Archives: Speakers

Experienced Research and Innovation Director with a demonstrated history of working in the government, higher education and industry. Skilled in Strategic Development, Public Speaking, Research & Development, Management, Business Innovation, and Project Management. Strong product management professional with a PhD from St Andrews University and a Master of Laws (LLM) focused in Medical Law and Ethics from De Montfort University.

Darren Herger is Feasibility Manager for the Clinical Development Centre (CDC) UK at Novo Nordisk. He leads UK clinical trial feasibility activities across the Novo Nordisk portfolio, liaising with headquarter Trial Allocation teams, UK industry representatives, and UK Investigators. Darren has 25 years of experience in clinical research across multiple roles & therapy areas.

Jeremy joined Azets in January 2022. As Group Head of M&A, Jeremy leads Azets’ M&A growth strategy, driving continued geographical expansion and the development of our client solution proposition via the acquisition of high quality, complementary groups. Jeremy is a seasoned M&A leader, with a track record of advising complex, multi-million-pound transactions. After training as an accountant, he built a career as a deal advisor, working in KPMG’s Corporate Finance team in the UK and across Asia, culminating in five years as the Head of M&A in Hong Kong.

Jeremy’s desire to build a business led him to Equiom, a private equity backed international professional services group, where he spent five years delivering acquisitive growth, spearheading its international and service line expansion, as Global Head of Strategy and M&A. Jeremy lives in Isle of Man with his wife, two children, and two dogs. He loves the outdoors, playing and watching “anything with a ball” as well as skiing and diving – all followed by good food. Jeremy is excited about working with people who share his passion for progress and success.

Richard joined Azets in February 2025. As Group COO, Richard leads Azets’ international operations team and provides leadership to the Group’s business unit leaders, with a focus on ensuring operational efficiency and continued high performance. Richard is a seasoned business leader, with 25 years’ experience in senior roles within professional services. He spent a decade with insurance specialist Charles Taylor, most recently as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Charles Taylor Claims Solutions – International. He was also Global Chair of Charles Taylor Adjusting and served as Group COO between 2020-2022.

Prior to joining Charles Taylor, Richard worked at Bain and Company as a Principal in the Financial Services team, working on growth and transformation strategy for insurers, banks, and private equity clients. He previously worked for Lloyds Banking Group and has a Master’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cambridge. Richard lives in Hertfordshire, UK with his wife and three sons. He is a keen cyclist and spends time each winter skiing in the Alps.

Prior to joining King & Spalding, John served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Reynolds, where he counseled Reynolds’ operating companies on various high-profile regulatory, marketing, and litigation matters. John focuses on advising tobacco manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and suppliers in all aspects of their businesses, including tobacco taxation matters, compliance with the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and related FDA rules and guidance, administrative disputes involving federal and state governmental entities, and commercial agreements. He works with clients in all segments of the tobacco industry, including electronic nicotine delivery systems and other novel products and traditional tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, snus, and moist snuff. John also assists clients with FDA premarket and postmarket requirements, including substantial equivalence (SE), premarket tobacco applications (PMTA), modified risk tobacco product applications (MRTPA), and has helped companies obtain numerous FDA marketing orders for new tobacco products, including FDA’s first marketing granted order for an e-cigarette.

John frequently presents on tobacco regulatory matters at conferences, including the Food and Drug Law Institute, Next Generation Nicotine Delivery USA, American Tobacco and Nicotine Forum, and CStore Connections conferences.

In addition to his extensive tobacco regulatory experience, John spent over a decade in private practice, counseling food, supplement, and other consumer packaged goods companies on FDA, USDA, and FTC regulatory matters, including enforcement actions, civil litigation, investigations, inspections, product recalls, claims substantiation, labeling, and compliance.

Tiffany Parms is the Senior Manager in Scientific & Public Health Affairs at RAI Services Company, where she leads external engagement on tobacco harm reduction and non-combustible nicotine research. An epidemiologist by training, she specializes in translating complex scientific evidence into insights that inform regulatory strategy, public health dialogue, and stakeholder engagement.

Tiffany brings over a decade of experience across industry and government, including previous roles at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products, where she evaluated epidemiologic evidence supporting tobacco product applications and contributed to policy development. At RAI, she has led study design, analysis, and scientific dissemination for actual use and behavioral research on alternative nicotine products, supporting regulatory submissions and product innovation. In prior roles, Tiffany conducted chronic respiratory disease and infectious respiratory disease surveillance.

She is actively engaged in community and civic initiatives, serving on nonprofit boards and leading efforts to promote health, education, and community empowerment. She is an active contributor to the scientific community, with peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations focused on tobacco dependence, consumer perceptions, and non-combustible nicotine product evaluation. Tiffany holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Arizona and a B.S. in Biology from North Carolina Central University. She is recognized for her expertise in bridging science and public health communication.

Craig is a new business professional with 20 year’s experience building relationships, solving problems and creating solutions that stick. Known for bringing energy, curiosity, and a people-first approach to everything he does, he’s equally at home networking in a room full of strangers as coaching the next generation of footballers on a Sunday morning.

Away from work, life is kept full, cycling, hill walking, running and travelling the world in search of new cultures and experiences. A UEFA-qualified youth coach, cycling club member and proud owner of a drone licence, Craig embraces new technology and new challenges in equal measure.

Guided by a simple philosophy: it’s only a mistake if you don’t learn from it.

Mark has extensive experience in building and delivering cutting-edge AI solutions to clients across financial services over the last decade. He is a patented data scientist who has worked as a trusted advisor to enterprises and governments advising them how to rapidly deploy AI in production. In his current role, Mark is part of the Applied AI team at LandingAI working with EMEA enterprises to harness their unstructured data, extract relevant information from their documents to unlock insights that can streamline their processes ensuring LandingAI delivers AI that works reliably in production.

Clifford E. Douglas has worked for 38 years in federal health policy leadership, tobacco and health policy advocacy, academia, research, and litigation. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Michigan.

A central focus of Cliff’s work is strengthening public and decision-maker understanding of the continuum of risk across tobacco and nicotine products, the public health consequences of regulatory choices, and the imperative of consumer choice.

From 2023 to 2025, Cliff served as President and CEO of the charitable foundation Global Action to End Smoking, leading a strategic transformation and advancing global evidence-based dialogue about the harms of smoking and the tools now available to greatly mitigate that harm.

For more than a decade, Cliff taught tobacco policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and directed the University’s Tobacco Research Network. In 2023, he produced the widely used online course, “Tobacco & Nicotine: Public Health, Science, Policy, and Law.” He also served as Co-Investigator for the FDA- and NIH-funded Center for the Assessment of Tobacco Regulations, a collaboration of the University of Michigan and Georgetown University.

From 2015 to 2020, Cliff was National Vice President for Tobacco Control at the American Cancer Society and, from 2010 to 2015, Tobacco Control Policy Advisor to the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health and the U.S. Surgeon General. He served previously as Special Counsel on Tobacco Issues in the U.S. Congress, as an attorney in landmark tobacco cases, and helped lead the successful national effort to prohibit smoking on U.S. airline flights.

Cliff currently serves as an independent consultant on tobacco harm reduction for Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, focusing on education, communications, and health policy. He does not represent or speak for the firm or its clients.