Julie Martin, M.Sc., MBA, Lean certified Director, Clinical Operations & Co-owner, Scimega Research has developed an expertise in managing a wide array of oncology clinical trials set in early and late clinical development stages including collaborative efforts with larger CROs. At Scimega she is responsible for the strategic planning, conduct and oversight of oncology clinical trials across Canada, and for the development of project proposals. In addition, Mrs Martin serves as Director, Business Development, and is co-owner and an executive member of Scimega’s managing Board of Directors.

1. Why did you decide to do a webinar with us?

 

As Direc, Clinical Operations and a co-owner of our company I want to spread the word about the excellent work we do, and in sharing what and how we do what we do perhaps assist others in their pursuit of excellence in clinical operations.

We are a Canadian CRO with a singular focus on oncology. We are dedicated to improving the speed and efficiency of oncology clinical research here in Canada through a deep understanding of how best to match the needs of our sponsors with local investigators who are part of our network of sites.

Scimega was founded to meet a gap in the industry for superior clinical trial services in the complex field of oncology research in our geographical area. In 1997, we were trail blazers, and most sponsors didn’t understand the importance of our unique business model. Since then many have come to value our expertise, and optimal operations design that enables us to consistently go above-and-beyond for every one of our sponsors’ studies.

In 2008, we introduced the Reverse Feasibility Program – a collaborative approach that connects biotech sponsors with Canadian investigators to meet the needs of cancer patients, and the scientific interests of investigators while allowing sponsors to meet their timelines and make quicker go/no-go drug development decisions. Twelve years later in 2020 we collaborate with over 50 Canadian research sites and have extensive experience in facilitating successful vendor teaming in the context of global oncology trials.

Scimega is a strong player with very high pre-COVID performance, and we have every intention to continue exceeding expectations. The current outbreak is not the first hurdle we’ve had to overcome throughout our 23 years of existence.

We will survive the COVID-19 global pandemic, and I am keen to share how we’ve been doing this so far.

2. What will the audience gain from attending your webinar?

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the clinical trial industry to adapt, adapt, adapt! This webinar is based on our company’s experience in Canada, and I’ll be sharing how to overcome COVID challenges and maximize the opportunities for your cutting-edge oncology clinical trial.

In these trying times your partners must evidence their reliability and add-value to your project. They must be transparent and constant in sharing what they are doing to help you stay on top of the ‘new normal.’

We may be a few months into this pandemic, but we are not out yet so we must expect the need to jump through more hoops in our recent future. So be ready!

The Critical Oncology Clinical Trial KPIs Under the ‘New Normal’ webinar offers participants the opportunity to:

•   Identify COVID challenges & opportunities for CRO performance
•   Learn how to score high on critical KPIs under the ‘new normal’
•   Acquire case example experiences of how to overcome COVID challenges & maximize the opportunities
•   Discover what you can achieve today by expanding your trial to Canada

The main reason our sponsors expand their trials to Canada with Scimega is most often to avoid delays in study progress that can dramatically increase the risk of study failure. Other reasons cited are to: tackle a difficult/rare patient population; reduce the impact of competing trials in other regions; access untapped pools of patients; and facilitate registration in multiple regions.

In the ‘new normal’ we face today, another reason to expand your trial to Canada is to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on your study.

3. How did you get into the industry and what do you most enjoy about your role?

 

It’s important to me to feel I’m ‘making a difference’ through my professional contribution.  As a niche Oncology CRO our company bridges important relationships between members of the professional oncology community, their patients, and sponsors of cutting-edge clinical trials.

It’s encouraging to see biotechs collaborating with Canadian investigative sites that are focused on expediting the start-up process and recruiting patients for innovative trials in Canada. And I’m proud to be part of that!

 

4. What are you hoping to achieve in the future in your personal and professional life?

 

I’m focussed on the long-term success of our company. With the support of our expert team members, who are passionate advocates for oncology clinical research, this is of course possible. I feel privileged to work with my two partners, the co-founders of Scimega, and am delighted to have the opportunity of a lifetime to pursue my professional passion as a co-owner of our company. The fact that Scimega’s service offering adds real value to all stakeholders involved at a time when our expertise is most needed provides me with a true sense of purpose.

Register here for the upcoming webinar – https://bit.ly/33tFAaU

 

 

 

 

David Sinclair – CRO, HardHat

What do you hope attendees will gain at your webinar?

