Valdo Arnera, M.D.
Bill Byrom, Ph.D.
Philip A. Garland
Keith Howells
Don Schenker
Rodney Spady
A creative and passionate approach to pioneering new areas of technology applications and new products has enabled Dr. Bill Byrom to engender real improvements in the drug development process. For the past decade or more, he has been a thought leader and motivator in helping pharmaceutical sponsors implement technology to accelerate and improve the development of drugs, and he has crafted cutting edge techniques for conducting clinical trials and collecting better data. He is an expert in a range of topics, from ePRO to disease management to trial supply simulation to medication compliance, and he has pioneered efforts at ClinPhone to assist companies in using technology to improve the way they work with patients. In one recent example, he successfully designed and implemented a novel use of technology to provide proactive support, education, and motivation for diabetes patients during the U.K. launch of a new inhaled insulin treatment. He has been jointly responsible for putting in place the product development discipline and process that has become central to ClinPhone’s approach. Dr. Byrom gained early insights into the value and potential of technology in his first job, when he developed computer simulation models to study the spread and control of tick borne African cattle diseases. This work, which was supported by the U.K. Government Overseas Development Agency, was used to help understand the potential of different disease control strategies. In developing the project, Dr. Byrom spent extended periods at an international research laboratory in Kenya, where he worked among veterinarians and entomologists to understand ticks, the diseases spread by ticks, and agricultural practices. All this led to the collection of data for the simulation models. Ultimately, this innovative pro The Technologists TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES ARE OCCURRING AT LIGHTNING SPEED. Keeping pace with and, in many cases, driving these innovations that span all sectors of the life sciences are experts who are putting their unique signatures on the bits and bytes of science based technologies. DR. BILL BYROM Passionate about pioneering new areas of technology application, Dr. Bill Byrom is most content when he’s thinking creatively. ON THE BALL FOR CREATIVE DATA DELIVERY The TECHNOLOGISTS Project brought Dr. Byrom his Ph.D. and stimulated his interest in the pharmaceutical industry. Throughout his career, Dr. Byrom has collaborated with a wide range of industry experts. While working as a trial director at Boots Pharmaceuticals, he also became a visiting research fellow at De Montfort University, where he collaborated with academic thought leaders to explore approaches to population pharmacokinetic modeling to learn more about the behavior of drugs in the body in broader groups of patients with limited blood sampling. While at Knoll Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Byrom was seconded to become medical marketing manager responsible for the scientific input into the global market launch of a new antipsychotic drug, Zoleptil. This included writing the product monograph and working with agencies and marketers to develop creative concepts and claims to ensure these were appropriate and scientifically defendable. Dr. Byrom has built a solid reputation as an individual who not only has vision, but is able to implement his ideas to the benefit of sponsors. This type of leadership has created buy in from many constituents and helps others to follow his lead. Bringing as much enthusiasm to his external pursuits as to his work, Dr. Byrom manages a local girls’ soccer team of which his older daughter is a member. He describes it as a privilege to spend time with young people and see them develop as a team. Equally, it is a challenge to plan and run training sessions that bring out the best in the players while ensuring they have fun at the same time. And while Dr. Byrom regards the girls’ enjoyment of the sport as more worthwhile than winning, he is deeply proud of the fact that they finished third in their league. GETTING PERSONAL Bill Byrom, Ph.D., is VP, Product Strategy and Marketing, for ClinPhone Group Ltd. (clinphone.com), Nottingham, U.K.,an electronic solutions provider for clinical trials. Before joining the company in 2000, he was Health Economist (CNS)/Resource Manager, Clinical Development, at Knoll Pharmaceuticals. In addition, he has worked for Zeneca Pharmaceuticals and Boots Pharmaceuticals. NAME:Bill Byrom, Ph.D. TITLE: VP of Strategy and Marketing COMPANY:ClinPhone EDUCATION: B.Sc.