|
Chris Rucker
President
Chris Rucker brings a broad range of high-level experience in pharmaceutical and device development research to his role as president. His responsibilities at DaVita Clinical Research (DCR) include leading strategic development involving more than 300 physicians, academic, and commercial partners. Mr. Rucker’s past positions include vice president of strategy and enterprise development, worldwide director of business process management, and director of global information technology for Rhodia Pharma Solutions, a global specialty chemicals company. He was also director of operations for Oread, Inc., a contract services organization offering drug development and manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Rucker received his BS in chemistry from Georgia State University.
|
|
|
Kevin Goudreau
Vice President, Commercial Development
Kevin Goudreau brings over 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry with positions of increasing responsibility at two of the industry leaders, Covance and Primedica Corporation. He has specific experience in the creation, development, and management of both North American and global sales organizations. Prior to joining DaVita Clinical Research (DCR), Mr. Goudreau was global director of sales for clinical pharmacology and early clinical development at Covance, having previously held positions as global director of sales for both clinical pharmacology and as the director of strategic accounts. He also held a number of posts at Primedica Corporation, including director of business development and sales administration manager. Mr. Goudreau received a B.A. in biology, as well as an MBA from Anna Maria College in Paxton, MA.
|
|
|
Amy Young
Vice President, Clinical Services
Amy Young has been a vital part of DCR for the past 10 years. She leads a broad group responsible for delivering all services related to clinical trial conduct. While completing her degree, Ms. Young worked in direct patient care and carries that knowledge and experience into the execution of each project. After receiving a B.A. in biology with a minor in chemistry, cum laude, from Augsburg College, she joined DCR holding posts with increasing responsibilities. Ms. Young has expertise in the areas of operations, clinical trial conduct, renal patient populations, and clinical services related to study conduction. She holds a CCRC from the Association of Clinical Research Professionals.
|
|
|
Mahesh Krishnan, M.D., MPH, FASN
Vice President, Clinical Research
Dr. Mahesh Krishnan’s invaluable industry knowledge includes the well-documented areas of internal medicine, epidemiology, nephrology, public health, the business of healthcare, health economics, and health policy. Prior to joining DCR, Dr. Krishnan held posts as the executive director of medical policy and global health economics and as the executive director of medical affairs at Amgen, Inc. He was also founder and managing partner of the Clinical Consulting and Research Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Widely published on a broad range of topics, Dr. Krishnan is on the editorial board of Nephrology News and Issues and is a member of the board of the Amgen Foundation. He received his MD from Thomas Jefferson University and a master’s in public health from John Hopkins University. He has an MBA in medical services management from the John Hopkins Carey School of Business.
|
|
|
Harry Alcorn, Jr., Pharm.D.
Early Clinical Scientific Officer
As Early Clinical Scientific Officer at DCR, Dr. Alcorn is responsible for clinical conduct and pharmacy operations in the research unit and plays an active role in the design and implementation of research for DCR. In addition, he also designed and created the U.S. Renal Network, the first network of Phase I renal research sites in the U.S. and developed DCR’s site management organization (SMO) for clinical trials. Today, DCR’s clinical network comprises over 120 physicians at over 180 sites. Prior to joining DCR, Dr. Alcorn was director of clinical programs for GalaGen, Inc., and vice president of clinical programs/marketing at In Home Health, Inc. Dr. Alcorn is a clinical assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy and is on the adjunct clinical faculty at the University of Colorado, the University of Minnesota, Creighton University, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy from Creighton University and his Pharm.D. from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
|
|
|
Allen R. Nissenson, M.D., FACP
Chief Medical Officer
Prior to joining DaVita Clinical Research, Dr. Nissenson was professor emeritus of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he also served as associate dean and director of the dialysis program. A past president of the National Anemia Action Council (NAAC) and chair of the Southern California ESRD Network, Dr. Nissenson also consulted for the Rand Corporation and Pacificare on the development of capitation models for ESRD and served on the Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative of the National Kidney Foundation. He is the author of two dialysis textbooks, both in their fourth editions, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Advances in Renal Replacement Therapy. Among his honors are the President's Award of the National Kidney Foundation and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Hemodialysis, presented by the University of Missouri. Dr. Nissenson received his MD from the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University.
|
|
|
Tracy Mayne, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Health Economics and Informatics
Prior to joining DaVita Clinical Research (DCR), Dr. Mayne led various product teams in the health economics department for Amgen, where he was responsible for patient-reported and economic outcomes portions for drugs in various stages of development, among other duties. Dr. Mayne previously held posts as the outcomes research senior manager at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and as the director of HIV epidemiology and surveillance for the New York City Department of Health. He was additionally an adjunct associate professor of psychology at New York University and Columbia University. After receiving a BA in psychology, magna cum laude, from the University of Buffalo, Dr. Mayne earned his PhD in clinical health psychology at Rutgers University. He interned at St. Peter’s Hospital in New Jersey, did his residency at the University of California, and completed a two-year fellowship studying co-factors of disease progression in France. He is the author or co-author of dozens of peer-reviewed publications, books, chapters, and presentations in the field of health economics.
