Archives: Speakers

Katelynn Spingola brings nearly a decade of invaluable experience in healthcare and research to her role as Associate Director of Clinical Site Operations at EmVenio Research. Leading teams across multiple locations in the East and Central time zones, Katelynn is dedicated to making a tangible impact within their respective communities. Under her adept guidance, these teams function as vital advocates, diligently working to raise awareness, educate the public, and establish a strong local presence. Katelynn’s primary objective is optimizing site operations to ensure each location meets enrollment goals across a diverse array of study indications. Her extensive expertise in clinical research ensures that these endeavors lead to successful outcomes and good clinical data. Katelynn’s leadership style is marked by a commitment to community engagement and operational excellence, positioning her as a pivotal figure in advancing the mission of EmVenio Research.

Rachael Sawaya is an Associate Director of Project Management at PCM Trials with over seven years of experience in the clinical research field. Prior to PCM Trials, she worked as a clinical research coordinator where she gained extensive knowledge of working at the site and has taken that experience to reduce the burden and better support sites to implement mobile visits. At PCM Trials, Rachael oversees the execution of mobile visits across a wide variety of therapeutic areas and on a global scale. She supports clients throughout the implementation of mobile visits to maintain customer satisfaction and implement efficiencies across therapeutic areas and geographies. Rachael is passionate about implementing solutions for participants that increase participant engagement to ensure clinical trials can obtain critical long-term data, especially in rare disease and vulnerable patient populations.

Betty has 20+ years of clinical research experience in various roles at the site and CRO, and has been with ICON for over 5 years now.  Her experience traverses varying therapeutic areas and phases, but falls mostly in oncology/hematology early phase trials.

Dr. Sara Doan is the Executive Director, Program Strategy and Delivery for Internal Medicine & Neuroscience at TFS HealthScience. She brings a robust 27-year background in global clinical research to her role, with a particular emphasis on psychiatry over the past 12 years. Her expertise spans a broad range of disorders including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Migraine, and Anxiety. Dr. Doan is a Doctor of Chiropractic with a specialization in the Central Nervous System, having earned her degree from Parker University in Dallas, Texas. She is proficient in both English and Farsi.

Marissa M. Ballesteros, RN, MPH, MBA, serves as the Senior Director of Clinical Data & Sensor Strategy at Medidata, where she specializes in commercial strategy development and establishing partnerships with sensor technology companies. With a career spanning over two decades, Marissa has honed her expertise in leading clinical trial operations, having held pivotal roles at industry giants such as Pfizer, Roche, Scripps Translational Science Institute and Qualcomm. Marissa’s professional background uniquely blends clinical acumen gained from her experience as a wellness and cardiology nurse with a keen business insight cultivated through involvement in diverse areas such as due diligence for in-licensing and mergers & acquisitions, key opinion leader (KOL) management, budgeting/contracting, and pharmaceutical sales.

Kelsey Buhler has been a Product Specialist at Viedoc Technologies since 2021, and specializes in providing technical demos, support, and project management for Viedoc study builds. Prior to her role at Viedoc, she has 7 years combined experience as a Data Manager/Project Manager at a Medical Device CRO, a Data Entry Specialist, and a Clinical Subjects Associate, where she would obtain consent from subjects in clinical trials. All these experiences drive her passion for user-friendly Electronic Data Capture (EDC) systems that increase efficiencies for the subjects, site, and all other study users.

Laurie Herraiz has a diverse background in clinical research in academic medical centers, having started her career as an NIH-funded clinical trialist at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). She transitioned into the field of human subjects regulations and compliance, where she eventually served as the Director of the Human Research Protections Program and the Institutional Review Board. Her expertise spans clinical trial operations, regulations, and privacy law, while her current work incorporates community engagement with data governance. With her extensive knowledge and leadership, she finds great professional satisfaction in helping investigators navigate the complex regulatory landscape and bridging the gap between participants and researchers.