(Hons), Mathematics with Statistics, University of Nottingham, 1987; Ph.D., computer simulation of animal diseases, University of Strathclyde and International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases, 1990 DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: May 24, 1966; Watchfield, Berkshire, England ON HIS READING LIST: Product Strategy for High Technology Companies, by Michael McGrath; Game Situation Training for Soccer, by Wayne Harrison; anything by Nick Hornby, John O’Farrell, and Tony Parsons NEXT ON HIS LIST TO ACCOMPLISH: Completion of the editing and compilation of a comprehensive textbook on the use of ePRO with contributions from industry thought leaders and experts CREATIVE. ENTHUSIASTIC. Anyone can sit on the sidelines and watch what is happening; it takes a leader to make something happen with commitment, passion, and a strong belief in what to do. Rodney Spady encompasses all of these qualities in the way he delivers solutions to make interactive marketing a reality. And his accomplishments have been noted by the the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) as a keynote panel speaker, and as an “Online Marketing AllStar” at the June 2007 DMA marketing show in New York. Mr. Spady is not only a technology savvy interactive marketing professional; he is an innovative thinker and resourceful problem solver. He is among a few pharma business leaders who actually think about emarketing strategies, implementation, and oversight while improving revenue and building brand equity rather than being distract ed by cool one off tactics. And he is focused on delivering 360 degree interactive marketing solutions. He understands the enormous value and potential that the Web and other media, such as mobile, can deliver for pharma companies, citing the advent of broadband Internet access as the defining moment for the industry. At the same time, being an evangelist for a new way of marketing to consumers and professionals can be a real challenge in an industry firmly rooted in traditional forms of marketing. As a leader, Mr. Spady treats all ideas with respect and encourages his colleagues to participate in all initiatives. To him there are no wrong answers, rather collective thinking that helps the company to grow and evolve ideas. A resourceful problem solver, Mr. Spady lives by a creed of innovation, drawing inspiration from a Muriel Strode quote:“ Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” GETTING PERSONAL Rodney B. Spady is Director, Head of Global EMarketing and Web Officer, at Novartis Consumer Health Inc. (novartis.com), Parsippany, N.J. He has more than 15 years of senior management experience in interactive marketing, global and regional marketing, corporate communications, product management, strategic planning, and business planning and development. Before join ing Novartis, he was Senior Manager, Global Marketing, at Global Crossing. Mr. Spady has worked for NanoOpto; Lucent Technologies; Interconnect Services Group; and MCI Telecommunications, where he started his career. NAME:Rodney Spady TITLE: Head of Global eMarketing and Web Officer COMPANY:Novartis Consumer Health Inc. EDUCATION: B.A., Communications, Seton Hall University ON HIS READING LIST: Dreams from My Father, and Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama; Conservatives Without a Conscience, by John Dean; Meatball Sundae and Purple Cow, by Seth Godin; Naked Conversations, by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel; Love In The Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Advertising Age; Website Magazine; eMarketer Daily Reports; PharmaVOICE; at least 10 to 15 blogs per day PASSIONATE. COMMITTED. IN THE THICK OF INTERACTIVE DELIVERY Rodney Spady is a true leader with more than 15 years of senior management experience in interactive marketing, emarketing, global and regional marketing, and product management. RODNEY SPADY NAME: Phil Garland TITLE: Senior VP, Global Life Sciences Practice COMPANY:BearingPoint EDUCATION: B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Maine; MBA, Rensselear Polytechnic Institute PLACE OF BIRTH: Lakewood, Ohio ON HIS READING LIST: The Last Silk Dress, by Ann Rinaldi, which he reads to his daughter, and The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, which he reads to his son FAMILY: Wife Cindy; son John, daughter Genevieve, and two dogs, Bowser and Lucky TOUGHEST TASK: Remembering to enjoy the moment FIRST JOB: Building nuclear submarines at General Dynamics, Electric Boat Division PERSISTENT. Phil GARLAND ONCE HE STARTS SOMETHING PHIL GARLAND WILL NEVER GIVE UP. Always seeking a challenge, Mr. Garland doesn’t like to be idle. That energy, combined with his unparalleled insight into the market drivers that affect today’s pharmaceutical business, has proven a winning formula for Bearing Point and its roster of pharma, biotech, and medical technology clients. With 24plus years of experience in lifesciences management and consulting, Mr. Garland has witnessed firsthand the profound shifts that are taking place in the industry, and he knows there is more to come — from regulatory and safety issues to supply chain and clinical trial process improvement to rising costs and patent expirations. He is at the forefront of understanding and counseling on change, helping big pharma clients overcome the challenges of downward pricing pressure, the difficulties in launching blockbuster drugs, and the rise of consumerism and aging populations. From his knowledge of operational strategies, process and system architectures, programs and change management processes, systems