Management Team
Our management team consists of experienced leaders who share a genuine passion for improving global health. With a proven track record in strategy, operations, and clinical trial delivery, they provide the expertise and guidance to deliver high‑quality, patient‑centered solutions.
By championing innovative approaches and building relationships with scientific leaders, our management team drives the continued advancement of our capabilities, ensuring our partners receive the very best outcomes and support.
Glenn Kerkhof
Glenn Kerkhof is the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Emerald Clinical and, before that, was Executive Chairman of George Clinical. Glenn has over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical services industry and joined George Clinical from Chiltern, where he was Chief Executive Officer, based in London. Before Chiltern, Glenn served as Vice President, Clinical Services for Charles River Laboratories, and as Vice President, Clinical Europe for Inveresk Research. He is a Non-Executive Director of Infensa Biosciences, and his previous directorships include Cell Care Pty. Ltd. Glenn, based in Melbourne, works closely with the executive team to formulate and execute Emerald Clinical’s global strategy.
Tony Proctor CPA
With over 25 years of financial leadership experience, Tony Proctor has held pivotal roles at Lexitas, Parexel, and Syneos Health. He is an expert in financial strategy, corporate finance, M&A, global systems integration, and private equity partnerships. Tony has driven transformative growth through organic revenue acceleration, operational excellence, and the implementation of best-in-class financial practices.
Renowned for his ability to align financial strategies with organizational objectives, Tony has led major organizational upgrades and spearheaded impactful M&A processes. He is committed to advancing operational efficiency and supporting Emerald Clinical’s mission to improve health outcomes through innovative clinical research. A Certified Public Accountant, Tony holds an MBA in Finance and is passionate about delivering sustainable growth.
Michael Bishop
As the Chief Commercial Officer, Michael leads the US, Europe, and APAC business development teams, along with proposal and contracting groups. He brings over 30 years of business development and life sciences experience with companies including Cardinal Health, PPD, ICON, and, most recently, Ergomed/PrimeVigilance. Over the last 16+ years, Michael has led various CRO commercial teams including those in business development and global strategic accounts driving business strategy for large pharma and biotech companies. He also has a strong background in supporting strategic partnerships, proposal development, inside sales, and sales training and development.
Bob Hope Chartered FCIPD, MSc
Bob Hope is a senior HR executive with over 25 years of international experience across Europe, North America, and Asia. He specializes in developing and implementing people strategies that align with business goals, with expertise in leadership, people development, retention, and innovative recruitment strategies. Known for his perceptiveness, strategic mindset, and reliability, Bob excels in stakeholder management and communication that drives results and fosters collaboration. With a background in military HR, Bob has successfully adapted these experiences to build leading-edge HR capabilities in life sciences and non-profit organizations. He partners with senior leaders to synchronize HR strategies with business objectives, manages complex employee relations, and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion. Committed to continuous improvement, Bob leverages data analytics to inform decision-making and enhance HR processes and outcomes. A chartered fellow of the CIPD, Bob holds an MSc in Human Resource Management and Training.
Nick Trythall
Nick Trythall is the Senior Vice President of Business Excellence, leading early phase, global capabilities, project management office (PMO), and talent acquisition departments. With 27 years of industry experience across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, he specializes in strategic operations delivery, workforce management, client relationships, and process optimization. His global background enables him to develop strategies that drive operational excellence and effective team collaboration worldwide. Beginning his career in UK banking, Nick transitioned to clinical research and has held leadership roles at Pfizer, INC Research (now Syneos Health), ICON, and Premier Research. His experience across pharmaceutical companies and CROs has honed his expertise in business transformation and strategic workforce management. Nick is recognized for his thought leadership in relationship management and team dynamics, with a leadership philosophy emphasizing character, credibility, and employee engagement.
Kaja Rudel
Kaja has over 20 years of expertise in clinical research and holds a degree in Pharmacy and Biology – Human Physiology, with postgraduate studies in Medical Law and Bioethics. Throughout her career, Kaja has supported clinical research center networks in operational, compliance, and quality assurance areas. She has worked with leading CROs, including Syneos and IQVIA, and managed quality teams within the medical devices sector at BD. In addition to quality oversight, Kaja has successfully implemented new regulations, quality systems, and processes, while overseeing global corporate transitions and providing excellent support during regulatory inspections. As a people-oriented manager, she fosters growth and contributes to the overall success of the company. She is also deeply committed to patient safety, data integrity, quality, and compliance to help protect individuals while ensuring sponsor success in clinical trials.
Cara Black MBioeth
Cara Black has over 25 years of legal expertise in the life sciences sector, and currently leads the legal team. She brings a distinctive blend of strategic development and relationship management skills to her role, delivering practical legal advice across corporate, intellectual property, and employment law domains. Cara has successfully created an environment that champions equal employment opportunities, diversity, and safety, underlining the core values of integrity and ethical practice in every aspect of the organization’s work. Her leadership approach balances strategic business needs with regulatory requirements, providing the legal foundation necessary for sustainable growth and operational excellence.
