkermes, Mural Oncology, EMD Serono, and Merck Healthcare, she has built global data standards frameworks, transformed operational culture, and championed continuous process improvement.

Salam has built and optimized operating models, leveraged and utilized standards, enhanced vendor management, and developed streamlined data capabilities. Salam plays a key role in combining technical expertise with a people-first approach, delivering innovation, efficiencies, and sustainable data strategies across clinical development.

Mette Andersen, General Manager, Data, Analytics & Insights Solutions, brings experience from previous roles at Merative and IBM and holds a Harvard Business School. She has a robust skill set that includes Research, Social Entrepreneurship, Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Physics and more.

Andrei Antonescu is the Head of Product at Strategikon, where he leads the development of Clinical Maestro VISION and CORE. With a background in computer science and deep expertise in product management and UX design, Andrei plays a central role in delivering innovative solutions that simplify and optimize clinical business operations. His work focuses on streamlining R&D processes and enhancing financial and operational efficiency for biopharmaceutical sponsors.

Andrei is passionate about customer-led product development, consistently engaging with clinical research professionals to understand their challenges and evolving needs. His strategy-driven approach has helped transform Clinical Maestro into a powerful, intuitive platform that delights users and drives business impact. Through continuous innovation, Andrei ensures that Strategikon remains at the forefront of an industry shaped by complexity and change.

David Apfel is the Head of External Innovation, Janssen R&D Data Science. In this role, Mr Apfel and his team focus on identifying and building Data Science partnerships across Discovery & Development and all of Janssen’s therapeutic areas, enabling the application of the world’s best innovation, data, and technology to Janssen R&D’s mission of developing innovative medicines. These partnerships deploy AI/ML, Digital Health, and regulatory-grade RWE to high-impact areas across the Janssen pipeline with applications ranging from discovering new targets, accelerating the development of new molecules, enhanced clinical trial design, patient stratification, external control arms, and clinical operations.

Prior to his current role, Mr Apfel built and led the Janssen R&D Data Science Immunology Portfolio Management team, working to identify and deliver high impact use-cases to advance Janssen’s Immunology portfolio. Under his leadership, the team developed regulatory-grade real-world evidence, accelerated trials utilizing novel datasets and AI/ML patient finding approaches, and developed algorithms based on real-world data and medical image data. Mr Apfel joined Janssen in February 2019 as a member of the Janssen R&D Strategy and Operations team.

Prior to joining Janssen, Mr Apfel worked at The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, in the healthcare practice as well as the Clinton Health Access Initiative, partnering with the Eswatini Ministry of Health to improve their public health laboratory infrastructure and strengthen access to life-saving diagnostics.

Mr Apfel received his BA in mathematical-economics from Pomona College and an MBA from NYU Stern.

Marta Arias-Salgado was appointed Vice President and Global Head of Global Clinical Trial Operations (GCTO) Regions and Regional Operations (RRO) in April 2025. She manages the GCTO RRO leadership team in managing clinical operations, including trial execution and support functions.

Marta began her career at Merck in 1998 and has held various leadership roles, focusing on quality improvement, regulatory inspections, and clinical supply chain management.

Marta received a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from UAM University in Madrid, Spain. She also holds a Master of Science degree in Research & Development from Navarra University.

Andrea Bastek, Ph.D., is VP of Innovation at Florence Healthcare. Her team's mission is to identify the biggest challenges in clinical trial operations and harness technology to solve them. Prior to Florence, Andrea spent 15 years working in clinical trial operations in the cardiac medical device industry. She holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Georgia Tech as well as a BS and MS in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University.

Experienced, driven, and innovative Life Sciences and Technology Professional with a strong track record of delivering impactful solutions and driving operational excellence across the drug development continuum. With expertise spanning the full drug development lifecycle, I specialize in aligning business strategies with forward-thinking IT solutions to enhance and accelerate clinical development outcomes.  Collaborating with TransCelerate to lead industry-wide digital transformation through the Digital Data Flow initiative that enable seamless interoperability from study design to regulatory submission.

I hold an MBA from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, with a concentration in Innovation, Management, and Strategy, and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. I am also actively engaged in nonprofit STEM initiatives for children and contribute to advancing education for women and children.

Michaela Bertram is married to her high school sweetheart, Michael. They have 2 beautiful children – Beckham (15) and Zoey (13). Bertram is currently the clinical cancer research manager at the Avera Cancer Institute in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Her nursing career began in January of 2009 when she started as a new graduate on the inpatient oncology unit at Avera. Bertram transitioned to cancer research as the hematology research coordinator in April of 2011 and has been a part of the cancer research department for 14 years, most recently as the clinical manager, for 3 years. Her cancer research team has grown from 8 to almost 40 staff. She couldn’t be more proud of our team and the work they do to bring clinical trial opportunities to the patients we serve.

Stacey Bledsoe, RN, MSN joined Gilead Sciences in July 2023 as the new Head of Global Clinical Trial Diversity and Inclusion. Stacey will be responsible for leading the effort to increase the diversity of Gilead’s clinical trials across the portfolio while bolstering Gilead’s stance to understand how treatments affect all the populations. Stacey has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry across multiple disciplines including Research & Development, Global Health Outcomes, Medical and Six Sigma.

Prior to joining Gilead Stacey spent over 20 years at Eli Lilly & Co where she had a demonstrated success in Six Sigma methodology, Health Outcomes research, medical information, and the hospital payer environment. She recently led Lilly’s diversity and trials initiatives across the portfolio through partnerships and internal and external collaboration, earning the company a rating of Gold. She has shared her enthusiasm and passion for driving the industry’s path toward more diverse clinical trial access and inclusion by engaging in national boards, speaking at multiple conferences, interviews, and publications. She also created and built the Lilly Global Medical Outreach Program, which used medical professional working at Lilly to provide medical services to underserved communities in countries such as Africa, Greece, and South America.

Stacey’s passion for patients and emphasis on serving the most vulnerable began before she entered the pharmaceutical industry. She held a Registered Nurse role on the Level III Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Riley Hospital for Children. Stacey earned her Bachelor and Master of Science of Science in Nursing from Indiana University. Stacey is driven by a goal to influence and ensure all patients have the same access to clinical research and life changing medications that will ultimately improve their lives. Stacey resides in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband of 22 years, three daughters with one at her alma mater Indiana University, and Yorkie, Sam.

Kris Blouch is a leader in oncology with 20 years of experience across academia, pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Blouch is passionate about creating an intentional clinical trial experience for participants. She currently serves as the Senior Director, Patient Recruitment & Retention Strategy at Exelixis, where she leads a team overseeing global informed consent processes, HCP & patient-facing engagement materials and digital platforms, and a standing patient council, while driving strategies to meet enrollment and retention goals across all studies.

Previously, Blouch held roles in Translational Medicine and Clinical Development at GSK, where she led the development and launch of an innovative clinical trial allowing for real-time data return and trial matching to participants, in addition to a large cross-Pharma consortium. Her expertise in oncology spans pre-clinical research, GMP manufacturing of CAR-macrophages, translational medicine, clinical biomarkers, disease strategy, clinical development, and clinical operations.

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Walter is a seasoned Analytics and Data Science professional dedicated to advancing the evolving needs of the modern health industry. With a diverse background spanning multiple domains within healthcare, he brings a deep understanding of how data-driven insights can transform patient outcomes, streamline operations, and drive innovation. Passionate about the life-changing potential of analytics, Walter continues to champion the use of data to create meaningful impact across the health sector.

Mary Brantner is Sr. Director, Head of Clinical Program Optimization and Innovation at Insmed Inc. In her role, she identifies opportunities to leverage technology to streamline and optimize conduct of clinical trials. She has 35 years of experience in the Pharmaceutical and Device Industry, having worked at Daiichi Sankyo, Mallinckrodt, and Becton Dickinson before joining Insmed. Her recent roles have been in the Global Development Operations and Process and Systems area. She has overseen Global Development Operations functions that include Clinical Operations, TMF Operations, Process Excellence and Training, Clinical Trial Disclosure and Transparency, Clinical Systems, and Medical Writing. One of her current responsibilities at Insmed is supporting the Insmed Google Cloud partnership as a business owner representing Development Operations on various workstreams.

Leah Broder is the Senior Vice President of Customer Strategy and Experience at Socially Determined, where she leads a team engaged across payer, provider, life sciences and partner organizations to identify and address social risks that drive meaningful change.

Leah is an experienced healthcare strategist, management consultant and public health professional with deep familiarity in navigating the development and execution of innovative product, data and digital health-enabled initiatives. Prior to joining Socially Determined, Leah served in leadership roles at The Advisory Board Company and Optum, overseeing client delivery and business expansion through digital transformation. Earlier in her career she worked at NYU Langone Medical Center during its electronic health record implementation and expansion, and also brings valuable insight on the payer perspective through roles at Aetna and WellNet Healthcare.

Leah holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Health from Columbia University with a focus on Health Policy and Management. She serves as a mentor for undergraduate students interested in healthcare through the University of Michigan.

As the Managing Director - Digital Therapeutics at Medidata, Josh Brouillette is at the helm of an exciting new frontier for patient care. For 15 years, Josh has been a driving force in the Pharma and Biotech sectors, consistently working to advance therapeutic access through the strategic application of technology platforms. Having recently rejoined Medidata, he is now leading the charge to integrate Digital Therapeutics into clinical development, specifically through a groundbreaking partnership with Click Therapeutics, ultimately ensuring innovative, life-saving solutions reach patients faster.

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Jennifer Burg is an accomplished clinical development operations leader with over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. She has led global clinical trial strategy and execution across CNS, rare, and orphan disease indications, holding senior roles at both start-up and emerging biotech companies. Jenn is currently Senior Vice President of Clinical Development Operations at Axonis Therapeutics. With a strong track record of building effective teams and streamlining operations, she excels in leading trial execution and strategic development.

Penny Carlson has 27+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and is currently Head of Global Clinical Development Operations, which includes Clinical Program Leadership, Study Management, Business Operations and Partnership Health and Supplier Management. Prior to this, Penny held various roles of increasing responsibility across several disciplines and multiple therapeutic areas. She started her career working for a small Contract Research Organization supporting NIH sponsored Vaccine and Infectious Disease studies, followed by several years working for large pharma in various data management roles, eventually transitioning to clinical operations in the Oncology therapeutic area, where she stayed for a number of years.

In 2011 Penny joined Takeda (previously Millennium) initially as a Clinical Program Manager and was later responsible for multiple assets in the early development space and was the Clinical Operations Lead for the Gastroenterology Therapeutic Area. For 5+ years, Penny has been an executive leader in the Global Development Organization, leading transformative initiatives for Takeda and focusing on clinical trial delivery, external partnerships and innovative ways of delivering medicines to patients.

With over 30 years of international leadership and accountability in the biopharmaceutical industry, Elspeth Carnan is an accomplished global executive, specialized in clinical development, implementing strategy and operational execution of a portfolio of pre-clinical and clinical stage programs, across a variety of therapeutic areas, including, oncology, immunology, and rare disease. In her roles at Alkermes and Regeneron, as SVP and VP of clinical operations, Carnan was accountable for driving global clinical trials, improving efficiency and consistency of performance as well as implementing an improved delivery of risk based strategic monitoring. At Merck KgA/ EMD Serono, Carnan drove the R&D Strategic Sourcing & Vendor management function being accountable for global outsourcing strategy for clinical development, developing and negotiating strategic alliance partnerships, critical issue management and executive governance. While at Amgen (2005 to 2015), Carnan was instrumental in shaping the Amgen clinical monitoring platform; first successfully driving the global implementation of the Functional Service Provider, with 12 providers and across 56 countries. With her wealth of clinical operations experience, she was instrumental in the design and support of the centralized monitoring initiative. During her Amgen tenure, she made a significant impact in shaping Amgen’s approach to innovation. Through her commitment to driving Operational Efficiency and supporting the scoping of the Streamline Clinical Trials initiative, Carnan ensured a focus on transforming the approach to clinical trial execution, most notably in study design and study start up. Her dedication to the establishment of the R&D Global Network framework to enhance end to end process development added value to Amgen’s approach to knowledge sharing. Carnan holds a PhD in Physiology from University Newcastle Medical School and a Bachelor of Science (Physiology) from University of Glasgow. 

Carnan lives in Lexington MA, an ‘empty nester’ as her twins attend the University of Toronto. 

Taras is Executive Director, Innovation and Process Improvement within Global Development Operations at Amgen. His team leads efforts to transform how clinical trials are conducted at Amgen, with a focus on cycle time reduction and reducing barriers to participation for patients and investigators. Prior to his current role, Mr Carpiac served in leadership positions at Amgen within Study Operations and Data Management. He holds a BA in History from University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Golden Gate University.

David Carruthers joined AstraZeneca in 2024 and is the Vice President of BioPharmaceuticals and Global Head of Clinical Operations. David leads global operations related to the conduct and delivery of AstraZeneca Biopharmaceuticals Clinical Trials. David is also responsible for data management and insights across the AstraZeneca Clinical Trials portfolio. With a career in the biopharmaceutical industry, David brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his role, leading a global team dedicated to advancing clinical operations and delivering innovative treatments to patients worldwide.

David's leadership is characterized by his commitment to excellence in clinical trial execution and patient-centric approaches. His strategic vision and collaborative mindset drive the development of integrated clinical operations teams that work across disciplines to achieve holistic and impactful outcomes.

Throughout his career, David has been devoted to reimagining clinical trial execution and engaging with clinicians and patients to design and deliver inclusive clinical trials. This commitment to inclusivity and innovation is reflected in AstraZeneca's increasingly complex portfolio of trials, which aim to improve patient outcomes through novel disease endpoints and enable greater engagement with healthcare professionals.

David's commitment to patient care is deeply influenced by his research background, which consistently puts patients first in his work. From study enrollment to post-trial access, he is driven to make it easier and faster for patients to access treatments and improve the clinical trial experience. His dedication to clinical excellence and patient care is a hallmark of his leadership at AstraZeneca.

In addition to his role at AstraZeneca, David has held executive positions at leading biopharmaceutical companies including AbbVie and Allergan, where he has contributed to the advancement of clinical operations and drug development. His extensive experience and strong links to academia and industry make him a respected collaborator in the field.

David is proud to lead an exceptional global team at AstraZeneca, working together to push the boundaries of science and transform care for patients. His steadfast commitment to patients and clinical excellence continues to drive the development of new medicines and innovative approaches to clinical trials.

Seasoned pharmaceutical professional with 20+ years of experience specializing in healthcare data integration, clinical analytics, and competitive intelligence. Leverages deep pharmaceutical knowledge and advanced analytics capabilities to transform complex data into actionable business insights

Michelle Chawla is one of the Diversity Program Leads on the Diversity and Inclusion in Clinical Trials team at Merck. In this role, she collaborates cross-functionally with various teams, and specifically works within the lung and hematology teams to increase efforts for a more inclusive and diverse patient population in clinical trials. She is also a part of the diversity plan end-to-end process team and diversity plan template team at Merck and is currently leading the Financial Barriers workstream, which is a cross-functional team that is creating change to increase access to clinical trials from a financial perspective. She is extremely motivated and passionate about increasing access and improving representation in clinical trials.

Her other passions/hobbies include running, cycling, anything else outdoors, as well as spending time with her family including her two nieces and her cats!

Scott Chetham Ph.D. is an experienced healthcare entrepreneur who is currently the CEO and co-founder of Faro Health. Scott leads the strategy for the Faro Health platform, which is designed to power clinical development by connecting data to decision making in a fundamentally new way. Previously, he was the Head of Clinical Research Operations and Data Management at Verily Life Sciences, formerly known as Google Life Sciences. This multi-faceted strategic and operational role involved leading the clinical strategy, clinical teams, process development and operations for all clinical projects of the company, including Google and Google[x]. Scott has also served as a Venture Partner at Versant Ventures, CTO and Co-founder of Intersection Medical (sold to ImpediMed), and VP Clinical Affairs (ImpediMed). In these latter two roles he was responsible for clinical research strategy and operations.

Rosa M. Colon-Kolacko, PhD, MBA, CDM, SHRM-SCP President & Founder, Global Equity Learning and Adjunct Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine Dr. Colon-Kolacko founded Global Equity Learning (GEL) consulting firm to partner with experts with lived experiences and practitioners to leverage evidence-based research and proven practices to help organizations in healthcare delivery, Life Sciences, Academia, Non-Profit, Community Advocacy groups, global industries, and government among others to address health disparities and build equitable organizations. She partnered with Tufts University Department of Public Health and Community Medicine to create a Life Sciences Health Equity Practice that provides a framework, a Holistic HE dashboard, online self-assessment, and measurable actions to elevate community co-creation. She is a researcher and has held academic positions as a Professor of Professional Practice at Bowling Green State University, adjunct faculty at Georgetown University, University of Delaware, Thomas Jefferson, and currently an Adjunct Professor, at Tufts University School of Medicine Department of Public Health and Community Medicine. She is also an Equity Fellow of the Delaware Community Foundation. She is the former Tufts Medicine, Senior VP, Chief Diversity and Equity and Inclusion Officer responsible for advancing diversity, racial and health equity, inclusion, and Community Health, former NYC Health + Hospitals SVP and Chief People Officer, and Christiana Care Health System in Delaware, SVP Chief Diversity and Learning Officer as one of the first CDO’s in healthcare. Earlier in her career, she worked at Bristol Myers-Squibb and, SmithKline Beecham (since renamed GlaxoSmithKline), leading change, cultural transformation, supply chain, learning, talent management, and lean/six sigma functions in Asia, Europe, North America, and Puerto Rico. Rosa is incredibly involved in national and state-level boards to advance equity. She is a board member of the MA Health Equity Compact addressing health disparities through legislation, workforce development, governance, data, accountability, and access to care.

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Sean Connolly is Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Evinova, where he leads the strategic vision and development of its AI-native platform and products. With a career spanning multiple industries, Sean brings a unique blend of technical depth and strategic product leadership to Evinova.

Prior to Evinova, Sean led digital transformation initiatives at AstraZeneca across R&D and Commercial, delivering groundbreaking outcomes and several “industry firsts” with novel applications of digital and AI. During his tenure at Medable, he led enterprise product development to bridge biopharma needs with generic SaaS. Earlier in his career, Sean led the strategy and implementation of enterprise-wide research technology capabilities, including computational biology and high performance computing, for 20,000 multi-disciplinary researchers at George Washington University. During his time at IBM, Sean led global teams implementing complex data and analytics capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Sean is known for his ability to bridge technology and strategy with clarity and impact, driving innovation at scale across large enterprises. He is passionate about accelerating new medicines for patients with a clear focus on improving biopharma R&D cycle time in a way that is tightly integrated with transformative patient experiences.

Sean holds a Master of Science in Information Systems and Bachelor of Business Administration and Computer Science from George Washington University.

Grégoire Cosendai is a seasoned leader with over 30 years of expertise in the medical devices industry, specializing in neuro, ophthalmology, endocrinology, audiology, and digital health. With a strong background spanning from innovative R&D, clinical validation, regulatory approvals, to market access and commercialization, he has successfully led cross-functional teams from start-up environments to large publicly traded companies.

Currently serving as Category Lead at Ypsomed, Grégoire is passionate about developing life-changing medical technologies. His previous roles include Device Operations Manager at Verily (Google Life Sciences), Vice President Clinical at Second Sight Medical Products, and Director of Business Development at the Alfred Mann Foundation.

