Archives: Speakers

Ed is a specialist in Data, Analytics, Innovation, Strategic Transformation and Cultural Change. He is Head of the FCAs Advanced Analytics function and Data Science Units. Prior to the FCA he was a Manager in Accenture’s Financial Services Change practice

Kanika heads up digital content and strategy at Australia and New Zealand Bank, Australia across the Personalisation Service Delivery and Digital Sales Experience portfolios.

She has been a customer-centric, digital-first advocate for over 17 years with three end-to-end digital transformation projects that she’s led and her recent experience in delivering personalised customer experiences across a number of digital channels.

She leads agile teams on digital strategy, content design, information architecture, customer experience and journeys, SEO/SEM and digital best practice along with innovation. She helps bridge the gap between business requirements and customer needs.

She’s also been an industry mentor with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Australia and a keynote speaker at various conferences on digital innovation, changing behaviours and seamless customer experiences.

Emma is is responsible for the development and performance of Allica’s growing UK network of Business Relationship Managers and further accelerates the Bank’s focus on restoring relationship banking to SMEs. Emma joined Allica from Allied Irish Bank (GB) where she led their team of relationship managers in the South East.  Prior to this, Emma held a number of senior roles at Lloyds Banking Group. Allica is the only fintech challenger bank in the UK dedicated to providing a full range of credit and payment services to established, growing SMEs – combining proprietary technology and experienced local relationship managers to provide great customer experience

A successful hands-on team lead and product owner using agile principles for successful delivery. Has worked in multiple financial organisations and different regions undertaking development, business analysis and project management tasks. Operates at the intersection of the business and the technology leveraging the domain knowledge. Has experience with different asset classes (equities, equity derivatives, rates) and both buy and sell sides. Worked on multiple applications covering different aspects of the banking business (manual trading, automated market making, algorithmic trading strategies, risk, analytics and surveillance).Passionate about User Experience and Design. Knows what good looks like

Shawn Courts has 8 years of experience in pulmonary and nasal product development. His current role at Recipharm is to provide technical guidance to customers and Recipharm’s Operations, Commercial, and Business Development teams. Prior to Recipharm, Shawn worked at Catalent Pharma Solutions for 6 years as an Inhalation Scientist. While at Catalent he was involved in many roles, including but not limited to Manufacturing, Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Deviation Management, and Research and Development.

Sabrina has over 12 years of experience working with Medical Devices, starting with sponsored projects on various prostheses at Queen Mary, University of London. These projects – including simulation and study of the wear of coatings on replacement hip joints, the mechanical properties of a prosthetic meniscus made from artificial silk, and the de-encrustation of nickel-titanium urethral stents with shape memory – further increased Sabrina’s passion for medical device design and development. Subsequently, her industry-linked PhD in the field of urinary incontinence at University College London (UCL) exposed her to a wider range of devices and research topics. Sabrina completed two postdoctoral research posts at UCL in the same field, also sponsored by SCA Hygiene Products AB (now Essity). Since then, she spent 5 years working in Ostomy Care R&D at ConvaTec, where the majority of her time was focused on a New Product Development (NPD) project, for which she led several workstreams. Sabrina joined Recipharm in May 2022 as Principal Development Engineer, supporting NPD work for nasal and injectable drug delivery devices.

Adam has been Recipharm’s design authority on new product development for intranasal delivery for the last 3 years. Adam’s background is in consumer product development having completed a BSc in Product Design at Loughborough University. After studying, he joined Dyson, gaining experience within new product innovation and development. Adam joined Recipharm in 2018 keen to apply his design engineering knowledge within the medical device industry.

Dr. Jessica Zdinak is an Eastern Shore of Virginia native who received a B.S. in Psychology from Christopher Newport University, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology & Statistics from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Zdinak has dedicated 20 years working as a behavioral scientist in a variety of settings, including academic, federal government, public health, and industry, and now serves as Chief Research Officer of a leading U.S. based Contract Research Organization, ARAC. 

Her team services both U.S. and International clients in their product development and consumer research supporting innovation and “next generation” products, with a focused expertise on the regulatory sciences for U.S. applications including: ITPs, PMTAs, MRTPAs, SEs, 510(k), and Breakthrough Designations. 

The ARAC firm specializes in providing boutique-level personalized research services, combining their expertise in psychology, statistics, and behavior change, with a focus on the consumer, and the role of the regulator. Their triangular approach has proven successful across a variety of studies, including label development and comprehension, human factors/usability, clinical behavioral studies, specifically randomized experimental trials, TPPI, and post-market surveillance systems.

Mr. Nirajkumar Patel, founder and CEO of Bidi Vapor, LLC, attended AISSMS College of Pharmacy in Pune, India, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Pharmacy in 2004. He moved to the United States in 2005. Mr. Patel also has a Master’s Degree in Chemistry from the Florida Institute of Technology and holds a Six Sigma Black Belt Certification. His goal in founding Bidi Vapor was to provide a quality alternative to combustible cigarettes for adult smokers 21 and over.

Martin Steinbauer is the Chief Engineer and co-founder of SMOOD, where he focuses on youth access prevention technologies and sustainability solutions for ENDS. SMOOD has grown into a global business built on sustainability, advanced chemistry, IoT-enabled devices, and consumer centricity. Prior to SMOOD, Martin was an investment analyst at BlackRock in New York City. Martin graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Applied Mathematics.