Colin Orford PhD, BSc
Colin Orford is a senior leader and experienced drug developer with 33 years of experience across GSK, Novartis, Quintiles, Eisai, and ICON. He combines scientific strategy with operational execution and is well-networked across biotech, pharma, and the pharmaceutical investment community. With 22 years of hands-on pharmaceutical development experience and 10 years leading ICON’s Drug Development team, Colin has spearheaded R&D project teams from preclinical through Phase IIIb, transitioning numerous molecules from candidate selection to late phase development. He has deep expertise in neurosciences, particularly in depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s, and sleep disorders. Colin brings strong knowledge of regulatory guidelines for US, EU, and Japan markets, and expertise in due diligence for asset acquisition and investment funding. He has successfully guided Phase III teams through NDA and MAA submissions and works with emerging modalities such as cell and gene therapy.
Sangeeta Shah BA, BSc CIM MCIM
Sangeeta leads our Marketing Strategy and implementation efforts as we grow and evolve our brand. Based in the UK, Sangeeta brings 15 years of experience as a strategic marketing leader, with a strong track record of success across the pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare sectors, as well as a broad range of B2B industries. She has consistently driven revenue growth through innovative, integrated campaigns and brand initiatives at both the product and corporate levels. Sangeeta is a results-driven professional with deep expertise in brand development, client engagement, and marketing excellence. Her strategic thinking and ability to manage complex global projects are instrumental in supporting our mission and accelerating our growth.
Claudio Hegenberger MD, MBA, MSc
Dr. Hegenberger is Emerald Clinical’s VP, Clinical Affairs. He is an MD, specialized in Internal Medicine, with an MBA, an MSc in Pharmaceutical Science, and postgraduate certifications from Georgetown University (International Business), Mount Sinai Hospital (Internal Medicine), and Harvard (Nanobiotechnology). He became an Associate Prof. of Internal Medicine in 2 main universities in Buenos Aires. He was transferred to Vienna for 3 years, and then to Madrid on 2024, where he is based now. Claudio leads the Scientific and Clinical Affairs Team, and supports Business Development (BD) as the medical lead for strategy discussions, proposal development, and BDMs across key therapeutic areas.
Claudio comes to Emerald Clinical after serving as VP of Medical Affairs at Pfizer Inc. He has 27 years of Pharma industry experience, including Country, Regional and Global Medical Affairs and Clinical Research roles, having extensive experience in Clinical Operations, CROs’ supervision, Pharmacovigilance, Medical Information, Safety Reporting, as well as supervising Country Medical Directors, TA Medical Leads and platform lines across all therapeutic areas (IM, I&I, Vaccines, Oncology, Rare Diseases and Hospital line). He fluently speaks English, Spanish, and German, as well as basic Portuguese.
Phil Sims BSc
Phil Sims is an accomplished and results-oriented CIO with a proven track record of leading global IT transformation initiatives, encompassing infrastructure, acquisition integration, and new technology implementation. Adept at driving strategic change through strong governance, vendor management, and cost control, while positioning IT as a trusted business partner supported by best practice frameworks such as ITIL and ISO. Known for delivering complex programs that improve performance and embed cultural change, with expertise in continuous improvement and operational excellence. Experienced in building and managing global, multi-skilled teams, setting up new offices (onshore, nearshore, offshore), and introducing streamlined processes that enhance engagement, retention, and ROI.
Peyni Chan
Peyni brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in clinical research and business development throughout Asia-Pacific, with a strong focus on China’s complex regulatory and operational landscape. Her extensive track record includes executive roles at CMIC Group and EPS International, where she built and scaled CRO operations across 12 countries and led international business development efforts that connected sponsors from the US, EU, Japan, and China.
Scientific Leadership Team
For core therapeutic areas of expertise, we are able to provide scientific advisory support of the highest caliber through our Scientific Advisory Committee. This Committee is composed of key opinion leaders who have deep clinical trial experience and are also engaged in patient care through clinical activities, therefore their advice encompasses both scientific elements and pragmatic ones based on real-world scenarios.
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Renal
Professor Vlado Perkovic is Provost at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, having previously been Dean of Medicine & Health at that University between 2019 and 2023. He is a Professorial Fellow at The George Institute, a Staff Specialist in Nephrology at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, and a global leader in kidney disease research advising on many international clinical trials in the fields of kidney disease, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.
He leads several major international clinical trials and serves on the Steering Committees of several others. He has been involved in developing Australian and global guidelines in kidney disease, cardiovascular risk assessment, and blood pressure management. Professor Perkovic’s research focuses on investigating the prevention and treatment of kidney disease and its complications.
