SAI - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Director & Therapy Lead
Abby Brynes has provided drug development and commercialization decision support to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industry for 18 years, and provided research support to healthcare providers in clinical and research settings for an additional eight years.
Ms. Brynes assesses and analyzes clinical and commercial strategies across a broad spectrum of therapeutic areas. She has deep knowledge and experience leveraging primary intelligence and secondary data as a result of extensive experience of providing actionable intelligence for many years. She has delivered competitive research and intelligence for healthcare and other technology clients for over 18 years through a mastery of:
• Drug development and commercialization analysis developing implications and actionable insights
• Client thought partnership
• Primary and secondary research methodology, high-level analysis, and detailed results delivery
• Client engagement with a sense of urgency
• Project management and team leadership skills
Ms. Brynes holds an MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) from the City University of New York and a BS in political science from Stockton University, NJ.
Akshay Krishnamachari oversees global consulting operations for SAI, with oversight of various key functions within the organization, including HR, IT, Consulting Operations, and Secondary Research. His areas of responsibilities include management of key operational initiatives, including M&A integration, personnel utilization, and resource allocation; and strategic organizational projects such as systems and IT infrastructure upgrades.
He was instrumental in the creation of SAI's TheraTraQ division in 2019, establishing a research support center in India and building up SAI's team in India to almost 50 people. He also played a key role in developing the IntelliTraQ and SupplyTraQ product offerings within the TheraTraQ division.
Mr. Krishnamachari joined SAI in 2011 to lead its LCM practice, supporting clients in the generics/biosimilars/manufacturing and supply chain project space, and continues to lead project teams in this practice. Mr. Krishnamachari graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009 with an MS in biotechnology and has a BS in biotechnology from Anna University in India.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director
- Senior Director of the Oncology Business Unit
Amith Chordia serves as a Senior Director of the Oncology Business Unit and is part its senior leadership, bringing to the team twelve years of experience in oncology and immunology. Since joining SAI in January 2017, Mr. Chordia has been dedicated to SAI's Oncology Business Unit and provides executive oversight and management of projects across solid tumors and hematological malignancies, with focus on NSCLC, GI cancers, and lymphomas. He primarily supports the competitive intelligence, clinical development, and commercial and new product planning functions for several biotech and big pharma clients. He regularly attends all major oncology conferences, including ASCO, ESMO, EHA, and ASH, and also routinely attends individual tumor-focused oncology conferences.
Prior to joining SAI, he was instrumental in the success of Renovo Neural, a Cleveland Clinic spinoff with strong commercial revenues and drug assets. His role involved overseeing all expansion and commercialization activities, working directly with the executive team. He also successfully built and led a sales team at Safeline Formulations Ltd., a generic drug manufacturer in India. Mr. Chordia received his MS in entrepreneurial biotechnology from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- CFO, Is a Native of Sweden and Graduated from the Stockholm Schools of Economics With a
Anders Eriksson, CFO, is a native of Sweden and graduated from the Stockholm Schools of Economics with a BS.
Mr. Eriksson has held multiple finance roles thru his career in different industries and regions but has spent the last 15+ years in the life science industry. Before joining SAI Med Partners in November 2022, he spent four years with Celerion, a specialized CRO focused on early-phase clinical research, as Global Controller. Before that, he spent 11 years with Covance in several different roles, including cardiac safety services, IVRS, and peri-approval services, and spent the last five years managing the Phase II-IV project financial team.
Mr. Eriksson has a proven track record of mergers and acquisitions and improving financial performance thru a unique ability to optimize financial and operational goals.
Job Titles:
- Executive Chair
- Member of the Asia Leadership Team
- Executive Chair of Asia, Lea
Anne Chi is the Executive Chair of Asia, leading the Asia regional business. During her 30 years of professional experience, Ms. Chi has advised MNC clients on market entry strategy, competitive strategy, regulatory and government policies analysis, product launch strategy assessments, M&A, and in/out-licensing opportunity analyses. She has also worked as an executive in different multinational companies with extensive experience in business development, cross-cultural management, government relations, key account acquisition, conflict resolution, and crisis management.
Ms. Chi has 30 years of professional consulting and operational experience in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotech industries in Asia, with a focus on Greater China.
