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Vivek leads Saama in its mission to empower the life sciences industry to conduct faster and safer clinical development programs and file New Drug Applications (NDAs) more efficiently. His expertise in pharma services, data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), combined with over 25 years of life science and financial industry operational experience, have resulted in a business philosophy that aligns investor, customer and employee interests while creating significant business value.

Prior to joining Saama, Vivek served as CEO at Decision Resources Group (DRG), Piramal Pharma Solutions, and Piramal Critical Care, as well as Managing Director at Thomas H Lee Partners. At DRG, Vivek implemented a highly successful, growth-focused strategy with data analyses, AI, pharma insights, market access and strong customer focus to fulfill the company’s mission and allow pharma customers to gain invaluable information and data access prior to leading the sale process for DRG to Clarivate.

Vivek leads with inspiration and has been recognized as “Global CEO of the Year” by CPhI Pharma Awards. Vivek earned an Executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Vivek has a passion for philanthropy and has been actively involved in supporting various nonprofit missions with a focus on women empowerment, social and educational advocacy and environment.

Scott leads Saama’s global finance organization and operations. He is passionate about using the language of finance to enhance Saama’s performance and help tell the story of how industry is embracing AI technologies to accelerate the delivery of safe and effective medical treatments.

A high-impact executive, Scott has a compelling blend of financial experience and deep understanding of clinical development. He comes to Saama from Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD, Inc.), a leading global provider of clinical research services to the biopharma and biotech industries. As PPD’s Senior Vice President of Clinical Finance, Scott oversaw a portfolio of the contract research organization’s businesses across the phases of clinical development. He also had direct responsibility for PPD’s adjunct business units, including consulting, digital and enrollment solutions, where he worked to optimize business performance and communicate to executives and owners. While at PPD, Scott also implemented a global leadership program designed to enhance the career development and engagement of the finance team.

Scott began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor, then moved into corporate finance in the pharmaceutical industry. He holds an accounting degree from Texas Tech University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Scott likes to spend time with his family boating, golfing and playing tennis, as well as traveling and experiencing new adventures, places and cultures.

Andrew J. Mills (AJ) leads Saama’s global sales and marketing team and strategy to empower biopharma to faster, safer clinical development programs with ClinTech, the new, Saama-led category of purpose-built, AI-based clinical insights and automation platforms.

An expert at assessing and exceeding both business and customer needs, AJ and his team help align Saama’s offerings with customers’ goals and their mission to realize transformational drug development results to deliver safe, effective therapies to patients faster than ever before.

AJ’s drug development and clinical trials analytics experience include tenure at clinical trial data management company Clario (formally ERT/BioClinica), where he served as Global Vice President with responsibility for all aspects of sales and commercial market strategy for Clario’s eCOA, Precision Motion & Clario One (platform, data/analytics, connected devices) divisions. Prior to Clario, AJ spent four years in various sales positions at ICON Clinical Research, including as Executive Director, Specialty Sales – Site and Patient Solutions. AJ also held sales & marketing leadership roles in Intelsius (clinical trial packaging) and BioStorage Technologies (Biobanking).

AJ holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Reading in the UK and studied Strategic Sales Management at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Sagar drives the concepts, business models, and development of Saama’s innovative analytics solutions. His passion is to help pharma companies operationalize clinical data and accelerate drug development. In 2018, Sagar was awarded a patent for his work using Natural Language Understanding (NLU) for risk and compliance programs.

Sagar came to Saama through the 2010 acquisition of InfoSTEP, Inc., the analytics company he founded in 1998. Sagar served as InfoSTEP CEO for 11 years, where he architected and sold solutions to help manage IT business value and business risks. Prior to starting infoSTEP, Sagar worked at CMC Ltd. with other pioneers in mathematical font generation and transliteration systems.

Sagar holds a B.S. from Andhra University and an M.S. from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. He is a featured industry speaker and frequent industry association contributor, and has served on the board of ISACA, Silicon Valley Chapter, as Vice President and Director.

With 24 years of experience in leadership roles at Saama and Silicon Graphics (SGI), Rajeev currently leads Saama’s Client Care and Delivery organizations, while simultaneously driving the company’s technology roadmap.

