Archives: Speakers

Arun Sivanandam has more than 12 years of experience in clinical research at site and sponsor side. He investigated mechanisms by which active ingredients in cumin seeds halt Prostate Cancer progression and metastasis at the Vattikutti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Hospital. With a dual clinical appointment in Robotic-Surgery at the Institute, Arun focused on post-surgical outcomes of Da-Vinci Robotic Prostatectomy for Hormone Refractory Patients. He worked as a Research Associate to improve recruitment metrics in the Million Veterans Program genomic biobanking initiative for Loma Linda VA Medical Center where he developed a novel Point of Care recruitment solution in outpatient clinics. To understand site-side difficulties in trial recruitment and conduct, Arun served as a Senior Clinical Research Coordinator for Cardiology Phase 4 trials at the Loma Linda VA Medical Center, and as a Lead Clinical Research Specialist for Investigator-Initiated and Phase 0 – 3 Gastric Neuroendocrine Rare Disease trials at Stanford Cancer Center. Subsequently, Arun lead the Gastric-Immuno-Oncology Rare Disease Bispecific-T cell-Engager portfolio at Amgen on various aspects of clinical research operations. More recently, Arun headed to Santen, with a focus on driving operational excellence in Ophthalmology clinical research as Associate Director Global Clinical Development and Operations, where he oversees Phase 1 – 4 clinical trial conduct. Arun received a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from University of California-Riverside, a Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from Wayne State University and completed Doctoral degree coursework from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. His thesis was on the role of the Androgen Receptor in Hormone Refractory Prostate Cancer. He received a Certificate for Graduate Biostatistics at Harvard University Extension. He also conducted undergraduate research on osteoporosis progression and has authored several papers, abstracts and a book chapter on protein signal transduction.

Program and Alliance Management professional with 15+ years of product development, project management and operations experience within the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical sectors. Proven ability to organize and manage late-stage development cross-functional teams completing projects on time with meticulous attention to detail.

Eric Rogers has been in the Global Hotel Technical Vertical selling solutions from Guestroom phones, to Operational Software, to Revenue Management, to Guest Facing Technology to Hotels for over 20 years across EMEA, India, Americas and further afield.

During Covid, Eric decided it was time to do something different – He set himself up as a Global Recruiter for our Vertical – something he always felt was missing. A challenging decision for sure when Hospitality was completely flat.
Initially, the plan was to find roles for the amazing friends and colleagues who were being let go.

Today, Eric Rogers Global is still focussed on Hotels and their Vendor community. Candidates have been placed across the UK, Europe, US, APAC & the Middle East. Most recently, Eric has placed a candidate in Japan – so truly global.

Audrey Funwie works in the Patient Inclusion and Health Equity team of Genentech’s Chief Diversity Office. In this position, she focuses on initiatives to advance health equity and literacy for underserved communities regarding clinical trial access. Audrey collaborates with colleagues to co-create educational resources as a part of the core team of the innovative Advancing Inclusive Research Site Alliance, which focuses on addressing disparities in clinical research studies. Before working at Genentech, she graduated from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a Master of Bioethics and received her Bachelor’s from the University of Michigan. Audrey strives to do meaningful work that combines and applies her bioethics background while prioritizing and addressing health equity in the context of clinical studies, patient experience, and policy.

Kristina leads the Patient Insights team at Parexel and is dedicated to bringing a thorough understanding of the patient journey, and the patient voice to the entire spectrum of research services.  With over 20 years in  clinical research, including  patient  innovation, feasibility, strategy, patient recruitment, retention, site engagement 12 of those years have been at Parexel.  She is the lead on the diversity and inclusion team, and member of DTRA, CISCRP and other industry consortiums aimed at improving access to clinical research and providing clinical research as a care option.  With post doctoral research studies in Human Behavior she has a BS in Human and Organizational Behavior, and Communication Studies and authored numerous trade articles and frequently present on behalf of Parexel at trade conferences.  She is experienced in research methodologies and conducting qualitative and quantitative research in a variety of therapy areas including respiratory, cardiology, oncology, immunology rare diseases and emerging therapy areas.