Between 1990-1994, Ms. Chi was general manager of a Sino-Taiwanese medical devices joint venture responsible for establishing the JV and its operation in China. During these years, she had full P&L responsibility, established the national sales team and distribution network, led the effort of establishing the KOL program in China, and negotiated major contracts with healthcare institutions. Ms. Chi gained live experience running the operations in China from company setup and manufacturing to national distribution and sales, as well as government relations and market access.
Ms. Chi also led an international consulting firm as general manager focusing on the Asia Pacific region, serving top-ranked multinational pharmaceutical companies across a wide range of therapeutic areas including respiratory, CNS, immunology, oncology, diabetes, vaccines, and infectious disease. In devices, Ms. Chi has particular experience in diagnostic devices, consumer devices, cardiac intervention devices, and orthopedic devices.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Asia Leadership Team
Cathy Qiu joined SAI MedPartners in 2016 and has led the SAI team to complete a wide range of successful projects in the pharmaceutical area, helping clients understand the business landscape and formulate development strategies.
Prior to joining SAI, Ms. Qiu had over 15 years of working experience in leading healthcare MNCs, with focus on commercial and SFE, which enables her to have an in-depth understanding of clients' strategic and operational needs and accumulate rich insights into pharmaceutical strategy development and hands-on operation management.
She has solid project track record in commercial excellence assessment and benchmarking, dynamic policy investigation and go-to-market strategy development, new product market opportunity assessment, pre-launch planning, and post-launch tracking.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Asia Leadership Team
- President
- President of SAI 's Asia
Celia Deng is the President of SAI's Asia division, leading the SAI MedPartners practice in Asia to provide multinational pharmaceutical and medical devices clients with high-quality strategic and management consulting service. Ms. Deng has over 20 years' working experience in the healthcare industry, with background of managerial responsibilities (strategic investment, marketing, sales) in multinational healthcare companies and executive positions in international healthcare consultancy firms.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President of Immunology, Infectious Diseases
Dave Mack is the Vice President of Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Medical Devices, and Aesthetics. He has been with SAI MedPartners since 2010, giving him over 12 years of experience in competitive intelligence. At SAI MedPartners, Mr. Mack is responsible for global business development and executive oversight on projects within his business unit. He has also been involved in orchestrating competitive strategy sessions, helping brand teams counter the entry of new competitors in various markets. Mr. Mack received his BS in communications from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and received the Provost Scholar Award from the Communications Department in 2001, awarded for having the highest GPA in his class and graduating magna cum laude.
Diane Suchon has over 20 years of experience in the consulting industry. She joined SAI MedPartners from the SAI Industrial group, where she was the research analyst directly supporting the President, Chief Financial Officer, and all Vice Presidents and Project Managers of the group. Her core focus is in secondary research and the development of the SupplyTraQ database.
Ms. Suchon serves the role of SupplyTraQ Team Lead, responsible for new design development, module expansion of the current SupplyTraQ product, team management, content coordination, mentoring, training, and client relationship management.
Ms. Suchon holds a BS in business logistics from Penn State University.
Job Titles:
- Co - Leads the Global and European Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolism ( CVRM ) Business Unit at SAI MedPartners
- Director & Therapy Area Lead
Dr. Benjamin Kumpfmüller co-leads the global and European Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolism (CVRM) Business Unit at SAI MedPartners. Building on a strong academic background, Dr. Kumpfmüller grew over the last seven years into a leadership position at SAI, driving numerous consulting projects for pharmaceutical and biotech clients. Guiding our clients through their competitive challenges by […]
Building on a strong academic background, Dr. Kumpfmüller grew over the last seven years into a leadership position at SAI, driving numerous consulting projects for pharmaceutical and biotech clients. Guiding our clients through their competitive challenges by providing key business intelligence and strategic analyses is a major motivator for him to go the extra mile. SAI's team managed to establish strong relationships with its clients based on its value-adding work, and those clients now consider SAI as a trustworthy partner, rather than a simple service provider. Dr. Kumpfmüller has worked with some clients during his entire tenure in consulting, and even supported a big pharma client as a part-time contractor agreement for a couple of years.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President of the Oncology Business Unit
Dr. James Bortner is a Vice President of the Oncology Business Unit and has helped to develop the program since its inception at SAI MedPartners. He provides support for operational functions within oncology and executive oversight and management of projects.
