I am a Clinical Lead at Syneos Health. Originally a pharmacist, I completed my PhD in Pharmacy in 2014; my doctoral studies focused on neuroimaging biomarkers of treatment resistant schizophrenia. I published research articles on topics ranging from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to the endocannabinoid system in addiction and "party pill" drug-drug interactions. After a post-doc in California I returned to New Zealand where I now enjoy working in the pharma industry as a CRA and Clinical Lead and occasional guest lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland.

Julie has over 20 years of experience in vaccine development and clinical trials across a variety of roles within the clinical research industry. She is currently working as a quality manager and sits on the Central Health & Disability Ethics Committee. She has previously established a GMP facility and spent 7 years within the European pharmaceutical industry working within clinical trial project management, strategic development and relationship management positions.

Ruth Lucas is a clinical research professional with almost 20 years of experience working within the clinical trials industry. Starting out in the UK Ruth gained experience conduct clinical trials across all phases from working in a phase I unit to multi-centre phase IV studies. Ruth moved to New Zealand in 2006, working for both CRO and Pharmaceutical companies. During this time Ruth was also involved with training and mentoring of research professionals and enjoyed coaching and motivating other professionals to participate in high quality research. Ruth then continued to work as an independent contractor on a number of differing projects from Investigator-Led studies to large industry sponsored trials, with a focus on quality improvement within NZ.
In March 2019 Ruth took up the post as Research Manager for Cancer & Blood Research at Auckland District Health Board, broadening her industry experience into the DHB.

I am a Deputy Director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand and research physician with a background in biomedical science, clinical medicine and a PhD in clinical research. In addition to management and business development responsibilities, I undertake Principal Investigator and study physician roles across both sponsored and investigator led research programmes and have interests in clinical informatics, biotech, research network and methodology. Through my PhD I established the NZ Pharmacy Research Network which now offers the capacity to conduct randomised trials embedded in community pharmacy. This programme aims to overcome the methodological and cost barriers to studying over the counter medicines, complementary therapies and devices, through which I have developed an interest in the regulatory and commercialisation aspects of clinical research. I enjoy networking with academia, industry and government and as an Adjunct Professor at Victoria University of Wellington and Research Fellow at Western Sydney University am actively involved in under- and post-graduate teaching and supervision

Marina Dzhelali works as a Research Office Manager and is in charge of the Hutt Valley DHB and Capital & Coast DHB Research Offices. Born in Russia, raised in Ukraine and graduated in the USA, Marina has worked professionally in the USA and NZ for the past 20 years. Marina has acquired research experience in many clinical areas and has been NZACREs member since 2004 in the variety of roles.

Living in the Hutt Valley allows her to enjoy the combination of suburban and a semirural life style with her husband, kids and animals.

Currently Scott is working as a Senior Clinical Operations Manager with MSD, where he manages a team across ANZ who are primarily responsible for study start-up and ongoing clinical trial operations. Scott began his career in research as a clinical trial coordinator and then progressed through a range of other clinical research roles such as CRA and Project Manager with CROs, pharmaceutical and biotech companies prior to his current role with MSD

Charlie has a strong scientific background having studied Applied Biology (Biomedical Science) with postgraduate qualifications in Pharmacoeconomics, and a career in pharmaceutical development and market access. Charlies has 20 years of experience in the Clinical Research Industry. He is the Health Research Manager at the Bay of Plenty Clinical Trials Unit based at Tauranga Hospital and has expertise in protocol design and research methodology, as well as managing the conduct of clinical trials according to local and international regulations and guidelines. Charlie works closely with clinicians and mangers across the BOPDHB to develop health research projects and is currently the Chair of the DHB Research Office Mangers Alliance. He is a Co-Investigator on a Health Research Council Funded Project, “Enhancing New Zealand’s Clinical Trials,” a project designed to review New Zealand’s current trials infrastructure and report on International models to inform the future for Clinical Trial activity in New Zealand, and is a Co-Investigator on grant funded activities local to BOPDHB,