ACRP Board of Trustees
CHAIR
Christine Senn, PhD, has worked in clinical research since 2005, starting as a Coordinator at the University of Vermont College of Medicine then for 16 years at Centricity Research, a site network with more than 40 clinical research sites in the U.S. and Canada. There, she was actively engaged in everything related to change management: integrating companies after M&A, strategizing growth initiatives, planning and executing special projects and lines of business, and continuous process improvement.
Today Dr. Senn is Founder and Chief Strategist at Research Designed, a marketing firm specializing in digital advertising and social media for the clinical research industry. She holds her PhD in Psychology and has Masters degrees in both Clinical Psychology and in Advertising and Public Relations. She is the 2023 Chair of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP), proud ACRP Fellow (FACRP), and is double-certified as a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator (CCRC) and Certified Principal Investigator (CPI).
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VICE CHAIR
Elisa Cascade, MBA, is the Chief Product Officer at Advarra, where she is responsible for driving the technology product vision and management. Elisa has devoted more than 30 years to advancing clinical trial technology, direct-to-patient study operations, and healthcare strategy. Throughout her career, she has been instrumental in using technology to transform clinical research to better serve all industry stakeholders. Prior to joining Advarra, Elisa held a number of high-profile roles, including Chief Product Officer for Science 37, Executive VP and Product Line Executive for eCOA at Clario; Chief Product Officer at DrugDev, an IQVIA Company; and VP of the Digital Patient Unit at Quintiles. Her industry honors include being named to the PharmaVOICE 100 and the Medicine Maker Power 100 for her innovative approach to furthering clinical research through industry collaboration and standardization of clinical trial technology/processes. Elisa earned an MBA at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR
David Morin, MD, FACP, CPI, FACRP, has participated as a Principal Investigator in hundreds of studies (Phase I–IV) since 1989. He attained the status of Certified Principal Investigator (CPI) in 2007, ACRP Credentialed Clinical Research Trainer (CCRT) in 2010, and ACRP Fellow in 2017. David received the “Outstanding Physician Leadership in the Profession” award by ACRP and the Academy of Physicians in Clinical Research in 2012. He obtained his pharmacy degree and pre-med with High Distinction at the University of Rhode Island, earned his MD with Honors at the University of Vermont, and completed medical residency training at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP). In addition to serving as the Director of Research at Holston Medical Group (HMG), a large multispecialty practice in East Tennessee, he continues to provide patient care at HMG and serves as the Director of the High-Risk Disease Prevention program for a Fortune 500 company. He is also an author, speaker, and entrepreneur as Founder/CEO of Trike, LLC, which developed the SiteOptex® Software System designed to optimize research efficiency and currently used at U.S. sites. David has served on the Association Board of Trustees for ACRP since 2016 and on many related committees. He co-developed the “CRC Bootcamp” and is also an instructor for the “Competency Based” Investigator training program with ACRP. Past activities include serving as an Adjunct Clinical Faculty member for East Tennessee State College of Medicine, employee health director for Bristol Regional Medical Center, medical director of a contract research organization and accountable care organization, and as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry.
TREASURER
Mo Ali is a digital evangelist and Chief Domain Expert at Medable. Previously, he served in roles with increasing responsibilities at GSK Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, J&J, Novartis, and Roche. He is focused on the creation and execution of strategic programs which aim to serve the needs of patients by creating a digital footprint and platform that would aid to enrich their overall clinical experience. Mo is an advocate for the democratization of clinical research and access for patients who believes that the tripod of clinical research involves the patient, sites, and sponsors, and each leg must aid in the delivery of the experience. He is also an experienced public speaker and has held leadership roles in many industry consortiums. Throughout his career he has held roles from the site to the sponsor, enabling him to understand not just the process issues and struggles, but also the overall business exchange and changes that must occur between the two stakeholders to ensure success as a collaborative partnership. His experience in digital transformation and technological investments allows him insight into bringing this more to the forefront of clinical research for all the stakeholders. He is passionate about bringing the human element to our modern technological world—“After all, what is technology if it can’t connect to the most basic need in all of us, catering to our most innate emotions?”
PUBLIC MEMBER
Catherine Shuster, BS, MS, BChE, has had a more than 20-year career, including management and executive positions with both Fortune 500 companies such as IBM and GE as well as midsize entrepreneurial companies. She received both her Bachelor of Science degree, with a biology major and chemistry minor, and her Master of Science degree in genetics from Purdue University. She also completed an Executive Business Program at Stanford. Later she went back to school for a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering. She was the first woman engineer at GE’s Plastics manufacturing site. She spoke at many colleges and universities encouraging women to go into engineering. When she was in college, only 2% of the engineering graduates were women. By the time she was speaking to co-eds there were 20% women in engineering. She thrives in environments where there are opportunities to problem solve. She has captained high-level teams that not only resolved issues but produced outcomes that led to innovations adopted by her employer. In one case, the innovation was eventually presented at the United Nations. Her forte has been the ability to bring together opposing groups to achieve stronger win-win outcomes. She is an avid supporter of ACRP’s mission. Research innovations and clinical trials have impacted her life in a very personal way. As the Association Board of Trustees’ public member, she is looking forward to giving back to the research community.