Previously at Saama, Rajeev led the development of strategies, methodologies, and partnerships, with a focus on cloud, syndicated data sources, social data, advanced analytics, and mobile technologies.

Rajeev has created BI and Analytics strategies for large organizations and managed large-scale deployments of data warehousing, analytics and applied data mining/predictive analytics systems in diverse business environments. He has also been involved in the analysis, design, and deployment of both B2C and B2B solutions in different vertical industries.

Rajeev earned an M.S. in Computer Science at California State University, Chico.

Stephen architects and empowers Saama’s partnerships with life science industry companies, ensuring that Saama’s technology exceeds customers’ expectations and needs, enabling them to accelerate clinical development programs. He has a passion for being hands-on with customers to fully understand the daily challenges of their drug development processes.

Stephen is committed to improving the clinical trial landscape through customized technology and innovation. Stephen has over 15 years of experience supporting pharma, biotech, and contract research organizations (CROs), including tenure as Vice President, Portfolio Executive Partner at PPD Inc, part of ThermoFisher Scientific. Stephen’s professional experience also includes business development positions with Inclinix, Inc. and NovaQuest, the managed partnership group of Quintiles Transnational Corp.

Stephen earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kentucky, with a Major in Hospitality Management and a Minor in Business Administration. After finishing his collegiate football career, he played three years of professional football as a kicker in the U.S. and Germany.

With over 25 years of marketing and communications experience, combined with 20 years of patient advocacy, Suzanne Harris brings marketing expertise, the patient voice, and the ability to create high-functioning teams with character to Saama.

Suzanne prides herself on being able to build brands with purpose. An expert on messaging and storytelling, she has been helping organizations increase revenue, create brand equity, drive customer acquisition, and improve customer and employee experiences. Most recently, she led the global rebrand of Clario (formerly ERT and Bioclinica).

Her family’s personal experience with rare disease and clinical trials has ignited her passion as a patient and clinical trial advocate. Suzanne has spent two decades advocating and lobbying for children’s healthcare issues, successfully passing legislation that improves the health and livelihood of Pennsylvania’s sickest children and their families.

Suzanne received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Professional Writing and Marketing from Gannon University in Erie, PA and a Master of Arts degree in Advertising from the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.

Nirali heads Operations at Saama, which includes Risk Management, Legal, Facilities, Employee Communications, and onsite Information Technology. Nirali also leads Saama’s Human Resources function, driving employee recruitment, engagement, and retention, and ensuring that Saama’s talent is aligned with roles that fulfill organizational needs and goals, as well as individual ambitions.

An energetic and devoted people, culture, and change pioneer, Nirali ensures ongoing and active engagement with Saamaites for both career coaching and a day-to-day, growth-conducive work environment.

Nirali also stewards Saama’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitment, developing and implementing initiatives to support underrepresented employee groups and ensure gender parity. She also oversees Saama’s Learning and Development Opportunities, Performance Management, and Compliance efforts.

Nirali is recognized as one of the most accomplished women in healthcare technology. Her accolades include the Top 25 Women Leaders in Healthcare Software of 2022 (The Healthcare Technology Report), Dynamic Women Business Leaders to Watch 2021 (The Enterprise World), and Women Influencer for the 21st Century (Insights Success). Since 2015, Nirali has served on the Advisory Board of Rocket Lawyer. She also sits on the Advisory Board of Saas Research.

Nirali earned a Bachelors in Business Administration from J. J. Kundaliya College in Rajkot, India and her Post Graduate degree in Business Management from SLIMS in Ahmedabd, India. Nirali enjoys hiking, dancing, reading and spending time with her family.

Murali is responsible for bringing value across the drug lifecycle for biopharmaceuticals through patient-centric data analytics solutions, joint innovation, and transformative business models within the broader ecosystem.

With more than two decades of experience in Industrials, Telecommunications, Technology, and Life Sciences, Murali brings extensive knowledge in mission-critical systems, data analytics, AI/ML, open source, and cloud technologies. During his tenure at Saama, he has pioneered “Analytics-as-a-Service” for mid-size to large organizations with the goal of democratizing data, verticalizing the technology stack, leveraging complementary ecosystems, and generating prediction-guided outcomes.