implementation, infrastructure and business process outsourcing, he advises companies on when and how to respond to changes. A firm believer in the opportunities technology offers to advance the pharma model, Mr. Garland says what he would most like to see take place is more aggressive use of market and customer data to examine core business activities in the context of both the changing marketplace and healthcare constraints. He stresses that pharma companies need to capitalize on their unique insights to proactively transform their value propositions, business processes, resource allocations, and customer interaction models — before the market requires these changes. He seeks to change the paradigm by building and leading high performance teams that are passionate about helping clients build their businesses. He finds inspiration from interacting with people with a strong work ethic, who are dependable and of high integrity. Under Mr. Garland’s leadership, the Life Sciences Practice at Bear ingPoint has been a top performing segment year after year, measured by growth, profitability, client satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. One of the keys to this success is his commitment to an account based client services model and diversity in the functions of his leader ship team in serving those clients. Key accounts have dedicated global leaders and tailored resources across the globe. The Life Sciences Practice serves as an organizational mirror to its strategic global accounts with a focus on monitoring and reacting to industry issues affecting each specific client. Leaders within the segment have the opportunity to wear many hats and are not pigeonholed into one function or organizational model. This flexibility has spawned new practice and sub segment areas and has provided unique career opportunities for employees. Through Mr. Garland’s leadership and business commitment, Bear ingPoint has become a member of several important industry associations, including PhRMA, AdvaMed, and the eHealth Initiative, among many others. The energy Mr. Garland demonstrates in his professional life carries over into his leisure time. A dedicated and accomplished runner of 36 years, Mr. Garland has qualified twice in the Olympic trials for the marathon and has placed in the Boston Marathon. And when not running, he relaxes with a bit of sailing or any outdoor pursuit. GETTING PERSONAL Philip A. Garland is Senior VP, Global Life Sciences Practice, at BearingPoint Inc.(bearingpoint.com),McLean,Va., a management and technology consulting firm. Mr. Garland has been with the company for 24 years, holding a variety of positions, including helping to lead KPMG’s entry into the outsourcing business and co-leading the company’s Department of Defense business. Previously, he was a System Engineer with Tracor Inc., a defense company, and he started his career at General Dynamics in the Electric Boat division. AWINNING FORMULA Energetic at work and at leisure, Phil Garland is at the forefront of counseling change for pharma companies. EVERGETIC. The TECHNOLOGISTS The process of drug development is being made easier thanks to the contributions of Keith Howells, who has changed the way sponsors con duct clinical research. As one of the primary developers of the Oracle Clinical Remote Data Capture system, Mr. Howells turned the EDC industry on its head in 2005 when he left Oracle to join Medidata Solutions as VP of product development. An Oxford educated physicist, Mr. Howells predicted that the EDC battle would be won when his vision of combining electronic data capture and data management came to fruition. Driven by a commitment to pursuing a goal to its successful conclusion, Mr. Howells delivered on his prediction. Within months of arriving at Medidata, Mr. Howells built a new EDC functionality that had never before been seen in the industry. His ability to live both in the user and technology camps enables him to absorb and translate user needs into practical new solutions that help clinical researchers and sponsors manage clinical trials in the safest and most effective way possible. With his staff, Mr. Howells has applied the entrepreneurial approach of innovative companies, encouraging his fellow developers to focus on their strengths and let their creative instincts flow. But he believes firmly in getting things right and never presuming, arguing it’s far better to say you don’t know than to take an educated guess. And he is a great believer in drawing on the knowledge of others. One of the biggest influencers on Mr. Howells’ career was Geoff Squire, who was managing director of Oracle U.K. in the 1980s and who followed the maxim of hiring people better than himself. What most impressed Mr. Howells about this approach is that while it certainly benefits the company, it can be personally threatening. As he puts it, in these days of Dilbert management, such a philosophy is highly inspiring. While the excitement that comes from planning and managing a growth business is invigorating, many working days can feel like “pedaling in place,” meaning the work dispatched is only equal to the new work