Archives: Speakers

I have more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing from Life Science. In recent years, my focus has been on Medical Devices – both B2B and B2C. I am responsible for strategy, commercialization and execution. I have extensive knowledge of Regional and Municipal decision-making processes, including EU tenders. My strength is the understanding from the interaction between customers, products, government agencies and suppliers.

With over twenty five years of international marketing leadership experience, Sophia started her career in the hotel industry working for the Intercontinental and then Sheraton hotel groups, in PR and Corporate Sales functions respectively. She worked in Athens and London and, prior to Brown-Forman, spent eight years in marketing roles in the Luxury Product Division of L’Oreal working on Lancome, Armani Fragrances and Biotherm brands, among others. At Brown-Forman, she has worked in a variety of local, regional and global marketing roles, both operational and services, starting the work that led to the company’s digital transformation. Her current role is Managing Director, Jack Daniel’s Brands, leading a global team responsible for the long-term sustainable growth of the brand. During this time, she successfully repositioned the brand, launched Jack Daniel’s first truly global campaign – Make it Count – and delivered double digit growth.

Born in France of Irish parents, Paul joined the Alcohol Industry in 1996 as a Commercial Manager for Jameson Whiskey, part of Pernod Ricard, where he held various senior commercial roles. Paul subsequently moved to the UK to become International Commercial Director for the Scotch & Gin brands portfolio, working extensively across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

In 2014, Paul became Managing Director of Pernod Ricard South Africa looking after the Spirits and Wines portfolio for Southern Africa until he left the company in late 2019. Following a successful 20 year career at in the Drinks Industry, Paul  set up his own Beverage Consultancy and since then has worked with both Start Ups as well some leading premium Gin, Vodka, Rum, Hard Seltzer and Alcohol-Free spirit brands.

Combining his passion for impeccable quality, the No/Low beverage category and South Africa, he partnered with Danielle Schoeman to launch the Mahala Botanical brand in 2021. Paul is an avid rugby fan, cyclist and a strong believer in healthy and mindful living. Paul resides in London but travels extensively to Cape Town to work with Danielle and her team.

Chris has dedicated his 16-year career to the services side of the Phase 1 clinical drug development industry, including both operational and business development roles. Starting as a Clinical Research Coordinator and Project Manager at Charles River Clinical Services (formerly Northwest Kinetics) where he was directly responsible for the delivery of many Phase 1 clinical studies, was instrumental in his future success in a business development role.

After joining SNBL CPC in 2010, Chris had an active field-based BD role in the US and was responsible for delivering a large majority of the business into the Phase 1 unit during his tenure. Assuming responsibility for the management of the BD function as Vice President in 2015, he was a key member of the team that delivered on corporate growth objectives by building, training and managing a high performing field-based sales team.

This effort helped lead to the acquisition of SNBL CPC by Pharmaron Inc. in 2017. After the acquisition he remained a key resource for the Pharmaron executive management team during the transition period, assisting in the integration of the US Clinical Development team within the global Pharmaron organization. He continued to lead the global business development effort for the US based Phase 1 unit for four years.

Chris’ deep knowledge of the global early phase drug development industry will strengthen the tradition of success for our company, customers and partners.

Ms. Adams joined us as our Vice President of Clinical Operations in August 2006, was promoted to Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations in July 2014, and was promoted to Executive Vice President of Clinical Operations in January 2019. Prior to joining us, Ms. Adams was a Manager of Clinical Operations at Pfizer, Inc., a pharmaceutical corporation, from 2004 to 2006 and at Biogen Idec, Inc., a biotechnology company, from 2002 to 2004. Ms. Adams managed clinical trials at Pfizer that contributed to the 2006 approval of Sutent® in renal cell carcinoma and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and she managed clinical trials at Biogen Idec that fulfilled post-approval commitments for Zevalin® and Rituxan®. Ms. Adams has managed both early and late-stage oncology studies of small molecules as well as biologics in the areas of lymphoma, lung, colorectal, ovarian, kidney, sarcoma and breast cancers. From 2000 to 2002, she managed non-oncology programs at Quintiles Inc., a service provider for biopharmaceutical and health sciences companies, including studies in the areas of allergy and pulmonary disease. Ms. Adams received a B.A. in Kinesiology and Biology from the University of Colorado and an M.B.A. in Technology Management from The University of Phoenix.

Ken Hamill is the Senior Director, Clinical Operations Portfolio, at Medidata, a Dassault Systèmes company. Ken works across the organization and with customers in their adoption of clinical operations technologies that help automate trial quality workflows. Ken also leads the development and execution of strategic marketing programs for Clinical Operations at Medidata. Prior to Medidata, Ken had over 15 years of experience in life science product management, most recently at PerkinElmer where he led the strategy team for drug discovery assay development. Ken holds an MBA in Health Sector Management from Boston University, and an BS in Chemistry from Tufts University.

Akiko has over 10 years of experience in the life sciences industry, previously at McKinsey & Company advising pharmaceutical clients in strategy, digital and advanced analytics.  She holds an MBA from London Business School and a BA in Law from the University of Tokyo.

Lea Lorenzi is a beverage applications technician and trainee flavourist at Synergy Flavours Italy. Lea’s role involves using the company’s longstanding expertise in natural extraction technologies to develop premium beverage products across alcohol and soft drinks.

Lea’s close collaboration with customers and expertise in the beverage market means that demands for innovative beverage product development can be met with a premium range of tailor-made natural extracts and essences.

Alexis Garelli has over 15 years of diverse healthcare information and pharmaceutical software technology experience. She has worked with Calyx for over 7 years as a key strategic leader and director in IRT solutions and services.