Global Leadership
Saama’s leadership team has the experience and vision to accelerate clinical trials.
Meet the
Executive Leadership Team
Bhaskar Sambasivan
Chief Executive Officer
Bhaskar Sambasivan has worked at the center of healthcare and technology convergence for more than 30 years, serving clients in leadership and advisory roles to support the transformation of their business processes and operations. As CEO of Saama, Bhaskar applies this firsthand experience to guide the growth of the business and evolution of the company’s AI-enabled technology platform aimed at accelerating clinical research and the commercialization of new medical breakthroughs for patients.
Prior to Saama, Bhaskar was the CEO of CitiusTech, a healthcare focused technology services and solutions company and the Chief Strategy Officer and President of Patient Services at EVERSANA, a leading life sciences services company focused on end-to-end pharmaceutical commercialization solutions. Additionally, Bhaskar was the head of the Global Life Sciences business at Cognizant, a Fortune 500 company, for nearly 15 years.
As an industry leader, he has a passion for building best-in-class teams and has mentored many strong leaders, currently holding senior roles across the industry. Bhaskar is committed to diversity and academic enrichment, including as an active sponsor of many outreach programs that provide education and facilities to children and students around the world.
Bhaskar currently serves on the advisory board of TIE NJ, a global organization that focuses on helping entrepreneurs succeed. He has also been recognized by PharmaVoice as one of the most “100 Influential and Inspirational Leaders in Life Sciences” in both 2017 and 2018.
Scott Rogers
Chief Financial Officer
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.
Malaikannan Sankarasubbu
Chief Technology & AI Officer
Malaikannan Sankarasubbu is a distinguished leader in the field of artificial intelligence and an advocate for leveraging technology to accelerate clinical trials. Currently serving as the Chief Technology & AI Officer at Saama, Malaikannan brings his extensive expertise and visionary thinking to drive innovation and create transformative solutions.
Prior to his role at Saama, Malaikannan founded and served as the Chief Technology Officer of Datalog.ai, a pioneering company focused on harnessing the power of Natural Language understanding to bring conversational experience to products. With a strong academic background, Malaikannan has consistently contributed to the scientific community through his research, publications and open source. His work has been recognized and published in more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific papers, demonstrating his commitment to advancing knowledge and pushing the boundaries of AI applications in healthcare. Malaikannan's contributions have earned him numerous accolades and awards throughout his career. He has been honored as a Pharmavoice Change Agent, recognized by PM360 magazine as a Data Miner, and acknowledged as a Top Industry Leader by LifeScience Voice. Additionally, his alma mater, SSN College of Engineering, has recognized him as a Distinguished Alumnus, celebrating his exceptional achievements and contributions to the field. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Malaikannan is driven by a deep passion for accelerating clinical trials using AI. He firmly believes that by leveraging cutting-edge technologies, we can bring new treatments and therapies to patients faster, ultimately improving healthcare outcomes on a global scale.
Prasanna Rao
Chief Products and Innovation Officer
Prasanna Rao currently serves as the Chief Products and Innovation Officer at Saama. He brings over 30 years of experience in information technology and analytics, with more than 15 of those years in healthcare and life sciences. Prior to Saama, he was the Global Head of Artificial Intelligence for Clinical Data Sciences at Pfizer, where he worked on concept to deployment for several AI initiatives including Saama's Smart Data Quality, the industry's first AI system for data management.
Before joining Pfizer, Prasanna was with IBM Watson Health, where he focused on product management and implementation for life sciences. Prasanna is recognized as an AI practitioner and industry Thought Leader, having presented at several industry conferences such as the Society for Clinical Data Management (SCDM), the Drug Information Association (DIA), and the Summit for Clinical Ops Executives (SCOPE). He graduated in 1992, holding a Bachelor of Electronics Engineering degree from Bangalore University in India.
Rajeev Dadia
Chief Delivery and Services Officer
With 24 years of experience in leadership roles at Saama and Silicon Graphics (SGI), Rajeev currently is serving as Saama’s Chief Delivery and Services Officer, where he is focusing on services innovation and delivery excellence.
Throughout his time at Saama, Rajeev led the development of strategies, methodologies, and partnerships, with a focus on Modern Data Platform, MDM, data federation, syndicated data sources, AI/ML, analytics, and mobile technologies.
Rajeev has created Data and Analytics strategies for large organizations and managed large-scale deployments of data warehouses, analytics and applied AI/ML analytics systems in diverse business environments. He has also been involved in the analysis, design, and deployment of data products in Life Sciences, Insurance and consumer goods industries.
