Angela Ho-Chen is currently a Managing Counsel at RAI Services. Angela received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University, her Master of Public Health in Cancer Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Master of Public Administration from the University of Miami, and her Juris Doctorate from American University.

Angela’s career has spanned nearly 20 years in the medical device and tobacco regulatory arenas. Angela is an attorney and practiced criminal food and drug law as outside counsel prior to transitioning into FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) where she leveraged her Master of Public Health degree to take a role as a Consumer Safety Officer in the Office of Compliance. In her 15 months at CDRH, Angela worked on several task forces and served as an acting case expert. In January 2010, Angela took a Regulatory Counsel position at the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP). Angela was one of the founding members of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement at CTP and left CTP in February of 2017 as Division Regulatory Counsel. She then transitioned into the legal and regulatory departments at Altria Client Services and Juul Labs prior to establishing her own consulting firm, FDA Regulatory and Legal Services, PLLC.

Angela has extensive cross-functional regulatory and legal leadership and project management experience. Her legal and regulatory review portfolio specifically includes pre-market and post-market regulatory submissions strategy and execution, gap analyses, marketing and labeling reviews, inspection/audit readiness, compliance analyses and enforcement mitigation in medical devices and tobacco. Angela has assisted clients with interpreting the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA), their implementing regulations as well as other federal agencies’ statutes.

Dr. Jessica Zdinak is an Eastern Shore of Virginia native who received a B.S. in Psychology from Christopher Newport University, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology & Statistics from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Zdinak has dedicated 20 years working as a behavioral scientist in a variety of settings, including academic, federal government, public health, and industry, and now serves as Chief Research Officer of a leading U.S. based Contract Research Organization, ARAC. 

Her team services both U.S. and International clients in their product development and consumer research supporting innovation and “next generation” products, with a focused expertise on the regulatory sciences for U.S. applications including: ITPs, PMTAs, MRTPAs, SEs, 510(k), and Breakthrough Designations. 

The ARAC firm specializes in providing boutique-level personalized research services, combining their expertise in psychology, statistics, and behavior change, with a focus on the consumer, and the role of the regulator. Their triangular approach has proven successful across a variety of studies, including label development and comprehension, human factors/usability, clinical behavioral studies, specifically randomized experimental trials, TPPI, and post-market surveillance systems.

George Hardie, Executive Director of Tobacco Harm Reduction Research, has over 38 years of experience in Inhalation Toxicology and clinical research. George has an MSc in Applied Toxicology. He possesses extensive knowledge of respiratory disease and tobacco harm reduction. Previously, George served as the head of clinical research for a major tobacco company and has authored/co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed papers on tobacco harm reduction.

Dr. Vincent Angelico is a co-founder of Accorto Regulatory Solutions and serves as its Chief Science Officer. In this role, Vince spends most of his time working with clients to formulate cost effective and successful regulatory strategies that meet client and FDA expectations.  Prior to joining Accorto, Vince was a senior executive at Blackbriar Regulatory Services, where he provided scientific and regulatory consulting to several alternative nicotine products companies and developed the regulatory strategy for Avail Vapor LLC, which ultimately submitted some of the few pre-market applications that the FDA did not reject in this constantly changing newly regulated market.  Vince developed his professional career working in the in the pharmaceutical industry, starting out as research and development chemist at Merck & Co Pharmaceuticals.  While at Merck, Vince helped develop products in the new drug pipeline and moved through the ranks to become a product development team leader.  His work led to regulatory filings on the notable cholesterol regulating drug ZOCOR™ (simvastatin).  Vince later worked for the German based pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), where he was assigned to their active ingredient manufacturing site in Petersburg Virginia.  Vince served in several different leadership roles for BI before ultimately becoming the Director of Manufacturing Operations in 2012.  Vince holds a BS in Chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Arizona.

Chris co-founded Broughton in 2006, having worked previously within global blue-chip pharmaceutical companies and Contract Research Organisations within the medicinal product and medical device sectors.