Having worked in USA, UK and Switzerland he brings a global perspective to his leadership. Grégoire’s innovative mindset, strategic vision, and dedication to advancing medical solutions make him a valued speaker and expert in medical device development and commercialization.

Amy Cramer draws on her experience as a cardiac critical care nurse, clinical research coordinator, certified healthcare quality professional and clinical research informaticist. Ms Cramer has worked in a community hospital, an independent academic medical center, and world class academic medical institution. She is currently Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine Clinical Innovation Focus Area Leader: Capitalizing on Data Assets. She has been the Director of eSource Implementation for Pfizer, Inc. Ms Cramer’s focus throughout her career has been determining improvements that provide better patient centric care, whether that be developing a visualization for a complex hypoglycemia protocol, developing a transplant quality program or optimizing the use of the electronic health record for clinical research. Ms Cramer’s current focus is on clinical trials solutions, which includes eSource; specifically the secondary use of EHR data for clinical research. Ms Cramer is Co-Chair of HL7 Clinical Interoperability Council, AMIA’s Scientific Panel Committee, a TransCelerate member and reviewer for many professional journals. Ms Cramer received a Master in Management of Clinical Informatics from Duke University School of Medicine and plans to continue her studies in Clinical Research Informatics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Alex brings over 17 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in clinical technology at tech vendors, CROs, and pharmaceutical companies. His experience spans clinical and operational data, with deep experience in IRT, EDC, eCOA, eTMF, CTMS, SSU and a range of data and analytics platforms. At Jazz, he is responsible for overseeing the Clinical Data Factory and integration strategy as well as other AI and technology initiatives for the Global Clinical Development Operations team. He is focused on pulling in large amounts of data from different sources into an accurate and easily digestible format, collaborating with the Data Management, Clinical Operations, and RBQM teams at Jazz to align with business priorities. Alex is passionate about streamlining data movement and leveraging technology to simplify and accelerate processes across the clinical trial ecosystem.

Michelle Crouthamel, PhD, head of digital science at AbbVie, is an industry thought leader in digital health, with a broad spectrum of R&D experience. She currently leads the digital health strategy as well as develops digital biomarkers and endpoints. In her previous roles, she has led drug discovery, clinical development, project management, and digital-pharma strategy and execution. She is very passionate about transforming the pharmaceutical industry to become truly patient-centric.

With over 25 years in the pharmaceutical and CRO industries, Diana Cucos leads Syneos Health's FSP 360 division, delivering tailored solutions to meet clients' evolving needs. Her leadership spans clinical operations, project management, and strategic planning, managing over 6,000 resources across 50+ countries. Recognized for her commitment to advancing clinical research, Diana was named one of PharmaVoice's 100 Most Inspiring People in 2021 and an HBA Luminary in 2017.

Marla is a dynamic, cross-functional leader with deep expertise spanning Scientific Affairs, Product Management, and Operations. As Director of Scientific Affairs at Clario, she brings her expertise in cardiology endpoint and a unique blend of scientific rigor and strategic insight to drive innovation across the clinical research sector. With a proven track record at Clario, she excels at bridging the gap between science and business by translating customer needs into actionable product strategies and ensuring seamless operational execution. Marla is known for her collaborative approach, data-driven decision-making, and passion for building scalable solutions and mentoring emerging leaders.

Jenn Curry is Head of Patient Engagement Capability at Biogen. In this role, Ms Curry is accountable for driving the capabilities that ensure the patient perspective is incorporated in a manner that optimizes the execution of patient-focused drug development and maximizes the degree of impact on participant enrollment and the participant experience in Biogen’s clinical studies. She is heavily engaged with internal leaders and external partners to support the patient engagement strategies leveraged across Biogen’s portfolio.

Ms Curry entered the field of clinical research as a Research Assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2003 and shifted her focus to industry, specifically patient recruitment, in 2006. Prior to joining Biogen in 2019, she spent 9 years at AES/Acurian Inc., advancing from Project Manager to Director of Operational and Strategic Solutions.

Wouter Daniels MSc is a Medical Biologist by training. He has over 20 years of experience working in Clinical Development & Operations in both project management and leadership positions. Since Feb 2022 he is working as a clinical trial Patient & Site Engagement Lead for the global organization of Boehringer-Ingelheim.

He started his career at Eli Lilly, worked for 10 years at Novo Nordisk and since 2013 for Boehringer Ingelheim. He has a special interest for the cardiometabolic indications like diabetes, obesity, NASH, CKD and Heart Failure.

Since 2018 he is actively working on patient and site engagement focusing on optimizing the clinical trial experience for trial participants and clinical trial site staff in Boehringer trials. In 2023 he created the Site Engagement Academy within Boehringer Ingelheim which was rolled out globally in 2024.

Melika Davis is SVP and Global Head of Clinical Operations at BeOne Medicines. She is an accomplished and highly experienced drug development professional leading a team of ~1,700 associates around the world who are responsible for the planning and execution of all clinical trial activities at BeOne, including trial and country/site management, compliance, global clinical supply chain, and implementation of innovative technologies. With a robust background of over 30 years in clinical research and quality assurance, Melika has been instrumental in designing and building successful global organizations. She has leveraged her operations expertise to instill efficiency, reduce costs, build a culture of quality, set standards, and satisfy both external/internal customers' needs.

Melika and her teams have brought 30+ products to the worldwide market over the past 15 years, mainly in oncology, vaccines, and anti-infectives. She has managed a portfolio of ~1,500 clinical trials a year. Prior to joining BeOne, Melika held numerous positions at Novartis and Schering-Plough Research Institute, with increasing responsibilities across the R&D organizations in oncology, transplant, anti-infective, respiratory, and vaccine development. Melika has also been active in various clinical development professional associations, holding leadership roles in multiple committees and initiatives. She holds a master’s degree in molecular biology from Texas Woman’s University in Dallas, Texas, and a Licence de Physiologie from the University of Sciences in Nice, France.

Amanda joined the Takeda Patient Recruitment & Retention team in August 2019. 

Prior to her tenure with Takeda, she worked for several patient recruitment and retention agencies where she partnered with sponsors, CROs, and sites to design and implement multi-channel PR&R campaigns to meet the specialized needs of individual protocols.

Amanda has experience across a broad range of therapeutic areas with a forward-looking approach to maintain a strong pulse on the industry’s latest advancements in delivering patient-centric research.

She earned a BA and MA from Villanova University.

Angela DeLuca is the Associate Vice President, Head of Global Study Operations at Amgen. Angela is responsible for leading the Site Management and Data Management organizations ensuring excellence and consistency in clinical trial execution across the portfolio.

With 20 years in the biopharmaceutical industry, Ms DeLuca has extensive oncology experience and has lived and worked in the US and Japan. She has been recognized for her ability to lead the progress of global clinical development excellence through the creation of innovative operational strategies and the early adoption of digital health initiatives, to optimize the R&D landscape to accelerate products to the global market. Before joining Amgen, she was Vice President, Oncology and Cell Therapy Clinical Operations at Takeda.

Ms DeLuca also held leadership positions at both AbbVie and Abbott, where she led the transformation of the clinical development operations, establishing a center of excellence that became an industry benchmark in clinical development. As the Head of Strategy and Operations for Portfolio Program Management, she served as a consulting partner to the R&D Leadership team, identifying and implementing innovative improvements across the R&D organization. In her role as Head of Innovation, she oversaw the Japan Design Lab team, integrating digital technologies, health technologies, big data, and predictive analytics to enhance clinical trial design and support business decision-making.

Ms DeLuca holds an MBA in Innovation from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Kenan Flagler Business School, and a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from The Ohio State University. She is also a certified PMP.

TBD

Paul Diercksen is the Vice President of Business Development at Mural Health, a clinical trials technology company dedicated to making it easier to participate in clinical trials. Leveraging his experience driving expansion and growth across healthcare and life sciences organizations, Paul leads Mural Health's work to drive business growth by delivering patient-centric solutions in clinical trials. With kindness and compassion at its core, Paul and the Mural Health team created Mural Link, the industry’s first holistic participant management platform that makes clinical trial participation easier–for patients and caregivers alike–while delivering smoother operations for sites, strategic value for sponsors, and better recruitment and retention.

Scott is a versatile leader with a strong track record of delivering innovative product and market strategies in the life sciences and healthcare software sectors. With a solid understanding of clinical, technological, and business fundamentals, he's passionate about creating breakthrough solutions that meet the evolving needs of the industry.

He has extensive experience in the clinical development process, specialising in late-phase trials, post-market surveillance, and direct-to-patient initiatives. Scott is also highly knowledgeable in M2M (machine-to-machine) solutions for the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and healthcare markets. His results-driven approach blends sales and operational planning with agile methods for new product development.

Throughout his career, Scott has worked with organisations ranging from start-ups to global Fortune 100 companies, building expertise in sales, marketing, operations, and product strategy. He's passionate about aligning product development with strategic goals and spotting opportunities to drive meaningful results.

Tom Dougherty is currently the Data Science & AI Innovative Partnership Lead at Novo Nordisk. He is responsible for developing external partnerships to accelerate the development of new assets across the portfolio. Prior to Novo Nordisk, Tom was the Director of RWE Partnerships & Innovation at Pfizer where he launched therapeutic area external data partnerships and novel technologies.

Tom has over 18 years of experience in healthcare with Merck, GE Healthcare, Boston Scientific, and Premier. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and an MBA from Villanova University.

Carissa Dukes has a decade of experience in the industry, specializing in epidemiology and real-world evidence. Her expertise in mental health has led her to work on numerous projects aimed at improving the quality of life for individuals with mental health conditions. Through her observational studies, she has provided valuable insights that are shaping the development of innovative and effective treatments. She has led various initiatives to integrate real-world data into clinical research. Her research helps bridge the gap between clinical trials and real-world practice, accelerating clinical adoption. Carissa has played a pivotal role in the implementation of tokenization within her company. She leads a cross-functional working group and panel of experts, providing consultation on tokenization and developing detailed guidance documents that will be critical in standardizing successful implementation throughout the organization. Carissa earned a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Indiana University and is currently pursuing her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) at Johns Hopkins University, where she is focusing on a specialized public health program designed to enhance her expertise in health systems, implementation science, and clinical trials.

Esther Dyson recently finished a decade of work on Wellville, the 10-year, five-community project she founded and funded in 2013. It operates in five small US communities (Clatsop County OR, Muskegon County MI, Lake County CA, North Hartford CT, Spartanburg SC), with advisors who help community members build their own sustainable organizations and weave their own social fabric. She is now writing her second book, “Term Limits: Time and scale in the age of AI” (MIT Press, 2027).  Her first, “Release 2.0: A design for living in the digital age,” was an international best-seller in 1997. With a background in journalism, finance, tech, health (vs. healthcare), Russia, policy and space travel, Dyson’s mission is to help people see what they thought they already knew. Her current focus is to get the public to understand the importance of investing in the United States’ most important asset: its next generation. The best way to reduce healthcare costs, she argues, is to keep people healthy, and to use the bounties of AI to invest in human flourishing. Her most recent essay was published by The Information at https://www.theinformation.com/articles/dont-fuss-about-training-ais-train-our-kids. Dyson is currently on the boards of Avanlee Care, BAMF  Health, Charity Navigator, PressReader,  and The Commons Project. Her additional health/medicine-related investments include 23andMe, 4D Healthcare, Abridge, Brainify.ai, Cecelia, Cherish, Circadia, Circadian-OS, Epistemic.ai, Function Health, Hinge Health, LB Pharma, Levels Health, Lucidify, Medicasafe, Nanowear, Omada Health, OpenWater, Prognos.ai,  ProofPilot, Supportiv and others. Dyson holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University and a certificate of completion from the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

Jim Eamma is Executive Director, Therapeutic Strategy Lead for Oncology and Hematology at Worldwide Clinical Trials. His experience in scientific and clinical research spans more than two decades and includes work in academic, clinical, and CRO settings. Although oncology is his primary area of focus, he has also worked on clinical trials in a number of therapeutic areas. His intimate knowledge of studies at the level of the investigative site gives him the logistical and practical perspective needed for effective leadership and oversight.

Mike Eckrote is Senior Vice President of Strategic Solutions & Technology at Advarra, where he leads efforts to advance innovative approaches to clinical research and development. He brings more than a decade of experience in real-world data, technology solutions, and clinical trial optimization, with leadership roles spanning HealthVerity, Medable, and Medidata Solutions. Throughout his career, Mike has specialized in applying AI/ML, real-world evidence, and data-driven strategies to improve trial design, site selection, and patient outcomes.

Jenn is a leader in Clinical Operations and SaaS strategy with over 25 years of experience bringing a unique understanding of complex trial design (e.g. master protocols) and DCT modalities from Sponsor, Site and SaaS data model perspectives.

Jenn has championed large-scale change initiatives that successfully aligned operational goals with new technology (e.g. Qlik, PowerBI, Florence, etc.). These initiatives streamlined processes, increased cross-functional collaboration and enabled data-driven decision-making leveraging reports and dashboards.

Jenn led Clinical Customer Success at Veeva Systems, providing strategic advice and support to customers on product adoption, change management (OCM) strategies, and validation best practices. Her expertise spans global clinical operations, digital transformation, and change management, making her a trusted advisor in modernizing clinical research.

Laura J Esserman, MD, MBA, is Professor of Surgery and Radiology at UCSF, where she is also Director of the multi-disciplinary UCSF Breast Care Center. She is Co-Leader of the Breast Oncology Program for the Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr Esserman’s breast cancer work spans a spectrum from basic science to public policy issues and the impact of both on the delivery of clinical care. She has published more than 300 articles in peer-reviewed journals. She led efforts to address harms of screening including over-diagnosis, and proposed tools including the development of molecular diagnostics to help reclassify tumors as IDLE or ultra-low risk.

She leads the I-SPY TRIALS, a ground-breaking national public-private collaboration among 20 cancer research centers, pharma and biotech companies, FDA, and NCI, designed to reduce the time and cost for drug development, find the right drug for the right patient earlier in the disease course when cure is possible.

In addition, Dr Esserman led the creation of the University of California-wide, and now national Athena Breast Health Network, a learning system designed to integrate clinical care and research and follow 150,000 women from screening through treatment and outcomes. This spawned the PCORI funded WISDOM study to determine if personalized screening has higher health care value than the standard of annual screening.

Dr Esserman was included as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2016, was the recipient of the 2016 Stanford Business School Ernest C Arbuckle Award and the 2016 Personalized Medicine World Conference Luminary Award.

Mariel specializes in emerging medical technologies and bringing first-in-class products to market. She has held leadership roles in R&D, Clinical, and Marketing at early-stage medical device companies, is a co-inventor on 39 issued patents, and holds BS and MS degrees in Biomechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

tbd

Dr. Mimi Fenton, CEO of Cedar Research and Aspen Insights, is an experienced Life Sciences executive with 20+ years of experience in Global Pharmaceuticals (Sanofi), Pharmaceutical Services (Syneos Health), Retail/Pharmacy (Walmart) and Academia (Columbia University, Rutgers University). Mimi has extensive experience developing innovative evidence generation strategies to unlock powerful drug and device value propositions across clinical and commercial applications. Mimi is a business builder with demonstrated success architecting corporate strategy, building teams & processes, driving revenue & flywheel value, and creating commercial, technological and academic partnerships. She empowers teams to bridge the gap between science, innovation, and go-to-market with the intelligent application of data and technology. Mimi has also led her previous teams’ efforts to drive profitable growth, accelerate drug development, enable access, and improve patient lives. Mimi has a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from Columbia University, an M.P.H. from Brown University, and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a thought leader in her field and sits on the Board of Directors for Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the Board of Advisors for Carna Health and Uncommon Cures.

As a strategic leader in clinical trial recruitment and patient engagement, Amy specializes in advocating for inclusive clinical trials that break down barriers for participation and incorporate the Patient Voice. She has spent the past 15 years with Bristol Myers Squibb and currently serves as Patient Engagement and Recruitment ICN Pillar Lead.

Patrick is the Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Trail Services at Regeneron where he oversees global site management, central monitoring, study feasibility and site selection, as well as study/site start up, eCOA and patient technology initiatives. He joined Regeneron a little over 5 years ago. 

Patrick worked at Pfizer for 25 years before joining Regeneron, mostly in clinical program operations. He also held roles in GCP Quality (level 1) and Analytics. Patrick has extensive international drug development experience, as he helped establish the Pfizer country office development teams in Latin America, India and other parts of Asia. He later served as the Head of Japan Development Operations and Development Japan Portfolio &Project Management Groups for 10 years in Pfizer’s Development Japan organization.

Mike Franklin is Vice President of Community Based Research at Eli Lilly and Company. In his role, he is responsible for the delivery of a global strategy to bring research, awareness, and accessibility of clinical trials into the communities that these medicines will ultimately serve. Mike has over 30 years of drug development experience across the pharmaceutical & research industry.

Kenneth C. Frazier is the former Chairman and CEO of Merck, following his retirement from more than 30 years with the company, including a decade-long tenure as CEO. Currently, he is chairman of Health Assurance initiatives at the venture capital firm General Catalyst where he advises on investments and partnerships for companies that are well-positioned to help transform the healthcare industry through collaborative and responsible innovation.  

Upon his retirement from Merck, Ken has committed himself to organizations dedicated to leading social change and building greater equity for all people. He is the co-founder and co-chair of OneTen, a coalition of leading organizations committed to upskilling, hiring, and promoting people without four-year degrees into family-sustaining jobs with an emphasis on Black Americans.

Ken’s contributions, especially in the legal, business, and humanitarian fields, have been widely recognized. Under his leadership, Merck delivered innovative life-saving medicines and vaccines as well as long-term and sustainable value to its multiple stakeholders. Ken substantially increased Merck’s investment in research, including early research, while refocusing the organization on the launch and growth of key products that provide far-reaching benefits to society. He also led the formation of philanthropic and humanitarian initiatives that built on Merck’s 130-year legacy.

Ken joined Merck in 1992 and held positions of increasing responsibility, including General Counsel, before becoming President and CEO in 2011. Prior to joining Merck, Ken was a Partner with the Philadelphia law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath.

Ken serves on the boards of Eikon Therapeutics, Paradigm, and Transcarent, as well as a number of non-profit boards, including Cornerstone Christian Academy in Philadelphia, PA, the Harvard Corporation, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the National Constitution Center. He also is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Bar Association, the American Philosophical Society, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia of which he is a Fellow, the Council of the American Law Institute, and the Legal Services Corporation’s Leaders Council, of which he is co-chair. Ken also serves on the ABA Task Force on American Democracy. 

As a strong advocate for social justice and economic inclusion, Ken is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Anti-Defamation League Courage Against Hate Award, the Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics from Columbia Business School, the Legend in Leadership Award from the Yale School of Management, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund National Equal Justice Award, and the National Minority Quality Forum’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018, Ken received the Harvard Law School Association Award, the highest honor given by the prestigious association, in recognition of his extraordinary service to the legal profession, Harvard Law School, and the public. In that same year, Ken was named one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine and was also named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People; he again was celebrated by TIME on that list in 2021. In 2019, he became the first recipient of the Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award for Healthcare. In 2021, his peers named Ken Chief Executive magazine’s CEO of the Year. Most recently, he received the highly esteemed Fordham-Stein Prize from Fordham Law School, an honor bestowed for work embodying the highest standards of the legal profession, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Lawyer magazine.

Ken received his bachelor’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University and holds a JD from Harvard Law School.

