Dan Sfera, Moderator
Dan Sfera runs a clinical trial website called “The Clinical Trials Guru” where he discusses “Clinical Trials in Plain English” and helps individuals who work or are interested in working in this industry, understand the subject better while also raising general awareness on the topic. He interviews industry leaders and experts in order to share valuable content with his audience through these interviews. In addition, he partners with, consults, and advises for various clinical trial companies across the United States providing services such as study placement, assisting Sponsors and CRO’s with selecting appropriate research sites for clinical studies, patient recruitment at both the individual Site level as well as national campaigns, CRA training and placement, and business development. He runs the Clinical Research Coordinator Academy. Dan completed his BSc at the University of Arizona in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Dan will be part of 2 panels: Getting into the Industry and Becoming a Research-Preneur.
Nicole Ramsay, LMC
Nicole Ramsay has experience across all segments of HR but what she enjoys most is presenting ideas in an engaging and informational way, whether internally (e.g. Lunch and Learn sessions, New Hire Orientations, and Training and Development sessions) or externally (e.g. Job Fairs and Panel Discussions). She spent more than a decade in customer service and administration before starting in HR, which strengthened her ability to connect to people and understand what they want and need. Nicole graduated from George Brown College with an advanced diploma in the Business Administration Human Resources Program. Nicole will be speaking on the Getting into the Industry panel and the Growing your Career as a Clinical Research Professional panel.
Stella Rhoa, Clinical Trial Coordinator, Toronto Immune and Digestive Health Institute
Stella is a recently hired Clinical Trial Coordinator at Toronto Immune and Digestive Health Institute in Toronto. Stella graduated York University with the Honours Bachelor of Science, specialization in biochemistry. Through volunteering at the Hospital for Sick Children throughout high school and university, and by doing the thesis project as part of the undergraduate degree, she knew that she wanted to be involved in health care and research. To have a career that involves both fields, Stella decided to attend Seneca College for Clinical Research graduate certificate program. Stella started as a clinical research assistant at Mount Sinai Hospital, working mainly to recruit study patients and collect samples. Stella obtained SOCRA CCRP in 2020. She is now working as a Clinical Trial Coordinator at Toronto Immune and Digestive Health Institute where she is responsible for managing phase II-IV clinical trials.
Briar Parkinson, Clinical Research Analyst, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Briar recently landed her first clinical research position as a Research Analyst at University Health Network. She graduated with her BSc from the University of Toronto in Human Biology, Physiology and Psychology. Briar then completed the Graduate Certificate in Clinical Research at Seneca College where she earned the CRAC Dr Ron Heslegrave Ethics in Research Award! She will join us on the Getting into the Industry Panel.
Joanne Jordan, Manager of Business Development, BioTalent Canada
Following a degree in Mathematics from Queen’s University, Joanne began her career in banking before taking the leap into the world of self-employment. Over 15 years as a woman working for herself she gained amazing experience in customer service, management, administration, event planning, bookkeeping and philanthropy and even a C.O.O of a start-up! When opportunities knock the best thing to do is open your mind and open the door! Joanne has been Manager of Business Development for BioTalent Canada since March 2019. Prior to that, she was VP of Business Development for Nearest.com a social network that features trending promotions, click and call ordering, events, fun things to do, shopping, coupons, local business search and a unique chat network. Joanne will be presenting “Growing the bio-economy: aligning skills with employer needs” and then participate on the panel for Getting into the Industry at our conference.