Murali has played various leadership roles at Saama, focusing on customer success in data analytics strategy and growth-oriented Go-to-Market strategies. In his current position, Murali leads a team that drives Saama’s strategy for collaboration with life sciences partners, including CROs, health systems, academia, data providers, consortiums, public agencies, and non-profit organizations.

With his passion for emerging markets, disruptive technologies, and transformative business models, Murali engages with the broader ecosystem to accelerate drug development for biopharmaceuticals, and, most importantly, enhance patient outcomes.

Murali earned a B.E. in Electronics and Communications from Bangalore University. His work on Analytics-as-a-Service is featured as a case study in The Strategic CIO.

Vivek leads Saama in its mission to empower the life sciences industry to conduct faster and safer clinical development programs and file New Drug Applications (NDAs) more efficiently. His expertise in pharma services, data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), combined with over 25 years of life science and financial industry operational experience, have resulted in a business philosophy that aligns investor, customer and employee interests while creating significant business value.

Prior to joining Saama, Vivek served as CEO at Decision Resources Group (DRG), Piramal Pharma Solutions, and Piramal Critical Care, as well as Managing Director at Thomas H Lee Partners. At DRG, Vivek implemented a highly successful, growth-focused strategy with data analyses, AI, pharma insights, market access and strong customer focus to fulfill the company’s mission and allow pharma customers to gain invaluable information and data access prior to leading the sale process for DRG to Clarivate.

Vivek leads with inspiration and has been recognized as “Global CEO of the Year” by CPhI Pharma Awards. Vivek earned an Executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Vivek has a passion for philanthropy and has been actively involved in supporting various nonprofit missions with a focus on women empowerment, social and educational advocacy and environment.

Suresh founded Saama Technologies in 1997 to help customers access previously unattainable insights of raw data across disparate sources via game-changing analytics solutions. Suresh served as Saama’s CEO for 25 years, leveraging AI to reshape businesses across different verticals, including Life Sciences, Insurance, CPG, and High-Tech.

Prior to being elevated to Chairman Emeritus of Saama’s Board in June, 2022, Suresh stewarded Saama’s partnership with Pfizer to develop the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine in less than one year. In 2021 he architected a bold new strategic growth investment for Saama with global investment firm Carlyle and a unique and unprecedented consortium of the corporate venture arms of major pharmaceutical companies.

As one of the world’s most inspiring data & analytics (D&A) innovators, Suresh sits on the Board of Directors of the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO), which is dedicated to advocating on behalf of safe, ethical clinical trials that protect patients and ensure high-quality results. Suresh was named PM360’s 2018 ELITE Entrepreneur and as one of PharmaVOICE’s 100 Most Inspirational Leaders, is a frequent contributor to industry publications, and is a sought-after featured speaker for industry conferences and panels.

Suresh has been associated with various programs that provide education assistance for the less fortunate. Prior to founding Saama, Suresh successfully launched two startups. He earned his M.S. in Computer Engineering at the University of Southwest Louisiana, and his B.S. in Electronics Engineering at the University of Bangalore.

Ian C. Read served as Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer Inc., one of the world’s premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, from 2010 through 2018, as well as Chairman of Pfizer’s Board of Directors from 2011 through 2019. Under Ian’s stewardship during this critical and exciting time in the life sciences industry, Pfizer generated a total shareholder return of 250%, achieved 32 FDA approvals for new medicines, invested significantly in research and development, and completed several transformational transactions to help strengthen Pfizer’s pipeline.

Previously, Ian served as Senior Vice President and Group President of Pfizer’s Worldwide Biopharmaceutical Businesses, overseeing five global business units: Primary Care, Specialty Care, Oncology, Established Products, and Emerging Markets. Prior to this, he held positions in several of the company’s largest, fastest-growing operations, including Chief Financial Officer, Pfizer Mexico, and Country Manager, Pfizer Brazil. He joined Pfizer in 1978.

Ian serves on the board of directors of Kimberly-Clark and Viatris, while also being Chairman of DXC. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from London University Imperial College in 1974, and subsequently earned his Chartered Accountants certification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales in 1978.