I’d like to provide all the attendees an opportunity to learn from an industry expert around the coming legislation and of course learn about how simple it is to create safer, faster, smarter mining operations with a solution like HardHat. We hope to give attendees actionable insights to help them achieve a completely connected, integrated, safe operation.

What discussions do you look forward to having with the attendees?

Hearing as much feedback about the changes to the legislation and what are the challenges the attendees have recognised their business may face with these imminent changes.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

Working with all the talented team members at HardHat and bringing innovation to the mining industry to improve people’s safety, business outcomes and productivity across the sector.

How did you get into the industry?

I’ve been in the technology space for quite some time. My journey into the Mining industry started at university where I studied applied geology but my experience around technology in the mining industry started in around 2005, when I worked at SAP, helping to create an Industry Value Network for Mining around SAP’s Netweaver technology. During that time I had the opportunity to work with many innovative Australian mining technology companies and then worked directly with a few of these companies such as Citect and Schneider Electric. Over the past ten years, I’ve worked with a range of companies including a global cloud vendor where I helped developed industry technology partnership and ecosystems and that’s how I ended joining HardHat.

Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

For a Holiday – Vietnam – great weather, great food, beautiful locations and friendly people.

For a cultural experience – Paris – culture, fashion, food & wine.

For Nostalgia’s sake – London – live there for a few years as a teenager, its like a second home.

Join Tim Smith, Nicholas Beech & David Sinclair on a webinar entitled The new normal: Driving health & safety in the mining industry post- COVID by HardHat on 3rd September at 3PM Perth/5PM Sydney/Melbourne.

Heike Schön,                                Dr. Christiane Juhls, 
Managing Director                  Project Director

What do you hope attendees will gain at your webinar?

We hope our attendees will get insights how to best frame a risk-based vendor management system. This will include the famous ‘triangle’ of quality, costs and time optimisation. We will provide guidance on how to select appropriate CROs and other vendors, how to effectively contract and manage vendors, develop risk-based assessments, measure vendor performance and create a relationship fostered upon trust and communication.

What discussions do you look forward to having with the attendees?

We would like to have an exchange of experiences with  our attendees coming from the sponsor’s and vendor’s sides. From our experience different perspectives and expectations towards outsourcing have to be communicated openly to start a successful cooperation.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

We enjoy sharing our knowledge from our own experiences working in various positions at sponsor and vendor companies to support especially small to mid-sized companies in outsourcing critical parts and tasks of their drug development.

How did you get into the industry?

Heike: My profound interest in drug development arose when I started as a student doing an internship in a clinical Phase 1 unit. I never left that pathway and broadened my knowledge and experience throughout global activities in clinical development.

Christiane: By coincidence my start in the industry also began with an internship. It was at a small  growing biotech company, where later on  Heike and I worked together on various international projects with an increasing focus on outsourcing.

Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

We love to meet people from all over the globe, learn from their cultures and work with diverse teams. Thus, we don’t have as such a favourite place, but enjoy wherever we are.

Join Heike Schön and Dr. Christiane Juhls  on a webinar entitled Effective Vendor Management by Lumis Life Science Consulting GmbH on 10th September at 2PM London/3PM CET.

 

 

 

 

 

Henry Carse,

Senior Solution Engineer at Delphix

Henry Carse is the Senior Solution Engineer at Delphix. Coming from a Healthcare Systems implementation background, Henry knows first hand the importance of masking sensitive data and the headaches that come with trying to do that without the right tools. Moving into a technical pre-sales allowed him to make a positive impact to more organisations by fitting customer needs to great products.

What did you hope attendees gain from your webinar?

I was really hoping that this webinar would further attendees’ understanding of the challenges facing organisations when it comes to data compliance and masking. Compliance is a complex issue and it takes a lot of consideration from teams to get it right, hopefully we framed the issue and showed some ways that we can help.

What was your favourite part of the webinar?

Definitely Mark’s demo! He’s always a pleasure to watch and I think it really highlights how quickly and easily Delphix can help people get up and running for Data Compliance

What do you enjoy most about your role?

It might sound trite, but I love meeting customers, everyone has a different set of challenges with their IT estate and it’s cool to see how Delphix can help.

How did you get into the industry?

I started years back in Laboratory System Pre-sales because in a different life, I was a microbiologist! I then moved into the enterprise space, which tends to be a bit more varied and have more interesting challenges.

Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

An Air BnB in Wales! Might sound like an odd choice, but the grounds of this stately home had the most perfect flat rock where you could watch the sunset over a beautiful valley, beer in one hand and mates sat around. The hammock in my garden is pretty good too!

