With new additions to our Board of Advisors, we are excited to look at the future, which promises to bring with it innovative and cutting-edge data analytics solutions.
A lot has changed for Saama since the beginning of the year. With the announcement of our innovative Clinical Data Management as a Service, we made our popular Fluid Analytics for Life Sciences orchestration stack available as a service. Our customers have also shown great successes, which we’ve published on our web site (with more to come!). And most recently, we added three industry leaders in our Board of Advisors. These industry stalwarts bring with them a deep knowledge and new ways of making a difference in the world around us.
The first one to be announced was Dr. Rebecca Kush, the founder of Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium, Inc. (CDISC). Dr. Kush has over 35 years of experience in clinical research and she has held various positions in academia, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health, a global CRO, and biopharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and Japan. She was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the consortium since 1997, its inception year, till April 2017. CDISC has been critical in setting up data standards focused on streamlining clinical research on a global level. These standards now need to be complied with for new submissions to the FDA as well as Japan’s PMDA.
Dr. Kush said about her new role, “Saama is [using] the very standards we developed at CDISC to drive innovative solutions in the area of Patient Data Repositories (PDR) and Operational Data Repositories (ODR) – essentially delivering Clinical Data Management as a Service (CDaaS). I am excited about the Saama approach and believe that their solutions will have both a profound and beneficial impact to transform the way clinical research is done around the world today.”
Last week, we announced the inclusion of technology executive, Mr. John Hinshaw, who is a board member of many prestigious organizations, including The Bank of New York Mellon, DocuSign, and National Academy Foundation (NAF). John understands technology and the importance of data integrity and security. He has been a technology leader at three iconic companies, most recently as the Chief Customer Officer for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, managing the information technology and cyber security functions. John is well known, not only for transitioning HP’s infrastructure to the cloud, but also for bringing cohesiveness in processes, encouragement of cross-department collaboration, and effective data management. Before Hewlett Packard, John was with Boeing and Verizon Wireless.
John’s thoughts on joining the Board of Advisors, “It is heartening to work with an organization that is so committed towards ensuring the integration and harmonization of data, as well as its security. During my time with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Boeing, I always focused on bringing innovation to the way IT departments worked with and approached data management. I look forward to working with an organization that has a similar attitude and continuously works towards building solutions that improve business outcomes for their customers.”
The latest addition to the Saama Board of Advisors was announced just this week – Christine Poon, former Vice Chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s Board of Directors. She was also the Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s Medicines & Nutritionals division. Under her leadership, Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical business went through its fastest growth period and become the fourth biggest pharmaceutical company in the world.
Christine has always been a firm believer in using technology to improve the lives of people. She believes that working for improving the well-being of society as a whole is a calling that few are given the honor to follow. She always looks forward to tackling new challenges and finding new ways to save lives. Her business acumen and commitment to improving health globally are unparalleled. She trusts that with innovation, science and technology can work with business functions to bring about a new era of life-saving drugs and treatments.
To quote Christine on joining the Saama Board of Directors, “I look forward to taking on new challenges and discovering opportunities, especially those that involve keeping the society healthy by developing solutions powered by science and technology. Every day that a life-saving drug is delayed costs us precious lives. When we use technology to put the data we have to good use, especially to give us the necessary insights quickly, we not only get that life-saving drug to the market faster, but also produce a better product.”
As we welcome these new additions to our Board of Advisors, we are excited to look at the future, which promises to bring with it innovative and cutting-edge data analytics solutions.