Dr. Clive Meanwell, is the Executive Chairman of Population Health Partners LLC, a global investment firm, and Chief Executive Officer of Population Health Investment Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company. He is also vice chairman of the board of directors of BB Biotech, a global biotechnology investment corporation headquartered in Switzerland.

In 1996, Dr. Meanwell founded biopharmaceutical company The Medicines Company. He served as a member of the Board of Directors and held a range of leadership positions including Chairman, Executive Chairman, Chief Executive and Chief Innovation Officer until January 6, 2020, when Novartis AG acquired the company.

From 1995 to 1996, Dr. Meanwell was a founding partner and managing director of MPM Capital L.P. Earlier in his career, Dr. Meanwell held various positions at Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, Switzerland and Palo Alto, California.

Dr. Meanwell is a board member of EQRx, Fractyl Health, and Comanche Pharmaceuticals. He received his medical degrees from the University of Birmingham in the UK, where he also trained in medical oncology and undertook research in virology, oncology and clinical trials methods.

Joe Bress is a Managing Director on the U.S. Buyout team at Carlyle focused on private equity investments in the healthcare sector.

Since joining Carlyle in 2007, Mr. Bress has been involved in investing and managing over $4 billion of equity investments into healthcare companies globally. In addition to Saama, he is currently a member of the boards of CorroHealth, Curia, Millicent Pharma, Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD), TriNetX, and WellDyneRx. He is also involved in Carlyle’s investments in Included Health and Rede D’Or Sao Luiz. He was previously a member of the boards of Visionary RCM and X-Chem. Prior to Carlyle, Mr. Bress worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at UBS.

He received an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and an AB from Harvard College.

Mr. Neeraj Bharadwaj is the Managing Director at Carlyle India Advisors Private Limited, focused on the growth capital and buyout opportunities across various sectors in India.

He serves or has served on the boards of Piramal Pharma, Hexaware, Metropolis, Indegene, Delhivery Logistics, and others. He was involved in many significant investments like Apollo Hospitals (BSE: AHEL) and Jamdat (NASDAQ: JMDT).

Mr. Bharadwaj was selected as Board Member of the Indian School of Business (ISB), a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Board Member of Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ), Member of the Harvard Business School South Asia Advisory Board, Member of the Wharton Executive Education Board, and Co-Chair, FICCI Committee on Private Equity & Venture Capital.

He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics before completing his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Patrick R. McCarter is a Managing Director and Head of the Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications team. Mr. McCarter focuses on buyout and growth equity investments in companies, including software, business services, semiconductors, communications, systems and related distribution businesses. He is based in Menlo Park, CA.

Since joining Carlyle in 2001, Mr. McCarter has been involved with the firm’s investments in Jagex, Tribute Technology, Unison, Hirevue, ZoomInfo (DiscoverOrg), Ampere Computing, Veritas, Dealogic (acquired by ION), CommScope, Open Link Financial, Inc. (acquired by H&F), Open Solutions, Inc. (acquired by Fiserv), Freescale Semiconductor (acquired by NXP Semiconductors), Jazz Semiconductor (acquired by Acquicor Technology, Inc.), Sippican, Inc. (acquired by Lockheed Martin) and CPU Tech (acquired by Boeing).

Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. McCarter was at Morgan Stanley with a focus on financial institutions in New York.

Mr. McCarter is currently a member of the boards of HireVue, ZoomInfo, CommScope, Veritas and Ampere Computing. He is also a member of Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering Advisory Council.

Mr. McCarter received his BS with a double major in industrial engineering and economics from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Andrea Jackson is a Director on the convergent technologies team at Northpond Ventures, a science-driven venture capital firm. Andrea is a Board Director at several digital health and patient engagement companies including Hawthorne Effect, Octave Bioscience, Outcomes4Me, and SimBioSys. She is also a Board Director at life science software technologies: Scitara Corporation, Syapse, and VieCure; as well as at R&D solutions: Codex DNA (NASDAQ: DNAY), , NanoView Biosciences, Refeyn, and Vizgen.

Previously, Andrea was the commercial lead at Farcast Biosciences, an oncology clinical diagnostic company. Prior to Farcast, Andrea held various senior commercial leadership roles in life science startups and large companies such as PerkinElmer (NYSE: PKI) and Millipore. Before her operating roles, Andrea worked in JPMorgan’s Healthcare Investment Banking team and focused on life science tools, diagnostics, and biotechnology companies.

