2025 Speakers

Chad Adams has more than 25 years working in healthcare operational management of which 20 years have been in research. His experience includes a broad background of operational management in healthcare administration, with specific training and experience in integrating technology that address gaps for barriers to successful portfolio performance of clinical trials. Mr. Adams actively participates in advisory boards for multiple industry organizations and actively helps build research organizations. Mr. Adams brings a high level of analytical skills, combined with novel approaches, to his current role as AVP of Research within HonorHealth and as COO of the HonorHealth Research Institute.

Dr Nadir Ammour brings more than 20 years’ experience in managing global projects in clinical development. He is working to bring eHealth/Digital innovation in clinical development to deliver new medicines to patients faster. He led several projects in that space such as the Verkko remote trial, wearables trials, use of electronic health records for research and is now leading efforts at bridging care and research. Dr Ammour was a member of the Executive Committee of the EHR4CR consortium project and led the EHR2EDC consortia. He is presently working on several consortia projects to advance the concept of clinical trials as a treatment option.

Christina Brennan, MD has devoted her career to clinical research and currently serves as Northwell Health’s Vice President of Clinical Research. Committed to the advancement of science and medicine, Dr Brennan has more than 22 years of extensive clinical research experience, including over 17 years in clinical research management roles. She is on the board of trustees for the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. She is the immediate past president of the NY Metropolitan Chapter of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. She is on the steering committee of the Clinical Trial Transformation Initiative (CTTI), with Duke University and the FDA. She is on the leadership council for Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS), where she also sits on the oncology advisory board and technology site advocacy group. She is an adjunct professor for a Masters of Science program with Yeshiva University. She is also an active member of the Women in Bio and the American College of Healthcare Executives. Dr Brennan also has authored chapters in textbooks, coauthored many manuscripts and abstracts, and has presented at numerous scientific and research meetings.

As an epidemiologist at COPPER (Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy and Effectiveness Research) Center within the Department of General Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, my research is focused on examining health outcomes and quality care for patients with cancer. I have a sub-focus to gain a better understanding of end-of-life care and the role of systemic anti-cancer therapy. Serving under the Smilow Chief Quality Officer I have researched this topic both within our institution, providing an evidence-based approach and critical statistical analysis to our quality improvement projects, and at the national level using secondary data analysis. I have worked extensively with the National Cancer Database (NCDB), SEER-Medicare data, Flatiron Health LLC US based real word cancer databases, and multi-site analysis of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) data. Prior to my work at COPPER, I was a member of the Global Health Leadership Institute (GHLI) team at Yale and conducted qualitative and quantitative data analysis of GHLI studies in countries including Ghana, Ethiopia and China.

Laura Esserman, MD, MBA is the director of the UCSF Breast Care Center, and is recognized as a

thought leader in cancer screening and over-diagnosis, as well as innovative clinical trial design. She led

the creation of the University of California-wide Athena Breast Health Network, a learning system

designed to integrate clinical care and research as it follows 150,000 women from screening through

treatment and outcomes. The Athena Network launched the PCORI-funded WISDOM Study, which tests

a personalized approach to breast cancer screening in 100,000 women. She is also a leader of the

innovative I-SPY TRIAL model, designed to accelerate the identification and approval of effective new

agents for women with high risk breast cancers.

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Elizabeth is an Assistant Professor (tenure track) at Montana State University- Mark & Robyn Jones College of Nursing in Bozeman, Montana. She teaches Design of Healthcare Delivery Systems, which is an interprofessional graduate course offering with College of Nursing (Clinical Nurse Leader and DNP students) and College of Engineering students (industrial, mechanical, healthcare systems engineering students) to evaluate quality and efficiency in the delivery of patient care. Her research includes technology innovation and digital health device development for clinical trial participant safety management, with funding awarded from the Montana State University/U.S. Economic Development Administration, American Nurses Association, NIH, Genentech Innovation Fund, and via the National Science Foundation- National Innovation Corps program. She is part of the Blueprint Engine- Tough Tech Program at MIT. Her service includes Chair for the Research Committee of the International Association of Clinical Research Nurses, President-Elect for the Nursing Institute of Healthcare Design, Coalition for Health AI Health System Advisory Board, and a member of the American Nurses Association Innovation Advisory Committee for Technology + Medical Devices. Prior to her current role at Montana State University, Elizabeth was a clinical research nurse, clinical trial manager, and global early clinical development manager spanning hospital and industry roles supporting pediatric diabetology/endocrinology and adult oncology.

Adam Kinsey is currently Associate Vice President and Regional Head of North America for Global Clinical Trial Operations (GCTO) at Merck Research Laboratories. Mr Kinsey has over 26 years of clinical research experience, with the last 8.5 years at Merck. He has been a key leader within GCTO, most recently serving as Executive Director, Clinical Sciences & Study Management and Therapeutic Area Section Head for Melanoma, Hepatobiliary Cancers, and Innovative Strategies. Previously, Mr Kinsey was Clinical Research Director in Oncology where he led country operations activities in the United States for Merck’s oncology pipeline. He started his career as a Clinical Research Associate (CRA) and has traversed through various roles in clinical operations of increasing responsibility and scope. Mr Kinsey also has experience across a wide array of therapeutic areas with companies of different sizes and operating models. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Rice University and completed post-baccalaureate coursework at Houston Baptist University as well as coursework towards a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.

Donna M. O’Brien, MHA, is a National Advisor with Manatt Health providing strategy development and program implementation advice to healthcare providers and research institutes. Prior to this, Donna served as Consultant to the Director of the NCI for nine years to support the development and implementation of a new program model for cancer care delivery and research expansion in 30 hospitals in 22 states. She was a member of the team that designed the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP). She was also an executive at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Executive Vice President of the Catholic Health Long Island.

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Nancy Reilly, RN, MS, works as the Executive Director for the Rutgers Health - Clinical Trials Office. In this capacity, she oversees contract and budget negotiation, as well as feasibility assessment and coverage analysis for non-oncology clinical trials and is responsible for the development of streamlined and efficient workflows for non-oncology clinical research across the Rutgers Health enterprise. Ms. Reilly held prior roles in clinical research administration and also as a research nurse and research manager in HIV/Infectious Disease.

Michael V. Seiden, M.D., Ph.D., is a physician and healthcare executive with a broad collection of leadership positions across the healthcare ecosystem, Dr. Seiden serves as the Chief Medical Officer of N Power Medicine, an innovative platform company that empowers community oncology practices to strengthen their culture of research. Dr. Seiden is responsible for growing and supporting a national network of community oncology sites.

Prior to joining N Power Medicine, he held numerous roles included serving as the president of The US Oncology Network, a McKesson owned company that includes the largest collection of community-based oncology care practices in the US. Prior to serving as President of the network, Seiden served as the senior vice president and Chief Medical Officer of US Oncology and McKesson Specialty Health. Before joining McKesson, he served as CEO and President of Fox Chase Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, research facility and hospital in Philadelphia. Prior to his time at Fox Chase Cancer Center he held a variety of leadership roles at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Dana Farber Cancer Institute including the Director of the Clinical and Translational Research Programs at MGH Cancer Center and the leader of the Gynecologic Oncology Program awarded by the NCI to the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.

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