Archives: Speakers

Dr Mark Lovern is Executive Director of Medical Science Services at Fortrea, and has 25+ years of experience in the application of model-informed drug development (MIDD).  Throughout his career, Mark has led and contributed to numerous projects involving quantitative pharmacology. Prior to his present position, Mark spent over 10 years at Certara in a variety of capacities. His work history has been split between biopharmaceutical companies (GSK and UCB) and companies that support the biopharmaceutical industry (Quintiles and Certara.)  In addition to modeling pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data across a wide variety of compounds and therapeutic areas, Mark has also taught over 50 technical training workshops on modeling tools and methodology.  His most recent therapeutic area experience has been with therapies for infectious disease, metabolic, and autoimmune disorders.

Mark was awarded a Ph. D. in Biomathematics from North Carolina State University in 1997.  His favorite leisure activities include hosting dinner parties, traveling, reading, and enjoying films.

Jill Fiedler-Kelly is President of Strategic Consulting Services at Simulations Plus. Jill co-founded Cognigen Corporation in 1992 along with two other partners, growing the company over 20+ years until acquisition by Simulations Plus. The Services team she now leads supports pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies around the globe with strategic design and implementation of model-informed drug development approaches, including physiologically based pharmacokinetics, quantitative systems pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, pharmacometrics, and regulatory strategies solutions. Jill is also an Adjunct Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at SUNY Buffalo and co-authored an introductory pharmacometrics textbook entitled Introduction to Population PK/PD Analysis with Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models in conjunction with Dr. Joel Owen. She has published numerous scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, presented at national and international symposia, and held leadership positions in organizations such as the East Coast Population Analysis Group, AAPS, ISoP and ASCPT. In 2016, she was named a Fellow of the International Society of Pharmacometrics.

Dr. Liang Zhao is currently a professor and establishing the Center for Global Regulatory Science and Innovation at the School of Pharmacy, University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Prior to joining UCSF, he had served as the Director of Division of Quantitative Methods and Modeling (DQMM), ORS/OGD/CDER/FDA between 2015 and 2024. Dr. Zhao and his team have introduced a broad array of innovative tools in the realm of drug deliveries, bioequivalence assessment, and big data tools including machine learning to pharmacometrics. During his tenure in FDA, he had worked as a clin pharm reviewer and pharmacometrics team leader covering oncology, rheumatology, pulmonary, and inflammation. His team had also implemented the Model Integrated Evidence (MIE) Industry Meeting Pilot to support regulatory communications between generic applicants and the FDA and proposed a regulatory mechanism of using Model Master File to support regulatory submissions. Liang had served as the Chair of the FDA ModSim WG for the Modeling & Simulation community. He has published over 130 peer reviewed publications, 2 books, and 8 book chapters. His current research focuses on model/AI guided drug discovery, delivery, and development. He received the 2023 Gary Neil Prize for Innovation in Drug Development from ASCPT in recognition to his contribution to clinical pharmacology and pharmacometrics.

Ashley Howard brings a rare blend of technical insight and collaborative spirit to her role at Cytiva, where she’s helping to advance technologies that improve global health. Her work, spanning the semiconductor and life sciences sectors, is grounded in the belief that technology is only as powerful as the people who use it, and that real progress happens when diverse minds connect to build something better. She finds balance and joy in exploring the world and staying curious. Ashely lives outside of London with her family.

Floriane Reinaud started her carrier in pharmaceutical pricing, reimbursement and market access. She has oversees several datasets including prices of medicines, costs of treatments, HTA decisions, International Reference Pricing. Over the years she has expanded her expertise into clinical trials, manufacturers, sales forecasts and is now the Senior Director of the Databases and Analytics at GlobalData.

She studied biology and holds a Master of Science in biochemistry, as well as a Master of Science in healthcare marketing. She co-authored a peer-reviewed article that was published in The Journal of Biological Biochemistry.

She speaks English and French (her mother tongue).