SCIENTIFIC

Clair Callan, MD, MBA, FACPE, CPE, FFARCSI

Clair Callan’s consulting focus involves medical, regulatory, and life-cycle management. Callan is a physician with a broad range of experiences in healthcare, which she applies to designing public healthcare systems and designing corporate medical and product strategies. She’s a leading advisor, and a well-known speaker on topics such as healthcare, clinical development and regulatory strategy.

Callan previously served as interim Senior Vice President for Professional Standards AMA and Vice President of Science, Quality and Public Health for the AMA. (Much of her work at the AMA was focused on team building.) She was also Vice President of Medical and Regulatory Affairs and Advanced Research for the Hospital Products Division of Abbott Laboratories and Medical Director of Connecticut’s Medicaid program.

She is a graduate of the National University of Ireland, receiving an honorary fellowship from the Faculty of Anesthesia, Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. Dr. Callan received her MB, BCH, BAO (MD equivalent) from National University of Ireland, Dublin in 1963 and her MBA from the University of Phoenix.  She is a fellow of the Institute of Medicine, Chicago.  Dr. Callan is also a Certified Physician Executive from the American College of Physician Executives and became a fellow of that organization in 2003.  She also serves on the Board of Directors of Lake Forest Hospital.

David L. Cooper, MD, PhD

David Cooper’s consulting focus is in diagnostic, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and life sciences as a scientific, technical and medical strategist with over 25 years of proven performance as a product-oriented, corporate and academic executive.  He has senior level experience in managing administration, science, and medicine projects for research and development, operations, business regulatory affairs, and business development and has worked with diagnostic, pharmaceutical and biotechnology Key Opinion Leaders both nationally and internationally.

Previous experience includes serving as a tenured professor of pathology and as chair of the division of molecular diagnostics at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.  He also held the roles of vice president and Chief Science Officer at Quest Diagnostics, the Nichols Institute, and NimbleGen Systems, Inc. as well as president and CEO of NanoMedex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Cooper has a PhD in chemistry from Florida State University and an MD in medicine and clinical pathology from University of Florida.  He has performed over 100 peer reviews for scientific, medical and biotechnology publications and was the founder and editor of the Journal of Molecular Diagnosis.  He is the co-founder of the Association of Molecular Pathology and has been a Lichfield lecturer at Oxford University.

Helen Ridge, PhD

Helen Ridge is a healthcare professional with experience in both the pharmaceutical industry and agency work. She provides research analysis, both primary and secondary (product/competitor assessment, benchmarking and forecasting), ongoing competitor monitoring services, data analysis and insight, conference coverage and report writing. Previous experience includes serving as a Competitive Intelligence/ Business Development Manager for Eli Lilly & Company. She also has several years additional experience within the pharmaceuticals and healthcare industries, including sales and marketing and provision of pharmacy services direct to patients in the UK National Health Service.

Helen is a qualified pharmacist with a First Class Honors degree at the University of Nottingham. She has a PhD in clinical pharmacy from King’s College, London and is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.

Jennifer Smith, MSN, MBA

Jennifer Smith’s consulting focus is in strategic marketing research and strategy development.  She provides senior professional and clinical leadership to major academic medical centers, community health systems, and other academic and medical institutions.   She offers insightful strategic direction in creating a vision for new services, assessing best practices, evaluating product concepts, and determining appropriate target audiences, segments, and/or sites.  Smith is a strong advisor on implementation and operation of new programs with a particular expertise in strategic commercial planning for healthcare innovations, Emergency Medicine, Cardiology, HIV, Oncology, and Wellness.

Smith is a Nursing School lecturer and instructor at William Raney Harper College.  She provides direct patient care at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital and is a nurse manager at Northwestern Memorial Hospital as well as an administrator at their Wellness Institute.  She has served as Vice President of the Chicago Health Group at Edelman Public Relations.

Smith has a BS from St. Lawrence University, a BSN from Georgetown University, and a MSN, MBA from Loyola University.  She is also a member of the Emergency Nurses Association and the National League for Nursing.