Andrea received an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.A. with honors from Washington University in St. Louis.

Anshul has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries as a general manager, management consultant, commercial leader and entrepreneur. Most recently, he served as Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President of Peri- and Post-Approval Services at PPD. He started his career at PPD as Global Head of PPD Biotech and under his leadership PPD became a market leader for CRO services in the Biotech segment. Currently serves an Operating Executive at Carlyle and Venture Partner at Abingworth.

Before PPD, Anshul ran the global life sciences business unit at Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), where he created a customer business model to serve the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Prior to GLG, he worked at McKinsey & Company, where he was an associate principal in the health care practice, counseling senior management and CEOs of global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Anshul earned his B.S and M.S.E in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and he earned his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Susan Atkinson is an experienced pharmaceutical industry executive with over 35 years of expertise in clinical trials research and development. As founder of AtCure Consulting, she currently consults with technology companies, biotechnology firms, CROs, and private equity firms investing in the health care sector.

Prior to her current board and consulting roles, Susan led a global organization as Senior Vice President, Global Biometrics and Centralized Services at PPD Inc. (Pharmaceutical Product Development). Her thirty years at PPD provided a vast foundation is developing relationships with multiple pharmaceutical partnerships and technology companies as well as leading operational excellence around the world. Her leadership skills for diverse functions such as core biostatistics and programming, as well as data management, clinical supplies & logistics, clinical development technologies, and process improvement position her well to support Saama’s journey in data and analytics innovation.

Susan is a board member for Everest Clinical Research. She is also involved in nonprofit board work and volunteer roles in the community.

Susan earned her Ph.D. in Biostatistics, School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her master’s and bachelor’s degrees are also in Biostatistics.

Clark Golestani has over 30 years of experience in health, life sciences and technology, and is an active investor, advisor and board member with a focus on the healthcare, life science and technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) sectors. Mr. Golestani currently serves as the managing director of C Sensei Group, LLC an advisory services firm, as a senior advisor to New Mountain Capital, as an investment advisor to both the K2 Access Fund and The CXO Fund, as a member of the DIA – Science and Policy Advisory Council, and as a special advisor to the Dean at the University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School.

Mr. Golestani actively advises companies, private equity and venture funds across healthcare, life sciences and horizontal technology sectors spanning company, go-to-market, data, digital, technology, and transformation strategies.

Mr. Golestani serves as an independent director on the board of directors for CIOX Health, the leading provider of health information management and exchange across the United Sates; eMids, a leading provider of digital transformation solutions to the healthcare industry, serving payers, providers, life sciences, and technology firms; Molecula, the leading Cloud Data Access platform that simplifies, accelerates, and improves control over big data infrastructure for mission critical Advanced Analytics, Machine Learning, and IoT applications; ToposWare Inc., developer of the worlds most advanced fully interoperable blockchain ecosystem powered by zero-knowledge proofs that provides tamper resistance and data privacy to enable global enterprises; TruU, Inc., the leading provider of converged security services that leverages AI, biometrics, and user behavior to provide a trusted user identity that can seamlessly migrate across digital and physical mediums; and Zapata Computing, the leading provider of quantum computing software and algorithms to solve industry-critical problems.

Mr. Golestani retired from Merck in 2018 as the President, Emerging Businesses and Global CIO, with responsibilities for Merck’s portfolio of digital health services and solutions companies inclusive of the company’s venture and equity funds – each of which extensively leverages opportunities across the digital health ecosystem. Further, Mr. Golestani led the company’s global Information Technology organization, strategy, and execution worldwide, spanning all lines of business inclusive of Human Health and Animal Health BioPharma.

Prior to joining Merck, Mr. Golestani was responsible for establishing and managing strategic client relationships from business development through consulting services engagement delivery as a principal with Oracle.