TBA

Faith Gabel is the Head of Project Management at Accellacare Site Network, where she leads a global team of project managers and startup leads responsible for more than 200 active clinical research projects across the organization. With over 14 years of experience in clinical research and site operations, Faith has built her career around improving site-level execution and driving operational excellence across the research lifecycle.

Originally trained as a nurse with a surgical background, Faith began her journey in clinical research as a research coordinator, working hands-on with patients and frontline clinical teams. Her deep understanding of both patient care and protocol execution gave her a strong foundation to take on increasing leadership responsibilities, including roles in site management, feasibility, and startup operations.

Throughout her career, Faith has focused on building high-performing teams, streamlining startup timelines, and scaling project management capabilities to support both global and local site needs. Her cross-functional experience allows her to bridge the gap between site operations and strategic delivery.

In her current role, Faith plays a key role in shaping Accellacare’s network strategy, implementing change initiatives across departments, and ensuring alignment between sponsor expectations and site-level performance. She is passionate about innovation in trial operations and committed to transforming the way research is conducted.

As a thought leader on data strategy, Dr Victoria Gamerman is focused on improving healthcare by connecting the dots among patient-centricity, digital health, and real-world evidence to evolve clinical research through innovation and digital transformation.

As Global Head of Data Governance and Insights, Dr Gamerman is accountable for shaping the data strategy and data governance for Clinical Development and Operations. Previously, Victoria was the Head of Health Informatics and Analytics where she established the strategic priorities based on needs from Medical and Commercial stakeholders. As a team of data scientists, her organization executed use cases to generate evidence from external clinical data and real-world health care data in support of drug development.

Dr Gamerman has formal training with a PhD and MS in Biostatistics from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and MA/BA in Mathematics from Boston University. She is also trained in Scrum/Agile methodologies (Product Owner and Scrum Master) as well as Design Thinking.

Patrick Gee, Sr, PhD, JLC, is Founder & Chief Executive Hope Dealer, iAdvocate, Inc. Dr Gee graduated from the American University School of Public Affairs in 2012 with a Doctor of Philosophy in Justice, Law & Criminology. Dr Gee is a former Peritoneal/Hemodialysis patient due to suffering from Diabetic Kidney Disease. He has been a Post-Kidney Transplant Recipient since April 2017. Dr Gee is also a retired Major/Chief of Security from the Virginia Department of Corrections; and currently serves as the Founder & CEHD of iAdvocate, Inc., a non-profit Faith-based Health & Wellness organization. He is also an Ordained Minister at Mountain Movers Ministry in Richmond, VA. As a Patient Representative for the Diabetes Kidney Disease-Collaborative Task Force and an advocate for those living with chronic kidney disease and the morbid conditions that contribute to this disease, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and obesity, Dr Gee uses his personal experiences to teach, coach, mentor and educate others on how best to manage their outcomes. He also ensures that underserved, undervalued and disenfranchised communities of color have a voice in their quality of life and equitable healthcare access. He also serves as Chair of the Kidney Health Initiative's Patient Family Partnership Council and is on ASN's APOL-1 Kidney Disease Steering Committee.

Kenneth A. Getz, MBA, is the Executive Director and Professor at the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, Tufts University School of Medicine, where he conducts research focusing on drug development management and operating strategies and tactics; protocol design practices; and global outsourcing, investigative site and patient recruitment practices and policies. He is also the chairman of CISCRP – a nonprofit organization that he founded to educate and raise public and patient awareness of the clinical research enterprise. A well-known speaker at conferences, symposia, universities, investor meetings and corporations, Mr Getz has published extensively in peer-review journals, books and in the trade press and writes a bi-monthly column nominated for a Neal Award in Applied Clinical Trials. He holds a number of board appointments in the private and public sectors including WCG and ORA and serves on the editorial boards of Pharmaceutical Medicine and Therapeutic Innovation and Regulatory Science. Mr Getz received an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree, Phi Beta Kappa, from Brandeis University. Mr Getz is the founder of CenterWatch, a leading publisher in the clinical trials industry.

Yusuf Ghadiali is Executive Director, Head of Clinical Trials Business Operations at Daiichi Sankyo. Mr Ghadiali has over 20 years of clinical operations experience leading and building several capabilities including innovation centers of excellence, process improvement and metrics & analytics capabilities. As Head of Clinical Trial Business Operations (CTBO) at DSI, Mr Ghadiali leads identification and enablement of key capabilities to support and enhance clinical trial delivery in the areas of: Feasibility & Site Identification, Bio-Sample Operations, Investigator/Site Engagement and Relationship Management, and Site Contracts and Budgets Management.

Tara Gipp leads the patient engagement team within Regeneron’s Global Trial Optimization team. She has a passion for ensuring patient and site burden is reviewed and assessed during clinical study development and is committed to reducing burden and barriers to participation. Patient focus in her career started when developing HIV treatments whilst employed at Pfizer and was further cemented when spending 10 years at Cancer Research UK. At Cancer Research UK, she led initiatives to incorporate patient views into trial design and garner direct on-study feedback to improve patient experience on clinical trials. Her current work includes having a detailed understanding of patient and caregiver needs early in study design, ensuring clinical trial participation is easily accessible to all trial participants, collecting near immediate feedback on-study from sites and participants as well as a priori feedback on study design. Ms Gipp has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Northwestern University.

Dr. Bernhard Glombitza is a distinguished leader in the healthcare industry, currently serving as Head of Clinical Customer Engagement and Operations for EMEA & LATAM at Bayer. His career journey began with project leadership roles, notably spearheading the global Xarelto project team, which contributed significantly to its market success. In Clinical Operations, he has managed organizations with over 1000 individuals across more than 40 countries, achieving a 25% increase in productivity through strategic organizational restructuring and innovative resource management. Dr. Glombitza is currently leading the implementation of the Dynamic Shared Ownership model (DSO), decentralizing decision-making and optimizing talent allocation to drive impactful results, all while fostering an environment of psychological safety and appreciation.

Gretchen Goller is the Head of the Patient Recruitment and Retention Group at Pfizer, where her team delivers holistic, patient-centered strategies ensuring that patients and their families have the most positive clinical trial experience. Prior to this role, she led the Patient Recruitment and Retention Solutions group at Seagen with a focus on oncology-specific solutions.

Ms. Goller has over 25 years of experience in the pharma and CRO industries. Before joining Seagen, she was the Global Head of the Patient Recruitment and Retention team at ICON and PRA. Earlier in her career, she served as the Patient Recruitment and Retention leader at Sanofi-Aventis. Other notable roles include Clinical Trial Manager, Medical Affairs at Wyeth, and Study Manager at AstraZeneca.

Additionally, Ms. Goller has held positions at the University of Pennsylvania, including Study Coordinator and Site Director, working on a range of therapeutic areas such as vaccines, cardiovascular, cardiology, ophthalmology, women's health, HIV, and endocrinology.

Ms. Goller holds a BA from the University of Massachusetts and an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently located outside of Philadelphia, PA.

Rozanno Gonzales, M.S., is a clinical trial professional with over 17 years of experience, specializing in innovative technology and vendor oversight within the clinical trial landscape. He is dedicated to integrating and enhancing partnerships and collaborations to innovate purposefully with stakeholders. 

He holds an M.S. in Clinical Research Administration from Walden University (2013) and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from UC Irvine (2002). As Clinical Trial Innovation and Technology Leader at Genentech, Rozanno is at the forefront of industry trends, leading the development of evidence generation initiatives and acting as a trusted thought partner for innovative solutions. His role involves evaluating health technology systems and understanding the changing healthcare environment to enable broader clinical trial participation and bolster the real-world effectiveness of the Genentech portfolio. He actively promotes a culture of innovation and strategic risk-taking, working globally to streamline processes and share best practices. He also identifies and evaluates technology service providers to accelerate and innovate clinical trial execution.

Melanie Goodwin is the Director of Clinical Outsourcing, bringing over a decade of experience in clinical operations and strategic vendor management. At the forefront of optimizing clinical trial delivery, Melanie leads cross-functional collaborations that drive efficiency, quality, and innovation in global development programs. Her expertise spans outsourcing strategy, governance, and relationship management, making her a trusted leader in navigating the complexities of clinical partnerships. Based in Conshohocken, PA, Melanie is passionate about advancing clinical research through thoughtful collaboration and operational excellence.

Scott Gottlieb, MD, is a physician and served as the 23rd Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr Gottlieb is currently a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and a partner at the venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. Under his leadership, the FDA advanced new frameworks for the modern oversight of gene therapies, cell-based medicines, and digital health devices. The agency implemented new reforms to standardize drug reviews and made historic improvements in post-market data collection and the use of real-world evidence. He promoted policies to reduce death and disease from tobacco, improve food safety, and aggressively confront addiction crises. The agency’s prolific advances in new policy distinguished his tenure as FDA Commissioner, along with a record-setting number of approvals for novel drugs, medical devices, and generic medicines. Previously, Dr Gottlieb served as the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs and, before that, as a Senior Adviser to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling book “Uncontrolled Spread: Why Covid-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic” and is a regular contributor to CNBC and CBS News’ Face the Nation. Dr Gottlieb serves on the board of directors of publicly traded companies Pfizer, Inc., Illumina, Inc., and TempusAI. Dr Gottlieb is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and completed medical school and a residency in internal medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he currently serves on the executive committee of the Mount Sinai Health System’s board of directors and co-chairs the board’s education committee. He graduated from Wesleyan University, where he majored in economics, and currently serves on the university’s board of directors. Dr Gottlieb lives in Connecticut with his wife and three daughters.

Victoria Gray was the 1st Sickle Cell Anemia patient in the world to be treated with CRISPR gene editing in 2019. After a lifetime of pain, treatments, and hospitalizations for Sickle Cell Disease, she is now symptom-free, working as a patient advocate and international speaker to spread the word about CRISPR and rare diseases to clinicians, scientists, patients, and students. Mrs Gray is a wife and mother of three children and lives in Forest, Mississippi.

Elliott Green is the Co-founder and CEO of Dandelion. His career has spanned a variety of executive roles within finance and health tech startups that are focused on payers, providers, life sciences, and healthcare data. Elliott was often the driving force behind complex, multi-institutional partnerships that would look to prove out new innovations.

Elliott’s career in US healthcare started at Oscar Health, where he expanded Oscar’s insurance business into California and Texas in response to the newly passed Affordable Care Act. He then coordinated Oscar’s expansion into 10 additional states, ultimately conceiving, contracting, and operationalizing the Oscar-Cleveland Clinic JV in Ohio.

After Oscar, Elliott joined TrialSpark (now Formation Bio) as the Head of Commercial Strategy and Partnerships. There he focused on provider partnerships and company strategy as TrialSpark looked to create a new patient experience, where clinical trials could be integrated into the everyday standard of care so patients could have greater access to innovative treatments. These efforts resulted in TrialSpark achieving acclaim as an industry disrupter on its way to a valuation of more than $1B. Elliott then joined Clarify Health as SVP and GM to drive improvements in the patient journey through data., before starting Dandelion.

Suvi is the CEO and Co-founder of Monroe Biomedical Research, a leading and rapidly growing clinical trial site network specializing in multi-therapeutic studies. With more than 15 years of experience in the clinical research industry, Suvi has overseen Monroe’s growth into a high-performing organization recognized for its quality-driven patient enrollment and operational excellence.

Under her leadership, Monroe Biomedical Research has earned distinction for its strong commitment to increasing diversity in clinical trial participation. The organization is dedicated to ensuring that research is both representative and inclusive, supporting the development of therapies that are effective across all populations. Suvi is deeply committed to expanding access to clinical trials and advancing a more equitable future in medical research.

Syed Waseem Haider has over 17 years of experience in AI healthcare and commercial innovation with a track record of leading AI strategy and delivering enterprise AI solutions. Dr Haider currently leads AI and Life Data Sciences at Merck. A believer in promoting AI and Data Science education and literacy, he is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University’s Data Science Institute. Dr Haider has authored in leading business publications, co-authored articles for international peer-reviewed journals and conferences and has filed patents and inventions. He holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Terttu Haring, MD, is a Clinical Operations Executive with a strong focus on Investigators, Sites and Patients. She received her MD from Maastricht University in the Netherlands. 

Over her nearly 30 years in the industry, she has seen clinical trials from different angles in research sites, in large pharma and in CRO setting. Roles she has had include investigator and research director; management of local and regional clin ops teams in Netherlands, Europe & Africa; leadership of global trial operations and data management activities and pushing digital innovations to clinical operations.

Development of new treatment options needs patients to enroll in clinical trials. It is Terttu’s mission to bring trials to patients around the world, setting investigators up for successful and effective trial execution so we bring treatments for life with less symptoms and more years to the market faster.

Jen Heckman is the Head of Development Operations Program Leadership at Genmab, where she leads a team of people accountable for developing clinical operations strategies and leading clinical trials. With over 30 years of experience in biopharma, she has built and led cross-functional teams and departments focused on operational excellence, clinical trial innovation, and portfolio strategy. Jen has driven scalable process improvements and system implementations at organizations including Exelixis, Incyte, and AstraZeneca. She is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Institute for Women and has served as a leader in the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association mentoring program. Jen is passionate about transforming clinical development through smart, patient-centered, and technology-enabled approaches.

Kristin Herman is the Executive Director of the Clinical Trials Office (CTO) at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson. Herman is responsible for the integration and standardization of all operations, policies, regulations, and finances of the CTO and oversight of all research support personnel. Herman serves a key role in expanding SKCCC clinical trial availability across the Delaware Valley. Prior to joining Jefferson in 2022, Herman spent 5 years at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) in Florida as Director of the Office of Research. There she oversaw the TMH IRB, and clinical research administration across all disease areas. She worked to establish an academic research collaboration with Florida State University, culminating in state funding and approval to develop an FSU academic health center on the TMH campus. She also collaborated closely with the University of Florida to advance population and rural health research via the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium where she served on the Executive Committee. Previously, Herman spent 14 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, working as a clinical research coordinator, and then in operations and project management roles. There she gained experience in clinical trial budget and contract negotiation, research privacy and compliance regulations, and other facets of clinical trials administration. She contributed to the launch of the MSK Cancer Alliance initiative in 2013. Herman has an MBA from FSU, and a BA from the University of Rochester.

Dr. Amber Hill founded Research Grid (R.grid) to automate clinical trials to cut costs, reduce delays, and increase patient engagement and retention. Her expertise is in end-to-end medical research, patient engagement, and smart software systems. Prior to R.grid, her career in biomedical neuroscience, AI, and clinical trials (UCL, Harvard, MIT) spans across 15 years in world-leading research institutions where she has built neurological deficit-scoring tech and previously founded a global non-profit supporting patient involvement in research. Dr. Hill has been an expert feature for top publications like the Wall Street Journal, Tech Crunch, and Essence Magazine. She has also received several honors such as the Royal Academy of Engineering fellowships and listed as one of The Financial Times: 100 Most Influential Women in Engineering. Research Grid has subsequently been backed and recognised by leading institutions from the likes of Google, Amazon, Morgan Stanley, the Royal Academy of Engineering, The London Stock Exchange, Plug and Play Health, and several others in the U.S. and Europe. Dr. Hill continues to drive forward her vision to make clinical trials admin-free for more successful medical treatments for everyone, everywhere.

Kelly Hoang, Ph.D., is an Associate Director and Data Scientist at the AI Research Center within the Clinical Data Science organization at Gilead Sciences. In her role, she and her team are dedicated to harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop data-driven tools and solutions that enhance clinical development and operations. Kelly earned her Ph.D. in Information Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where her research focused on machine learning, natural language processing, and their applications in the biomedical domain. She is passionate about building intelligent systems that transform complex data into meaningful insights and compelling narratives, ultimately driving innovation in healthcare.

Martin Hodosi is a Partner at Kearney and drives the North America pharma R&D advisory services, bringing over a decade of consulting experience. He has collaborated with some of the world's largest companies to tackle their most significant challenges in clinical development, operating model, and post-market obligations. His work includes accelerating time-to-market for innovative treatments and improving the cost of bringing new treatments to market.

Kyle Hogan is CEO of Datacubed Health, where he champions the evolution of eCOA from static digital tools to dynamic patient partnerships. Since 2007, Kyle has been dedicated to advancing the patient’s voice through innovative ePRO/eCOA solutions, helping deliver over 500 successful trials for CROs and pharmaceutical companies globally.

As a recognized expert in patient-centric eCOA implementation, Kyle leads Datacubed Health's mission to transform clinical trials by putting patients first. He specializes in developing breakthrough solutions that solve real clinical challenges, from AI-powered global food diaries to gamified cognitive assessments. His collaborative approach ensures that technology adapts to patients rather than forcing patients to adapt to technology.

Faith Holmes, MD, brings more than 30 years of experience in direct patient care, and 11 years of medical practice management to her role as Elligo’s Chief Medical Officer. Her unique perspective plays an important part in building the company’s network of Research Ready physician practices and preparing them to conduct research. Dr Holmes’ rich perspective — including experience in family medicine, hospice, and palliative medicine that spans solo practice and single specialty and multispecialty group practices — allows her to build rapport with study managers, site staff, and investigators, and provide medical and scientific knowledge to support future growth. Dr Holmes has served as the Principal Investigator for interventional, diagnostic device, and observational trials in several therapeutic indications in Elligo’s eSolutions model and at the Elligo Clinical Research Center. She earned her BS in chemistry and biology from Trevecca University, her MD from ORU School of Medicine, and is board certified in family medicine and hospice and palliative medicine.

Angela Holmes is the CEO and Co-Founder of OmniScience, the company behind Vivo—the first agentic AI control tower for clinical trials. With a background in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech and Johns Hopkins, Angela has spent her career at the intersection of AI and life sciences. She’s held leadership roles across startups and global consultancies, designing and launching AI-driven products to solve complex challenges in healthcare, energy, and finance. Under her leadership, OmniScience has transformed clinical operations by delivering real-time, explainable insights that reduce cost, accelerate timelines, and increase trial success.

Angela was named AI Entrepreneur of the Year by Women in AI North America and serves as an advisor to TMC Innovation, Georgia Tech, and Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures. She has led OmniScience to top honors at the CNS Summit Innovation Showcase and Whale Tank, and to acceptance in prestigious programs including Google for Startups, NVIDIA Inception, and JLABS.

Matt Holms is Vice President, Commercial, Patient Engagement & Recruitment at Citeline, where he oversees the company’s solutions designed to improve patient engagement and trial recruitment. Mr. Holms has spent over 24 years in the Life Science industry, holding various commercial & executive leadership roles, dedicated to driving innovative technology solutions that enhance clinical research across a diverse spectrum of eClinical technology, Patient Recruitment/RWD, and Sponsor organizations. Beyond his professional endeavors, Mr. Holms is passionate about patient access and awareness of clinical research opportunities, having personally experienced life-changing results and benefits as a clinical research study participant.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Holms has held multiple leadership positions at Clinical Ink, Acurian (now AES), Benchling, Medimmune & Eli Lilly.

Mr. Holms holds a BSBA from Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and an MBA from Saint Joseph's University Haub School of Business.

Yi Hong, PhD is a clinical data scientist with a strong foundation in AI-driven operational analytics, trial design and real-world data. Currently Associate Director at Gilead Sciences, he co-leads strategic initiatives to evaluate the impact of the Gilead Trial AI. His work includes developing operational metrics, leveraging real-world data for protocol design, and AI agentic solution to forecast and optimize trial enrollment. Previously, Yi was a Data Scientist at Verana Health, where he built scalable data quality infrastructure for EHR platform. His earlier leadership at Topchoice Medical in China included founding a Center of Operational Excellence, where he led cross-functional teams to implement AI/ML solutions for patient journey mapping, treatment optimization, and predictive modeling. Yi holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge and has published in applied physics and nanoelectronics. His interdisciplinary expertise bridges clinical research, health tech innovation, and advanced analytics, making him a key contributor to the future of AI-enabled clinical trials.