Dr. Bortner has played an integral role in several oncology projects in solid tumors and hematological malignancies. His support and strategic insight has helped to advise pharmaceutical and biotech clientele on various clinical and commercial aspects of product development. Projects include supporting major companies in the exciting immunotherapy space, including checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T cell therapy.
Dr. Bortner earned his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania. He has over 10 years of experience in oncology, including benchside and translational clinical research. Dr. Bortner's research has led to 10 publications, including invited reviews in highly reputable peer-reviewed journals.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President of Oncology
Dr. Melissa Crampsie is Vice President of Oncology at SAI MedPartners and has helped create and lead the Oncology Business Unit at SAI. Since joining the company in 2013, Dr. Crampsie has led dozens of oncology-focused projects for both solid and liquid tumors from new product planning to late-stage commercial/LCM support and continues to manage projects. Additionally, Dr. Crampsie has oversight on project staffing, operations, training, and coordinating attendance for the major Oncology medical conferences each year. The goal of the Oncology Business Unit is to provide deep therapy area expertise and to function as a thought partner for clients.
Prior to consulting, Dr. Crampsie worked in the pharmaceutical/biotech sector in both R&D and manufacturing. Former companies include BioSample Solutions, a start-up focused on novel nucleic acid extraction technology for diagnostic applications, and Centocor (now a part of Janssen) in R&D and manufacturing of anti-TNFα antibodies.
Dr. Crampsie earned a PhD in pharmacology and an MBA from Penn State University. In addition, she has a dual BS in pharmaceutical product development and cell and molecular biology from West Chester University.
Dr. Sebastian Gehrke leads SAI MedPartners' global and European immunology, infectious diseases, and medical device initiatives.
In his present role, Dr. Gehrke is working as part of a talented team of consultants on distilling and synthesizing high-quality business intelligence for stakeholders in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.
Over the last 12 years of combined academic, industry, and consulting experience, Dr. Gehrke has developed the view that accurate and timely business intelligence consolidated into key insights offers immense value for pharmaceutical companies irrespective of the maturity of their product - be it an early-phase asset in preparation for launch, a marketed product facing increasing competitive threats, or an established product approaching patent expiry. His team thrives on delivering impactful decision support across all of its projects.
Job Titles:
- Team Lead, Associate Director
Dr. Senthil Kannan leads the U.S. vaccines, immunology, and infectious diseases team, as well as development of the GeneTraQ database at SAI MedPartners.
Dr. Kannan brings to SAI a deep understanding of biotechnology and immunology, with a focus on gene therapy cultivated over 10 years, in addition to seven years of consulting. At SAI, he has led multiple projects on gene therapy, including evaluating candidates in hemophilia and DMD, as well as identifying targets for acquisition. As part of his PhD program, he worked on projects evaluating viral vectors (AAV, adenovirus) for gene therapy in mice and primate models. He has also worked on developing novel DNA vaccine candidates for infectious diseases, including chikungunya, dengue, and HIV; published several peer-reviewed articles (ORCiD); and collaborated on cutting-edge gene therapy approaches for hemophilia during his graduate studies.
Prior to joining SAI, Dr. Kannan led and managed projects on market analysis, competitor evaluation, and market entry. At SAI, he has worked on projects across multiple therapy areas, including ophthalmology, hemophilia, vaccines, gene therapy, and aesthetics. He is also a regular attendee at key gene therapy conferences, including ASGCT, ASH, and WFH, and is a longstanding member of ASGCT.
Dr. Kannan holds a PhD in cell and molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania, with a specialization in gene therapy and vaccines. He also received an MS in biotechnology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, with a focus on pharmaceutical biotechnology.
Job Titles:
- Director & Therapy Area Lead
Dr. Sonia Ferreira King has over 10 years of experience in healthcare consulting, focusing on rare diseases. At SAI, she is the in-house expert for novel product development and technologies, including gene therapy and gene editing.
Dr. King plays an integral role at SAI in projects focusing on regenerative medicine and novel therapies. She gained a deep understanding of gene- and cell-based approaches during her PhD focusing on hemoglobinopathies and has since branched her expertise out to muscle wasting, CNS, and lysosomal storage disorders.