Join Henry Carse on Delphix’s on-demand webinar entitled Reducing your Data Risk Profile

 

 

 

 

 

Wenjun Shi, Marketing Director of Fixed Network & Multimedia Product Line at ZTE Corporation

What is your favorite thing about working at telecom industry?

My favorite thing in working at telecoms is world traveling and meeting different operators all over the world. Helping my customer in different country is a great challenge, but also a lot of fun. I have met many different people and made a great deal of friends. The happiest moment is to help my customer with the right products or solution and bring more value to them.

What do you hope attendees will gain at your webinar?

In this webinar, I will try to explain why the Fixed Broadband network is the cornerstone for a fast changing world. Especially during the pandemic, we are facing great challenges in our life and business. The network infrastructure is the most important ally for people who need to work from home or study online. With a higher bandwidth and more reliable network, it will make it easier for people to get though the difficult times. My audience will learn how we can help to resolve the problem and what we do is more than just building connection.

When you have 30 minutes of free-time, how do you pass the time?

Although I wanted to say I’d do something meaningful, but I’m usually spent time on watching the Youtube. I think Youtube is great for study, entertainment, and even for business. Nowadays, people have more time spent on video, making their own content, sharing experience and watching other people’s life story. That’s really fantastic.

How do you define success?

Success is you don’t work for money anymore. You work for a great good. At the end of the day, you can sit down, look around you, smile to yourself, and thinking, “Man, I love this life”.

What is something you learned in the last month?

As a life-long learner, I try to keep busy with studying different subjects after working. I like study math, new telecom technology, and business developing skills. In last month, I have spent some time, finished the online MIT course of different equation, given by professor Gilbert and Cleve Moler. The MIT online course ware is great study channel for people.

See ZTE’s News to Share & White Paper of Built-in Blade in OLT

Join Shi Wenjun  on a webinar entitled How Can Fixed Broadband Help the Industry in an Uncertain World? by ZTE Corporation on 25th August at 9AM London/10AM CET.

 

 

 

 

 

Darren Vanderburgh,
Director of Continuous Improvement at Contract Pharmaceuticals Ltd

What do you hope attendees will gain at your webinar?

I’m hoping that the attendees will gain insight into how Lean principles can be successfully applied in the Pharmaceutical industry.  Long lead times and large batches are still very typical in the pharmaceutical industry; this is a paradigm that we are trying to change.

What discussions do you look forward to having with the attendees?

I would be very interested to hear about other successful lean projects related to lead time reduction, batch size reductions or other improvement projects.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I enjoy working with employees or teams to help them improve their own work areas.  A truly successful improvement project will have benefits for both the employees and the company.

How did you get into the industry?

I started in the pharmaceutical industry almost 11 years ago at Contract Pharmaceuticals as a lean consultant.  I was originally contracted to run  week long Kaizen events in various areas of the organization once or twice a month.  After four or five months of consulting work I was offered a full time position to run their liquid division.  Through the Kaizen’s I gained a solid understanding of the pharmaceutical industry, and I really enjoyed working with the CPL team.  I made the decision to leave my consulting position to work at CPL full time.

Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

My favourite place would be Huntsville, Ontario.  This is in the heart of cottage country and has great memories from my childhood and eventually adulthood with my own family.

What would someone be surprised to know about you?

When I was 16 years old I opened up a sports store named Athletes Alley with one of my closest friends; we ran this business together for 4 years.  We sold sports equipment, athletic clothing, running shoes, and sharpened skates during the hockey season.  We were able to convince all of the major sporting brands to drastically reduce their minimum order quantities to allow us to order hundreds of dollars of product per order versus thousands of dollars per order. In reflection, this was my first experience operating with lean principles even though I had no knowledge of this concept at the time.

Join Darren Vanderburgh  on a webinar entitled Creating a Lean Culture in Pharma by Contract Pharmaceuticals Ltd on 18th August at 2PM London/3PM CET.

1. Why did you decide to do a webinar with us?

My team and I have been working in the Target Analysis space for over a decade now, and it has been a very rewarding and productive experience. A knowledge sharing session hosted on BR webinar seemed to be an appropriate way to give back to a community that has done so much for us.