Peyton Howell is Chief Executive Officer of Parexel and a member of the company’s Board of Directors. She has more than 30 years of pharma services and healthcare industry experience.

Peyton served most recently as Chief Operating and Growth Officer responsible for Parexel’s operational delivery, strategy and growth. From 2018 to 2022 she was the company’s Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer, implementing its patient-focused strategy and launching its Biotech business unit. During her tenure Peyton has made a significant impact in growing Parexel’s customer relationships, delivering strong growth in gross new business awards during a period of significant change in the life sciences industry.

Peyton’s healthcare industry experience includes senior leadership positions with AmerisourceBergen (now Cencora), a Fortune 20 company, most recently as President for Health Systems and Specialty Care Solutions, a $50 billion business unit. Prior to AmerisourceBergen, she was a founder of Lash Group, growing the company from an early innovator of patient access services to nearly 5,000 employees and serving as President for nearly 10 years following its acquisition by AmerisourceBergen.

Peyton serves on the Board of Directors of Tandem Diabetes Care (NASDAQ: TNDM), a medical device manufacturer. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) and was its Chairperson in 2024. She holds a Master of Healthcare Administration from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Health Communications from the University of Illinois. In 2022, Peyton was recognized with PharmaVoice’s highest distinction as a Red Jacket honoree, which distinguishes an elite group of leaders viewed as the most inspiring in the life sciences industry.

Eileen Hughes is a Senior Manager in Site Partnerships at CSL Behring, a registered nurse who has worked in research at a clinical site, as a CRA, at a CRO as well as the sponsor. With her experience as a study coordinator and clinical trial educator, she is intimately familiar with challenges faced by our site partners in clinical research. As a site partnership representative, she is working to bring innovative ideas and solutions to facilitate a more streamlined process for study start-up.

Jeff Huntsman is the Chief Commercial Officer for PCM Trials and EmVenio Research, overseeing commercial strategy and revenue growth. Mr. Huntsman joined PCM Trials in 2024 with more than 30 years of experience in the Life Sciences space, where he has led global commercial teams selling pharma services solutions across the clinical development and regulatory lifecycle.

Prior to joining PCM Trials, Mr. Huntsman ran a consulting firm providing strategic advice to private equity, venture capital and emerging growth companies. Earlier in his career, he was the Chief Commercial Officer at Sitero, Citeline, ConnectiveRx, and LIQUENT. He has held executive leadership roles at Clarivate, Parexel, Thomson Reuters, and Rogers Communications as well as having served as a Health Care Advisor at Warburg Pincus and Growth Capital Partners.

As Head of Biopharma at GeneDx, Mahmoud Husseini leads initiatives that integrate genomic data into drug discovery and development. Under his leadership, GeneDx has launched tools like Discover to leverage an industry-leading dataset that contributes to the advancement of targeted therapies, particularly for rare genetic disorders.

Adama Ibrahim is a UK top 100 influential tech leader passionate about diversity and inclusion practices. She is an innovation award winning pharma industry advisory consultant, founder, disruptor, strategy expert, blockchain advocate, technology enabled clinical trials and patient engagement thought leader with over 20 years in the NHS on commission by the DOH and in Industry. Ms Ibrahim has a deep experience of R&D transformation and led strategies and implementation of decentralized digital clinical trials and regulated digital platforms. She is a driver for change through identifying unmet customer needs, digital strategies, implementation and expansion of disruptive digital platform technologies across drug development and commercial lifecycles and customer journeys.

Youssef Idelcaid is the Head of the AI Research Center at Gilead Sciences, where he leads enterprise AI strategy and the deployment of transformative technologies across the drug development lifecycle. His career spans multiple industries—including biotech (Genentech), cosmetics (L’Oréal), fashion (Levi’s), and the food industry (Danone)—giving him a unique cross-sector perspective on the power of AI to drive innovation in complex, regulated environments. Youssef holds an engineering degree in applied mathematics and computing from École Polytechnique Universitaire de Lyon. He is passionate about designing systems that combine science, technology, and strategy to improve outcomes for patients and society.

Bill Illis is the Global Head of Collaboration and Technology Strategy, in the Global Drug Development, Analytics line function at Novartis and is currently responsible for developing the Analytics Technology strategy, initiating, and overseeing a portfolio of analytics capability development and improvement projects.

Mr Illis has over 25 years of industry experience in R&D spanning subject areas of Cancer Epidemiology, Health Care Cost/Utilization Research; Preclinical Safety, and Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs, and functional leadership in Data Mgmt, Programming, Statistics, Data Standards, Data Governance, Information Technology and Operations.

Mr Illis has led business and information technology functions at Novartis, and has developed and led transformation projects in data and digital across the pharma R&D landscape. Mr Illis was appointed as workstream lead for the TransCelerate Digital Data Flow initiative in June 2018. Mr Illis holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health (Biostatistics) from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Providence College.

A technologist with over 25 years of industry experience, Raj Indupuri is responsible for establishing the eClinical Solutions vision and future-looking technology strategy. He is deeply passionate about fostering innovation to revolutionize the Life Sciences industry with ground-breaking technologies that will modernize clinical trials and bring treatments to patients faster. As an industry veteran who has been part of the evolution of Life Sciences and clinical data management for over two decades, Raj has an astute business vision to realize the digital future and enable progress and potential with data and analytics at the core of the company’s innovative products and solutions. Raj is responsible for the overall direction and management of the company and is a Mechanical Engineer with an MBA from Boston University who firmly believes data is the new fuel that will drive human progress.

Racquel Ingram is a seasoned clinical research professional with a strong foundation in biomolecular science and biochemistry. Currently serving as Program Lead at Teckro, Racquel brings over six years of progressive leadership in clinical trial operations, and has directly supported many study teams achieve successful trial outcomes during her five years at Teckro.

Prior to Teckro, Racquel spent three years at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, where she led the execution of complex early-phase oncology trials. Her responsibilities included patient enrolment, protocol compliance, and serving as the primary liaison between site staff and external study teams. She also held a pivotal role as a Data Coordinator, mastering electronic data capture systems and pioneering digital documentation processes.

Racquel holds a Master of Science in Biomolecular Science from Lipscomb University, where her graduate research focused on aging biomarkers in zebrafish. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Middle Tennessee State University, where she also contributed to undergraduate research in enzymatic purification.

A committed advocate for women in science, Racquel has been a collegiate representative for the Association for Women in Science since 2013.

Venky Iyer is Director of Data Strategy & Automations within Information Management Group at Pfizer.  He has over three decades of experience in the pharmaceutical sector delivering key enablers for multiple clients to drive business value. Currently, he is actively involved in several AI/ML strategic initiatives partnering with key stakeholders and driving key concepts for enablement.  He holds a master’s degree in Mathematics and has been with Pfizer since 2019.

Benjamin Jackson (he/him) is Vice President of Commercial at Sano Genetics, where he leads sales, marketing, and strategic partnerships to scale patient-centric solutions in precision medicine and clinical trial matching. With a proven track record across commercial operations, customer success, and program governance, Ben ensures Sano delivers transformative results for global biopharma and research organizations.

Driven by a passion for aligning product–market fit and fostering meaningful collaboration, Ben helps design scalable recruitment strategies that connect trials with the right patients—faster and more efficiently. Prior to Sano, he served as EVP of Commercial at BC Platforms, where his customer-first mindset guided data‑driven programs in rare disease drug development. Earlier in his career at PatientKeeper (now Commure), Ben led implementation and change-management initiatives that improved operational efficiency and clinical quality across health systems.

Ben holds a B.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (with a minor in Philosophy) from Boston University, where he also contributed to marine biology research focused on immune pathways. An Enterprise CRO School alumnus and certified Scrum Master, he blends technical insight with agile leadership to drive innovation and growth.

As a founding board member of Elevate Youth and former Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer, Ben brings empathy and community-rooted leadership to everything he does. At the 2025 panel on Clinical Trial Patient Matching, he’ll share insights on scaling patient-first operations in the evolving landscape of precision trials.

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Andrew leads ZS’s Integrated Data Review initiative, which aims to transform clinical data review from siloed functional processes to technology-enabled cross-functional data review across pharma sponsors. He works with leaders across clinical development and R&D IT to remove barriers to data quality and to reduce cycle times.

Within ZS, Andrew serves as the North America-North regional champion for driving firm-wide GenAI adoption.

Hassan Kadhim is the Business Engagement Leader for Clinical Operations and Development for Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Prior to this role, he was the Global Head of Clinical Trial Business Capabilities & Clinical Innovation at BMS, where his team governed the business technology capabilities strategy within Global Development Operations, and drove changes and innovation towards better outcomes for clinical trial stakeholders. Mr Kadhim is passionate about transforming the clinical research arena in the pharma industry through the use of technologies and patient-centric clinical trials, and is a firm believer of the need for clinical innovation grounded in strong business practices for sustainability, change management and adherence to compliance and regulatory commitments. Mr Kadhim regularly appears and speaks at industry events around improving the clinical trial experience with digital tools, and wrote “The Remote Clinical Trials Model” whitepaper in 2016, to formalize a new patient-centric clinical trial research model leading to what we know today as Decentralized Clinical Trials. Mr Kadhim actively collaborates across industry collaborations such as Transcelerate and others to advance relevant and high-value industry challenges.

He has degrees in bioinformatics and pharmaceutical sciences, both from the University of Montreal in Canada.

Dr Mitchell Katz recently joined Kyowa Kirin, Inc. as Senior Vice President, Global Clinical Operations. In this position, he is responsible for leading the strategic and operational framework of Kyowa Kirin’s clinical development programs within the Global Development Organization. He provides leadership and oversight of the clinical operations team in North America, the European Union, and Japan. Dr Katz also ensures operational excellence and continuous improvement of processes in all clinical operations activities.

Dr Katz has over 25 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, including preclinical and clinical research, pharmaceutical operations, and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining Kyowa Kirin, Inc. he served as Vice President, Development Operations at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He also served as Head of Clinical Research and Drug Safety Operations at Purdue Pharma L.P. Dr Katz has experience working in start-up biotechnology companies, including Acorda Therapeutics, InterMune, Connetics, and NABI. He also held management positions at Eisai, Ortho Biotech and Schering-Plough and participated in seven successful NDA submissions in his professional career.

Dr Katz holds a BA in Biology, a PhD in Microbiology, and served as a postdoctoral research fellow at Downstate Medical Center in NY.

Ariel Katz is the CEO and Co-founder of H1, the leading healthcare platform that connects the world to the right doctors. Named to the Top 25 HealthTech Entrepreneurs of New York for 2025, Ariel leads H1 in delivering access to the largest network of doctors worldwide to accelerate drug development & commercialization, advance clinical research, and connect patients with the right care. Katz co-founded H1 in 2017 after previously launching ResearchConnection to help connect students with research opportunities, which grew to over 40 universities and was acquired by the Jefferson Accelerator Fund, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Ewing Kauffman Foundation.

Jill Kearney has worked in Clinical Development for 30 years.

She is currently the Head of Trial Strategy and Delivery at Genmab. In this role, Jill provides strategic and operational leadership to drive the implementation of clinical development strategies across all phases of the Genmab Development portfolio. Jill leads a global team of clinical trial professionals, fostering high-quality planning and execution of clinical trials, including strategic partnership with Clinical Research Organizations, and inspection readiness across the portfolio.

Before her current role, Jill worked as a Global Operations Head of Oncology at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine focused on the strategy, execution, and delivery of the Oncology Early Development portfolio. Before that, she was the Director of Licensing & Acquisitions leading integrations and strategic Due Diligence in support of Collaboration & Licensing deals, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), and Out-licensing/Divestiture opportunities. In the past as a Global Development Program Leader, Jill was responsible for building a top-line, cohesive Portfolio Delivery Operations team and for shaping clinical trial execution at Janssen.

Prior to J&J, Jill worked in many roles overseeing the development of several early and late-stage Oncology assets. She has worked as a CRA, Global Trial Leader, Clinical Program Manager, and Clinical Scientist. She has managed a variety of clinical trials from large international registrational programs, and complicated adaptive trial designs, to First in Human trials. Jill has lead several initiatives to improve the efficiency of oncology trial start-up and execution.

Jill holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology and a Master of Business Administration with a focus in Healthcare.

Nicole Keidel is a seasoned healthcare thought leader based in St. Louis, with over a decade of experience at Evernorth Health Services. Since joining the organization in 2014, Nicole has held a variety of strategic roles, evolving into a trusted leader known for her ability to drive innovation, build meaningful partnerships, and deliver measurable impact across the healthcare landscape. In 2020, Nicole transitioned into a sales-focused role focusing mainly on life sciences, where she has excelled in cultivating strategic relationships and expanding Evernorth’s reach in the patient recruitment landscape. Her deep understanding of the healthcare ecosystem, combined with her collaborative approach, has positioned her as a key advisor to clients navigating complex challenges in patient recruitment and other clinical trial challenges.

Nicole holds a Bachelor’s degree from Truman State University, where she developed a strong foundation in critical thinking and strategic communication. She is passionate about creating value through partnership, whether with clients, internal stakeholders, or industry collaborators. Her leadership style is grounded in transparency, empathy, and a relentless focus on outcomes.

Nicole’s career reflects a commitment to transforming healthcare through strategic insight, operational excellence, and a genuine dedication to improving lives.

Faisal M. Khan, PhD is the Corporate Vice President for Artificial Intelligence and Analytics at Novo Nordisk. His team focuses on the applications of AI and data science throughout the drug development lifecycle. His interests focus on the intersections of data science, digital health, biostatistics, bioimaging, personalized medicine, and healthcare delivery. His career has encompassed all aspects of healthcare and biomedical analytics, including diagnostics, devices, clinical trials/therapeutics, and payers/insurance. Dr Khan has worked or consulted across academia and industry with both startups and Fortune-50 companies. He has over 100 published papers, abstracts, and patents on the applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence for healthcare and the life sciences.

Sheraz Khan is Director of Data Science at Pfizer. Sheraz lead operational-AI/ML group in AI/ML Quantitative and Digital Sciences. He obtained his PhD in Computational and Applied Mathematics from the Ecole Polytechnique, France, and has major interests in machine learning, Bayesian statistics and information geometry. He has over two decades of experience in developing signal processing and machine learning algorithms for multivariate time series data. Before joining Pfizer in 2022, he was an Assistant Professor at the Harvard University.

Diagnosed in her teens, Sabina Kineen is passionate about educating others how the diagnosis of an inherited, rare disease can impact an entire family and sharing the unique perspective of living as both a patient and a caregiver. Ms Kineen strives to use her own life experiences, including her involvement and participation in clinical trials, to support patients and industry in order to build bridges and encourage health equity and patient engagement.

Adam Kinsey is currently Associate Vice President and Regional Head of North America for Global Clinical Trial Operations (GCTO) at Merck Research Laboratories. Mr Kinsey has over 26 years of clinical research experience, with the last 8.5 years at Merck. He has been a key leader within GCTO, most recently serving as Executive Director, Clinical Sciences & Study Management and Therapeutic Area Section Head for Melanoma, Hepatobiliary Cancers, and Innovative Strategies. Previously, Mr Kinsey was Clinical Research Director in Oncology where he led country operations activities in the United States for Merck’s oncology pipeline. He started his career as a Clinical Research Associate (CRA) and has traversed through various roles in clinical operations of increasing responsibility and scope. Mr Kinsey also has experience across a wide array of therapeutic areas with companies of different sizes and operating models. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Rice University and completed post-baccalaureate coursework at Houston Baptist University as well as coursework towards a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.

Lew Klein is a Senior Director working within R&D IT at AstraZeneca.  During his tenure at AstraZeneca, he has held both delivery and capability roles across R&D and IT. Klein currently serves as the IT Capability lead covering Clinical Oncology, Regulatory, Quality, and Vaccines & Immune Therapies.

Dr Paul Kluetz is a medical oncologist who has published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and remains clinically active, caring for patients and supervising medical residents as a teaching attending at Georgetown University Hospital. As Chief Medical Officer at Paradigm Health, Dr Kluetz helps advance Paradigm Health’s technology platform focused on improving clinical trial access for all patients through innovative approaches to optimize trial screening, accrual, and efficient conduct. Prior to Paradigm Health, Dr Kluetz served as Deputy Director of the Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). During his tenure at FDA, Dr Kluetz founded and led several initiatives including the OCE’s patient-focused drug development program, real-world evidence program, and trial modernization efforts including pragmatic and decentralized trial designs.

Sara Kohnke, PhD, is a Senior Data Scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where she uses data to support optimized execution of clinical trials. Before joining Vertex, Sara helped scale data science efforts at Boston-based biotech EQRx. Both in her work and personal life, she is passionate about leveraging data to make healthcare more accessible. Sara earned her PhD in Clinical Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge and holds an MS in Neuroscience from University College London.

Bari Kowal joined Regeneron in 2015 and became Head of Global Clinical Operations in 2017. Ms Kowal currently serves as Senior Vice President, Development Operations and Portfolio Management and is responsible for clinical trial strategy and execution, along with overseeing our development shared services functions.

Prior to Regeneron, Ms Kowal was previously at Pfizer where she held the positions of Vice President, Business Operations and Analytics, and, prior to that, Vice President, Strategic Alliance and Development Operations Lead. Ms. Kowal also served as Vice President, Clinical Operations, on the clinical research organization side of the industry at a number of biotech organizations in a variety of clinical research roles early in her career. She holds a BS in Biology from the State University of New York at Binghamton and an MS in Neuroscience from New York University.

Julien Kroll is a Strategic Lead in Data Science & AI at Bayer, focusing on implementing Digital Health Technologies in clinical trials and managing Bayer's collaboration with DEEP Measure. His pivotal role in supporting Decentralized Clinical Trials has driven innovation in clinical operations. Julien's career began in procurement, managing global sourcing and negotiations for clinical trial technology at Bayer and Sanofi. He holds a Master's in Strategic Procurement and a Master's in Organic Chemistry from Grenoble University.

Sylvie Kruyner is a Clinical Study Manager and Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCT) Advisor at Bayer. Bringing deep expertise in global clinical trial operations, she combines a passion for innovation with a customer-centric approach to advance patient-focused research.

She has accumulated over 15 years of experience managing complex trials within both CRO and sponsor settings across Europe and the US, and has been with Bayer since 2014. Sylvie has played a pioneering role in designing and implementing hybrid and fully virtual decentralized clinical trials, helping to transform traditional study frameworks.

She holds a Master’s degree in Health Care Management from Ghent University, Belgium, and currently lives in Overland Park, US.

Sergey Krymgold is Executive Director of Development Systems and Data Strategy at Moderna, where he leads the strategy, roadmap, and execution of digital and data platforms that enable clinical development. With over two decades of experience spanning data science, technology innovation, and clinical operations, he has successfully advanced initiatives in CTMS, RBQM, and end-to-end data integration. Sergey is recognized for driving digital transformation, building AI/ML-enabled capabilities, and fostering cross-functional collaboration to improve trial efficiency, compliance, and quality. His leadership reflects a consistent focus on operational excellence, regulatory readiness, and accelerating time-to-market for innovative medicines.