Some of his previous positions include being President of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI, the peak body for Medical Research Institutes), Chairman of the International Society of Nephrology Advancing Clinical Trials initiative, a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Australian Clinical Trials Alliance, a member of the Executive Operations Secretariat, Australasian Kidney Trials Network and Chair of the AKTN Scientific Committee. He was previously a member of the Health Translation Advisory Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council. He was appointed to the Editorial Board of the New England Journal of Medicine in 2017, the first Australian to receive this honour.
Professor Barratt’s research is focused on a bench to bedside approach to improving understanding of the pathogenesis of IgAN. He is the IgAN Rare Disease Group lead for the UK National Registry of Rare Kidney Diseases and a Convener of the International IgAN Network. He is Chief Investigator for multiple international randomized controlled IgAN clinical trials and was a member of the FDA and American Society of Nephrology Kidney Health Initiative: Identifying Surrogate Endpoints for Clinical Trials in IgAN Work group. He is an Editorial Board member for Kidney International and the Journals of the American Society of Nephrology and is co-Chair of the UK Glomerulonephritis Clinical Study Group.
Dr. Cheung is a Consultant Nephrologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Leicester, UK. His PhD examined factors that contribute towards progressive kidney damage in IgA nephropathy (IgAN), and his current interests focus on clinical trials in this condition. He leads a number of investigator-initiated studies in collaboration with industry and academic partners, and has served as UK national chief investigator and principal investigator on multiple IgAN clinical trials. He leads specialist clinics in glomerular diseases and in vasculitis and lupus nephritis. He is a steering committee member and active member of several national working groups, including the UK IgAN rare diseases group and the UK glomerular diseases clinical studies group.
Dr. Liew focuses on glomerular diseases, peritoneal dialysis, kidney transplantation, and diabetic kidney disease. He is Senior Consultant Nephrologist and Director of The Kidney & Transplant Practice at the Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, Singapore; the current elected secretary and executive of the International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis; current member of the executive committee for the KDIGO organization; and Deputy Chair of the Continuing Medical Education Committee for the ISN. A global Scientific Leader with roots in APAC, he is the only Singaporean appointed to the KDIGO working groups on Diabetes Management in Chronic Kidney Disease, and Update on Glomerular Diseases.
Dr. Noronha focuses on the study of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in kidney fibrogenesis and the progression of renal diseases in several experimental models of CKD. She is full professor of Nephrology, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, and Head, Renal Division, Hospital das Clinicas, University of Sao Paulo Medical School. She has served as Principal Investigator on nearly 100 clinical trials. Her clinical focus is on glomerular diseases as well as in kidney transplantation.
Dr. Pecoits-Filho is a practicing Nephrologist and clinical investigator focused on evolving the way CKD patients are treated in day-to-day clinical practice by integrating observational research with clinical trials. He is the Scientific Director of the DOPPS program at Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Michigan, and a professor of Medicine at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Brazil.
Dr. Trimarchi focuses on glomerular diseases, particularly in proteinuria and podocyturia, IgA nephropathy, focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis, lupus nephritis and Fabry disease. He is Head of the Division of Nephrology and Renal Transplantation at the Hospital Británico de Buenos Aires and a member of the Steering Committee of the International IgA Nephropathy Network. He is involved in many clinical research protocols related to glomerular diseases and CKD as member of the advisory board and Steering Committee, as KOL or national coordinator.
Professor Wheeler’s research focuses on the management of CKD. He is Professor of Kidney Medicine, University College London and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist, the Royal Free Hospital. He has participated in the development and running of several large-scale clinical trials testing therapeutic interventions in kidney disease. He has developed clinical practice guidelines for several organizations, most recently KDIGO, of which he has served as Co-Chair. He has completed a term as Chair of the International Society of Nephrology Advancing Clinical Trials Committee and is Deputy Chair of the ISN’s Western Europe Regional Board. He is currently England’s National Institute for Health Research National Specialty Lead for Renal disorders.
Professor Wheeler is not an employee of Emerald Clinical Trials. His affiliation is with University College London.
Dr. Wong’s research interest is in understanding the pathomechanism of kidney fibrosis and he has actively promoted the development of both clinical and pre-clinical research in delaying CKD progression in diabetic nephropathy, IgA nephropathy, and management of cardiovascular complications associated with CKD. He is a renal physician and Senior Staff Specialist at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney; Senior clinical Lecturer of University of Sydney and University of NSW; and Senior Research Fellow, Renal & Metabolic Division for The George Institute and at the Kolling Institute.
Dr. Lafayette’s research interests include glomerular disease with a focus on IgA nephropathy. He is Professor of Medicine (Nephrology) at the Stanford University Medical Center and founder and director of the Stanford Glomerular Disease Center and its fellowship training program. His longstanding focus on IgA nephropathy has led to many evaluations and some elucidation of the pathogenesis of IgA nephritis and leadership in many clinical trials. He has more than 30 years of clinical experience and remains passionate in efforts to discover safer and more effective treatments.