 

2. What will the audience gain from attending your webinar?

The biopharma world is constantly seeking cost effective ways to reduce drug target attrition. Our experience with our clients (both big pharma and biotech) has shown that comprehensive in silico assessment, deployed effectively, can form the base for a practical strategy for 360° target analysis. This webinar will provide insights on designing a decision-making algorithm for selecting the right drug target and demonstrate the value of in silico 360° target analyses with supporting case-studies. I am optimistic that the discovery research community, both in academics and industry, will benefit immensely from the knowledge shared in this webinar.

 

3. How did you get into the industry and what do you most enjoy about your role?

 After earning a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular immunology, I spent some time as a research fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to gain further insights into the molecular basis of viral infections. Armed with a decade’s worth of curiosity-driven research experience and training at the world’s premier research laboratories, I joined a Bioinformatics start-up in Bangalore. There, our dynamic, multi-disciplinary team of researchers created a patented platform that aids discovery research during Lead Optimization. A decade-long association with the project helped me gain a deep understanding of drug discovery research and provided me opportunities to interact with leaders in the field as mentors, colleagues, and clients.

About four years ago, I moved to a global CRO, Syngene. Syngene has provided me greater opportunities to partner with global pharma leaders to apply findings from various fields of biology towards new drug development. Along with my team of biologists and bio-informaticians, I help biopharma organizations make informed decisions on their early-phase drug development pipeline and optimize resource utilization. It gives me great satisfaction when a client provides feedback on how our analysis helped them arrive at the best decision. It also gives me immense pleasure to see my junior colleagues growing, gaining confidence, and making key contributions to achieving organizational goals, under my leadership. Identifying and nurturing the unique skillsets of each of my team members is an aspect of my role that I particularly enjoy. The challenge of continuously delivering enhanced value to our clients while working within the demanding timelines of the industry is what drives me every single day!

 

4. What are you hoping to achieve in the future in your personal and professional life?

I wish to share the knowledge and process behind making an “informed decision”, which is key to the success of any new drug discovery program. Working on customized solutions to scientific problems is something that keeps me motivated, and I hope to continue working in this exciting field for many more years.

 

5. What would someone be surprised to know about you?

All through my academic life, from undergraduate studies to postdoctoral research, I enjoyed scientific research to decipher the unknown and publish the work in reputed international journals and present it in front of the scientific community.

My present role does, at times, demand ingenious thought-provoking problem-solving skills. However, being a part of the service industry, I find that I need to exercise a slightly different skill set, to help lead a concerted effort to solve problems for advancing discovery programs. Perhaps my academic mentors would be (pleasantly) surprised to see me leading a successful business endeavor and providing solutions for clients rather than being a group leader of an academic research laboratory. However, being a leader at the intersection of cutting-edge science and business facing the challenges of finding a drug is addictive!

 

 

 

 

Andreas Brülls, Head of Product and Partner Management

What do you hope attendees will gain from your webinar?

I would like to introduce the participants to the advantages of modular automation with particular focus on MTP standard and Batch orchestration. This webinar is intended to impart knowledge on how processes can be modified by the use of MTPs, without greater engineering effort, and how the different modules of a plant can be managed by means of a superordinate instance (the Process Orchestration Layer).

What discussions are you looking forward to having with the attendees?

We are looking forward to shared interaction between plant operators as well as machine and plant manufacturers. Digitalization is resulting in increasingly dynamic market changes. With our Batch orchestration, we are reacting to this development in such a way, that it enables more flexibility in commissioning and especially in production adjustments. However, optimally adapting our solution to our customers’ wishes and requirements is only possible through constant and direct contact of all parties involved. We are therefore particularly interested in the challenges one associates with the topic of “modular automation”.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

We are proud of being able to support our customers in meeting the drastic intensification of the competition within the innovation area (challenging customer requirements, short product life cycles, a constantly increasing number of variants) with more flexible production processes and having the possibility of accompanying them on their path to digitalization.

How did you get into the industry?

In 1999 I`ve completed my studies in process engineering and subsequently joined the project team of ProLeiT AG in Herzogenaurach. After working as project manager and key account manager, I took over the ProLeiT department for product management in 2014. Within this function, my main focus is on strategic planning and management of the entire product portfolio. As Head of Partner Management since 2017, I am also responsible for acquiring new partners and maintaining, developing and optimally utilizing national and international partnerships. The key points of my work are MES, Industry 4.0 and data analysis within the process environment.

Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

I love exploring new cultures, traditions, ways of life, customs and of course culinary delights. For this reason, I try travelling to countries unknown to me as often as possible. However, I am particularly attached to and fond of my Franconian homeland, the metropolitan region of Nuremberg, and always enjoy coming back home.