Sarah Krüg is the founder of the Health Collaboratory, a global innovation hub that paves the path for participatory co-design and collaboration in healthcare, with a focus on amplifying the voice of the patient and care/support partner in the design, development and continuous improvement of healthcare innovations. The Health Collaboratory has launched various innovations such as Prescription to Learn®, a Health GPS, and the Patient Shark Tank®, among others. Through the Patient Shark Tank ®, over 19,000 patients and care/support partners across disease states have evaluated innovations across the globe, including technology, education, research, and policy. 

Ms Krüg is the CEO of CANCER101, a patient advocacy organization whose mission is to help patients and care/support partners navigate the cancer journey and partner with their healthcare team to make informed decisions. She is also the Acting Executive Director and Past President of the Society for Participatory Medicine, a patient: clinician member driven organization, whose mission is to enable collaborative partnerships between patients and healthcare professionals. She serves on the board of the National Organization for Rare Disorders.  Ms Krüg is also the author of “A Roadmap to Wellness”.

She previously held the position of Global Education Director as well as Patient Advocacy Lead at Pfizer. She also established the Global Investigator Initiated Research Program at Pfizer.  Prior to joining Pfizer, Ms Krüg spearheaded the development of the Disease Management Clinical Pathways and conducted clinical research at Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center. 

As a trained data scientist and biotechnologist, Mr Biswajit specializes in leveraging the transformative power of data to drive scientific discoveries. With over 17 years of dynamic experience in the healthcare industry, Mr Biswajit garnered a sterling reputation as a versatile, hands-on techno-functional leader, with an exemplary proficiency in data science, Clinical data operations, stats and programming, Real World Evidence, RPA and Six Sigma methodologies.

Fueled by his deep understanding of clinical data operations, statistics, and programming, Mr Biswajit also carries a keen interest in data exploration. He leverages top-tier tools like R Shiny and Python to parse through complex data networks, unearthing crucial insights that power decisive clinical advancements.

Mr Biswajit tenure is marked with leading a multitude of projects, successfully translating intricate business needs into inventive strategies that have consistently yielded notable results. His expertise includes overseeing an array of innovative submission and non-submission trials, such as interventional, non-interventional studies, Real-World Evidence (RWE), and health economics and outcome research (HEOR), where he handles everything from concept design to data acquisition and analysis strategies.

At the heart of Mr Biswajit’s prowess lies ground-breaking work in data linkage through tokenization. By binding data from diverse sources, he has been able to generate an encompassing and comprehensive view of patient health journeys, thus accelerating evidence generation.

As a passionate advocate for technology, he dedicated to improving patient outcomes and driving healthcare innovation. Mr Biswajit’s portfolio includes the successful implementation of purpose-fit digital health solutions such as wearables and sensors and leading the charge in adopting electronic clinical outcome assessments (eCOA).

Mr Biswajit brings with a wealth of experience, passion, and a deep commitment to using data science as a catalyst for innovative advancements in healthcare for the patients.

Vivian Cheng Larsen is a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience in healthcare, specializing in patient engagement and advancing scientific innovations through clinical trial diversity. As Associate Director at Exelixis, she leads strategies to enhance patient recruitment and retention, ensuring inclusive and equitable clinical research. Vivian has held senior roles at GSK and Takeda, where she championed patient centricity throughout R&D and built global initiatives to embed diverse patient voices into drug development.

A passionate advocate for underserved communities, she has been featured in national media for her work in advancing health equity and mobilizing action around cancer patient needs, including raising awareness for diverse participation in clinical trials and bone marrow donor registries.

Justas Lauzadis, PhD, is the Chief Research Officer at New York Cancer & Blood Specialists (NYCBS). With over 10 years of experience in clinical research and a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology from Stony Brook University, he is dedicated to advancing oncology research.

Steven Lee is the Director of Strategy at Click Therapeutics, where he is at the forefront of the future of digital therapeutics and drug+software combination products. With over a decade of advisory experience in the Pharma and BioTech industries, he brings focused expertise in market access and commercialization of innovative treatment solutions. Prior to Click, Steven led strategic advisory teams that helped solve commercialization challenges for leading pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Joe Lengfellner is a dedicated digital health innovator with a passion for applying technology strategies in clinical research. He strives to enhance the experiences of patients, clinicians, and research teams by implementing cutting-edge solutions that streamline processes, bolster communication, and optimize data management.

As the Senior Director of Clinical Research Informatics and Technology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), Mr Lengfellner has spearheaded numerous large-scale research technology initiatives, such as the implementation of MSK's Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS), the development and deployment of eConsent for research, the management of the Electronic Data Capture (EDC) ecosystem, and leading the implementation of Epic for research at MSK.

Mr Lengfellner is deeply interested in streamlining clinical data pipelines from EHR systems to research platforms, aiming to reduce the data management workload on sites and simultaneously enhance data quality while also lowering costs for both sites and sponsors.

A strong advocate for collaboration, he believes in forging partnerships among clinical research sites, technology vendors, and industry sponsors to develop clinical trial technology solutions that benefit all stakeholders and ultimately accelerate the pace of clinical trial execution.

In addition to his role at MSK, Mr Lengfellner leads the Clinical Research Innovation Consortium, a group designed to spearhead innovation within the clinical research industry. Under his leadership, the consortium works to foster collaboration and drive forward-thinking solutions that address the evolving challenges in clinical research. Through his work with the consortium, Mr Lengfellner is committed to shaping the future of clinical research by promoting innovation and excellence across the industry.

Patty Leuchten is Founder/CEO of Diligent Pharma, a tech-enabled service firm focused on quality and compliance. With 30+ years of experience in clinical trials, Patty is a leading authority on global clinical outsourcing, strategic alliances, and driving change in clinical trial execution. At Diligent, Patty is transforming the current approach to identifying/qualifying clinical trial vendors to drive time savings and efficiency while ensuring quality and compliance. Diligent’s platform can shave 100+ days off the vendor qualification process, providing the potential to accelerate clinical trial start-up timelines. Prior to Diligent, Patty founded The Avoca Group, a firm focused on driving improvements in clinical trial execution. Avoca was the first organization in the industry to launch an industry-wide collaborative focused on quality - the Avoca Quality Consortium (AQC). Patty is a frequent speaker and writer on topics surrounding clinical outsourcing, innovation in life sciences, and quality/risk management in clinical trial execution.

Brandon Li is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Power, a platform aimed at democratizing access to clinical trials. Brandon’s background is in building technology products and marketplaces which make it easy to navigate traditionally opaque spaces. With Power, Brandon aims to simplify the complex process of finding and connecting with leading medical research.

Brandon's motivation for founding Power came from a personal experience. A close friend faced significant challenges in finding and enrolling in a clinical trial after her cancer relapsed. Her journey highlighted the difficulties patients encounter when seeking treatment options. Inspired by her story, Brandon and his co-founder, Bask, decided to develop a patient-first platform that connects individuals directly with medical researchers, making it easier for patients to find the clinical trials they need.

Prior to joining Novartis, Sean Lynch was VP, Clinical Operations at DCT provider, Curebase. Mr Lynch has previously worked as Senior Director of Clinical Project Management at biotechnology research company, TrialSpark. He also served as Senior Director of Global Sales at clinical research organization (CRO), Syntactx. He worked for nearly seven years at healthcare IT and clinical research company Quintiles (now IQVIA) in Clinical Data Management roles.

Trân is Co-founder and CEO of Grove AI. She is a former Stanford Medicine AI researcher who built systems to boost patient engagement and streamline trial operations. Her own experiences navigating chronic illness and clinical trials drive Grove AI’s participant-centric focus. Holds a BS in Computer Science (AI) and an MS in Management Science and Engineering (MS&E) from Stanford.

With 20 years of experience in managing clinical trials at large Pharma, Biotech and CRO companies, Andrew Mackinnon, Executive GM at Medable, leverages his broad operational expertise to improve how the deployment of clinical trial technology and decentralised methodologies are utilized. From his involvement in one of the earliest deployments of decentralized methodologies, he has been passionate about the benefits that this approach can bring in reducing the burden of clinical research on both sites and patients

Katie serves as the Director of Digital Enablement at GSK, driving the adoption of innovative digital health technologies within Clinical Operations. With a rich background spanning over 12 years and a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, she expertly navigates Digital Health Strategy and Operations with Agile methodologies. As a published author and Digital Health Subject Matter Expert, Katie is a strategic owner behind GSK's award-winning Digital Health Platform, showcasing her leadership in transforming patient engagement through technology.

Subha Madhavan, PhD, is a dynamic and results-driven leader with a strong track record of excellence in organizations that operate at the nexus of science, technology and business. Dr Madhavan is currently the Head of Clinical AI/ML and Quantitative and Digital Sciences at Pfizer worldwide R&D where she leads a team focused on advancing insights and innovation through application of data science and digital technologies across research and development programs. Prior to joining Pfizer, she initiated and successfully directed several productive clinical research and development programs at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, MedStar hospital network, FDA, NIH and BioPharma industry. Dr Madhavan was co-leader of the FDA’s Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science and worked with the Clinical Pharmacology teams in CDER and Vaccine safety teams in CBER to enhance evidence for safety and efficacy of products. She was an advisory member to the Biden Foundation’s Cancer Moonshot Program and helped develop policies and guidelines for pre- competitive data sharing initiatives across Pharma, Health Tech companies and research organizations to drive innovation. She has been recognized for her work through several awards including the Service to America award in the Science and Environment category (2005), Research Acceleration Award by AACR and Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (2015), Women in Tech Global award (2021) and Global Data Power Award (2024).

Heather Manley brings over 12 years of experience in clinical research, specializing in phase II–IV sponsor trials, investigator-initiated studies, and CRO capacities. Her expertise spans site operations, monitoring, data management, and statistical analysis. She has worked extensively in therapeutic areas including migraine, chronic pain, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and rheumatic conditions.

Heather holds a Master of Science in Psychology with a graduate certificate in Statistics and Research Design. She joined Clinvest over a decade ago, initially supporting CRO activities for investigator-initiated trials. For the past 10+ years, she has served as Site Director, where she leads clinical trial operations, ensures adherence to high-quality standards, and collaborates closely with sponsors, CROs, and key stakeholders to drive trial success from initiation through closeout.

Since Clinvest became part of the Headlands Research network in 2023, Heather has continued to lead the site while contributing to broader network initiatives and strategic committees. Her deep operational knowledge and leadership experience position her as a valuable resource to both Clinvest Headlands and its research partners.

17 years of experience managing site operations across regulatory, source, finance, recruitment, and clinical workflows Oversees regulatory, eSource, eCRF data entry, contracts and budgets, as well as quality Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Outcomes, and Policy Graduate certificate in Pharmaceutical Regulation Eagle Scout and enjoys sharing that experience with his twin sons

Sylvia Marecki leads Portfolio Reporting & Analytics at Moderna, delivering trusted insights across Development functions at a study, program, and portfolio level. Previously, she led the Operational Design Center at EMD Serono, the healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the US, which informed less complex, more operationally feasible study designs and operational plans. Prior to joining EMD Serono, Sylvia spent over 15 years leading development and commercialization of intelligence solutions and services at Citeline, Decision Resources Group (now Clarivate), and TriNetX that continue to empower strategic, data-driven decision making across the pharmaceutical industry. She received her Doctorate in Pathology and Immunology from Boston University School of Medicine and is based in the greater Boston area.​

Lindsay Mateo joined Weave in April 2024 as Chief Commercial Officer, bringing a rich background in life sciences and healthtech. Prior to Weave, she served as CCO at Velsera (formerly Pierian/UgenTec/SevenBridges), where she led commercial strategy during the company’s launch at JPM 2023. Earlier, she held leadership roles at Tempus Labs as Head of Life Sciences, and served as SVP of Commercial Operations at Navican. Lindsay’s career also includes significant sales and operations leadership at Genoptix.

She holds an MBA in International Business from Florida Atlantic University and a BA in Communications from the College of Charleston.

At Weave, Lindsay is responsible for driving go-to-market strategy and adoption of the AI-native Weave Platform—ushering in a new era of regulatory automation that accelerates regulatory drafting and submission readiness.

Keri Mattox is Chief Business Officer for Parexel. In this role, she leads the company’s business operations and growth strategy. Ms. Mattox brings more than 25 years of healthcare experience across corporate strategy and development, investor relations, communications and environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs. Prior to joining Parexel, Ms Mattox served as Chief Communications and Administration Officer at Zimmer Biomet, a global leader in medical technology. Her experience also includes serving as Global Lead of Integrated Corporate Communications at W2O Group (now Real Chemistry) and Vice President, Corporate & Investor Relations at Fortune 20 company AmerisourceBergen (now Cencora). Ms Mattox also held executive leadership positions at Endo International and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in her career, she held roles as Executive Vice President at Pure Communications, Director of Economic Development at the University of Pennsylvania and Business Writer for Hearst Newspapers.

Ms Mattox holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Boston University and a Master of Arts in Journalism from the University of Maryland.

Robert McChane leads Marketing and Patient Acquisition for AutoCruitment. With more than 15 years of healthcare leadership experience, Robert has a proven track record in attracting, engaging and retaining patients for leading healthcare organizations.

Most recently, Robert led Marketing at VirtualHealth where he led a complete overhaul of the Marketing function, more than doubling customer growth. Prior to VirtualHealth, Robert held senior marketing roles at UnitedHealthcare and Optum, leading direct to patient recruitment efforts for government programs including Medicare and Medicaid.

Robert received an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Todd McGrath has over 19 years’ experience in the clinical trial and life science industry across pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

Today, Todd is Chief Operating Officer and General Manager for MRN’s Home Trial Support solution. In this role he oversees all global operations for the company. Todd’s leadership has been instrumental to MRN’s pharma clients, guiding them through operational challenges to finding hybrid trial success and opportunities to maximize their return on investment. Todd’s passion for making trials more accessible and less burdensome for patients and their families, continues to drive MRN’s vision of allowing more people to participate in trials and getting drugs to the market and patients, faster.

Sarah McKeown-Cannon (she/her) is the Senior Vice President and Head of Clinical Research at Heartbeat, where she is flipping the script on traditional recruitment and retention. Heartbeat isn’t in the business of chasing referrals or measuring success by vanity metrics. Instead, Sarah leads the charge in fixing the “leaky funnel” once and for all—by shifting the focus to patient activation. At Heartbeat Clinical Research, Sarah and her team meet patients where they are, ensuring they aren’t just found but are ready, willing, and empowered to take action. This means moving beyond outdated recruitment tactics and instead designing sustained engagement strategies that transform passive candidates into active participants in their own health journey. Her commitment to health equity is evident in every initiative she leads—ensuring that underrepresented communities aren’t just included in research but are centered in it. As Co-Chair of the Reflections collective, she extends this work even further, driving industry-wide change for more inclusive, patient-first clinical trials. A MM&M 40 Under 40 honoree, Sarah bridges global healthcare intelligence with deep behavioral insights, ensuring every study doesn’t just recruit but activates. Through her bold vision and relentless leadership, she is shaping the future of clinical research—one where patients aren’t just participants but powerful advocates in their own care.

Yvonne McLean Florence, MDiv, is a wife, mother and G-mom who was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and now living with no evidence of disease. She is a breast cancer survivor, the former President/Founder of Sisters R Us Circle of Survivors and an independent patient advocate.

She received a Masters of Divinity from Palmer Theological Seminary formerly Eastern Baptist Seminary in 2010, completed the AACR Scientist and Survivors Program, National Breast Cancer Coalition Project LEAD Program in 2018, the University of Pennsylvania Community Research Scholar Program in 2019; and, in 2023 the MBCRC Advocate Researcher Program and the Alamo Advocate Scholar Program during the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Ms McLean Florence has been involved in patient, research and public policy advocacy with an emphasis on clinical trials, community participatory research, diversity, equity and inclusion, quality of care/life for patients and survivorship. As a way to keep the voice of the patient elevated in cancer research, she continues to serve on numerous peer review panels for local and national organizations as a patient advocate, a patient stakeholder, a consumer reviewer and advocate mentor.

She is one ten ambassadors for the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) 2023-24 Elevate Ambassador Program and a member of their Cancer Policy Advocate Team (CPAT). She is also blessed to represent Delaware County in the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition’s Traveling Exhibit 67 Counties, 67 Women Affected by Breast Cancer and serve as a County Block Captain for their Driving Out Breast Cancer Campaign.

Matt is the Senior Vice President of Compliance & Categories. Matt has been involved in drug research and discovery for over 24 years. Prior to his role in Scientist.com he was a senior research scientist at AstraZeneca before moving to procurement as a global category manager supporting pre-clinical research and human biological sample acquisition. Since joining Scientist.com he has developed our third party vendor risk management solution, which is now widely accepted across the industry, as well as our award-winning COMPLi® platform and on-site pre-assessment program VERIF.i®. Using his knowledge of the industry he has supported the creation of our category approaches to HBS, In Vivo, CMC, Biomarkers and is leading the Clinical expansion to benefit both our clients and suppliers.

Life science healthcare executive with global experience in biotechnology and technology. Meldrum is currently CEO of AdhereTech, a HealthTech company focused on improving medication adherence in clinical trials and real-world settings. Previously, he served as CEO of Reset Pharma, developing psychedelics for mental health disorders, and as Chief Commercial Officer for Otsuka Pharmaceuticals North America, where he delivered revenue growth despite pandemic challenges.

His career includes commercial leadership at Orexo, where he developed the award-winning "Out The Monster" campaign, and 11 years at Novartis Pharma in the US and Switzerland. Before healthcare, Meldrum spent 10 years in technology, building on his Electrical and Electronic degree from Strathclyde University.

Meldrum brings extensive expertise in psychiatry, neuroscience, respiratory, dermatology, and digital health, with demonstrated success across organizations of all sizes. Outside work, he's a certified scotch professional and enthusiastic golfer.

Thérèse Menear is a seasoned and experienced leader within the drug development space, specifically within clinical trial operations and execution. She joined Exelixis in September 2022 and during her tenure has served as Vice President, Clinical Operations and most recently, she has assumed the role of Vice President, Operational Excellence. From November 2006 to September 2022, Thérèse was at GSK where she held many roles of increasing responsibility, to include Vice President, Global Pharma Clinical Delivery in which she led a global team of approximately 300 members across approximately 200 clinical trials. Prior to GSK, Thérèse was a member of the Project Management (PM) team at Covance, a contract research organization, where she eventually led the North American PM Team, a team of 75 seasoned PM professionals. She started her career at Clinical Research Group, an oncology site management organization and over her 5 years with CRG, she helped grow the company from a 4 to 50 person company while serving as a member of the executive leadership team; Thérèse credits this initial experience to the start of her 30+ year career helping to bring new medicines to patients in need. Thérèse holds a BA degree from University of Scranton in International Languages & Business. She resides in Havertown, PA, with her family.

Brian Mitchell holds both bachelor's and master’s degrees in Nutrition and Dietetics from California State University, Northridge. Beginning his career as a Nutrition Counselor, he transitioned into clinical research in 2010 as a Study Coordinator, later gaining experience in a large cardiology clinic. His passion for advancing clinical science led him to join IQVIA in 2015 as a Clinical Research Associate supporting Amgen trials.

Progressing rapidly, Brian moved into project management in 2018 and was hired directly by Amgen in 2019 as a Development Feasibility Manager. He was promoted to Sr. Manager in 2020, leading U.S. feasibility, study start-up, and contracts/budgets. In 2023, he became Director of Development Operations, overseeing U.S. clinical site operations, and in 2025, accepted a stretch assignment as Regional Head of the United States.

