Advocacy has long been a part of Ms. Sheahan’s life. Her mother’s cancer diagnosis led to the formation of the Greater Washington Coalition for Cancer Survivors, where Ms. Sheahan began her advocacy journey as a teenager. Before joining the colorectal cancer advocacy arena in 2012, Ms. Sheahan led the corporate giving program and large-scale events for a non-profit organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

While at GCCA, Ms. Sheahan has spearheaded Know Your Biomarker, an awareness, education, and advocacy campaign promoting global access to colorectal cancer biomarker testing. Her commitment to reducing health disparities led to the creation of the CRC Health Equity Grants program, a global initiative that offers timely financial grants to help GCCA member organizations address immediate health equity needs in their communities. Ms. Sheahan has also developed GCCA’s Patient Advocacy Mentorship, a program providing support and expertise to colorectal cancer advocates and organizations around the world.

Ms. Sheahan is a member of the Global Cancer Coalitions Network, serves on the board of From Testing to Targeted Treatments (FT3), and volunteers for the World Patients Alliance. She is a frequent speaker on precision medicine, patient-centered policies, and clinical trials.

Anna Zorawski is the Vice President of Clinical Solutions. She brings more than 18 years of clinical research experience, and is driven by a passion for elevating the patient journey in clinical trials. With a degree in human biology and specialized training in Clinical Trials Management, she is committed to client satisfaction and prioritizes finding innovative solutions to enhance the trial process and improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Gopal B. Krishnan is the Biologics Portfolio manager at Promega Corporation based in Madison, WI, USA. His group develops and manages products used in development of Biologics drugs spanning applications like mAb therapy, Cell, Gene, RNA therapies and vaccine development. Promega Biologics ensures innovative tools meet market needs by overseeing product lifecycles, market research and cross-team collaborations. Dr. Krishnan's presentation and discussion will focus on products like Lumit® Immunoassays, HiBiT® TCK Assays, Fc Effector, Immune checkpoint and Cytokine Growth factor bioassays as well as HiBiT®-PsVLP Bioassays, widely used in therapeutic development, cell and gene therapy, RNA QC, and vaccines. 

Dr. Gopal Krishnan earned a Ph.D. from the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, completed postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and holds an MBA from Colorado State University. With a strong background in science and its practical applications, Dr. Krishnan combines technical expertise with strategic business insight to advance innovation in the life sciences industry.

Dr. Alia Zander is an Associate Director of Data Science at Tempus AI, specializing in the development of multimodal machine-learning algorithms for oncology care. She leads projects from inception to execution, meticulously handling cohort selection, model development, and rigorous validation processes. Dr. Zander graduated from The University of Michigan with a BS in Biomedical Engineering, and received her PhD in integrated biomedical sciences from Northwestern University.

Hanif Gabrani-Juma, BEng, MASc is a biomedical engineer with a specialization in advanced image analysis. He began his career in cardiology, working with dynamic PET and SPECT scans, before transitioning to oncology at The Ottawa Hospital Division of Nuclear Medicine. Mr Gabrani-Juma previously led the North American branch of Radiomics.bio, an advanced image analysis CRO specializing in comprehensive solid tumor evaluations and predictive analytics using standard clinical CT images. Today, Mr Gabrani-Juma is an Associate Director of Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca, where he co-leads the strategy and external partnerships for exploratory image analysis for translational insights, biomarker discovery and development using CT and Nuclear Imaging modalities.

Tasha was diagnosed with maternal alloimmunization during her second pregnancy in 2019. When her OBGYN could offer little information on the implications of the Kell antibodies discovered or Hemolytic Disease of the Fetus and Newborn (HDFN), she turned to the internet and found an invaluable patient-led support group. This group was pivotal in educating her about this rare condition and empowering her to advocate for proper care during her high-risk pregnancy and post-delivery while her miracle baby battled HDFN.

Tasha has extensive experience in non-profit organizations including the American Red Cross and American Cancer Society. She holds a Master's Degree in Health Promotion Management from Marymount University and a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Mary Washington. Today, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Allo Hope Foundation, a patient advocacy organization born from that support group. She has also continued to advocate for alloimmunized mothers and improving care and outcomes for affected babies by serving as an HDFN Global Patient Council member and contributing to patient-centered research.

Sharib Khan is a Biomedical Informatics Entrepreneur, who combines his passion for the application of computers in healthcare, with his belief in startups as vehicles for change. As Co-founder and Product Lead at TrialX, he is responsible for developing and executing the product development vision. Mr Khan holds a Masters in Biomedical Informatics from Columbia University and an MD from the University of Medical Sciences, Delhi University. An Iyengar Yoga practitioner, he can be found teaching yoga classes or doing headstands, when not brainstorming clinical trials technologies. Contact information for brochure & registration purposes

Emma Sutcliffe is one of the most cited and published experts in the field of patient engagement and patient sciences. Her most recent industry role was as the Global Patient Officer at Ipsen where she managed a patient champion network of 150 colleagues and partnerships with 260 patient organisations for three therapeutic franchises. In 2024, Emma founded ISPEP -- the International Society for Patient Engagement Professionals -- which became the biggest organisation to align and elevate patient engagement practices in the sector. Emma holds several board trustee positions with rare disease patient organisations; her scientific pedigree is as a Medical Biochemist and she recently added to her clinical skill set by qualifying as a psychotherapist and counsellor.

Karen Wood has nearly 20 years of experience enhancing the patient experience at NYU Langone Medical Center, where she has worked to support individuals throughout their healthcare journeys.

Her passion for patient advocacy is deeply personal—she was a caregiver to her father, who battled multiple chronic illnesses, and her uncle, who fought against multiple myeloma and colon cancer.

Beyond her professional work, Ms Wood is a dedicated community advocate, assisting patients in navigating everyday challenges such as transportation barriers, insurance complexities, and medication denials. Her commitment to empowering patients drives her efforts to improve access to care and support those facing the most difficult moments of their health journey.

Niambi Blodgett is the Senior Director of Customer Advocacy for Areti Health, a venture-funded Silicon Valley company using advanced generative AI to revolutionize clinical trial recruitment. Areti's AI Coordinator delivers up to 10x improvement in patient conversion rates which, coupled with its seamless mass outreach capabilities, consistently compresses recruitment timelines from many months to a few weeks across multiple therapeutic areas. Areti currently supports many of the largest US clinical research site networks.

As an experienced operations leader based in Orlando, Florida, she excels in fostering community partnerships, applying innovative engagement strategies, and streamlining organizational efficiency. Previously, as Senior Director of Patient Engagement at EmVenio Research, she built community-based recruitment strategies and established local partnerships to improve clinical trial participation among underrepresented populations. Her healthcare background includes clinical operations, project management, and patient engagement, with a strong record of launching new business units, optimizing patient acquisition, and advancing decentralized trials. A respected industry voice, she has presented widely on data-driven solutions, community-centered healthcare, and collaborative approaches to address health equity gaps.