Inna has both clinical and research background in Internal Medicine & Nephrology. Located in the Netherlands, Inna is involved in many Emerald Clinical trials in chronic kidney disease, working predominantly in the EMEA region as Regional Scientific Lead. Her clinical research experience ranges from observational / registries studies in the field of end-stage kidney disease and renal replacement therapy, to Phases I-IV clinical trials in different types of chronic kidney disease, including Diabetic Nephropathy and various forms of Glomerulonephritis.
Oncology
Dr. Schwartzberg’s research interests focus on breast cancer, supportive care, precision medicine, and patient reported outcomes. He is Chief, Medical Oncology and Hematology at the Renown Health–William N. Pennington Cancer Institute and Professor of Clinical Medicine, University of Nevada School of Medicine Reno. He has published over 300 peer reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and monographs. He is founding editor in chief of the Elsevier website Practice Update Oncology and founding editor in chief of the journal Community Oncology. Dr. Schwartzberg was honored as the 2023 Legends in Cancer honoree at the Best of Breast conference for his contributions to the field of breast cancer.
Dr. VanderWalde specializes in melanoma and is experienced in genomic tumor assessment, public health, tumor immunotherapy, medical ethics and precision oncology. He is the Global Head of Clinical Research at Caris Life Sciences and works as Research Faculty at West Cancer Center where he served as the Director of Research from 2014 to 2021. He is also Professor in the Division of Epidemiology at the University of Memphis School of Public Health. Dr. VanderWalde has extensive experience in clinical research, including the design and conduct of clinical trials, results reporting, regulatory filing and interactions between investigators and the pharmaceutical industry.
Dr. Chandler focuses on blood cancers with a specific focus of cellular therapy in multiple myeloma and lymphoma. He heads up malignant hematology research at West Cancer Center in Memphis TN. He spent five years as a member of the NCCN guidelines committee for multiple myeloma and is involved in multiple clinical trials ranging from Phase I to III in malignant hematology. Dr. Chandler has been involved with building a stem cell transplant / CAR-T program and is currently doing so again with a focus on out-patient administration.
Dr. Boccia is Medical Director of the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in Bethesda, Maryland, and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He also serves as the Chief Medical Officer for the International Oncology Network (ION). He conducts research in exploring the latest advances in cancer treatment and offers individualized care to patients with focus on multi-modal treatment regimens.
Dr. Loong focuses on sarcoma medical oncology, neuro-oncology, thoracic oncology and experimental therapeutics (Phase I trials). Based in Hong Kong, he holds conjoint appointments of Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Oncology and Deputy Medical Director, Phase I Clinical Trials Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the current and founding convenor, the Prince of Wales Hospital Adult Sarcoma Multidisciplinary Team. He has conducted >50 oncology trials as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator. Dr. Loong is a founding executive committee member of the Asia Pacific Oncology Drug Development Consortium and Chair-Elect, International Affairs Committee at ASCO.
Dr. Khasraw’s is a neuro-oncologist, professor of medicine and Deputy Director of the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at Duke University, USA. He is interested in translating research into new therapies and at Duke, is tasked with speeding up clinical research and translation for scientists across all departments and tumor sites. He leads several clinical and translational programs with significant laboratory collaborations and is the principal investigator on first-in-human Phase I immunotherapy clinical trials in solid tumors. His research interests include biomarker development and design of innovative clinical trials to improve outcomes for patients with primary and metastatic cancers of the central nervous systems.
Dr. Borad’s research focuses on exploring various molecular and immunological subtypes and discovering novel targeted therapies for providing precision medicine for hepatobiliary and pancreatic cancer patients. He is Associate Professor Medicine, College of Medicine, Consultant, Medical Oncology; Program Leader, Gene and Virus Therapy Program for the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center; Co-Director, Precision Cancer Therapeutics Program, Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona. He also serves on the NIH Drug Discovery and Pharmacology (DMP) Study Section as a Standing Member, NIH Hepatobiliary Cancer Task Force and Vice Chair of the International Cholangiocarcinoma Research Network (ICRN).
Professor Thomas’ research focus is on the application of genomic technologies to the understanding and management of cancer. He is the inaugural Director, Centre for Molecular Oncology, University of New South Wales; Head of the Genomic Cancer Medicine Laboratory, Garvan Institute of Medical Research; and CEO of Omico. He founded the Australasian Sarcoma Study Group and established Australia’s leading adolescent and young adult cancer unit at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Professor Thomas leads the International Sarcoma Kindred Study and led the first international study of denosumab in Giant Cell Tumor of bone, leading to FDA and TGA approval.