Previously, Mr. Golestani served as chairman of the board for Sparta Systems acquired by Honeywell International Inc., on the Board of Directors for Liaison Technologies acquired by Open Text Corporation, NPower, and Seal Software acquired by Docusign, and UMUC/Ventures. He has a degree in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, and is a cofounder of Cross Road Technologies, Inc., in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Former Managing Director Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Belgium and Chief Operating Officer, Janssen R&D Global

Stef Heylen, M.D., recently retired as Managing Director of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Belgium, and Chief Operating Officer of Janssen R&D Global.

Stef has 30-plus years of drug development and executive management experience in the pharma industry. His expertise extends over a wide range of areas: the development of small molecules, monoclonal antibodies and vaccines; clinical research in neuroscience and infectious diseases; regulatory affairs, drug safety, medical affairs, R&D operations, project/portfolio and general management.

As Managing Director Stef oversaw the corporate direction and strategy of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Belgium, focusing on leadership, innovation and unmet medical needs for patients in the development of tomorrow’s solutions. He was responsible for maximizing existing strengths and leveraging the present blend of innovation and experience to break new ground. He also was instrumental in using this strength to foster the ecosystem in Belgium by setting up successful strategic collaboration agreements with most of the large universities in Belgium and Research Institutes such as VIB and IMEC, as well as attracting start-up companies to the JLABS bio-incubator in Beerse.

As leader of the global Janssen R&D Operations team, Stef oversaw Global Clinical Development Operations, Quantative Sciences, Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Sciences, R&D Project and Portfolio Management and R&D Operations Innovation, driving operational excellence and execution of the company’s global development programs to bring innovative transformational solutions to patients globally, quickly and cost-effectively.

In his previous role, Stef was the Head of the Johnson & Johnson R&D Innovation Program Office, driving meaningful innovation and leveraging innovation capabilities across all sectors of the Johnson & Johnson enterprise.

From 2009 till 2013 he was Head of R&D and Chief Medical Officer for Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy, LLC, based in San Francisco, USA, and before that Chief Medical Officer, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Early Development, EU. From 2003 to 2007 Stef served as Site Head, Vice President Development for Tibotec, based in Mechelen, Belgium. During his tenure, two of the company’s HIV medicines were granted accelerated approval.

Before joining Tibotec, Stef was Vice President, Development & Regulatory Affairs at Crucell in Leiden, the Netherlands, and held several senior positions within Janssen including Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance, and Vice President, Medical Affairs for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. He joined the Janssen Research Foundation in 1987 and led the global clinical development of the antipsychotic RISPERDAL, one of the most successful Janssen medicines.

Stef obtained his M.D. at the University of Leuven, Belgium, and the Prince Leopold Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium.

Stef has a passion and proven track record for global public health and innovation in drug development.

Currently, he is board member of AZ Turnhout General Hospital, UZA University Hospital Antwerp, and ExeVir, a Belgium-based biotech company developing single-domain antibody-based therapies for COVID-19 and other viral infections.

Jay is currently Chief Operating Officer at Celularity, a biotech start-up focused on harnessing the power of allogeneic placental cell therapeutics in Immuno-Oncology and other diseases with unmet medical needs.

Jay has close to 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, covering a broad range of therapeutic areas. He is an accomplished executive who is equally adept at shaping strategy and driving execution and nurturing culture.

Jay held the position of SVP, Global Clinical Research & Development Operations at Celgene Corporation, where he was responsible for leading all Global Clinical R&D Operations in support of Celgene-sponsored trials. At Celgene, Jay was also Director Field Sales; Executive Director Sales and Commercial Operations; Vice President Strategic Operations; Vice President General Manager, Celgene Cellular Therapeutics; and Vice President Business Development. Jay was instrumental in designing and patenting the enhanced S.T.E.P.S. (REMS) managed distribution program in support of THALOMID (thalidomide) and REVLIMID (lenalidomide) commercialization and successor compounds.

Prior to joining Celgene, Jay was with TAP Pharmaceuticals, a joint venture between Abbott Laboratories and Takeda Pharmaceuticals, for seven years, where he held various positions in sales, sales management, and marketing.

Jay holds a B.S Degree in Business Management from Ithaca College.

Dr. Rebecca Daniels Kush is President of Catalysis, Inc., a consulting company founded in 1997 with a vision to apply enterprising solutions to transform clinical research and accelerate a learning health system. She is also the Chief Innovation Officer for Elligo Health Research, which is dedicated to engaging physicians and patients who may not otherwise have access to research and transforming the research process using eSource and improved data flow techniques.