With a family rooted in medicine—his father a cardiologist and mother a nurse—Brian brings a uniquely patient- and site-centric perspective to drug development. His cross-functional experience enables him to apply operational insight with strategic leadership, maintaining a strong emphasis on quality and speed in clinical trial execution.

Outside of work, Brian remains engaged with the wellness community, staying current in nutrition, dietetics, and exercise science. Throughout his career, he has made meaningful contributions to Amgen’s pipeline and exemplifies a holistic approach to clinical development.

Lauren Mitteer manages a comprehensive translational and clinical research portfolio as the Clinical Research Program Manager for the Congenital Hyperinsulinism Center under Dr. Diva De Leon, Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She has played a critical role in the development of this rare disease research program which includes resources and infrastructure to support investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical trials. This work has led to research relationships with over 10 industry partners, an exceptional accomplishment, particularly for a rare disease program. She is sought out as a subject matter expert on a range of clinical trial aspects including sponsor relationships, site activation, recruitment, regulatory compliance, and the conduct of successful regulatory agency inspections.

Natalie Monegro has been the Director of the Clinical Research Equity team at Novo Nordisk since June 2024. Before Novo Nordisk, she held a similar role at AbbVie since 2021. Natalie builds new capabilities for study teams across various therapy areas to proactively ensure trial populations are representative of the disease populations being studied.

Prior to joining Natalie spent the previous 15 years as a regulatory and communications consultant, coaching and preparing sponsors for FDA advisory committee meetings. Her experience spans the entire spectrum of clinical development and encompasses all therapeutic areas. Natalie’s wide-ranging expertise establishes her as a thought leader in promoting global harmonization of inclusive clinical trial practices.

Natalie holds joint master’s degrees in health systems & policy (MPH) and marketing (MBA) from Rutgers University and a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science from the University of Pennsylvania

Amanda Moore has nearly 20 years of clinical operations and development experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry with a track record of leading innovation in clinical trials, pioneering operating committee relationships, and oversight of global development programs. Ms Moore joined Abeona in October 2020, holding positions of increasing responsibility, and most recently served as Senior Director, Head of Program Leadership. Previously, she has served in clinical operations and development roles with Biogen, Reckitt Benckiser, Sage Therapeutics and Intercell. Ms Moore holds a master’s degree in Health Science from the George Washington University.

Eileen Moran is the Executive Director of Evidence Development Solutions at UBC, where she leads an operational team focused on designing and implementing innovative approaches that harness advanced technology and modern research methodologies. Her work delivers fit-for-purpose evidence on the safety and effectiveness of treatments, ultimately improving outcomes for patients.

Prior to joining UBC, Ms. Moran spent 25 years at Covance/Labcorp, where she held progressively senior roles, culminating in her position as Global Head of Delivery for Phase IV Solutions. Throughout her career, she has been instrumental in developing real-world evidence operational strategies that enhance understanding of the safety profiles and value propositions of medical treatments.

Kissondra Morris is the Oncology Protocol Review Committee Lead in the Clinical Center of Excellence at Bristol Myers Squibb, where she oversees the scientific rigor and quality of oncology clinical trial documents. With over 10 years of experience in drug development, she has held roles spanning Innovation and Digital Health, Study Optimization, and Trial Digitalization.

At BMS, she has partnered across functions and with external collaborators to introduce new approaches in RWD and trial innovation that improve study design, streamline site technology, and strengthen patient experience. Earlier in her career, she held research roles at Moffitt Cancer Center, the University of South Florida, and Intezyne. She holds an MBA, an MS in Biotechnology, a Graduate Certificate in Intellectual Property, and she has contributed over 4,000 volunteer hours in healthcare and environmental projects.

Charlotte Moser, MD, PhD, MBA, is Chief Medical Officer for Parexel. In this role Dr. Moser leads the company’s Global Medical Services (GMS) team in providing medical and scientific leadership globally, building on Parexel’s regulatory and therapeutic expertise with a significant focus on innovative drug development strategies and clinical trial design.

Dr Moser is a (radiation) oncologist who has worked as a clinician and researcher for more than 25 years and across both drug (small molecule, biological and targeted agents) and medical device (diagnostics, biomarkers, software) development. Her experience includes serving as head of clinical development at biotechnology and life sciences companies, bringing her clinical expertise to the early development of targeted oncology diagnostics and therapeutics and working closely with global regulators to support the approval of new therapies. She brings a unique combination of strategic clinical development leadership as well as experience as a principal investigator.

Dr Moser most recently served as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development for Celcuity, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on development of targeted therapies for treatment of multiple solid tumor indications.

Dr Moser earned an MD from Vrije University Amsterdam. She completed oncology training and earned a PhD in Biostatistics at the University of Leiden in The Netherlands. Dr. Moser also earned an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a certificate in drug development (Oncology and Cancer Biology) from Harvard Medical School. She is a strong advocate for innovation, driving better safety and efficiency in cancer care and improvement of global access.

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Barry Nelson has been a resident of Boston for over thirty years and has deep ties to the local community. A retired risk management professional, with credentialing for business continuity and disaster recovery planning, Mr Nelson has a background in technology that extends across multiple industries, including financial services and banking, airlines, and government contracting.

Since 2012, Mr Nelson has served as a patient experience presenter and patient advisor and he regularly participates in patient and family centered conferences, patient experience panels, and other events where he discusses opportunities for improving long-term health care outcomes. Mr Nelson has participated on multiple research initiatives that focus on patient centered outcomes and healthcare improvements at the Brigham and Women’s Center for Patients and Families and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Mr Nelson’s spirit of activism is centered on his Christian faith and he is the co-chair of the “Somebody Prayed For Me, Let Us Pray with You” weekly prayer call.

As a patient volunteer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Patients and Families, Mr Nelson supports several Patient Family Advisory Councils, Steering Committees, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Initiatives (PCORI), and other research goals focused on patient care and engagement. Mr Nelson also volunteers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and provides support for marketing, fundraising, and community outreach.

Mr Nelson is a volunteer and board member for common cathedral, a nonprofit faith organization focused on the homeless community, providing weekly worship on the Boston Common, Street Ministry, educational outreach program to youth and their support entities.

Carrie Northcott, PhD is the Head of Digital Sciences, within the Biomeasures, Endpoints and Study Technologies (BEST) group at Pfizer, Inc. She leads a driven and diverse team that is developing, validating, and utilizing digital health technologies (DHTs) and novel digital endpoints (NDEs). These DHTs and NDEs are used to further characterize diseases for patients, health care providers and scientists, as well as demonstrate drug efficacy in clinical trials. Carrie has a diverse scientific background in Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Physiology which provides her unique insight into understanding how these NDEs provide meaningful information to patients, physicians and researchers to better treat and understand diseases.

Brian O’Dwyer is President of Global Clinical Development, which comprises Clinical Operations, (both Full Service Core and Functional Service Provider Operations), IQVIA Biotech, IQVIA MedTech, Patient & Site Centric Solutions, and Clinical Trial Supplies. In this role he is accountable for over 25,000 staff.

Previously, Brian was chief executive officer of IQVIA Laboratories for 7 years, where he was responsible for strategic goals, accelerating growth and ensuring high-quality delivery of lab services to our customers. Brian has more than 26 years of experience in the healthcare and laboratory industry and has broad experience in the establishment, management, integration and restructuring of both business and commercial operations across the clinical research spectrum.

Prior to IQVIA, Brian served as senior vice president of the Eurofins Scientific central laboratory business. Brian also was the senior vice president of Global Bioanalytical Services at ICON having previously led ICON’s Early Phase Clinical division in Europe and served as their group financial controller.

Brian holds a bachelor’s degree in business studies from Dublin City University, Ireland, and is a professionally Certified Management Accountant.

Joe O'Rourke is focused on bringing research to under-represented and under- accessed communities across the United States.

Joe's career in clinical research has spanned 20 years focused on reducing the cost and time to develop new therapies, diagnostics, and preventative treatments - while balancing patient safety, risk/reward, and patient experience. Prior to Walgreens, Joe spent 7.5 years at WCG Clinical working across 8 portfolio clinical trial businesses built or acquired by WCG.

Prior to WCG, Joe spent 8 years recruiting patients at a leading patient recruitment company with roles across project delivery, digital patient recruitment, strategy, and business development. Joe began his career at Johns Hopkins performing metabolic research as a research assistant and has a B.S. in Exercise Physiology and an MBA from Villanova University.

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As CEO, Carlos Orantes provides leadership and strategic direction for site network. With over 30 years of experience within the life sciences industry, his career has included executive leadership, operational management, LEAN Six Sigma process improvement, as well as systems and technology deployment.

Most recently, Mr Orantes served as Executive Director, Site Operations for Accelerated Enrollment Solutions, a business of PPD and ThermoFisher Scientific. There, he led the site operations for the Americas site operations in support of the company’s vast global clinical trial network.

Prior to joining PPD, Mr Orantes served as Chief Executive Officer of Amplify Clinical and Accel Research Sites, where he developed the business strategy to effectively compete in Phase II-III clinical research involving multi-therapeutic trials and specialty vaccines. He also led activities related to both companies’ asset purchase by private equity.

Earlier career positions included 20 years of operational, quality assurance, process improvement and laboratory management roles of increasing responsibility at Covance, now part of LabCorp.

Mr Orantes earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Old Dominion University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from George Washington University. He is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Six Sigma Academy.

Ms. Ohrt provides oversight and management of clinical operations including all research projects within the CTS. Tracy works closely with the life science customers supporting study feasibility and site identification and acts as a liaison with the site staff from the healthcare organizations and vendors. She partners with the clinical data and analytics team and clinical data managers on acquisition of feasibility results, precision patient finding lists, and clinical study database development. She leads, directs, and ensures execution of research projects in accordance with approved clinical strategy, project plans, budget, and resources in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and standard operating procedures. Tracy works proactively to identify, assess, and manage clinical study risks within and across projects. Prior to joining the CTS in 2019, Tracy was involved in both the conduct and oversight of clinical trials at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spanning a wide array of therapeutic areas.

Anna Osinski is an Associate Director, Development Unit Lead in Biogen's Patient Centricity & Engagement team. She brings deep experience in clinical research across rare and complex diseases, informed by a unique perspective spanning the sponsor, CRO, and vendor landscapes. Anna is passionate about elevating patient partnership and ensuring that patient insights are embedded from trial design through delivery. Beyond strategy development, she has championed innovative digital solutions and is recognized for challenging industry convention to break down barriers that limit patient access and voice in research.

Dr Chelsea Osterman is a medical oncologist and senior medical director with the Tempus TIME program. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and fellowships in oncology and health services research at the University of North Carolina. Prior to joining Tempus, Dr Osterman worked as an oncologist in Asheville, NC and in the Real World Evidence division at Flatiron Health. She is currently supporting the TIME trial network where she leads multiple data science and machine learning initiatives aimed at improving access to clinical trials across the United States.

Ralph Passarella is a Co-founder of Care Access, a global clinical research company focused on making clinical trials more accessible for communities; and, faster and more predictable for life science companies. Ralph is also the Co-founder and CEO of Reify Health and Co-founder of Signal Vine, an education technology company that was spun out of Reify Health and is focused on helping students navigate the administrative parts of higher education.

Charlie Paterson is a Partner at PA Consulting, where he leads clinical trials transformation with a focus on AI and digital innovation. He works with leading biopharma and biotech organizations to modernize clinical development, embedding data science and automation to improve trial performance, accelerate timelines, and expand access to care.Charlie brings deep expertise in AI-driven clinical operations, digital health strategy, and innovation. He has led the development of an AI-powered platform that analyzes real-time data from over 80,000 global study sites, and has driven digital-first strategies to enhance participant recruitment and improve early stage discovery. His work bridges clinical and R&D functions, helping clients unify fragmented data and unlock new efficiencies across the development lifecycle.

Michael Pearlman is currently a Sr. Manager, Patient Recruitment Services within Labcorp’s Clinical Trial Enablement team. He has a 12-year background in clinical research, exclusively in patient recruitment focused roles. Prior to his first industry role Michael spent 7 years working in Quality Management & Analyst roles in the Market Research industry. Through these past roles Michael developed core competencies in project management, data analysis, and process optimization. With these skillsets the transition to working in clinical research operations was a seamless one. He used his first couple years in the industry learning the ins and outs clinical trial recruitment. Of particular focus was the tremendous challenges sponsors faced in recruiting enough participants. Michael has dedicated his career to developing expertise in all facets of clinical trial recruitment. This includes social media outreach, search/display advertising, database outreach, working with advocacy groups, site-specific recruitment strategies, affiliate networks, and others.

In his role at Labcorp, Michael leverages proprietary real-world patient diagnostic data to build and optimize patient cohorts; to subsequently email about clinical trial opportunities. In his spare time Michael enjoys fishing, hiking, attending sporting events, and the occasional concert.

Andrew Pearlmutter is an Associate Director of Patient Centered Outcomes Science at BioMarin, with over 6 years of experience in patient-centered outcome (PCO) measurement design and implementation, with a focus on supporting digital health technology development and integration in clinical trials. Before joining BioMarin, Mr Pearlmutter was a Digital Biomarkers Consultant at Koneksa Health, a leading digital biomarker solutions provider. Mr Pearlmutter was also an inaugural member of Sanofi’s Digital Innovation team, where he led Sanofi’s efforts to build, test, and scale app- and wearable-based digital endpoints and health technologies in Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and rare diseases – including driving concept elicitation, regulatory engagements and clinical validation.

As Chief Executive Officer, Jill Pellegrino brings over 15 years of leadership experience in patient recruitment, real-world evidence, and clinical research site operations. Jill is passionate about growing businesses that rely on innovative, data-driven methods to reach patients to provide them with opportunities to participate in research opportunities. Most recently Jill was at CVS Health where she was responsible for establishing and growing the Real World Evidence and Patient Recruitment businesses. At CVS Health, her businesses were successful in placing 35,000 patients into research opportunities in both clinical trials and research settings, drastically increasing diversity participation in research studies. Prior to CVS Health, Jill was General Manager of Accelerated Enrollment Solutions, which was comprised of 2,000 employees across 11 countries and encompassed a patient recruitment offering and clinical research site network of 160 sites. Jill received her bachelor’s degree from LaSalle University in Mathematics and Computer Science.

Daniel M. Perlman, CEO of TPS, has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry, where he has pioneered transformative approaches to clinical trial management. At TPS, he leads the company’s mission to partner with sponsors and sites to improve patient recruitment and trial execution through innovative, site-centric solutions.

Mr. Perlman first introduced the industry’s Functional Service Provider (FSP) model in 1998 while at Kforce, and later launched the Embedded Solutions model in 2009—two innovations that reshaped how sponsors engage with service providers. His contributions to the field earned him the Industry Innovation Award in 2012.

In 1998, he founded ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services (RPS) and served as CEO and Chairman until 2013. Under his leadership, RPS grew to $650 million in revenue with more than 7,000 employees in 70+ countries, ultimately becoming a leading global Contract Research Organization (CRO). RPS went public in 2008, was taken private with Warburg Pincus in 2011, and acquired by KKR in 2013, merging with PRA.

Earlier, Mr. Perlman was Executive Vice President at Kforce, Inc., where revenues grew from $50 million in 1995 to nearly $1 billion in 1998.

Karen Peterson is the Founder and Chief Patient Advocate of Karen’s Club, Ms Peterson was inspired to help other patients of color, understand the complex and sometimes skeptical world of clinical trials.  A Stage IV Triple Negative Breast cancer survivor, Ms Peterson is also a founding member of the Patient Community Council at Foundation Medicine, a consultant for Blue Note Therapeutics and a Cancer Research Institute- Immuno Advocate.  Ms Peterson was the featured patient speaker at the Biden Cancer Initiative’s 2019 presentation at ASCO, and the 2020 Inaugural AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report presented to Congress.  Her inspiring story has been shared with Cure, Essence, Health and People magazines as well as ABC Radio Networks “Perspective” and The Today Show.  Lastly, Ms Peterson successfully completed the exclusive 2021 Robin Hood/Blue Ridge Labs Fellowship Program, where she co-created (with her partner Nava Friedman) the highly anticipated advocacy platform https://www.karensclub.org/

Jeremy Price is Senior Director, Clinical Innovation & Strategic Solutions, in Pfizer’s Clinical Development and Operations group. He leads the Decentralized Clinical Trial Community of Practice and the Clinical Trial Capability Advancement Team.  Before joining Pfizer, Jeremy spent 10 years as a management consultant. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a BA from the University of Rochester. Jeremy is also a Fulbright Scholar. 

Maureen Quinn is a Sr. Manager on the Patient Engagement team at Moderna, where she has supported clinical trials across a diverse portfolio, including rare diseases, latent viruses, combination vaccines, and oncology, since 2021. In her role, Maureen collaborates closely with clinical trial teams, patient experience specialists, and external partners to design and execute thoughtful, patient-centric strategies that drive recruitment and retention success. Prior to joining Moderna, Maureen led participant recruitment initiatives at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Maureen holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a BA from Colby College.

With over 10 years of experience in Life Sciences, predominantly in the R&D area, Sharma Ramanathan supports several pharma clients and internal asset development to optimize clinical trials end to end through advanced analytics & data sciences, data management & governance, real-world evidence, and other advisory & consulting services. Sharma has supported several pre and post-market safety and epidemiology studies and regulatory reporting for big pharma.

Siân is currently SVP, Head of Quantitative Sciences & Development Operations (QSDO) at Biogen, where she leads a global team accountable for the strategic planning, execution and analysis of clinical trials across all phases of development and therapeutic areas, ie MS/Immunology, Rare Disease (Neuromuscular Disorders, Genetic Neurodevelopmental Disorders) and Neuroscience (Alzheimer’s Disease, Movement Disorders, Psychiatry). Siân and her team are driving numerous innovation projects to transform clinical trials and accelerate clinical development. Prior to Biogen, Siân spent 20+ years Pfizer, where she held senior leadership and group head roles in Clinical Operations, Medical Writing, Clinical Development, Preclinical Safety (Toxicology and Safety Pharmacology), Safety Risk Management and Regulatory Strategy, managing projects throughout development stages from research to post-approval in multiple therapeutic areas (including Oncology, Neurology, Psychiatry, Pain, Rare Disease, Immunology, Internal Medicine, Women’s Health and Vaccines). In addition, Siân has co-led a number of cross-industry initiatives for TransCelerate, BIO, ICH and public-private partnerships to advance clinical trial innovation approaches, precision medicine drug development and translational sciences. Siân has a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Cambridge where she also held post-doctoral research and academic posts. Siân also serves on the Executive Committee as Treasurer for the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials Methodology (ISCTM), co-leads the ISCTM CNS Clinical Trial Diversity Working Group and mentors new investigators involved in psychiatry and neurology research.

Valerie Reynaert is the Head of Global Clinical Operations at Immunocore, a position she has held since April 2023. With over 20 years of experience in clinical development and operations, Valerie has established herself as a leader in the field of Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals development across Europe and the US. Her extensive career includes various leadership roles where she has driven significant advancements in clinical research and development. Valerie holds a Master's degree in Medical and Social Sciences from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Her academic background, combined with her professional expertise, has equipped her with a deep understanding of the complexities and challenges in clinical operations. Residing in the Philadelphia area, Valerie continues to contribute to the field with her innovative approach and dedication to improving global health outcomes. At Immunocore, she is committed to radically improving outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases by pioneering and delivering transformative immunomodulating medicines.