|
|
|
Beth Bennett
Senior Director, Research Portfolio Management
A skilled manager with decades of experience in pharmaceutical research and clinical development, Ms. Bennett leads and manages the extensive DCR research portfolio. Prior to joining DCR, Ms. Bennett held posts as the senior director of business operations at Nektar Therapeutics, Inc., the director of regulatory affairs and director of clinical development at Inhibitex, Inc., and the site director and general manager of Oread, Inc., among other positions. A widely published author and co-author of articles and abstracts in numerous technical journals and a contributor to a number of books, Ms. Bennett has also made dozens of presentations and holds or has applied for more than a score of patents during her career. Ms. Bennett earned her BS in zoology from the University of Georgia at Athens.
|
|
|
Tim Hynes
Senior Director, Business Development
With more than 20 years of experience in clinical development and commercialization services in the pharmaceutical and biotech communities, Tim Hynes’ skills fulfill a vital role at DCR. Concurrent with his role in business development, he is working with the internal operations team to redefine the central laboratory. He recommends new testing platforms and continually suggests new assays, resulting in a robust test menu going well beyond DCR’s leadership role in renal testing. Previously, Mr. Hynes managed a team of sales professionals for BioStorage Technologies Inc., Patheon Inc., and CTI Network. He has extensive experience in clinical trials from positions of increasing responsibility at Esoterix Inc. and Quest Diagnostics Clinical Trials. Mr. Hynes is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the Drug Information Association. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in marine science with an emphasis in biology and chemistry from Southampton College of Long Island University.
|
|
|
Ted Ira
Senior Director, Business Development
Ted has more than 20 years of pharmaceutical and contract research sales experience. Prior to joining DaVita Clinical Research (DCR), Ted held sales and leadership positions at The Upjohn Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb and most recently, Covance where he served as the Global Sales Director for Discovery and Translational Services. Ted's diverse responsibilities have included therapeutic, diagnostic and research products and pre-clinical, clinical and commercialization services. Mr. Ira received a BS in natural resources from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of San Francisco.
|
|
|
Elizabeth Pham
Director, Medical Communications
Elizabeth Pham is an accomplished leader in the field of medical communications. She has over a decade of experience writing and preparing regulatory research documents and peer-reviewed manuscripts as well as supervising their completion. In addition to her duties at DaVita Clinical Research (DCR), Ms. Pham is a founding member and manager of BiFecta, a medical writing consulting company. Prior to that, she oversaw successful global writing and publication programs at Onyx and Amgen, two biotechnology companies leading the way in oncology and nephrology clinical research. Ms. Pham also has extensive regulatory writing experience from her work at Johnson & Johnson and Allergan. As a writer, her work has been published in a series of journals and she has been recognized with various honors and awards for her contributions to medical writing. Ms. Pham earned a BS in microbiology and immunology from Texas A&M University and a MS in immunology from Baylor College of Medicine.
|
|
|
Lesley Smith
Director, Advisory Committee Preparation Services
Lesley Smith leads the Advisory Committee Preparation Services function at DaVita Clinical Research (DCR). She has developed slides for more than 20 advisory committee meetings, including cardiorenal, endocrinologic, and oncologic meetings. It was during her service as a U.S. Air Force captain that Smith became involved with presentations. She was responsible for organization-wide crisis planning at the Aviano Air Base in Italy, a position she held during the September 11 tragedy. She notes that experience helped her realize the importance of effective communication in the planning process. Smith earned a M.A. in strategic communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the only slide developer in the advisory committee preparation industry to write academically on the topic, conducting research on how data is presented at drug advisory committee meetings.
|
|
|
Kambiz Farbakhsh, M.D.
Medical Director
A new member of the DaVita Clinical Research team, Dr. Kambiz Farbakhsh oversees activities associated with new drug, biologic and device research, and is responsible for ensuring clinical operations are carried out in accordance with the highest ethical and regulatory standards. He also directs and manages protocol design and development, and study reports. Dr. Farbakhsh earned his M.D. from Alcala de Henares University in Madrid, Spain, finished his internship and residency at Carney Hospital, a Boston University-affiliated hospital in Boston, and completed a Nephrology Fellowship at Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University in Providence. Dr. Farbakhsh also is pursuing an Executive MBA from the University of Minnesota. In addition to his responsibilities for DCR, he is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota, the staff nephrologist for the Hennepin County Medical Center and on staff at three other Minnesota hospitals.
|
|