Join Andreas Brülls on a webinar entitled Batch-Orchestrierung in der modularen Automation by ProLeiT on 22nd July at 2PM CEST/1PM BST

PLEASE NOTE THIS WEBINAR WILL BE HELD IN GERMAN

 

 

 

 

Simon Duke – Chief Engineer, Verification & Analysis at MAHLE Powertrain Limited

What do you hope attendees will gain at your webinar?

An insight into the benefits that can be achieved with optimised hybrid powertrains using advanced combustion systems. Gain an understanding of MPTs world leading capabilities and processes in this area of development.

What discussions do you look forward to having with the attendees?

Discussions around MPTs approach, processes, the modular capability of our design to meet diverse customer demands, and the global approach to appraising CO2 emissions.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I enjoy the variety of the services we offer and being surrounded by so many enthusiastic and professional engineers who create solutions to our customers’ challenges on a daily basis.

How did you get into the industry?

Having decided I wanted a career in engineering, I was encouraged by a friend who worked as a tool maker, to consider an apprenticeship. Luckily I was able to secure a role with Cosworth Technology Ltd as a vehicle workshop apprentice in 1998. (The company was later acquired by MAHLE in 2005.) After completing some off the job training and rotations in various departments I was offered a role within the design group where I progressed and gained exposure to the design of most engine components and manufacturing processes. Alongside my day job I was also sponsored by the business to complete higher education, gaining a degree from Coventry University through their part time study programme.

Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

Pendine Sands in Wales, where you can drive your car onto the vast beach, as long as you watch out for the tide! Hoping to go back there in August this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join Simon Duke & Dave Beecroft on a webinar entitled Optimising Powertrains on the Road to Zero by MAHLE Powertrain on 29th July at 3PM London/10AM New York

    

Utsav Sanghani – Senior Product Manager

Anna Chiang – Senior Product Marketing Manager

What do you hope attendees will gain at your webinar?

Utsav – The session is aimed at offering insights into how new-age application security testing, transparently integrates into modern (true-agile & agile-ish) software development processes to meet the varied levels of software release agility, without increasing user overhead .This session will discuss tools & technologies that will help organizations “shift-left” and democratize application security across the whole SDLC.

Anna – A fundamental understanding of development workflows and the tools that developers need to stay productive, the strengths and weaknesses of security testing at the different stages of the Software Development Life Cycle, and what to look for in AppSec tools. For example, specific capabilities and integrations that AppSec tools need to be effective.

What discussions do you look forward to having with the attendees?

Utsav – I would love to understand how the attendees are solving their application security problems today, how effective is their Appsec program? The level of engagement and collaboration they have built cross-functionally within development, DevOps and Security.

Anna – I’d like to understand what their current challenges are with respect to application security testing. I’d like to understand how their security teams are partnering with their development teams and if they have designated security champions within the teams that can help facilitate interactions and transfer security knowledge within the teams.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

Utsav – I get the opportunity to lead, strategize and build capabilities that will help alleviate AppSecurity problems for my customers and help them ship secure code, faster!

Anna – I enjoy being able to articulate the high-level business benefits as well as detailed technical benefits of a wide variety of application security tools. I’ve participated in new Go-to-Market product launches here at Synopsys, including an IAST product as well as a new cloud platform that supports our SAST product

How did you get into the industry?

Utsav – I have been in the Enterprise Software space since the start of my career with roles leading financial technology products, and data analytical platforms prior to enrolling in business school. A penchant for curiosity and ever-growing hunger for growth 7 years ago introduced me to application security where I started leading products in the open source risk management space , eventually transitioning over to Software Composition Analysis & Static Analysis

Anna – I’ve worked in high-tech hardware and software companies since college. Most recently at companies that provide developer platform tools, programs and services that help ensure secure coding practices and remediation of issues. I’ve also marketed a product in the past that leveraged user behavioral analytics to identify security threats that would otherwise go undetected.

Where is your favourite place in the world and why?

Utsav – My favourite place in the world is Skagen ,Denmark. The pristine white beaches and the surreal views are an absolute delight!

Anna – My favourite place in the world is Yosemite National Park in California, USA. It has some great hiking trails that lead to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls for example, with spectacular views of the valley and nearby monuments, such as the Half Dome rock formation. It’s really an amazing place to visit, nature at its finest

Join Anna Chiang & Utsav Sanghani on a webinar entitled Guide to Application Security: What to look out for and why by Synopsys on 15th July at 4PM London/11AM New York