Dr. King attends the ESGCT and ASGCT congresses annually and has established a strong network of contacts within academia and industry that are highly knowledgeable in genetic manipulation and regenerative medicine. In addition, Dr. King has close regulatory connections in Europe and Brazil.
Dr. King received her PhD in cell, gene, and tissue therapy, and an MS with honors in biomedical sciences from the School of Medicine at King's College London. During her academic tenure, she was part of the team who developed the GLOBE vector (OTL-300) that has shown clinical proof-of-concept and demonstrated efficacy in transfusion-dependent thalassemia. Prior to joining consultancy, Dr. King worked as stem cell gene therapy postgrad investigator at GSK and was responsible for the preclinical work submitted as part of Strimvelis IND on ADA-SCID.
Dr. Stefania Gastaldi holds a PhD in molecular oncology from the University of Turin in Italy and spent part of the program at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, where she worked on cancer stem cells biology. She continued as a post-doctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital working on molecular determinants of squamous cell […]
Dr. Timothy Graves has over 15 years in strategy and management consulting and has directed numerous engagements across the spectrum of rare diseases, cardiology, neurology, and ophthalmology. He has a thorough understanding of novel therapies and has considerable experience in developing clinical and marketing strategies for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Prior, Dr. Graves spent many years in the in the academic and technology sectors researching and developing diagnostics based on gene expression that has been published in peer-reviewed journals and books, as well as a pending patent for improved diagnostics.
Dr. Graves earned a PhD in biomedical science with a concentration in molecular basis of disease from the Medical University of Ohio (now consolidated with the University of Toledo). He then conducted postdoctoral work at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Nordhoy is the founder and visionary of SAI MedPartners, LLC, established in 2011. Since its inception, Mr. Nordhoy has overseen SAI's rapid growth and expansion throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and India. Mr. Nordhoy was previously President of SAI Healthcare, a leading business intelligence and strategy firm which was acquired by IMS Health in 2005. At IMS, he held several positions within the firm's Management Consulting Business, including Global Head of the Competitive Intelligence Group, Senior Principal and Practice Leader for the Product and Portfolio Strategy Practice, and Vice President of Thought Leadership. Throughout his career, Mr. Nordhoy has built performance-driven teams and led a wide range of client engagements, including therapeutic area and brand strategy development, wargaming and scenario planning, opportunity assessments, and market-entry strategy development.
SAI was established over 30 years ago with a focused vision of providing clients with a new standard of decision support grounded in an intensive field-oriented business research methodology and executed by seasoned, industry experienced professionals. The heart of our value proposition remains our global team's unwavering commitment to excellence and the success of our clients. We are passionate about one thing: helping you win in the market.
The evolving global healthcare market provides unique opportunities and challenges for our clients with increasing investment risks and rewards for successfully executed strategies. In this environment, you need a partner who can take a truly global view, navigate local market nuances and complexities and support strategy development across markets and time zones.
SAI's worldwide staff of over 175 professionals is strategically positioned around the globe, enabling us to rapidly respond to your needs. Our leadership across the Americas, Europe, Asia and India drive our organizational focus within their regions to provide consulting solutions informed by, and adapted to local market needs. We welcome a conversation about how we can help you.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Asia Leadership Team
Fiona Chen has been in the consulting and research industry for 11 years. She is highly experienced in interviewing senior management of competitors, government stakeholders, KOLs, and other industry stakeholders. Her capability in primary research and experience in analyzing insights obtained from physicians, competitor analyses, clinical trials, and channel analyses have made her a key asset to the project team.
Ms. Chen has an in-depth knowledge of how the medical system operates in China in terms of how different hospital tiers approach procurement of medicines and medical devices. She is also knowledgeable in how sales channels and teams are managed.
With her rich experience, Ms. Chen leads the team to provide valuable deliverables to SAI's clients in numerous therapeutic areas, including immunology, oncology, respiratory, rare diseases, cardiovascular, GI, and infectious diseases.
Job Titles:
- Director & Therapy Area Lead / Neurology
Dr. Casal-Dominguez has more than 15 years of experience in strategic consulting and leads the global neurology and ophthalmology business at SAI.