Sergio Armani is EVP, Business Development, with Helios Clinical Research, a large multi-therapeutic site network with headquarters in Fort Worth, TX. Prior to joining Helios, he was Vice President, Business Development for the Review Services division of Advarra where Sergio had responsibility for managing business development supporting the company’s Large Pharma and CRO customer base as well as supporting marketing and building out the business development functionality for our group. Additionally, he held senior level business development positions at Greenphire where he helped launch the patient payment business and Bio-Optronics where he helped launch the Clinical Conductor Enterprise offering. Sergio is also an avid cyclist and created the ACRP Ride4DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), a 360-mile self-supported bicycle ride to raise awareness and support ACRP’s efforts in diversity and inclusion in the clinical research workforce.
Sassan Azad, Msc, PMP, ACRP-CP, is the Director of Medical Affairs Operations at A.I. Vali Inc., as well as the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of AzadMedica Inc., a Canadian-based contract research organization (CRO) providing consultation services for pharma, biotech, clinical scientists, and medical affairs professionals. In addition to being a certified Medical Science Liaison (MSL), Sassan has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the life science, diagnostic laboratory, pharmaceutical, and clinical research settings. As a member of the MAPS Med-Tech Focus Area Working Group, Sassan collaborates with a team of driven professionals to deliver high-impact strategic content and promote industry best practices in medical affairs. In collaboration with McMaster University, he is also currently working on an artificial intelligence voice recognition and object detection project in the field of gastroenterology. Sassan also serves as Communications Chair for the Association of Clinical Research Professionals Canada Chapter. He brings to these roles his extensive education in science, which includes an Associate Professional Degree in Medical Laboratory Science, a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Entomology and Vector Control, and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Biochemistry from Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran—as well as a professional diploma in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
Leslie Byatt, BA, PMP, CCRC, is the Clinical Trials Operations Manager at the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has been a leader in the clinical research space for more than 30 years. She has worked in the industry as a clinical research coordinator, as a community outpatient site manager, and as a global site liaison in Panama City, Panama. There she collaborated with local research sites to guide them in the development of processes related to GCP and FDA regulation. Now at the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, she serves as the New Mexico Minority NCORP grant administrator and the study activation/regulatory operations manager. She has the pleasure of working with private practices, public hospitals, and an academic site across the state of New Mexico to facilitate oncology clinical research. Leslie is passionate about diversity in clinical trials, specifically minority and underserved population in rural New Mexico. She had the opportunity to serve on the ASCO Ethnic Minority Populations in Cancer Clinical Trials steering group and participate as a panelist at the 2019 “State of Cancer Care in America: Closing the Rural Cancer Care Gap” event in Washington D.C. Leslie has contributed to several publications and abstracts related to clinical trial operations and clinical trial diversity, and participated in “The Next Phase” podcast, which focused on clinical trial access in rural America. She has also made contributions to the American Society of Clinical Oncology as a member of its Clinical Research Committee, to the Association of American Cancer Institutes as a Steering Committee member, and to ACRP as Chair of the CCRC Global Exam Committee. She received her BA from the University of New Mexico and currently resides in Cedar Crest, NM.
Christina Brennan, MD, MBA, CCRC, has devoted her career to clinical research and currently serves as Northwell Health’s senior vice president of clinical research. Committed to the advancement of science and medicine, Christina has more than 23 years of extensive clinical research experience, including over 19 years in clinical research management roles. She is on the board of trustees for the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. She is on the steering committee of the Clinical Trial Transformation Initiative (CCTI), with Duke University and the FDA. She is on the advisory board for Florence Healthcare. She also sits on the oncology advisory board and technology site advocacy group with the Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS). She is also an active member of the Women in Bio and the American College of Healthcare Executives. Christina also has authored chapters in textbooks, coauthored many manuscripts and abstracts, and has presented at numerous scientific and research meetings. She is an adjunct professor at Yeshiva University and CUNY York College, teaching graduate students on clinical trials.
