Gordon Freeman, PhD, Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, is renowned for discovering the PD-L1 and PD-L2 proteins. Dr. Freeman showed that PD-L1 and PD-L2 bound to PD-1 to turn off the immune response and that blockade of PD-L1/PD-1 enhanced immune responses.  He further showed that PD-L1 is highly expressed on many tumors and allows these tumors to resist immune attack. Dr. Freeman’s work led directly to the development of a successful strategy for cancer immunotherapy - blocking the PD-1-ligand interaction. Dr. Freeman has published over 400 scientific papers and holds over 90 US patents on immunotherapies. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors, is a Fellow of the AACR and SITC Academies, and has received numerous awards, including the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Tumor Immunology, the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, and the Richard Smalley, MD, Memorial Award. Dr. Freeman received his Ph.D. degree in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Harvard University.

James Riddle is the Senior Vice President of Global Review Operations at Advarra, the world’s largest provider of ethics, safety, and compliance oversight reviews services. With 25+ years’ experience providing support to the clinical research community, Riddle has operational responsibility for Advarra’s global review services including IRB, IBC, DMC, EAC. In this role, he helps sponsors, CROs, and research sites advance clinical research with a mission to improve human health. Prior to Advarra, Riddle served as a senior leader within the research oversight and compliance office at the world-leading Fred Hutch / University of Washington Cancer Research Center. He also launched and led the consulting division of a major central IRB that became part of Advarra. He also served as Vice President of Operations and Director of Technology at another large central IRB organization. His expertise includes developing and operationalizing processes for maximum efficiency, client satisfaction, and participant protection; development and implementation of technology solutions; and efficient, compliant operation of large clinical research review programs. He has also supported leading pharma companies in building clinical trial processes in the most efficient, effective, and regulatorily compliant ways possible. Riddle is a regular speaker at industry events and has written abundantly on research compliance and efficiency topics. He is also a member of CTTI, NWABR, SASI, and PRIM&R.

Monique Mulkern is the Head, Global Patient Insights & Solutions (GPIS), Patient Experience (PEX), at Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease. She leads a talented team to bring patient voices and insights into the organization to inform strategy and action from clinical trials through commercialization. She has been in healthcare for over 20 years and joined Alexion in 2018, establishing launch excellence, congress excellence, and strategic planning capabilities. She is inspired by co-creating solutions with all stakeholders who strive to positively impact patient health and dedicated to supporting the company’s mission of transforming the lives of people affected by rare and devastating diseases. Prior to Alexion, she worked with an array of companies through strategy consulting, in-house at Novartis, and at Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health. Monique has been based out of Paris, Rome, and is now back in Boston. She holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MBA from HEC Paris.

Molly Kerrigan has been working at AstraZeneca for 2.5 years across a variety of teams within R&D, ranging from Applied Data Science in Early Oncology, Digital Health Design Research, Clinical Trial Diversity, and Patient Safety Data & Analytics. In her current role as Manager in the Patient Safety Data & Analytics team, she conducts real-world data analytics for safety contextualization and clinical trial diversity action plans. She is responsible for the data strategy and design of AZ’s Clinical Trial Diversity Dashboard, enabling study teams to monitor and improve demographic representation in real time for all AZ Phase 3 studies. Molly is passionate about bringing data-driven insights to improve representation in clinical trials and promote health equity.

Paris Johnson is a highly experienced clinical research professional with over 13 years of dedicated service at AstraZeneca in Site Management and Monitoring. With experience as a US Study Lead in both Biopharma and Oncology, she has a commitment to data-driven delivery with a patient-centric focus. Ms Johnson has played a crucial role in developing, implementing and executing strategies to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in clinical trials, development of Clinical Trial Diversity Action Plans and addressing health disparities within the US. Ms Johnson is a passionate advocate for ensuring that clinical trials reflect the diversity of the populations they aim to serve.

TBA

Chiquita Hanindya is an R&D scientist at BlueWhale Bio specializing in cell therapy. She previously worked at leading biotechnology companies, including AboundBio and Galapagos, focusing on immunotherapy and protein engineering, particularly in CAR-T across various indications and targets. She studied Chemistry at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg before continuing her education in Biochemistry at the Nuremberg Institute of Technology. After gaining experience in academia, she moved into industry, starting her career at A.W. Faber-Castell before transitioning to biotechnology. With a strong foundation in research and a passion for innovation, Chiquita is committed to advancing groundbreaking therapies that drive meaningful progress in cell therapy.

A Managing Director in WittKieffer’s Interim Leadership solution, George relies upon an extensive background in executive talent, strategic consulting, and talent advisory to inform his work. George is driven by his desire to identify creative leadership solutions for pharmaceutical and commercial healthcare clients that align with their strategic needs. He thoughtfully educates and partners with these firms for opportunities to leverage interim and on-demand leadership talent.

George’s background includes broad and deep expertise in business development and commercial strategy for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to WittKieffer, he served as Senior Director of Client Development for a leading executive talent and consulting firm. In this role, he focused on acquiring new business in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, growing service offerings around interim and on- demand solutions.

Before that, George was a Senior Partner managing Strategic Life Science Partnerships at an industry leading alternative legal service provider, partnering with in-house legal leaders to create innovative solutions for high-quality, on-demand legal talent and advising clients on cost-effective alternatives to traditional outside counsel.

Additionally, George’s earlier career included managing interim solutions, managed services, and workforce transformation partnerships with Contract Research Organizations (CROs) and organizations within the Pharmaceutical, Medical Device & Diagnostic, Biotechnology, and Healthcare Provider industries.

Mark Landers is Vice President of Precision Medicine at Akoya Biosciences and has over 25 years experience in oncology diagnostics. Prior to joining Akoya, Mark held leadership positions at Epic Sciences, Guardant Health and Exact Sciences. Leveraging a strong technical background from years in R&D, he has successfully brought multiple diagnostic tests and companion diagnostics to market.

Cheryl Bernstein, RN, BSN, CCRC is Director of Clinical Research at the Bernstein Clinical Research Center, LLC, Cincinnati Ohio. During the last 40 years, Cheryl has coordinated multiple Phase II and III multicenter clinical research trials of new investigational products for Asthma, COPD, Allergic Rhinitis, Urticaria, Hereditary Angioedema and for sublingual allergen immunotherapy tablets.  She currently serves as a consumer representative on the FDA advisory panel for new ENT devices.  Cheryl has co-authored 7 research publications. Throughout her career, Cheryl has been a featured speaker for Allied Health continuing medical education programs at multiple annual AAAAI and ACAAI meetings. For her years of service, she received the AAAAI Allied Health Professional Recognition Award in 2013.

Leslie Lake is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Invus Financial Advisors, LLC, an investment boutique based in New York City. Leslie co-founded the firm in 2006, with a specialty in long short equity strategies. Leslie has been managing assets within the hedge fund industry since 1995. Leslie holds a BS in Economics from Simmons College, where she is also a Trustee, member of the Finance and Investment Committees, and Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees.

In 2018, Leslie suffered a bilateral pulmonary embolism (PE). Her quest to learn more about venous thromboembolism (VTE) lead her to the National Blood Clot Alliance. Despite living in New York City, Leslie was shocked by the lack of information available to her after her PE.

Leslie volunteers her time to lead the organization and is committed to raising public awareness so no person affected by blood clots is without the necessary information they need to prevent or successfully treat VTE, and that they also have the information they need to navigate the spectrum of lifestyle issues that can follow a blood clot diagnosis.