Kaushal Mehta is currently an obesity portfolio director within US Clinical Development and Operations at Novo Nordisk, Inc. During his 8-year tenure with Novo Nordisk, he has successfully led numerous high-profile clinical operations portfolios across the obesity and diabetes therapeutic areas. With 20+ years of clinical research experience in the pharma/biotech industry, Kaushal has previously held leadership positions within the early, late stage and post-marketing clinical development programs across the oncology, cardiovascular, virology and rheumatology therapeutic areas at Genentech and Roche.

Sheetal Telang is a seasoned clinical research professional and pharmacist with over 20 years of experience across the pharmaceutical and clinical research industries. In her current role as Americas Head of Therapeutic Strategy, she leads global strategic planning across clinical programs, bringing together scientific expertise, operational insight, and data science driven innovation to accelerate drug development. Her career spans leadership and operational roles in diverse functions including project management and clinical operations and therapeutic area strategy. She has lived and worked across the United States, Asia Pacific, and Europe, and has successfully led cross-functional teams across 28+ countries, reflecting her strong global acumen and cultural fluency. Known for her collaborative approach and strategic mindset, Sheetal has worked closely with large pharma, mid-sized and emerging biopharma companies—delivering value through integrated program leadership and tailored solutions. She is particularly passionate about using data science to transform operations, improve trial efficiency, and support innovation across the clinical development lifecycle to enhance patient experience on clinical trials.

Laura Whitmore has been Senior Director, Clinical Operations, Oversight at Cerevel Therapeutics since 2019. Prior to this role, she was Director on an Innovation team at a mid-size pharma company. A career-changer, she moved from the Banking industry 10 years ago and has never regretted the shift.

Dr. Ariel Bourla serves as Senior Director on Johnson & Johnson R&D's Data Science and Digital Health team, where she leads efforts to apply real-world data and other innovative technology solutions to advance and accelerate Oncology clinical programs. Dr. Bourla holds a strong background in Medical Oncology, Immunology, and Data Science. She spent 6 years at Flatiron Health as a Medical Director and Clinical Trials Lead. In this role, she led research teams executing prospective real-world studies, methodologic and observational research projects, and development of new technologies for sites and sponsors participating in clinical trials. Dr. Bourla received her MD/PhD training from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, with a subsequent internship and residency at New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center, and a Medical Oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She earned a BA in English Language and Literature from Yale University.

Ramya Krishna Chunduru is a Clinical Research Regulatory Supervisor at Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas, Texas, with over nine years of experience in clinical research regulatory operations and compliance, including six years specializing in oncology trials. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology, a master’s degree in biotechnology from the University of Houston–Clear Lake, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Ramya is an ACRP-Certified Professional (ACRP-CP) and an active member of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. Throughout her career, she has worked extensively in advancing oncology clinical trials, ensuring adherence to regulatory standards, and mentoring regulatory specialists. Her professional and academic work focuses on leveraging innovative approaches to strengthen regulatory compliance and accelerate access to life-saving therapies. Beyond her professional endeavors, Ramya is deeply committed to balancing her roles as a researcher, supervisor, and working mother. She aspires to contribute to the national interest by developing advanced technologies and best practices in oncology clinical research and regulatory compliance.

Sid leads the Global Development Data Science team, responsible for enhancing clinical trial operations with industry-leading advance analytics and best-in-class linked datasets. Sid’s team also leads several first-in-industry innovations including registries linking clinical trial data with real-world data (RWD) via tokenization to enable real-world effectiveness studies and long-term follow up (LTFU) and a first-in-industry, hybrid External Control Arm (ECA) in neuroscience resulting in groundbreaking real-world evidence generation prior to licensure. Sid is a champion and strong supporter of harnessing the power of technology to advance and transform healthcare. He is passionate about accelerating clinical research and increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in clinical trials by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) models, advancing patient matching using RWD, and reducing patient burden by enabling decentralized/virtual trials – with the goal of bringing lifesaving and -enhancing therapies to patients faster. A recent example of impact is the award-winning ML-driven model, which predicted COVID-19 hotspots with over 90% accuracy, driving highly targeted site selection and shortening enrollment by 6-8 weeks. Prior to joining Janssen, Sid was VP of products at ConcertAI where he was responsible for building the next generation Real World Evidence (RWE) platform, eurekaHealth, which accelerated use of RWD and data science for a variety of R&D and commercial use cases at several leading biopharma companies. Prior to that, Sid was VP of Product Strategy at NantHealth where he managed and oversaw delivery of a broad portfolio of capabilities, including clinical decision support, combining molecular insights with standard of care treatment guidelines and oncology prior authorization. Sid has 20 years of leadership experience in healthcare, data and technology serving patients, biopharma, payers, and providers. Sid holds a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Computer Science and Management Information Systems. In addition, Sid has completed an Executive Management Program at MIT focused on Management and Leadership.