His current research focus is in epilepsy, degenerative brain disorders, pain, migraine, sleep disorders, psychiatric disorders, and front/back of the eye disorders. In these areas, Dr. Casal-Dominguez conducts research, analysis, and formulated evidence-based strategy insights in early and late-stage R&D, brand defense and launch, as well as market access strategies. In addition, he regularly attends congresses related to the above therapy areas, regularly interacting with the key KOLs and industry people of interest at all seniority levels. His strategic focus lies, not only in the ability to capture hard-to-get data, but a strong emphasis on the implications and the ‘so what' factor of what the data means to our clients and the therapeutic space.
He received his PhD in neuropharmacology and also holds a BSc in neuroscience and medicinal chemistry. His PhD research led to the discovery of BU09059, which is currently being looked at as a potential drug candidate to treat psychiatric disorders.
Lisa Stoor co-leads European immunology, infectious disease, and medical device initiatives at SAI MedPartners. She has over eight years of experience in the healthcare industry working across multiple disease areas, including infectious diseases, dermatology, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Since joining SAI in October 2016, Ms. Stoor primarily supports the competitive intelligence, clinical development, and commercial and new product planning functions for several biotech and big pharma clients.
She has led various research projects aimed at addressing several objectives, including the analysis and interpretation of payer/reimbursement trends, stakeholder engagement, identifying evidence benchmarks, and assessing launch readiness.
During her tenure at SAI, she has attended many medical and commercial conferences and has been able to develop a strong commercial and clinical stakeholder network in Europe.
Ms. Stoor has received her MS in health education and promotion from Maastricht University.
Job Titles:
- Director & Therapy Area Lead
Luciano Vozzolo has been working with SAI MedPartners for over eight years and currently leads the Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolism (CVRM) Business Unit. With large experience in the management consulting world, Dr. Vozzolo is a versatile CI manager with a deep understanding of the pharmaceutical/biotech industry at both the clinical and commercial level. During his tenure at SAI, Dr. Vozzolo has been involved in scenario planning workshops, disease area assessments, organizational benchmarking exercises, and launch readiness preparation activities in support of leading pharmaceutical companies across the infectious disease, immunology, and CVRM spaces. Dr. Vozzolo is a fully dedicated resource to SAI's CVRM Business Unit and regularly attends relevant conferences to the space, such as ACC, ESC, HFSA, EASD, ADA, AHA, ERS, ATS, and others.
Prior to joining SAI, Dr. Vozzolo worked for another management consulting company, holding the role of Vaccine Development Scientist for ITS Innovation, supporting the development of its leading universal influenza vaccine. He obtained a PhD in molecular biology/virology at the University College London (UCL) working on the identification of new compounds able to interfere with HIV virus replication. The high-grade scientific background combined with a deep understanding of the pharmaceutical business has helped Dr. Vozzolo bring strong analytical, problem-solving, and strategic thinking skills in all projects he has been leading, becoming a trusted partner for his clients.
Mellita Dsouza co-leads U.S.-based rare disease business initiatives at SAI MedPartners. She also works alongside the SAI MedPartners consulting teams by providing them with primary and secondary research using the firm's extensive industry resources and databases. Ms. Dsouza is uniquely able to bring holistic perspectives on the healthcare landscape to her project teams by utilizing her years of research and consulting experience in rare diseases, neuroscience, cardiovascular genetics, vaccines, aesthetic dermatology, and medical devices in combination with her educational background in the life sciences, to support and offer key intelligence insights on assets in early clinical phases, commercial growth, and mature brands.
Mellita Dsouza co-leads U.S.-based rare disease business initiatives at SAI MedPartners. She also works alongside the SAI MedPartners consulting teams by providing them with primary and secondary research using the firm's extensive industry resources and databases. Ms. Dsouza is uniquely able to bring holistic perspectives on the healthcare landscape to her project teams by utilizing […]
Ms. Dsouza received her BTech in Biotechnology from Dr. D. Y. Patil University. She obtained an MS in molecular medicine from the University of Sheffield and an MS in biotechnology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also received a certificate in engineering entrepreneurship.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Asia Leadership Team
Polly Shi is the director of SAI MedPartners Asia, focusing on medical device project initiatives and development, with consulting in various intelligence assessment services including clinical, commercial, competition, business and market access, etc.