coming in. It takes discipline to put the distractions aside and return to what he enjoys most, which is designing a new sub system or writing a piece of code. Affectionately known as Medidata’s Poet Laureate, Mr. Howells also uses humor to inspire others and is known to break out into verse during R&D meetings, orating on a range of topics from new product releases to presidential elections. On one issue, however, he is quite serious: breaking the logjam of bringing innovative products to market. GETTING PERSONAL Keith Howells is VP, Development , at Medidata (mdsol.com),New York, and is responsible for both the core Rave product as well as for customer specific integrations and utilities. In his previous position at Oracle, he helped to establish Oracle Clinical as one of the dominant backend data management systems, initially as Head of the Pharmaceutical Consulting Practice and then as VP of the Pharmaceutical Applications Development Group. NAME: Keith Howells ITLE: VP of Development COMPANY:Medidata Solutions Worldwide EDUCATION: Bachelor’s Degree in Physics, Oxford University PLACE OF BIRTH: England ON HIS READING LIST: Bad Money, by Kevin Phillips FIRST JOB: Seismic data processing, developing plots of rock strata to assist oil companies in deciding where to drill exploratory wells; he wrote his first program in Fortran using a handcard punch — one character at a time HOBBIES: Golf, writing poems and skits TRUSTWORTHY. COMMITTED. KEITH Howells Keith Howells serves as Medidata’s Code master when it comes to EDC and clinical data management, and he is affectionately known as the company’s Poet Laureate. POETRY IN TECHNOLOGICAL MOTION TALENT pool MedicalEducation POOL Laura AIBARA Dr. Robin SMITH Staff Changes at Curry Rockefeller The Curry Rockefeller Group (CRG), New York, has added two staff members to its med icaleducation programming and editorial teams. Laura Aibara joins CRG as program direc tor. She most recently was program manager at Haymarket Medical. She received a B.A. in communications and advertising from Iona College. CRG has appointed Robin Smith, Ph.D., sci entific director. Dr. Smith is responsible for assisting in the development of strategic publication planning and implemen tation. Dr. Smith was previ ously senior executive edi tor, sciences, at Columbia University Press. He received a B.S. with hon ors in cell and molecular biology from King’s Col lege at the University of London and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge’s Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Service POOL Randi BOGARD Matt GLAVAS Richard “Tex” KUND Sidhartha RAO Algis “Al” SALCIUNAS Clement SMITH MTI Adds to Staff MTI, a provider of pharmaceutical mar keting products in Langhorne, Pa., has made several additions to its staff. Randi Bogard has been appointed VP, business develop ment. In this position, Ms. Bogard is responsible for fostering existing client relationships, pro moting MTI’s pharmaceutical marketing products, and developing new business oppor tunities that support the company’s growth strategy. Before joining MTI, Ms. Bogard worked with Lathian Systems as regional sales VP. She is a graduate of Florida State University where she earned a bachelor of science in communi cations. MTI has hired Matt Glavas as director, business analytics. He is responsible for leading MTI’s business analytics team in the use of advanced statistical methodologies to generate, interpret, and present market analysis used in support of MTI’s marketing programs. Mr. Glavas has more than 18 years of professional experience, seven of which were at BristolMyers Squibb. He earned his master’s in business administration from the University of North Carolina and his bachelor’s degree from the University of California. MTI has appointed Richard “Tex” Kund as VP, business development. Mr. Kund is responsible for fostering existing client relationships, promoting MTI’s pharmaceutical marketing products and developing new business opportunities that support the company’s growth strategy. Before joining MTI, Mr. Kund held the position of director of business development for PDI, where he was responsible for identifying potential new business within the bio pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Kund attended St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Temple University. MTI has hired Sidhartha Rao as director, systems. In this position, Mr. Rao is responsible for developing and managing strategic plans for MTI’s technology infrastructure. Before joining MTI, Mr. Rao worked with Ranbaxy as chief technology architect and security officer. He received a bachelor of science degree from Delhi University, Delhi, India. MTI has hired Algis “Al” Salciunas as director, product management. In this position, Mr. Salciunas is responsible for maintaining and managing product concepts, product business models and all commercial aspects of MTI’s cornerstone marketing product, Extender. Before joining MTI, Mr. Salciunas spent nearly 16 years at IMS Health, most recently holding the position of business/competitive intelligence principal. He earned a master’s in business