As the head of Analytics Innovation and Digital Health, Gaelan and his team are responsible for leading cutting edge real-world data alliances and most importantly creating and developing innovations across R&D. He co-leads the BMS digital initiative for global drug development, which is enabling a spectrum of digital solutions, including several types of decentralized trial capabilities. Gaelan is an industry leader in the development and infusion of digital innovation solutions to enable optimization of pharma drug development. In past roles Gaelan has led and developed strategic partnerships with large academic medical centers and networks. He has also supported trial design and start-up for the BMS oncology and immunology programs. This experience led him to develop industry leading trial design software and processes that create digital protocols and feed downstream systems and processes. He is passionate about not only the ideation and creation, but the development and business change that creates lasting advancement in the industry. Gaelan holds an MBA from Temple University along with MS in human physiology and biophysics from Georgetown. Outside work, Gaelan lives in southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife, enjoys traveling around the globe, cooking, and restoring their historic home.

Guneet Walia, PhD, serves as Senior Director, Data Science & Digital Health on Johnson & Johnson R&D Data Science and Digital Health team, where she leads the AI-based Biomarkers and Diagnostics portfolio for oncology, and is responsible for advancing the integration of digital biomarkers and next-generation data science capabilities into oncology clinical development programs. Prior to J&J, Guneet held senior leadership roles across pharmaceutical, diagnostic and patient-driven non-profit organizations, including Roche- Genentech, GRAIL, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Go2 Foundation for Lung Cancer and ALCMI; working on the intersection of oncology real world data, AI/ML and precision medicine. Guneet holds an MS and PhD in Molecular Biophysics from the Indian Institute of Science, and B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Delhi.

With experience and a focus on rare diseases and pediatric oncology, Kelli is passionate about including the patient & caregiver experience into all areas of drug development. Inspired by her own experience as the sibling of a childhood cancer survivor, Kelli is dedicated to uniting the many stakeholders in pediatric drug development—from biotech and pharma innovators to regulatory bodies and academic researchers to non-profit organizations. Kelli enjoys sharing patients’ stories to amplifying patient and families lived experiences that center real world patient needs throughout the clinical research continuum and into the marketplace. With a 15+ year non-profit career, Kelli has a deep understanding of the patient advocacy community. Kelli was the National Director of Strategic Initiatives for CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, driving the strategic program of CureSearch by staying in tune with the barriers in drug development. Kelli learned from innovators in the industry, academic and regulatory space, as well as patients and disease-foundations, to address obstacles and develop action plans to close the communication gaps and reduce duplication of efforts. Kelli resides in South Carolina with her family. She is passionate about nutrition and enjoys hunting for shark’s teeth on the weekends.

Mary Ann Brown joined Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI) in 1992 as a Data Entry Associate. At that time CHI was a start-up company with many roles to fill and explore. She quickly realized that conference production which combined creativity and love of learning was the path for her. Mary Ann’s conference portfolio is varied from biologics to batteries where she is organizes over 15 scientific meetings a year along with being a Team Lead for several Key Events. Mary Ann graduated from Doane College in 1978 with degrees in Biology, Environmental Studies, and Geology.

Lee is an experienced senior executive and corporate director with deep commercial expertise in the biotechnology sector. His management experience includes as CEO and VP of public and private biotech companies, as well as providing management and strategic consulting services to public and private bio-pharma companies in Canada, the United States, Middle East, Japan, and Europe. Lee’s deepest expertise is in the cell therapy and regenerative medicine sector having lead several transformative transactions including multinational investment and licensing deals involving companies in North America, Europe, and Asia. Lee has particular experience in Canada, the United States, and Japan. Lee holds a Bachelors of Education and a JD from the University of British Columbia.