Prior to joining SAI, Ms. Shi had over 25 years' working experience in the medical device industry, with a background of managerial responsibilities (sales, marketing, commercial, P&L, company financing projects, government affairs, professional education) in multinational and local Chinese companies. Equipped with broad and deep understanding of the medical device industry, she was able to help clients to solve problems and design strategies which enabled future business growth.
Her industry knowledge covers various product segments from medical consumables (including general surgery, thoracic surgery, endoscopic surgery, cardiovascular and peripheral vascular intervention, medical drugs delivery system) to equipment (ultrasound, infection control, laparoscope, etc.).
She also has solid understanding of med-tech products from high-value to low-value and has full appreciation of the differences that exist between high-value devices and lower-value devices in registration pathway, government procurement, decision-makers etc.
Ryan Li leads the market access unit and related real-world evidence services, ensuring smooth navigation through multi-stage research solutions for both commercial and real-world engagements. Mr. Li has approximately 12 years of experience in the healthcare industry. He held various roles as market access and real-world evidence lead, digital health champion, and strategic director in Holmusk, Kantar Health, Unilever, and Shanghai CDC. He also has the unique experience to navigate top pharma and healthcare providers to create fit-for-purpose market access strategies and value-based evidence generation and proposition to further accelerate the whole cycle of product pipeline and launch/post-market excellence under the dynamic policy environment in China. Apart from that, he has the successful experience to customize digital transforming solutions and establish digital platforms/tools to enrich real-world data and enable measure-based care and potential digital therapeutics.
Mr. Li's expertise includes, but is not limited to, market access strategy creation (HEOR, pricing and reimbursement, and hospital listing); real-world tactics for value-based evidence generation (early clinical development, post-market approval, license renewal, new drug application, etc.); digital innovation development by fully leveraging advanced analytics (AI/machine learning) and digital disruption (digital transformation strategy, digital HCP and patients engagement; and novel insights about internet hospitals, healthcare policies such as VBP, hospital KPI, DRG/DIP and healthcare big data analytics).
Job Titles:
- Director of Human Resources
Sarah Kitchen is the Director of Human Resources, supporting a collaborative environment that allows SAI MedPartners employees to deliver their best work with passion and quality. She is an active practitioner in developing strategies to attract new talent, providing career development opportunities, change management initiatives and creating and delivering organizational training and programs. Ms. Kitchen works across all business units and at all levels to develop effective working relationships to ensure employees are engaged and growing professionally.
Ms. Kitchen has more than 14 years of HR experience with large- and mid-sized corporations. She has a BA in economics/business administration and an MA in employment and labor relations from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Director of Information Technology
Sean joined SAI MedPartners in 2019 and is currently responsible for providing strategic oversight of our global information technology operations, systems, and teams. Prior to SAI Med Partners, Sean spent time as the Service Desk Manager for a regional managed services provider and as the IT Manager for a national real estate developer. He brings more than 20 years of experience with a diverse background in the planning, development, delivery, and monitoring of technical solutions that address the needs of both internal teams and external stakeholders. He has managed the successful completion of large projects involving worldwide, cross-functional business areas and led the technology divesture of business units to new platforms while continually leveraging cloud technologies to increase functionality and improve efficiencies. Sean holds multiple IT certifications as well as an Executive MBA from St. Joseph's University, a BA in Organizational Leadership from St. Louis University and AS in Network Engineering.
Dr. Stefania Gastaldi holds a PhD in molecular oncology from the University of Turin in Italy and spent part of the program at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, where she worked on cancer stem cells biology. She continued as a post-doctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital working on molecular determinants of squamous cell carcinoma progression.
Dr. Gastaldi joined SAI as a consultant and has developed extensive experience in performing competitive intelligence investigations in EU4 countries and the U.S. and UK, targeting company sources as well as KOLs and lead prescribers in the field of oncology. Working on several oncology projects in various indications, she developed a strong knowledge of disease landscapes and clinical development in lung, including NSCLC; SCLC and mesothelioma; and gynecological tumors such as ovarian, endometrial, and cervical cancer - with a focus on checkpoint inhibitors and new immunotherapeutic agents, EGFR, ALK, c-MET inhibitors, PARP inhibitors, anti-angiogenic, antibody-drug conjugates, and bispecifics. Dr. Gastaldi regularly attends the main annual oncology conferences such as ASCO, ESMO, WCLC, and ASH, where she conducts primary research, engaging in peer-to-peer conversations with physicians/KOLs and company representatives.