Rajeev earned an M.S. in Computer Science at California State University, Chico.
Ari Srinivasan
Chief Customer Success and Growth Officer
Ari Srinivasan is the Chief Customer Success and Growth Officer at Saama with a focus on bringing our collective synergies from within & outside, towards impacting how we as an industry improve patients' lives. With nearly three decades of client-centric Commercial & Operational experience in Health Sciences, Ari has been a hands-on leader in managing large, globally distributed units in service of a diverse portfolio of clients. Focusing on collaborative solutions, innovative thought leadership & strong articulation of partnership value, Ari brings a strong track record of organic & inorganic hyper-growth with strategic customer retention.
Ari joins Saama from Real Chemistry where he was the Group EVP leading their Data & AI solutions teams. Having started his career in the Pharma industry commercial functions & subsequently working in enabling the industry with technology solutions, Ari brings a hybrid expertise both on the Services and Products from his days at IBM, Cegedim, Cognizant and most recently at Real Chemistry.
As a trusted C-Suite advisor, Ari has been instrumental in transforming the technology & business ecosystems across large global Fortune 100 clients to early stage start-up biotechs. He also has demonstrated success in establishing & running product ventures in life sciences including Data & AI. A strong advocate of DE&I, in and out of the workplace, he has led initiatives impacting patients, social cohesion, employee and community outreach.
Jo-Ann Rodriguez
Global Head of Quality, Compliance & ESG
Jo-Ann Rodriguez is the Global Head of Quality, Compliance & ESG at Saama, where she focuses on ensuring that all operations, products, and services comply with industry standards and regulatory requirements, while also driving continuous improvement and operational excellence. She is skilled in quality, compliance, data privacy, and security, and has additionally built and manages Saama's Data Privacy & Security and ESG sustainability program.
With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical life science industry, Jo-Ann previously worked at Clario (formerly ERT), where she managed complex projects and built high-performing teams, fostering cross-functional collaboration while ensuring the company's quality initiatives were met. She has a deep understanding of regulatory requirements, data privacy, and security standards, and a well-rounded background in product and portfolio management, strategic planning, risk management, and process governance.
Jo-Ann holds a degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from Temple University and currently resides in Ohio with her husband of 18 years. Outside of work, she enjoys woodworking, architecture, and interior design.
Meet the
Key Senior Leadership
Allan Kirchner-Theriault
Global Head of HR Operations
Allan Kirchner-Theriault currently leads the Global Human Resource Operations at Saama. Since joining the company in 2023, Allan and his team partner with the organization to support the entire employee life cycle and elevate the HR delivery model, enhancing the overall employee experience. He brings over twenty years of knowledge, experience, and success. Allan’s expertise in the HR Operations field is sought after, and he has presented at multiple summits on the topic to other HR experts.
Allan leads collaborative teams from a foundation of authenticity, trust, and compassion, with the goal of elevating the employee experience while balancing fiscal discipline. He continues to provide data-driven strategic and innovative solutions.
Prior to joining Saama, Allan led the global HR Operations team at RSA. In that role, Allan led the HR divestiture from Dell, standing up HR Operations functions for RSA’s employees in 31 countries around the globe. This included the introduction of a new HRMS, two global payroll systems, benefits schemes across all countries and policies that met both the regulatory landscape as well as allowed RSA to operate effectively around employee concerns. Allan previously held HR roles at Dunkin’ Brands, Uno Restaurants and Filene’s/Kaufmann’s.
Allan holds a management degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He resides in the Boston area with his husband and their beloved cats. He enjoys working out, surfing and scuba diving, as well as traveling and exploring with his husband.
Ashwini Moni
Director of Human Resources (India)
Ashwini Moni currently serves as the Director of Human Resources, India at Saama. She brings to the table an extensive two decades of experience in the field of Human Resources, across many facets including: talent acquisition, business partnering, operations and more. Ashwini is a trusted advisor with business leaders and working with them to develop people and talent strategy, increasing employee engagement and enhancing the overall human resources contributions to the business.
Ashwini has diverse experience in the services and IT field, having worked for companies such as Cognizant, Symantec, Dell EMC, Rocket Software, and Progress Software prior to joining Saama in 2023.
Ashwini holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration specializing in Human Resources. She has also completed an executive development program in leadership and change management from Xavier Labor Relations Institute (XLR) in India.
Nekzad Shroff
Head of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships
Nekzad Shroff currently serves as the Head of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, where he is responsible for driving cross functional priorities supporting Saama’s long term growth strategy.