Jennifer Byrne is CEO and Board Chair of Javara, the leading Integrated Research Organization (IRO) partnering with large healthcare organizations to deliver clinical trial access at the point of care through integrated research staff and infrastructure. Her career has been devoted to leading organizations, building teams, and cultivating partnerships centered on advancing the clinical research enterprise to better connect patients and providers to clinical trials. As founder of Javara, former CEO of PMG Research, and Founder of Greater Gift (501(c)3), Jennifer’s involvement in the clinical research enterprise has been vast across collaborations with hundreds of pharma, device, Contract Research Organizations (CROs), technology, site organizations, and other research service providers. Her stellar track record for consistent and excellent quality in patient, provider and client experiences associated with research trials is but one of many professional accomplishments. She currently serves as Board Chair for Greater Gift, Advisory Board member to CISCRP, and co-chairs the Racial Equity Task Force at Wake Forest Baptist Health. She is also an Advisory Chair for the Masters in Clinical Research Management with Wake Forest University, sits on the Leadership Advisory Board for the Avoca Quality Consortium, and serves in Advisory roles with the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the FCA Health Innovations Fund, and the North Carolina Biotech of the Piedmont Triad. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University.
Deborah Driscoll has more than 20 years of experience in academia and the pharmaceutical industry. She began her career working as a research technician at the Boston VA Medical Center and Boston University. She began her career in industry at Roche as a pharmacology research scientist working in preclinical neuroscience research. She transitioned from the laboratory to clinical working as a clinical research associate in oncology and HIV research. She spent several years at Pfizer working in research and development, including in the role of Vice President of Quality Assurance. She joined Merck as the head of Quality Assurance in July 2015, assuming responsibilities for Good Clinical Practice, Good Laboratory Practice, Good Pharmacovigilance Practice, Current Good Manufacturing Practice, and Animal Welfare oversight within Merck Research Laboratories. She assumed the leadership role for the TransCelerate BioPharma Inc. Clinical Quality Management System Team (years 2014 to 2017), working with member companies to develop and advance a clinical quality framework to enable consistent and timely delivery of reliable data that may be used by an organization and its partners, regulators, clinicians, and patients to make informed decisions. She holds a BS in Animal Science and an MS in Biology.
Tiffany Mayo, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist and Associate Professor of Dermatology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She received a BS and MS in Chemistry at Tuskegee University in Alabama and completed her MD at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. She completed an internship in Internal Medicine at McGaw Northwestern Medical Center in Chicago, IL, and her Dermatology residency at UAB, where she is the Director of Dermatology Clinical Research and Department Vice Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her clinical interests include skin of color, hair and scalp disorders, and hidradenitis suppurativa. In addition to her clinical duties, she serves on multiple UAB School of Medicine committees and is active in multiple dermatology organizations. She also mentors undergraduate and medical students. She is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, National Medical Association, Women’s Dermatologic Society, Skin of Color Society, and other dermatology organizations. She is also a recipient of the National Institutes of Health Diversity Supplement Grant and Teaching Award for Resident Education. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her three children and husband.
R’Kes Starling, RPh, MBA, is CEO and Founder of Reveles Clinical Services, and has more than 18 years of experience providing high-touch pharmacy services, clinical reach operations, specialty drug distribution, and clinical management to patients with rare and complex diseases such as chronic kidney disease, cancer, hemophilia, and cystic fibrosis. Prior to founding Reveles, he headed up the Specialty Pharmacy and Clinical Research Service businesses at McKesson, which comprised two separate business units of an oncology-focused specialty pharmacy and the “central depot” that provides investigational product distribution, accountability, and storage for the US Oncology Network. He oversaw a multidisciplinary clinical research team involved in more than 130 active oncology-focused clinical trials and was responsible for delivering more than 50,000 annual shipments of investigational products, laboratory kits, and clinical supplies to the US Oncology Network sites across the United States. Prior to McKesson, as the Vice President of Operations, he oversaw eight Home Infusion specialty pharmacies in six states with Coram CVS Specialty Infusion Services, which has translated into his in-depth experience and knowledge of providing direct-to-patient care for thousands of patients on commercialized medications with complex and rare diseases in their homes. Prior to Coram, he held various management roles with DaVita, Inc., a Fortune 500 Dialysis services provider, and worked in retail pharmacy operations management at Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Target Stores. Additionally, he consulted and worked collaboratively with more than 38 biopharmaceutical companies on pre-launch to commercialization development, launch strategies, and patient access programs for new specialty pharmaceutical therapies. He received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Purdue University and his Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
SECRETARY, NON-VOTING
Susan P. Landis joined ACRP as Executive Director in June 2021. Landis brings to ACRP more than 25 years of experience in organizational leadership, including as Vice President, Quintiles, where she helped build and lead a global clinical research engagement group. Most recently, Landis served for 6 years as Head of Strategic Engagement & Communications at Duke Clinical Research Institute, where she led external and internal marketing for the world’s largest academic research organization.