Jennifer Ribeiro is a clinical operations leader with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Ribeiro is passionate about fostering collaboration that drives meaningful improvements in the clinical trial experience for participants. She currently serves as the Patient Recruitment & Retention Strategy Director at Exelixis, where she leads global informed consent processes to enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion in clinical trials while driving strategies to meet enrollment and retention goals.

Previously, Ribeiro held leadership roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she led global informed consent processes and spearheaded cross-functional process improvements across therapeutic areas. Her expertise spans compliance, stakeholder engagement, and strategic innovation in clinical trial operations.

Dr. Isaac R Rodriguez-Chavez is a scientific and regulatory leader with expertise in Infectious Diseases, Viral Immunology, Viral Oncology, Microbiology, Vaccinology, and rare diseases. His experience covers the entire life cycle of medical products from basic, preclinical, interventional clinical research (phase I – IV), non-interventional clinical research, and post-marketing studies. Currently, he is an independent consultant for clinical research and digital medicine. Past positions over the last 30 years include being a Senior Vice President for Scientific & Clinical Affairs, leading strategies and operations for Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCTs) and Digital Medicine at ICON plc; FDA, CDER Senior Officer for Clinical Research Methodology, Regulatory Compliance and Policy Development, modernizing clinical research through DCTs enabled by Digital Health Technologies (DHTs); CEO/Founder, 4Biosolutions Biomedical Consulting Firm; Vice President, Research, Texas Biomedical Research Institute; Director of HIV Clinical Research Programs, NIH; Senior Clinical Scientist, Schering Plough Corp.; Scientist, Columbia University; Scientist, Polar Biotechnology Company and Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC). He is a board member of BlueCloud by HealthCarePoint, Reveles Clinical Research, Digital Medical Society (DiMe), and the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association (HCMA). He is a Rare Disease Health Equity Council member for Global Genes, global content Editor for Regulatory Science at the DIA Global Forum Magazine, Co-Chair of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) fostering industry standards on DCTs and DHTs. He is a former Leadership Council Board member of the Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance (DTRA), and a former Co-Chair of DTRA’s Regulatory Council. He is a former Co-Chair of the DiMe’s Research Committee, driving digital medicine globally. He is also an active member of sixteen professional associations, published over 60 scientific and technical articles, and has been an invited speaker in over 100 global conferences. He has a PhD in Virology and Immunology; an MS in Microbiology; an MHS in Clinical Research; and a BS in Biology.  He has 5 years of post-doctoral specialty training in Infectious Diseases, Viral Immunology, Viral Oncology linked to Clinical Research.

Marie Rosenfeld is a seasoned executive in biotech and pharma, currently serving as an SVP at Entrada Therapeutics, leading Clinical and Business Operations, Biostatistics, and Data Management. With over two decades of experience, she has led and developed global teams and driven strategic initiatives across clinical development. She is passionate about building high-performing teams, driving innovation, and advancing patient-centric development strategies. Her expertise spans immunology, oncology, and neuromuscular diseases, with a track record of successful NDA, BLA, and sNDA filings. She has served on product advisory boards in the clinical technology space and has co-authored peer-reviewed publications. At Entrada, Marie is spearheading the company’s first in-patient clinical trials, implementing scalable frameworks that integrate clinical operations, compliance, and data strategies. Her leadership has been pivotal in enhancing patient engagement, optimizing trial execution, and fostering cross-functional collaboration. Previously, she held progressive global leadership roles at Astellas Pharma and Abbott Laboratories, overseeing delivery of studies and the portfolio of Phase 1–4 trials across diverse therapeutic areas.

Jenna brings 20+ years of experience leading growth, learning, and competency development for the clinical research profession. Starting at ACRP, where Jenna worked with Sponsors, CROs and Sites to establish and incorporate competency standards for their clinical research workforce, to her current role leading the clinical operations market segment at Simulations Plus, her focus has been on improving learning and performance for key roles in clinical research through by applying a unique blend of technology, art and science.

Dr Todd Rudo is EVP and Chief Medical Officer at Clario, providing medical and scientific leadership across the organization. He has nearly 20 years of clinical cardiology and pharmaceutical research experience, with a career predominantly focused on drug safety. Dr Rudo has board certifications in cardiology, cardiac electrophysiology, nuclear cardiology, adult echocardiography and internal medicine. His team provides expert consulting to clients on scientific and regulatory strategy and ensures Clario’s product portfolio is scientifically robust, generating high-quality clinical trial endpoint data. Dr Rudo has a particular interest in applying innovative technologies to improve the scientific rigor of clinical trials, while maintaining focus on the customer experience, including minimizing patient and site burden.

Kevin Rutty is a Director – Group Lead in Clinical Data and Information Sciences at Pfizer for the last 8 years. He is responsible for providing leadership and strategy on post marketing approval studies across all therapeutic areas, including authoring SOPs and working cross functionally to spearhead the implementation of tokenization at Pfizer. He has over 20 years of experience in data management, process development and improvement, and vendor management.

Dr. Janelle A. Sabo is a recognized leader in drug development, clinical research, and product delivery.  Her unique background has driven a strong patient focus and desire to find innovative ways to deliver new therapies faster to patients and the global medical community.

Janelle is currently Senior Vice President of Clinical Capabilities at Eli Lilly and Company. Her organization encompasses over 1500 employees across the globe delivering over 500 clinical trials. Clinical Capabilities is responsible for the delivery of clinical studies, including investigator engagement, trial capabilities, clinical labs and systems, clinical trial material, ancillaries and related supply planning/delivery, clinical development systems, clinical research services, clinical innovation and digital health.

Janelle started her career in clinical development and has held key leadership roles across clinical development, chemistry manufacturing and controls, portfolio management and led drug development and brand teams from early discovery to launch. In each role, Dr. Sabo has driven innovative designs, delivery and transformation leading to accelerated drug development and savings over a $1 billion dollars. As an example, she transformed the clinical supply chain to be end to end resulting in 15-20% faster cycle times and a savings of over $200M. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Janelle led the COVID-19 Therapeutics Platform which delivered multiple neutralizing antibodies in under 12 months from discovery to market and utilized novel approaches for clinical and commercial delivery. 

Dr. Sabo recipient of multiple awards at Eli Lilly and in the industry.  She has been named to the Global Product Development President’s Council, twice honored with the Lilly Research Laboratories President’s award, selected as the University of Missouri Pharmaceutical Industry Alumni of the Year and the Pharma We Work for Health award. She has served on dean’s advisory boards, including Butler University and UMKC Dean’s Advisory Board. Janelle holds a Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Missouri, Global Executive MBA from Georgetown University, and a Global Executive MBA from ESADE- Barcelona, Spain.

Dr. Sabo is a guest lecturer at several universities and colleges of pharmacy on drug development an has spoken at conferences within the pharmaceutical industry and was the keynote graduation speaker for the UMKC School of Pharmacy. To connect with her, visit @  https://www.linkedin.com/in/janelle-sabo-16248114 .

Dennis Salotti is an accomplished executive with two decades of experience in clinical research. Currently serving as the Executive Director & Head of Clinical Outsourcing & Innovation at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, he oversees strategic initiatives within sourcing that foster innovation in clinical trial management. His leadership has been instrumental in driving efficiency and quality in outsourcing practices, ensuring external relationships and solutions drive value for the business.

Prior to his role at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Mr Salotti held several senior positions at notable organizations including serving as Chief Operating Officer for The Avoca Group, where he spearheaded operational strategies, contributing to the company's growth and success. His tenure saw significant advancements in various areas of quality and compliance, including innovative approaches to vendor qualification processes, and the creation of the Diligent Pharma platform.

Mr Salotti’s commitment to advancing clinical research extends beyond his corporate roles. He serves as Adjunct Faculty at Drexel University College of Medicine, where he shares his expertise with future industry professionals. With a Master of Business Administration from NJIT and a Master of Science in Clinical Research Organization Management from Drexel University, Mr Salotti combines academic rigor with practical experience to drive innovation and excellence in the pharmaceutical industry. Throughout his career, Mr Salotti has demonstrated exceptional leadership and strategic vision, earning him recognition such as Drexel University's 40 under 40 award and the Professor's Excellence Award from New Jersey Institute of Technology

Michele Sample is a trained clinical operations expert with over 30 years of clinical trial experience.

Michele joined AstraZeneca in 2020 as the Vice President of Late Development Oncology Clinical Operations and leads a global team of clinical operations experts to execute the Oncology portfolio. Michele is directly responsible for global clinical trial delivery including program management, study management, site management and monitoring, managing approximately 1,600 people.  

Before joining AstraZeneca, Michele was responsible for global development operations at Incyte, including clinical operations, medical writing, data management, monitoring and clinical trial logistics. Prior to this, Michele held varying leadership positions at GSK, Novartis, Covance and a small biotech company which contributed to the approval of multiple cancer medications.

Michele is passionate about reimagining clinical trial execution with a focus on site engagement and decentralization of clinical trials. Her main research interests include oncology clinical trial execution excellence, increasing diversity in clinical trials and reducing health disparities.  

Michele holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Widener University and a Master of Clinical Research and Organizational Management from Drexel University. 

Marci Schankweiler is Founder and CEO of For Pete’s Sake Cancer Respite Foundation (FPS), established in 1999 in memory of her late husband, Peter R. Bossow, Jr. Under her leadership, FPS has pioneered the integration of respite into the continuum of cancer care, providing over 12,000 individuals—patients, caregivers, and children—with transformative Respite Experiences. FPS programs are grounded in research and measurable outcomes. Data collected from oncology professionals and families demonstrate significant improvements in coping and well-being post-respite across six health pillars: mental, physical, psychosocial, spiritual, financial and family health. These results were validated in an American Society of Clinical Oncology abstract (2020) and presented at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society national conference, underscoring the therapeutic impact of respite in cancer care. Marci and her team are leading FPS’ next phase of growth: the creation of the nation’s first Cancer Respite Center, adjacent to Woodloch Resort in Hawley, PA. Opening in 2027, the Center will expand access to care and incorporate respite into oncology practice as a replicable model of supportive care. Marci’s vision is to transform how the cancer community views and integrates respite, advancing its role in improving patient outcomes, family resilience, and quality of life throughout the cancer journey.

Doug Schantz is Senior Vice President at Asklepios BioPharm, a gene therapy company. In his current role, Mr Schantz has responsibility for Program Leadership, Study Management, Data Management, and Medical Writing.

Prior to joining Asklepios BioPharm, Mr Schantz was Vice President, Clinical Operations at Alexion Pharmaceuticals and was accountable for project delivery of Alexion’s portfolio and led a group responsible for program leadership and study management across all phases of drug development and in all of Alexion’s therapy areas, which include hematology, metabolic diseases, neuroscience and nephrology.

Prior to joining Alexion, Mr Schantz was an Executive Director in Development Operations at AstraZeneca, heading up US Site Management and Monitoring. In this role, Mr Schantz led the transformation to an in-house monitoring group in 2017 and is the proud recipient of the Society for Clinical Research Sites Eagle Award for best sponsor in 2018. Additional contributions and roles included leading late-phase, full-service outsourcing (SCOUT), development and implementation of the late-phase sourcing strategy and implementation of risk-based quality management for the AstraZeneca enterprise.

Additional experience included working at Pfizer for 17 years and Eli Lilly and Company for 8 years, having held a wide variety of positions in clinical research, including clinical development, project management, portfolio management and data management.

Mr Schantz was trained as a paramedic at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ and holds a BA in Public Administration from Kean University. Mr Schantz volunteers as a guest lecturer in the graduate program in Clinical Research Administration at Eastern Michigan University, serves on the Leadership Council for the Society for Clinical Research Sites, facilitates the Linking Leaders Clinical Operations Roundtable and participates on the Disruptive Pharma (DPharm) program committee and DPharm Idol competition. Mr Schantz is the president and volunteer coach for the Saline Area Soccer Association and earned the distinction of Michigan State Youth Soccer’s Volunteer of the Year in 2022.

Kort Schickfus is Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer for the Research & Development Solutions organization at IQVIA.

In his role, Kort is responsible for global sales, business operations, and pricing for the R&D business. These efforts help biopharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostics customers improve human health through innovation that transforms science and data into actionable medical insights.

With more than 30 years as a biopharmaceutical industry executive, Kort has held several senior roles in sales, operations, account management and consulting. Prior to joining IQVIA, Kort was a partner at Accenture and led all business process outsourcing sales for Life Sciences.

Kort earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Lafayette College and served as a Military Police Officer in the US Army.

Gina Schweizer is Vice President, Head of Strategy, Operations and Analysis & Reporting at Genmab. She oversees integrated functions including Medical Writing, Programming, and Development Operations Strategy & Execution, with a focus on driving excellence across clinical development, having a leadership role or contributing to more than 20 original and supplemental health authority submissions leading to drug approvals in her career. With 25 years of experience at Merck, Janssen, and Genmab, Gina brings deep expertise in Regulatory Affairs Operations, Medical Writing, Trial Disclosure & Transparency, clinical trial processes, and global submission planning and execution. Since joining Genmab in 2018, she has built and scaled a global Medica Writing and Clinical Trial Disclosure & Transparency organization and played a key leadership role in the approvals of TIVDAK and EPKINLY. Gina is enthusiastic about leading high-performing, purpose-driven teams and fostering a culture rooted in accountability, inclusion, and innovation. Her strategic mindset and operational leadership are guided by the mantra, “Anything is possible,” which inspires her approach to transforming complex challenges into scalable solutions.

Mark Scullion is the CEO of Atlas Clinical Research, a therapeutically driven clinical research site network built on centralized process excellence and integrated technology. Mr Scullion has spent more than 17 years in the clinical research industry. Before Atlas, Mr Scullion was most recently the Global Head of Trial Monitoring for Novartis AG, and also previously held leadership roles at Syneos Health and IQVIA, where he developed novel approaches to clinical trial design and execution. At Novartis Mr Scullion led a group of clinical professionals delivering over 300 clinical studies in partnership with 14,000 investigative sites across the world.

Charlie Semenchuk is the Head of Business & Technology Capabilities for Global Clinical Development Operations at Jazz Pharmaceuticals. He currently oversees a number of functions within GCDO covering technology, data innovation, analytics, and various business functions such as TMF Operations and Learning & Development. Charlie has spent over 20 years working in the pharmaceutical development space, specializing in the intersection of science and technology. With experience at sites, technology service providers, industry consortiums such as TransCelerate, and sponsor companies both big and mid-sized; he has a wealth of knowledge and experience from all sides of pharmaceutical development with a passion for the advancement of innovative medicines.

Katherine Senter, MPH, CCRP currently serves as Assistant Director for Cancer Clinical Research Operations at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC) at Jefferson. Here she guides Clinical Research Managers, Investigators, and their teams to conduct and streamline high quality clinical trial processes across multiple therapeutic areas. Katherine began her oncology clinical research career as a clinical research coordinator in SKCCC’s Melanoma Multidisciplinary Disease Group. She then moved to industry as an oncology Clinical Research Associate for PAREXEL before returning to Jefferson as Melanoma Clinical Research Manager. Katherine’s approach to clinical trial leadership emphasizes employee engagement, quality assurance, process innovation, and patient advocacy. She holds a BA in Health and Societies from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Public Health from Jefferson School of Population Health. Aside from clinical research her passions include cooking, literature, and the rewarding chaos of toddler parenting.

Craig Serra is currently Executive Data Management and Clinical Systems Consultant for Amgen, where he is focused on contributing to strategic initiatives spanning clinical development.

With 23+ years in the clinical research industry, Craig has held senior leadership roles at Pfizer, Novartis, Flatiron Health, IQVIA, and DSP Clinical. He has been recognized for driving enterprise-wide transformations, pioneering AI- and technology-enabled approaches to data flow, and accelerating trial execution through innovation in data management and clinical operations.

Prior to his current consulting work, Craig built the commercial function of the Clinical Research business at Flatiron Health, introducing new solutions in protocol optimization, site intelligence, patient matching, and EHR-to-EDC integration, scaling the portfolio 8x in under three years. At Novartis, he led strategy and innovation for a 1,500-person Data Operations organization and sponsored AI-powered initiatives in clinical technology and regulatory writing. Earlier, he helped redefine process ownership and RBQM adoption at Pfizer, modernized global eTMF at IQVIA, and served in a variety of executive leadership roles at DSP Clinical.

Craig holds an MBA and dual MS degrees in Pharmacology & Toxicology and Information Systems. He has served on multiple industry boards, is a two-time PharmaVOICE 100 honoree, and is an active angel investor.

Rucha Shah has been living with a rare disorder. Her commitment lays in advocating for accessible healthcare and improving health outcomes for the broader patient community, especially the next generation of patients. Currently, Ms Shah leads a patient advocacy group for patients and caregivers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania. She also collaborates with various national organizations and pharmaceutical companies on bringing forth initiatives which make meaningful connections within the disease community, improve the quality of life for patients and to increase awareness within the larger community.

Ms Shah attained her Master of Science degree in Clinical Research Organization and Management from the Drexel University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. She further completed certificate coursework in Advancing Health Equity from ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group and Research Advocacy Network as well as certificate coursework in Artificial Intelligence in Pharma and Biotech from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professionally, Ms Shah works as a clinical research project manager within the oncology space. She strives to apply the "lessons learned" from her patient advocacy experiences to her professional work by building the trials to be more patient centric and accessible.

Recent Works: Woolford T, Andemariam B, Blaylark R, Colasanti R, Shah N, Jonassaint C, Trimnell C, Sheth S, Davis J, Gallagher E, Zaidi AU, John H, Shah R. Setting Industry Standards for Patient Engagement, Partnership and Care: The Patient Vision Project. Poster and Oral presentation at NORD. October 16, 2023. Washington DC, USA.

Nicole Sheetz serves as Sr. Director of Design & Innovation, an organization within Clinical Operations where she leads a team focused on the use of AI within Clinical Development. She has 24 years of experience including clinical program and trial design, decentralized clinical trials, digital health, data sciences, project management, and scientific communication. Nicole holds a PharmD from the University of North Carolina where she developed her passion for clinical research. She spent time at GSK, Lilly and Medidata leading clinical development programs, transformative initiatives, and strategic consulting design engagements. Nicole enjoys working on projects that have a big impact, and her primary focus is clinical design optimization with an eye towards making clinical research accessible for all people.

Jennifer Sheller is the Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Trial Operations (GCTO) at Merck. Since joining Merck in 2017, she has held roles of increasing responsibility within GCTO and the broader Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) organization. Her leadership has spanned global functions including quality, data management, site monitoring, partnerships, and diversity & inclusion, as well as North America Country Operations. Jennifer has over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and CRO sectors and has led cross-functional delivery of pivotal R&D programs. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master’s in Public Health (Epidemiology) from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. She is also a certified clinical research professional via the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP).

Nick Slack, MBE, is the Chairman and CEO of The START Center for Cancer Research, bringing nearly two decades of leadership experience to the clinical research industry. He is a transformative healthcare executive with a proven track record of driving growth and innovation, all while focusing on the mission, vision, and values an organization delivers to the broader research community.

Most recently, Mr Slack served as an Executive in Residence at Warburg Pincus. During this time, he was a member of Warburg's Healthcare Team, where he worked on life sciences and pharma services strategy. In this role, he supported Warburg's portfolio companies as an advisor, contributing his extensive knowledge and experience to enhance their strategic initiatives and operational efficiencies.