• Over 25 years’ experience in Analytical and Regulatory Science focussing on inhaled and solid dose pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and nicotine products
• Extensive experience with global regulatory agencies, including US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
• Oversees the overall direction of the organisation, ensuring that Broughton’s mission is achieved
• Has a passion for developing Broughton’s services and team members to help accelerate life-enhancing products to market

Chris Allen is the Chief Executive Officer at Broughton. Since obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and a subsequent Post Graduate Certificate in Analytical Science, he has gained over 25 years of analytical and regulatory experience working in global medical device and pharmaceutical companies and leading CROs. Chris started his career working on both Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical products within Smith+Nephew. Subsequently, Chris moved into inhaled medicines, supporting blue-chip pharmaceutical companies’ drug product registration programs within Melbourn Intertek.

Before co-founding Broughton, Chris moved into a leadership role with Sciantec (Cawood), successfully overseeing its entry into the Veterinary Medicines market, supporting global Marketing Authorizations and site inspections.

Chris co-founded Broughton Laboratories in 2006, with Paul Moran, overseeing its first and successful MHRA Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) inspection within the first three months. With a focus on supporting Marketing Authorizations and Post Marketing activities within the pharmaceutical sector, Broughton played a pivotal role in obtaining the first UK Medicinal License for an electronic cigarette, a project that started in 2010.

Chris took this combined experience of Pharmaceuticals and Nicotine to expand Broughton’s services to support the development and registration of Reduced-Risk Tobacco Products, including Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS). Rapid growth within this area resulted in the expansion to a second site, and a multi-million-pound (GBP) investment into a custom-built facility, leading-edge analytical equipment and expansion of the team and service offerings. Chris has overseen multiple product applications for Medicinal Marketing Authorization Applications (MAA), EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), US Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) and other global markets. Chris has become well established as a recognized subject matter expert in the science and regulation of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and reduced risk nicotine products.

As Chief Executive Officer of Broughton, Chris’ passion lies in developing the Broughton Team and associated services to deliver life-enhancing products to market for their clients.

Sarah has broad experience serving pharma, medical device, and consumer products industries, with a focus on integrating science, quality processes, and business goals in a regulated environment. She has a proven ability to develop resilient, cross-functional teams and champion complex projects across diverse groups of stakeholders. Sarah specializes in helping clients develop and successfully execute strategies to access the U.S. market.

Sarah works closely with clients to plan and submit premarket tobacco product applications (PMTAs) and modified risk tobacco product applications (MRTPAs) across various nicotine product categories, including novel, emerging delivery systems. She combines her extensive industry experience, scientific expertise, and business acumen to navigate the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape and provide practical solutions to regulatory challenges. Sarah supports regulatory strategy across all scientific areas including product design and development, manufacturing, and nonclinical and clinical study programs.

She specializes in helping clients create and navigate multi-product regulatory strategies and product line extensions. These strategies leverage existing scientific evidence through use of supplemental PMTAs (sPMTAs) and tobacco product master files (TPMFs) to minimize regulatory costs and timelines. She also supports preparation for Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) meetings.

Matt Fields is the Vice President of AgeChecker.Net, a leading provider of online age verification solutions for retail and ecommerce businesses. Based in Westlake Village, California, Fields has played a pivotal role in developing and scaling the company’s technology to help retailers comply with age-restricted sales laws while enhancing user experience and data security.

Fields has also emphasized the importance of regulatory compliance and social responsibility in ecommerce. He highlighted the company's commitment to replacing outdated “age gate” methods with real-time verification using public records and secure ID uploads, ensuring that businesses avoid underage sales without disrupting the customer experience.

With a focus on innovation and adaptability, Fields continues to lead AgeChecker.Net in expanding its integrations across ecommerce platforms and enhancing its fraud prevention capabilities, positioning the company as a trusted partner in the rapidly evolving landscape of online age-restricted commerce.