Archives: Speakers

Jonathan Kornstein is Vice President, Rare Disease and Pediatrics at Caidya and has over 29 years of experience in the Pharmaceutical and CRO industry. He has demonstrated a depth of project management and clinical operations experience in a multitude of therapeutic areas. Jonathan provides strategic consultation and direction to clinical management, commercial development, and business development teams facilitating overall success in clinical trials.  Jonathan takes a patient centered approach in implementing clinical trials and has a significant amount of experience overseeing rare indications in clinical trials.

Jonathan holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York and is homebased in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Gemma is a Project Director with over 20 years of clinical research experience, including 14 years in project management roles with a specialist focus on patient education, recruitment and retention. She has a proven record of supporting Caidya’s biopharma clients with timely and high-quality delivery of their studies. She has experience across a number of therapy areas, including expertise in Rare Disease (Lipoprotein Lipase Deficiency, Glioblastoma, Lupus, Familial Hypercholesterolemia, TGCT) and Pediatrics (Vaccination, Pancreatitis, Bacterial Infection)

George Hardie, Executive Director of Tobacco Harm Reduction Research, has over 38 years of experience in Inhalation Toxicology and clinical research. George has an MSc in Applied Toxicology. He possesses extensive knowledge of respiratory disease and tobacco harm reduction. Previously, George served as the head of clinical research for a major tobacco company and has authored/co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed papers on tobacco harm reduction.

Claudia Kanitscheider, has over 15 years of leadership experience and scientific expertise in behavioural research working at a well renowned CRO. Claudia has focused on the potential of various new nicotine and tobacco harm reduction products in multiple study types that supports industry regulatory requirements. Claudia is a highly respected behavioural scientist and has collaborated with multiple major tobacco companies.

Neil Sherwood has a degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. in Psychopharmacology from the University of Leeds. After a period in academic research, he joined Novartis Pharma AG as a clinical pharmacologist, and then Japan Tobacco International in 2001 where he oversaw clinical and behavioural research programs. Since 2016 he has acted as a consultant on scientific and regulatory issues. In addition to publishing several studies and reviews, he has been an active member of the CORESTA organisation and currently serves on the Tobacco Harm Reduction committee.

Within Sharp IRT Services, Richard is responsible for managing a variety of different initiatives in addition to the delivery and maintenance of Client IRT systems. These initiatives include designing and oversight of new system functionality such as the Sharp Drug Accountability Modules and Shipment Management functionality. Richard also is an integral part of the development of new processes and setting best practices within the IRT department. Richard manages the team’s day to day activities to deliver multiple projects in an efficient fashion. Richard has over 8 years’ experience in clinical systems development and 11 years of clinical trial experience.

Richard trained at the University of Nottingham Medical School where he gained his degree in biomedical sciences.

Dr. Knudsen is a globally-recognized cancer scientist and executive leader who joined Paradigm Health’s board following a successful term as Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society (ACS) and its advocacy affiliate, ACS Cancer Action Network. Dr. Knudsen previously served as EVP of Oncology Services for Jefferson Health and Enterprise Director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated center of excellence. She has served on the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors and as President of the Association of American Cancer Institutes. She has been a professor at Thomas Jefferson University for over seventeen years, now serving as Professor Emerita.