Rebecca also consults for the Translational Research Informatics Institute (TRI Japan), working to expand the International Academic Research Organization (IARO) Council activities globally. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Learning Health Community.

Previously, Rebecca was the Founder, President, and CEO of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC). This organization offers a suite of data standards that support clinical research in therapeutic areas that affect more than 1.5 billion lives. These standards are now required for submissions for new drug applications by the FDA and PMDA.

Rebecca has more than 30 years of experience in clinical research, including positions within academia and at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, a global CRO, and biopharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and Japan.

She wrote the chapter on Data Sharing in Clinical Research Informatics (ed., Springer), was the lead author of eClinical Trials: Planning and Implementation (a CenterWatch publication), and has written numerous publications for journals like the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine. She is currently an Associate Editor for Wiley’s open access journal on Learning Health Systems.

Rebecca earned her Doctorate in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, and her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of New Mexico.

During her 35-year career in medicine, Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall has been on the frontlines of health care as a clinician, educator, researcher, and leader in the biopharmaceuticals and life sciences industries. Freda served as Pfizer, Inc.’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President until the end of 2018 and as Chief Patient Officer and Executive Vice President during 2019. In these roles, Freda expanded outreach to patients, reshaped the focus on patient engagement and inclusion, improved health information and education, and amplified the voice of the patient within company culture and decision-making. She was responsible for the safe, effective and appropriate use of Pfizer medicines and vaccines.

Before joining Pfizer, Dr. Lewis-Hall held senior leadership positions of Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, Medicines Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals; Senior Vice President, US Pharmaceuticals at Bristol Myers Squib; Vice President, Research and Development, Product Development at Pharmacia Corporation; and, Product Team Leader and Director at Eli Lilly and Company.

Freda currently serves on the Board of Fellows of The Harvard Medical School, the Board of Advisors of the Dell Medical School, the board of the Foundation of the National Institutes of Health, and the Board of Governors for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. She currently serves on the corporate boards of Milliken and Company, a global diversified industrial manufacturer; 1Life Healthcare, Inc., a health services company; Exact Sciences, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company, and SpringWorks Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company.

Prior to joining the biopharmaceutical industry, Freda served as vice chairperson and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine and was an advisor to the National Institute of Mental Health. She earned a B.A. in Natural Sciences from The Johns Hopkins University and an M.D. from Howard University College of Medicine. She launched her medical career as a practicing physician and then focused her academic research on the effects of health care disparities and the impact of mental illness on families and communities.

Freda is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom. She is a frequent speaker on issues such as improving patient safety and health outcomes, reducing stigma and healthcare disparities, women’s health, public health, corporate leadership and diversity. Freda is an accomplished developer of consumer education and medical outreach programs, including national television and radio shows such as segments on Dr. Phil, The Doctors, THE REAL, TEDMed, The Urban Health Report, and multiple on-line sites.

Anand Tharmaratnam is a seasoned healthcare executive with 24 years of life sciences industry experience.

An anaesthesiologist by training, Anand qualified as a medical doctor at University College London, UK and subsequently specialised in Anaesthesiology. Following an early career in anaesthesia and critical care medicine with the National Health Service, UK, he joined the healthcare industry in 1997.

Anand spent 23 years at Quintiles, where he initially worked as a medical lead and led clinical development programs across Europe. In 2001, he led the expansion of the Quintiles business into India by setting up the world’s first offshore clinical development ECG laboratory in Mumbai. He subsequently helped build the Quintiles business in Japan, Brazil, and Peru.

Between 2004 and 2016 Anand led a team that built the Quintiles business in Asia Pacific/Japan to a billion dollar a year sales business, and in that time was also part of the global executive team that took Quintiles public on the NYSE in 2013. He further led the expansion of the Quintiles business in Asia Pacific to build new local products and services to serve the fast-growing and emerging biotechnology clients in Korea, China, Australia, and Taiwan. In 2016 he was on the global executive team that merged with IMS Health to create IQVIA.