Curt is one of the leaders of the ZS Cell, Gene and Advanced Therapy vertical. Prior to ZS, he received his PhD in Genetics and Cancer Biology which provides a unique and complete perspective on the science of these life-changing therapies. In his role at ZS, Curt has partnered with biotech and large pharma in successfully commercializing cell, gene and other advanced therapies by helping to identify and overcome barriers to patient access. From the original oncology launches to recent launches in benign heme indications as well as upcoming chronic conditions, Curt has focused on finding ways to reach more patients including expanding beyond where advanced therapies are offered today.

Maggie is currently Vice President and Global Commercial Head for BMS’s hematology cell therapy portfolio, with full P&L accountability for the ex-US business, which is nearing $500 million annually and growing rapidly. She is responsible global strategy and P&L delivery across two inline CAR T brands—a best-in-class CD19 asset in lymphoma and a first-in-class BCMA asset in multiple myeloma—as well as BMS’s next-generation GPRC5D pipeline program slated for US launch in 2027. Maggie’s scope spans lifecycle strategy, global launches, market access, pricing, manufacturing coordination, and commercial-R&D integration across all international markets. She also leads BMS’s industry-level work with the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine to expand CAR T access and enable community-based delivery. Prior to joining BMS, Maggie worked at 2seventy bio, an oncology cell therapy company, where she was the General Manager for Abecma, the first approved CAR T in multiple myeloma, and Head of Commercial Development. In that role, Maggie oversaw the development of commercial and BD strategy for the company’s CAR T and TCR pipeline, created the new product planning function, and partnered with BMS to maximize the patient and profit opportunity for Abecma. Prior to 2seventy, Maggie held various roles of increasing leadership responsibility in sales, marketing, R&D, and corporate affairs at GSK and Pfizer, in Europe and in the US. She started the first chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) in the UK in 2011 and subsequently held various Board positions within HBA Europe, including Chapter President in 2017. Maggie is a passionate champion for gender equity and was Chair of GSK’s Women’s Leadership Initiative from 2015 – 2021, during which period the group’s membership grew to >10,000 (from 1,000) and was able to influence the company to introduce global standards on shared parental leave and meaningfully increase the number of women in VP positions and above to over 40%.

Beth A. Price, MBA is Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of acCELLapy, LLC, a specialized advisory firm focused on cell and gene therapy program development. She leads the design of CAR T Cell and advanced therapy care models, workflows, and financial strategies for health systems and community networks. Her entrepreneurial leadership and deep domain expertise position her as a trusted partner to organizations advancing complex therapeutic innovations. Previously, Beth served as Practice Leader for the Oncology Solutions practice at The Chartis Group, advising leading cancer centers and health systems on growth strategy, partnerships, and clinical research program development. She also served as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, leading clinical and research enterprises, and was the original concept designer and founding Chief Operating Officer of Sarah Cannon Research Institute, where she helped stand up and scale one of the nation’s first large community-based oncology research networks. This combination of consulting, academic, and pioneering research institute leadership enables her to guide clients in building sustainable, high-performing clinical research and advanced therapeutics programs.

Healthcare strategy and market access professional with 6+ years of consulting experience and 4+ years of bioinformatics research. Skilled at translating complex scientific, clinical, and commercial insights into clear, compelling, data-driven stories that influence decision-making. Expertise across oncology and rare diseases, with a strong specialty focus in cell and gene therapies, including evidence generation, access strategy, and stakeholder engagement.

Kara Wacker is the Strategic Planning Administrator for the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). Mrs. Wacker has managed standards development, accreditation processes, and educational programming within her 18 years at FACT. In her current role, she evaluates advances in the field of cellular therapy and facilitates updates to promote FACT’s mission to improve the quality of cellular therapy through peer-developed standards, education, and accreditation for the benefit of patients. This effort includes establishing relationships among a diverse and growing set of stakeholders in cellular therapy and leveraging the subject matter expertise that exists within the FACT volunteer inspectorate and committees.