Before joining Warburg Pincus, Mr Slack was the President of WCG Clinical. During his decade-long tenure, Mr Slack was responsible for developing and growing WCG’s relationships with the industry’s leading sponsors, CROs, and hospital systems. Mr Slack worked with partner-clients to design and implement solutions that accelerate the activation of clinical trials, eliminate the duplication of efforts in research, and promote the highest standards of safety for research subjects.

Throughout his career, Mr Slack has provided guidance to more than 150 sponsors, CROs, and sites. He was previously the director of consulting services for HRP Consulting Group and the Associate Director of Accreditation for AAHRPP. A trained ethicist, Mr Slack earned a master’s degree in bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr Todd Solomon is a Clinician / Scientist with over 20 years of experience in clinical practice, research and development in neuropsychiatry and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr  Solomon currently serves as a senior director of clinical development at Mind Med leading programs across their late-stage development portfolio. Prior to joining Mind Med, Dr. Solomon was a director of global clinical development at Avanir/Otsuka working on late-stage programs in both neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Previous to that, Dr. Solomon served as the associate director of clinical programs and data science at Signant Health. Dr Solomon received his PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology from New York University after which he spent several years as a fellow, investigator and associate faculty member in the Department of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine.

Brad Stefanovic is a seasoned Life Sciences professional with a wealth of experience spanning over 17 years in the domains of Clinical Trial management, clinical technology implementation, vendor management, business operations, development, and strategy. Before joining SLP, he held the esteemed position of Head of Clinical Operations (Vice President) at Ocugen, a pioneering biotech company specializing in gene and cell therapies for Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, and Vaccines. He has also previously held the role of Vice President, Clinical Operations at Aura Biosciences, another prominent biotech firm, where he led a team focused on utilizing Virus Like particles for the treatment of Ocular Oncology and Solid Tumor indications. His leadership extends to various biologics areas, including his role as Senior Director of Clinical Operations and program lead of the Clinical Team for the Injectable Biologics, Orthopedic, Pain Management, and Sports Medicine program at TissueTech Inc. (Now Bio-Tissue), a world-leading Regenerative Medicine company.

His expertise in Life Sciences is the result of his multifaceted career, which encompasses consulting, academic, non-profit, and commercial ventures, including overseeing outsourced full-service clinical trial management activities for large multinational medical companies. Brad is widely recognized as an outstanding scientific communicator in the life sciences industry, with a proven track record of successfully leading large teams through various phases of the medical product lifecycle. His international experience is noteworthy, having relocated from Australia to the USA 10 years ago and effectively managing multiple international clinical programs. In 2022, he earned the prestigious title of alumni of the year at his former institution, the University of the Sunshine Coast, in recognition of his exceptional foresight, strategic engagement, and innovative leadership in the Biotechnology field.

Dr. Suri is a Data Scientist with 7+ years of experience in research and development. Her work at Gilead on building foundational and industry-leading AI capabilities for clinical trial design and execution includes co-developing advanced algorithms for country and site selection, and enrollment forecasting, which are critical to optimizing clinical study feasibility. She holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and is passionate about wearable technology and digital health. Dr. Suri has presented her work at prestigious venues such as the Global Hepatitis Summit, Gerontological Society of America Annual Meeting, and has been invited to speak at leading conferences including BioTechX, HITLAB, and ISPE. With a research background spanning gait and mobility, robotic sciences, and neuroimaging, she has built and applied machine learning pipelines to study disease-risk patterns. She is the author of 12+ peer-reviewed journal articles, which have collectively garnered over 1,000 citations, reflecting the significant impact and recognition of her work within the scientific community.

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Azia Tariq is a Senior Manager in Clinical Trial Analytics & Visualization at Genmab. At Genmab, she is leading the efforts for GenSignal and other applications by providing digital solutions to support clinical development programs in the efficient and timely review and analysis of clinical and operational data. She has previously worked in various roles in analytics, programming, and clinical development at BMS, AbbVie, GSK, Merck, and Mount Sinai Hospital. She holds an MPH in Epidemiology from New York University and is a certified PMP.

Anthony K. Taylor, DHSc, MSPharm, is an experienced leader, executive, former clinical research scientist and U.S. Army medic with comprehensive industry knowledge and a proven record for delivering results within large, mid-size, and small pharmaceutical organizations. Dr Taylor is Project Management Professional (PMP®) Certified and has a solid background in leading global clinical programs and teams. He has been in the pharma industry for almost 20 years and has held positions of increasing responsibility. When he is not leading large cross-functional initiatives, Dr Taylor enjoys spending time with his family and playing tennis in the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA). He is recently married, has two children, and lives in the Chicago-area with his family.

Kendra Taylor is currently a Clinical Trial Solutions Lead at Pfizer. She has been partnership lead within Clinical Development & Operations for community-based site networks and retail pharmacies. Her role involves driving strategy development from due diligence to implementing of various types of capabilities and solutions for clinical trials. Kendra brings over two decades of experience across clinical research, strategic innovation, and business development. Kendra holds a Doctorate in Biology from the University of South Carolina and a master's degree from Harvard Medical School, Master of Medical Science (MMSc). Kendra trained in Immunology and was an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard’s teaching hospitals: Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital-Cancer Center, Boston, MA.

Donald (Don) Thampy is the Executive Director in Global Clinical Trial Operations within Merck, bringing over 22 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, services, and financial services industries. With the last 19 years in clinical trials, data analysis, and management, Don has led organizational transformations through his career in various roles. Don is passionate about leveraging technology to enhance clinical trial efficiency and improve patient outcomes and support people’s lives. He holds a master's degree in business management.

Liz Thompson is a Global Development Leader and R&D Excellence Execution Lead at Roche Products Ltd, with over 30 years of experience in drug development. At Roche, she spearheads the Study Design and Protocol Optimization initiative, leading to significant cost and time savings. Thompson has been instrumental in developing numerous new medicines, including treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19. Her career includes leadership roles in biostatistics and clinical development at Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, and AstraZeneca.

Jacqueline Thong has been involved in digital health for over 20 years, having pioneered the first digital patient reported outcomes tools for clinical research at CRF Health (now Signant). More recently, she launched a series of innovative patient engagement and navigation solutions for hospital systems at Docent Health and Get Well. Today, Jacqueline is back in the clinical research realm, as General Manager for DEEP Measures’ US operations. Throughout her career, Jacqueline has held various leadership roles spanning client management, project implementation, product management and operations management across pharmaceutical clinical research, hospital system, and healthcare insurance environments. She holds an undergraduate degree in marketing and information systems from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and has an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

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Mark Travers, Ph.D., MBA is Vice President, Global Clinical Trial Operations (GCTO) Regions and Regional Operations (RRO).

Mark has over 30 years’ experience in the Pharmaceutical and Device industry with increasing responsibility at country, region and global level focusing on both People management and clinical trial operations for several companies and industry initiatives.

Mark earned a B.Sc. (hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow (Scotland), Ph.D. in Bioengineering again from the University of Strathclyde and an MBA from the University of Sussex in Brighton (UK).

Donna Usiskin is Chief Strategy Officer at New Enterprise Ventures (NEV), serving start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Her proven expertise, leadership abilities and enviable track record of ascertaining value propositions and designing go-to-market initiatives translate into accelerated sales and investment cycles.

Ms Usiskin has over 25 years of operational experience in IT Sales, Business Development and Marketing. Plus, over ten years of Venture Capital experience in the HCIT and Pharma IT market. As VP of Business Development for the firm, she led both the Sales and Marketing and Healthcare IT Executive Forums for the VC portfolio. Donna worked with Portico (McKesson), Health Market Science (LexisNexis), Octagon (Accenture), Cadient (Cognizant), and iContracts (RLDatix) investments.

Passionate about how information technology can impact care and patient outcomes, she concentrates on the convergence of HCIT and Pharma IT. Before NEV, Donna held executive positions in Sales, Strategy and Growth while leading initiatives to raise funds for early and growth stage IT companies serving the healthcare market. Ms Usiskin identified successful acquisition target while serving as VP of Corporate Development at MMIT (Norstella).

Ms Usiskin holds a BA in psychology from Rutgers University and currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for Rutgers University – School of Arts and Sciences and as a Mentor to the Rutgers Business School – Center for Women in Business. She formerly held Advisory seats at IHT2, NJTC, and NJEN, plus mentors numerous start-ups and incubators in the region.

Taylor Uttley is the Head of Strategy and Operations for the corporate data science team at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where she has worked for over 15 years. She has held several roles of increasing responsibility in trial operations at Vertex. Ms Uttley has applied innovative strategies as an operations program lead to multiple rare disease programs, where her teams have achieved industry leading speed in execution.

In her current role, she leverages her deep expertise in development execution to identify opportunities to deploy machine learning and AI for business efficiencies and decisions in clinical trials, commercial and other areas. She also leads the industry's only MBA AI program across Vertex which is focused on grooming next generation AI savvy leaders across business units.

Christine joined Sanofi in August 2002 as a HR Business Partner for the Commercial Operations organization.  She was promoted several times with increased responsibilities in the Commercial and Support function organizations where she led multiple initiatives around re-organizations and strategic staffing.  In 2010, she became the Business HR partner to the Head of Commercial Operations, where she focused on all aspects of building organizational capabilities around leadership development, staffing, talent management, and performance rewards and recognition. 

In June 2014, she moved into the role within Sanofi as Head of Talent Management for North America where she led a team focused on talent management, performance management and career development across the North American portfolio of businesses. Christine was also responsible for several talent accelerator programs to develop the next generation of leaders as well as managed the Executive and Internal Coaching programs.   In 2016, Christine took on a Global role regarding Talent Management programs where she developed early career to mid-level programs to continue to build the leadership pipeline including the development and global deployment of an early career development center and a high-potential female talent program.   In November 2018, Christine was promoted to the  Global Head, People Development Learning Institute, where she led the People Development Learning Institute. She was responsible for the design and implementation of learning and development strategy and related solutions for all levels of leadership, management and transversal skills on a worldwide basis for Sanofi.

Most recently in April 2021, she assumed her current role as Global Head, Talent Management where she leads the Talent Management and Early Career strategy and approach for Sanofi. She supports the succession planning efforts to ensure a strong leadership pipeline for today and tomorrow.

Christine holds her Masters degree in Human Resources from University of Scranton.  She is a credentialed coach (PCC), Hogan Certified,  PROSCI certified for Change Management, Insights Discovery and DISC certified and is a Senior HR credentialed professional (SPHR).  

Over the past 23 years, Tracy Vanderslice has held numerous leadership positions in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry. Ms Vanderslice is currently Vice-President of Clinical Operations at Gilead Sciences with a focus on driving transformational change in oncology. Prior to this role, she was the Vice-President of Global Pharma Clinical Operations at GSK where she had accountability for end‐to‐end delivery of the medicines portfolio across all therapeutic areas. In this role, she also led the medical writing organization, clinical trial diversity team, and the protocol design lab. Ms Vanderslice also served as the Vice President of Clinical Pharmacology Sciences & Study Operations at GSK and held numerous positions in Therapy Area Head roles. Prior to GSK, she worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb in several project-facing roles supporting both early and late-stage development and has worked across numerous submissions. She has served as the company representative for the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) and has served as the Rapporteur for the ICH M11 working group and routinely presents at cross-industry meetings. Ms Vanderslice has a Bachelors of Science in Biology from Wake Forest University and a Masters in Clinical Pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University.

As Vice President and Head of Digital Development at Genmab, Chris Velas oversees a multidisciplinary team responsible for transforming development operations through innovative digital solutions. His leadership has redefined organizational workflows, enhanced trial insights, and implemented cutting-edge technologies, positioning the company as a leader in its field. Notable achievements include the successful implementation of multiple platforms which have enhanced the efficiency of our operations team and execution of multiple comprehensive digital strategies, the integration of AI-powered analytics, and significant advancements in programming and digital system oversight.

Velas is an accomplished leader with extensive experience leading digital transformation initiatives in biotechnology and life sciences. With a strong background in developing successful scalable digital strategies and fostering collaborations across cross-functional teams, Velas has been instrumental in driving innovation, operational efficiency, and compliance within fast-paced, growth-oriented organizations. His career at Genmab spans 5 years of delivering exceptional results through strategic leadership and expertise in programming, digital systems and data science applications while currently exploring AI possibilities for future growth while being fiscally responsible.

Velas holds a BS in Mathematics & Secondary Education from Kutztown University and has a commercial helicopter license.

As the CEO of ProofPilot, Chris Venezia has a track record of success with more than 18 years of strong leadership in product commercialization, patient recruitment, marketing, and sales. Chris joined ProofPilot as the CEO in 2022 after serving as the Chief Commercial Officer at Citeline Connect. Chris excels in addressing the pain points of the life sciences industry and bringing technology-driven solutions to the market. His expertise will help disrupt the clinical trial industry to improve the experience and research outcomes for all key stakeholders in the space.

Andrew Vigario is a Senior Clinical Country & Site Lead (CCSL) within the Quantitative Sciences & Development Operations organization at Biogen. In his current role, Andrew leads a team of CCSLs in the US primarily responsible for driving engagement and enhancing the clinical investigative site experience in their partnerships with Biogen. Additionally, Andrew is also primarily responsible for leading both country and site identification strategies for Biogen's Alzheimer's disease portfolio of trials. During his time at Biogen, he has actively led numerous workstreams and initiatives to streamline clinical trial operations and oversight processes, particularly when it comes to executing timely and efficient country and site identification, aiding in the discovery of IT solutions, and driving efficiency. Andrew has worked in the clinical research arena for 17 years. Prior to his role at Biogen, Andrew has held multiple positions at both IQVIA and Syneos Health, including that of Clinical Lead and Clinical Research Associate. Andrew has also had prior experience working as a Study Coordinator at an academic site. Andrew holds a BA in Psychology from Rutgers University and an MA in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College - Columbia University.

TBA

TBA

Matt brings more than 20 years of software and leadership experience in the life sciences industry. Matt started his career as a developer and held various technical and leadership roles at Rollins Corporation, PSCI, Microsoft, Morgan Lewis, and Datalabs. In 2006, Matt co-founded NextDocs, which grew to be a global leader in clinical, quality, and regulatory document management, where he served as CTO, CSO, and Board Director for 9 years. Before joining Trialbee, Matt spent 5 years as General Manager for Life Sciences and VP Strategic Accounts for Aurea Software, which had acquired NextDocs.

Henry Wei, MD, is Executive Director, Development Innovation at Regeneron, aimed at accelerating clinical research. Dr Wei previously worked at Google, the White House, Aetna, and McKinsey. Dr Wei has co-authored several patents on applied artificial intelligence in healthcare and on real-world data, outcomes and drug safety. He earned his MD at Cornell, his graduate and undergraduate degrees at Harvard University, and did additional informatics training at Stanford and Harvard.

Dr Wei is an adjunct faculty member at Weill-Cornell Medicine in Health Policy and Research. He currently leads TransCelerate’s pragmatic trials workstream within the Real-World Data initiative.

Brian Weiss is the founder and CEO of Carebox (https://careboxhealth.com). The Carebox Connect platform connects patients and physicians seeking treatment options with clinical trials and is used by leading pharma companies, academic medical centers, and over 40 patient/physician groups. Brian is passionate about empowering patients as the best way to accelerate new treatments and more broadly advance healthcare. Prior to founding Carebox in 2014, he consulted for HL7 on healthcare data standards and led large software development/product organizations in publicly traded CRM and healthcare software vendors. Brian holds a master’s degree in software engineering from Columbia University in New York.

Ram Yalamanchili is the founder and CEO of Tilda Research, where he is focused on building data and operational infrastructure to better execute clinical trials. Previously, he was a founder and CTO at Lexent Bio, which was acquired by Roche, where his team built novel liquid biopsy technologies to help change the way we manage cancer. Prior to Lexent, he was the CEO/Founder of Push Computing, which pioneered predictive security and container technologies for mobile (acquired by MobileIron). Ram began his career as an engineer at VMware and helped architect ESXi hypervisor, which powers the majority of the private cloud infrastructure today. He studied Electrical Engineering and Management Science at Carnegie Mellon and Stanford universities, respectively.

Kate Yawman is the Director of Product Management for Advarra’s Study Collaboration solution. In this role, Kate partners with research stakeholders to identify challenges and transform them into innovative, solution-driven workflows across sponsors, CROs, and their critical site partners. With over 13 years of experience in the research industry, she is dedicated to fostering collaboration that drives greater efficiency and impact across the research community.

With over 14 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals and healthcare software, I am the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of IgniteData, a company pioneering the automation of clinical trial data collection. At the forefront of our innovation is Archer, a virtual research assistant that seamlessly integrates electronic health records (EHR) with electronic data capture (EDC) systems, eliminating duplication, reducing errors, and accelerating study timelines. I have co-authored multiple peer-reviewed publications exploring the value and complexities of using real-world data in clinical research and am a frequent public speaker, advocating for the transformation of clinical trials through data-driven technologies. My work is grounded in a passion for improving patient outcomes, driving operational efficiency, and fostering collaboration between sponsors, healthcare providers, and technology partners. Through IgniteData, our mission is to make clinical trials more efficient, accessible, and reliable, ensuring that the future of clinical research is faster, smarter, and more connected.

Michael Young is the Co-CEO of Lindus Health, the Anti-CRO running radically faster clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies. Michael was previously a Special Adviser to the UK Prime Minister. He is passionate about how we remove the trial bottleneck to get new treatments to patients.

Demetris is currently VP and Global Head of Data Monitoring and Management at Pfizer. Demetris started his career as a Laboratory Scientist in 1991 and transitioned into the Clinical Development space where he held roles of increasing responsibilities in Trial Management and Monitoring and led the implementation of the company’s first Clinical Trial Management system. In 2000, Demetris was a member and eventually the leader of the team which executed the industry’s first Tech-Transfer of a web based EDC system. He eventually led the Data Management and Standards organization and continued on to Merck & Co. following the merger in 2009. Subsequently Demetris was Vice President of Data Management at Novartis AG from 2014 to 2017. Since 2017 Demetris leads Pfizer’s Data Management and Risk Based Monitoring line functions in a new transformation; developing and transitioning into an internal operating model across multiple geographic sites in support of Pfizer’s portfolio. He also leads the Data and Automation work stream as part of Pfizer’s Development-wide transformation effort.

Jeremy Zhang, PhD is Senior Director, Data Science Solutions at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies, focusing on extracting insights from data, building predictive models, and enabling data-driven decision-making and the development and application of advanced analytical methods including AI. Jeremy has over 15 years of experience in life science research, development, manufacturing, quality, and product launch. Prior to joining Otsuka, he has held data science leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Gilead Sciences and Abbott Labs. Jeremy holds a Bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University and a PhD in bioengineering from Clemson University.

Maya Zlatanova is a healthtech entrepreneur and clinical research expert on a mission to bring research closer to patients. With 15 years of global experience spanning clinical research regulations, patient recruitment, and trial feasibility, Maya has witnessed firsthand how 45% of clinical trial amendments can be avoided simply by understanding patients better from the start.

She believes the industry's biggest breakthrough will come from combining AI-powered data intelligence with deep understanding of patient journeys - aligning trials with real-world treatment pathways before recruitment even begins. Maya's work focuses on connecting the dots between where patients naturally seek care and where clinical trials are conducted. Through her leadership in developing TrialHub, she's helped pharmaceutical companies design smarter protocols and avoid the trial design mistakes that lead to enrollment failures.

Her driving belief: Every delayed trial means patients waiting longer for life-changing treatments.