Between 2016 and 2020 Anand led and grew the merged IQVIA businesses across Asia Pacific, including the largest clinical development business in Asia, the largest healthcare consulting practice in Asia, an emerging real-world data business, the legacy IMS commercial solutions, and technology businesses.

Anand currently runs AskDrT Limited an independent healthcare investments and management advisory practice, based out of London, UK.

He is a senior advisor to TPG Capital and is Chairman of Novotech Health Holdings, the largest independent CRO in Asia Pacific.

In addition to his role at Saama Technologies he sits on advisory boards for other innovative, fast-growing healthcare companies, as well as advises governments on their clinical trials capabilities.

Anand is an investor in the healthcare and entertainment industries and is kept busy outside of work by his three teenage sons and passions for food, sport, and travel.

Having spent the majority of her career driving the information technology (IT) organizations within leading global pharmaceutical companies, Sandy Tremps has wide-ranging leadership experience with the technology aspects of R&D, information management, shop floor controls, and supply chain capabilities.

Most recently, Sandy was the Vice President of Research & Development IT at Merck, where she led all aspects of IT, from strategy development through implementation. In this role, she focused on optimizing discovery and development, with an emphasis on compliance, through greater data integration and visibility.

Prior to that, Sandy led IT organizations across multiple Merck divisions and programs in support of Merck Research Laboratory Global Development, Merck Research Laboratory Pre-Clinical, Global Human Health Emerging Markets, Merck Manufacturing Division IT Automation, and Merck Manufacturing Division Project 2000.

Sandy earned her Bachelors in Computer Information Systems from Purdue University, and her Masters in Technology Management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Jonathan Zung is an experienced pharmaceutical industry executive with more than 25 years of development experience. He has held executive leadership positions in the pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical services industries.

Jonathan currently serves as advisor to the CEO, WCG, and President of Clintrax. Prior to that he was group president, Clinical Development & Commercialization Services for Covance Drug Development, where he led a global organization of 8,000-plus employees in 60 countries, spanning all phases of development and global market access services.

Before joining Covance, Jonathan was vice president and head of Global Clinical Sciences and Operations at UCB, with responsibility for clinical operations, data management, statistical sciences, contracting, medical writing, and operational excellence across the United States, Europe and Asia.

Previously, he was vice president and head of Global Development Operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he led a 1,400-person organization that managed clinical trials from Phase II through registration. He also held several positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer Global Research and Development.

Jonathan is a board member of the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC). Previously, he served as chair of the TransCelerate BioPharma operations committee from 2013-2015 and served as a member of The Florida Institute of Technology Board of Trustees from 2010-2016.

He received his doctorate in analytical chemistry from Emory University in Atlanta, and has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.

The Honorable Dr. David J. Shulkin was the ninth Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Nominated by President Trump, Secretary Shulkin was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 100-0.

As Secretary, David represented 21 million American veterans and was responsible for the nation’s largest integrated health care system, with more than 1,200 sites of care. The VA is also the nation’s largest provider of graduate medical education and a major contributor to medical research.

Prior to joining the VA in the Obama administration, David was a widely respected healthcare executive. He served as chief executive of leading hospitals and health systems, including Beth Israel in New York City and Morristown Medical Center in Northern New Jersey. He has also held numerous physician leadership roles, including Chief Medical Officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University Hospital, and the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital.

David has also held numerous academic positions, including Chairman of Medicine and Vice Dean at Drexel University School of Medicine.

As an entrepreneur, David founded and served as the Chairman and CEO of DoctorQuality, one of the first consumer orientated sources of information for quality and safety in healthcare. He has served on boards of managed care companies, technology companies, and health care organizations.

David is the 2018 University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute Distinguished Health Policy Fellow and Professor in the Jefferson University College of Population Health. A board-certified internist, he received his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, his internship at Yale University School of Medicine, and a residency and Fellowship in General Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Medical Center. He received advanced training in outcomes research and economics as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

Over his career, David has been named as one of the Top 100 Physician Leaders of Hospitals and Health Systems by Becker’s Hospital Review and one of the “50 Most Influential Physician Executives in the Country” by Modern Healthcare and Modern Physician. He has also previously been recognized as one of the “One Hundred Most Influential People in American Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare.