Archives: Speakers

Richard Ferguson advises the Agricultural Transformation Initiative. His investment banking career began in 1989 in Edinburgh. In 1993 he relocated to Asia where he spent nine years working as an analyst. After four years in Latin America and Paris, Richard joined Nomura’s emerging markets group in London and established an agriculture research function. After a spell at Moscow-based Renaissance Capital, Richard established Ferguson Cardo and advised PwC in Africa and CABI. He has worked on agribusiness fundraisings across Latin America, Africa, Asia and the CIS. He is the author of “African agriculture: This other Eden”, “A revolution of sorts”, “From field to laptop: the changing face of soft commodities trading”, “China’s grain drain” and the agriculture chapter of “The Fastest Billion” a book on Africa’s economic prospects.

Cristina Ann de Vera is an Account Executive at Inceptua, based in our New York office. With a background of 15-years’ experience in the clinical trial sector she coordinates and leads clinical trials supply sourcing for clients globally. She also has major experience in supporting US companies in their sourcing activities in the Chinese clinical trial market. She has a background in cardiovascular critical care as a registered nurse as well as involvement in clinical operations as a CRA in both the EU and in the USA.

Viktor Sandstedt is an Account Executive at Inceptua, where he coordinates and leads clinical trials supply sourcing projects for the Chinese market.

With over 8 years’ experience in China, Viktor is an expert at bridging cultural gaps for western companies in China. During his time at Inceptua, Viktor has worked together with leading global pharmaceutical companies and with small/mid-size bio-techs. His main focus is securing reliable supplies to ensure patients well-being are not put at risk. Viktor is fluent in Swedish, English, and Mandarin.

As the Sensitech Professional Services Senior Project Manager & Industrial Engineer, Mark is responsible for working with a cross-functional team of nine Project and Assistant Project Managers with backgrounds in industrial engineering, regulatory, packaging, validation, logistics, refrigeration systems, statistics, and technical writing.  Mark has been with Sensitech for 14 years.

The team focuses on defining and executing projects such as storage validations and transportation qualifications, along with thermal mappings, shipping studies, risk-controlled ambient temperature profiles, package qualifications, cold chain assessments, gap analysis, and continuous process improvement through ongoing monitoring. These cold chain visibility solutions enable Sensitech customers to make decisions that meet regulatory requirements, impact product quality and improve profitability.

Mark previously worked at United Parcel Service (UPS) for 16 years as an Industrial Engineering & Operations Manager. While at UPS, Mark completed numerous projects as a Project Manager, focused on supply chain and warehousing improvements.

Mark earned his Master’s in Industrial Engineering and his Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University at Buffalo.

James has worked for the Clinigen Group since 2005 and has previously occupied several roles across the Clinical Services and Unlicensed Medicine business units. He established Clinigen’s US office in 2008 to support the Clinical Services business and currently holds the role of Director of Corporate Development.

In this role, his responsibilities include business development and corporate strategy. Having spent over 10 years in the Clinical Services business he continues to work with clients and colleagues to design and deliver safe, secure and cost-effective drug supply and sourcing strategies, and since Clinigen’s acquisition of CSM in 2018 on combining this with innovative approaches to clinical packaging, labeling, and distribution.

Jenny Bulthuis is a Supply Chain Lead at Pfizer, Inc.  She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan and holds a license from the State of Michigan as a Registered Pharmacist.  After graduation, she worked as a part-time retail pharmacist and completed a 1-year pharmacy residency at William Beaumont hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.  After completing the residency, she worked at Beaumont Hospital as a clinical/staff pharmacist for a year, where she managed patient care on antibiotic and anticoagulant therapy as well as general patient care.  Jenny joined Pfizer in 2000 and has been a Supply Chain Project Manager for 19 years.  She has supported all phases of investigational development to coordinate and drive the clinical supply process by forecasting, managing and delivering worldwide investigational drug supplies.   Jenny currently resides in Michigan with her husband Chris and 3 children.  In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading and being active outdoors. She can be contacted at jennifer.bulthuis@pfizer.com.