Nekzad has been in the life sciences space for nearly two decades, with a passion for innovation and business transformation using modern data analytics and AI strategies. His pharma experience spans across clinical, commercial and managed markets functions.
He has a passion for leading organizational change at Saama, having previously founded and led Business Consulting. Nekzad transformed Saama's product capabilities from services and custom solutions to a mature product management operation delivering cutting edge, validated and GxP compliant SaaS cloud analytics products to large enterprise clients.
A PharmaVoice 100 honoree in 2022, Nekzad has an Engineering degree from Mumbai, an MBA from the University of Toronto and a Chief Product Officer certification from the Kellogg School of Management.
Aamir Jaka
Global Vice President, Customer Experience and Success
Aamir Jaka leads Saama’s Customer Success team, which is focused on helping Saama customers achieve their business goals using Saama’s AI-driven SaaS platform, as well as product based industry solutions and accelerators for customers.
He has over 20 years of experience in technology, consulting, and software organizations working to solve complex business challenges with technology-enabled, data-driven business insights. His ability to bridge technical and business topics within executive and end-user communities allows Aamir to work closely with Saama customers to drive digital transformation initiatives that generate measurable value-based outcomes.
Aamir joined Saama as part of the company’s 2019 acquisition of Comprehend Systems, Inc., where he led the Professional Services and Customer Success teams. Prior to Comprehend, Aamir led services and consulting teams at Adaptive Insights (a Workday company), Perficient and PwC.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, Aamir holds a BS in Business Information Systems and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley
Meet the
Board of Directors
Bhaskar Sambasivan
Chief Executive Officer
Bhaskar Sambasivan has worked at the center of healthcare and technology convergence for more than 30 years, serving clients in leadership and advisory roles to support the transformation of their business processes and operations. As CEO of Saama, Bhaskar applies this firsthand experience to guide the growth of the business and evolution of the company’s AI-enabled technology platform aimed at accelerating clinical research and the commercialization of new medical breakthroughs for patients.
Prior to Saama, Bhaskar was the CEO of CitiusTech, a healthcare focused technology services and solutions company and the Chief Strategy Officer and President of Patient Services at EVERSANA, a leading life sciences services company focused on end-to-end pharmaceutical commercialization solutions. Additionally, Bhaskar was the head of the Global Life Sciences business at Cognizant, a Fortune 500 company, for nearly 15 years.
As an industry leader, he has a passion for building best-in-class teams and has mentored many strong leaders, currently holding senior roles across the industry. Bhaskar is committed to diversity and academic enrichment, including as an active sponsor of many outreach programs that provide education and facilities to children and students around the world.
Bhaskar currently serves on the advisory board of TIE NJ, a global organization that focuses on helping entrepreneurs succeed. He has also been recognized by PharmaVoice as one of the most “100 Influential and Inspirational Leaders in Life Sciences” in both 2017 and 2018.
Suresh Katta
Chairman Emeritus
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
Board Member
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.
Clive Meanwell, M.B., Ch.B., M.D.
Board Member
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
Board Member
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.
Neeraj Bharadwaj
Board Member
Neeraj Bharadwaj
Board Member
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 McCarter
Board Member
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
Board Member
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 Thakral
Board Member
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.
James M Karis
Board Member
James M Karis
Board Member
James is an experienced Chief Executive Officer, entrepreneur and board member with an extensive background in pharma services and healthcare innovation. Some of the companies he has guided are recognized leaders and pioneers in biosimulation, data analytics, patient reported outcomes as well as the contract research sector. James has also led several successful exits.
Most recently, James was CEO of privately held Mapi Group, a company focused on conducting late phase studies, and providing regulatory guidance and reimbursement support to the pharmaceutical and device industries. Earlier, he was Founder of KMR Group, a leading life sciences data analytics firm. In addition to CEO of CollabRx and Entelos, James was President and COO of Parexel, and earlier, Pharmaco International. He was Vice President International of Baxter Healthcare.
James currently serves on the Board of Alira Health. Previously, he was Chairman of the Board of Shield Therapeutics, Marina Biotech and Schulman IRB.
James has a B.S in Management and Economics from Purdue University, and an M.A. in Applied Economics from The American University, Washington, DC.
Meet the
Advisory Board
Craig Lipset
Advisor
Craig Lipset is the founder of Clinical Innovation Partners, providing growth advisory services for organizations developing and implementing innovative approaches to clinical research and medicine development. He works as an advisor with pharma, biotech, venture capital, and nonprofits to provide vision and drive action at the intersection of research, digital solutions, and patient engagement.