She is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is fluent in Italian, English, and French.
Job Titles:
- Vice President / VP Pricing and Market Access
Mr. Hess brings over 15 years of successful leadership experience to his role as Vice President, Market Access and Pricing at SAI MedPartners. Mr. Hess has prior healthcare consultant experience as Senior Principal, Market Access and Commercial at Fishawack Health. His global industry experience includes time at GlaxoSmithKline, Takeda, and most recently, Medicago. Mr. Hess is a graduate of the University of Chicago Booth Management Institute and he completed his MBA at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management with Hotchkiss Scholar Designation.
At Medicago, he was head of North America commercial launch strategy. Mr. Hess developed the go-to-market strategy for the corporate brand and vaccine portfolio (seasonal influenza and COVID-19), which included the early stage commercial development. While at GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals, Mr. Hess was part of the executive leadership team that grew the vaccine business from a portfolio of $250 million to $2.5 billion over his career. His diverse background at GSK included senior-level positions in operations, brand management, pricing strategy, customer engagement, innovation, strategic planning, talent management, and commercial leadership. He was responsible for the hiring and development of more than 200 employees during his time at GSK.
At Takeda pharmaceuticals, Mr. Hess led the M&A business development that integrated new business acquisitions. This included a historic corporate milestone: the first specialty business approved by the Takeda Board of Directors in its 230-year history.
Vishal Ghatge leads the ForceTraQ (commercial operations benchmarking and intelligence database) team and has more than 14 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry (core and consulting ecosystems) in various capacities including R&D, competitive intelligence (clinical and commercial, regulatory intelligence), pharmaceuticals and medical devices, etc.
Mr. Ghatge has diverse experience within consulting space and has been providing strategic decision support to pharmaceutical and medical device clients by helping them understand commercial landscapes and field force strategies of their top competitors. His initial experience of working in R&D helps him to analyze client queries with a holistic perspective and provide targeted intelligence and sustainable solutions to clients across multiple therapy areas that include oncology, immunology, endocrinology, cardiology, infectious diseases, and others.
Through ForceTraQ, Mr. Ghatge and his team of experienced consultants help clients demystify competitors' sales force sizing and structuring approaches, giving them a competitive advantage and enabling them to capitalize on opportunities where competitors are lacking. The team helps clients stay on top of everything that is happening in the dynamic world of pharmaceutical sales, so they can develop smarter, more flexible, and more effective commercial operations strategies.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Asia Leadership Team
- Senior Director
Yun Li joined SAI MedPartners Asia in 2006. As a key member of Asia team, she has focused on providing broad strategic support to MNC and local pharma and medical device companies covering extensive scope of project types and therapeutic areas.
She supervises and manages project delivery and the project team with over 15 years of experience conducting in-depth interviews with senior management of major players in the healthcare industry, including regulators, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, physicians, distributors, drugstores, patients, and other industry experts.
Ms. Li has solid experience in a wide range of therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, rare diseases, immunology, oncology, cardiovascular, GI, infectious diseases, etc.
She has extensive experience in regulatory/policy analysis, new product market opportunity assessment, strategic market assessments, competitive analysis and benchmarking, assessment of M&A and licensing opportunities, and BD support
Job Titles:
- Member of the Asia Leadership Team
- VP - Human Resources, Asia
- VP of HR in SAI 's Asia
Yvette Pan is the VP of HR in SAI's Asia division. She leads strategic and practical HR services for the management team and employees in Asia. She supports the business to deliver results in the employment cycle from recruitment to performance management to leavers management. She also takes an active role in developing and strengthening leaders in Asia.
Ms. Pan has over 15 years' experience as an HR business partner for different companies in both China and the UK. She also has experience in career and leadership coaching.
Ms. Pan holds an MS in Human Resources Management from the University of Surrey, UK. She also has a certification for advanced coaching, which enables her to introduce coaching-style leadership to the company.