Archives: Speakers

Mark Laney has more than 20 years of experience with software in the Life Sciences industry focused on delivering the right solutions for customers. As Sr Director, Sales Engineering & Partnerships, he is tasked with solving customer challenges using the breadth of functionality and flexibility of Zelta’s unified clinical data management solution while facilitating partnerships with complimentary industry leading vendors to offer customers a robust technology solution for their clinical needs.

Karlo Svrze, MSc, FMVA® is a life‑sciences professional at BD (Becton, Dickinson & Co.) with a background spanning clinical research, diagnostics, and translational healthcare. He worked as a research scientist in regenerative medicine and biomolecular research. His current focus lies at the interface of clinical practice and diagnostics, supporting the translation of scientific and clinical requirements into robust, scalable preanalytical solutions across complex clinical trial environments.

Julie Martin, MSc, Lean Certified, CEO is a 19-year industry veteran who has led Scimega as CEO for 7 years. Her passion for Scimega’s business and team stems from knowing its expert oncology clinical development services add distinct value to industry stakeholders at a time when it’s needed most. As CEO, Julie’s vision is to secure the company’s long-term success by leveraging her in-depth industry expertise and business acumen. She equates that success with setting a clear vision for the organization’s continued sense of purpose. Her leadership, and collaboration with the managing Board of Directors, combined ensures the business excellence upon which Scimega has built its reputation. Julie plays a vital role in promoting Scimega’s expertise and showcasing Canada’s attributes as a formidable partner in global oncology drug development with an evolving Lean methodology.

Jodi is a growth-focused medical device executive and consultant with nearly 15 years of experience leading commercialization, global marketing, and go-to-market strategy for startups and growth-stage organizations. She has a proven track record of launching disruptive technologies, accelerating adoption in complex clinical markets, and building the commercial foundation for successful acquisitions and IPOs and sustained revenue growth. She has deep expertise across electrophysiology, cardiology, spine, and patient monitoring, including AI-enabled platforms, reimbursement, and KOL-driven market development.

Gabriele Niederauer, PhD, FAIMBE, is a serial entrepreneur in the medical device industry with 30+ years of experience in product development and commercialization of devices for orthopedic, dental, ENT and vascular access. All four of her former companies were acquired (Bluegrass Vascular Technologies – by Merit Medical; ENTrigue Surgical –by ArthroCare, C2M Medical –by Tornier, OsteoBiologics –by Smith & Nephew). Her leadership was critical to the successful development of those companies, where she led research, development, regulatory, quality, clinical and intellectual property functions. In Jan. 2024, Gabi co-founded Freyya, Inc., a femtech company addressing pelvic floor disorders with a wearable biofeedback device to train and monitor the pelvic floor.  She has a BS in Ceramic Engr. from Clemson Univ., an MS & PhD in Biomedical Engr. from Iowa State Univ. and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Orthopedic Biomechanics at the Univ. of Texas Health Sciences Center San Antonio.

Mindy Hurd brings over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical research industry, with the majority of her career spent in leadership roles at global, full‑service CROs. As a General Partner at ICON, she focuses on successful operational delivery and executive‑level support for biotech clients navigating the complexities of clinical development across therapeutic areas. Mindy has deep expertise across the drug development lifecycle, with particular strength in cross‑functional leadership, risk management, process improvement, and governance oversight to ensure high‑quality program delivery.

Kate Lyden, PhD is Chief Science Officer at VivoSense, where she leads scientific strategy, digital endpoint development, and clinical validation of wearable-derived measures used in global clinical trials. She brings extensive experience spanning academic research, industry, and regulatory-facing evidence generation, with deep expertise in translating continuous real‑world sensor data into clinically meaningful and regulatory‑grade endpoints. Kate has authored numerous peer‑reviewed publications on objective measurement of human behavior and is a frequent contributor to industry working groups and clinical development forums focused on digital health technologies.

Ruth Lux is a global leader in climate and disaster risk finance and a member of the Operating Committee of the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), where she also serves as Co-Chair of the Sovereign & Humanitarian Solutions Working Group.

Until March 2025, Ruth headed the Public Sector Solutions practice for UK, Europe, India, Middle East & Africa at Guy Carpenter, advising governments, multilateral agencies, and public entities on climate resilience, sovereign and sub-sovereign risk financing, and the integration of insurance into development and fiscal policy. She has also worked extensively with multilateral development banks, NGOs, and the private sector, helping bring together diverse partners to pioneer new models of disaster risk financing and resilience-building. She additionally serves on the Advisory Group of the Start Network’s Risk Pooling and Risk Financing initiative, which is scaling innovative approaches to anticipatory humanitarian action.

She has played a leading role in the design and implementation of innovative insurance and risk transfer programmes, including parametric drought and flood solutions, macro-level climate facilities, and sovereign catastrophe financing strategies across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe.

Earlier in her career, Ruth founded and ran a political risk consultancy advising corporates and government agencies, and headed political and terrorism risk analytics at JLT Specialty.

Ruth holds an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, a BA in French and Spanish from the University of Bristol, and is fluent in French and Spanish.