Craig is co-chair for the Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance, serves on the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research (Vice President) and the MedStar Health Research Institute (Vice Chair), as well as on the Editorial Board for Therapeutic Innovation & Regulatory Science. Craig is Adjunct Assistant Professor in Health Informatics at Rutgers University, and Adjunct Instructor in the Center for Health + Technology at University of Rochester. He serves on the Advisory Council for HL7 Project Vulcan.
Craig was the Head of Clinical Innovation and Venture Partner at Pfizer, on the founding Operations Committee for TransCelerate Biopharma, and on the founding management teams for two successful startup ventures.
Craig has been listed among the PharmaVOICE most inspiring people in the life sciences (Red Jacket hall-of-fame), Pharmaceutical Executive’s Emerging Leaders, CenterWatch Top 20 Innovators in Clinical Trials, and the AlleyWatch Who’s Who in eHealth.
Jackie Kent
Advisor
Jackie Kent is a pharmaceutical development and healthcare technology executive, board director, and trusted advisor with a passion for clinical research and accessibility. With over 30 years of experience in pharma and technology, Jackie recently served as the Chief Customer Officer at Medidata Solutions. She continues contributing her expertise and passion for clinical trial accessibility through boards, advisory and consulting.
Jackie is a change leader and advocates with comprehensive knowledge about the dynamics of diverse healthcare systems and clinical development and execution.
Since 2022, Jackie has served as chair of the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO). She is a board director for Circuit Clinical. Jackie recently accepted a consulting role with the Society of Clinical Research Sites (SCRS), providing leadership to a global organization to create greater site sustainability and also leading the Diversity in Clinical Trials Program.
Jackie spent over four years at Medidata where she led the Customer Success organization, which is laser-focused on ensuring a positive customer experience along every step of their journey with the company. The CS organization uses a cross-functional customer strategy to infuse the voice of the customer throughout the organization. Previously, she was the EVP, Head of Product and, in both roles, reported directly to the CEO while serving on the executive committee.
Throughout her 29-year tenure at Eli Lilly, Jackie held leadership roles across Clinical Development, where she worked with leading organizations to develop feasibility, recruitment/retention, site selection, clinical operations, CT supply planning, medical quality, and global audit.
Her recent honors include PharmaVoice 100, PM360 Elite Strategist and HBA Luminary.
Jonathan Zung, Ph.D.
Advisor
Jonathan Zung, Ph.D.
Advisor
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.
Jay Kaminski
Advisor
Jay Kaminski
Advisor
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.
Dalvir Gill, Ph.D.
Advisor
Dr. Dalvir Gill has more than three decades of expertise in drug development across multiple therapeutic areas. He has held executive leadership position in both the pharmaceutical and the pharmaceutical services industries. Most recently he was the founding CEO and member of the Board of Directors of TransCelerate BioPharma and led the organization for 10 years. Dalvir took TransCelerate from inception to becoming the most successful biopharmaceutical collaborative in history with 20 of the largest biopharmaceutical companies funding it. Under his leadership TransCelerate generated dozens of transformative solutions that are publicly available and in everyday use in the global drug development ecosystem.
Before he was recruited to start TransCelerate, Dalvir was the Global President of Drug Development at InVentiv Health which was one of the largest service providers to the biopharmaceutical industry. In that role he was responsible for a global business spanning nearly 40 countries and was responsible for all operational and business departments.
Prior to that Dalvir spent 10 years at Rhone Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi) and was part of the oncology leadership team that developed of Taxotere. He co-authored the clinical development plan for the regulatory submission of Taxotere in Platinum Refractory NSCLC that used an innovative and first ever use of a Best Supportive Care control arm in a pivotal oncology study. Taxotere went on to become one of the most successful oncology drugs in history and has been used to treat millions of cancer patients around the world.
Dalvir has served on multiple boards and Executive Committees. He was member of the Executive Committee Member of the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative, a public-private partnership co-founded by FDA and Duke University to increase the quality and efficiency of clinical trials. He also served as an Executive Committee member of the Society of Clinical Research Sites.
Dalvir has a PhD in Pathobiology from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London. He also attended the Stockholm School of Economics to study the Health Economics of Pharmaceuticals. Dalvir has presented his research at numerous conferences and has authored more than 30 scientific publications. He is an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.
David J. Shulkin M.D.
Advisor
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.
Sagar Anisingaraju
Advisor
Sagar drove 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.
