PHILIP BLAKE
President and CEO,
Bayer Inc.

Philip Blake has more than 20 years of healthcare industry experience and has worked around the world (Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and the United States) on drug development, marketing and brand strategy developments. 

Currently, Mr. Blake is President and CEO, Bayer Inc. with added leadership responsibilities as the Bayer HealthCare Representative and Head of the Pharmaceuticals Division in Canada.

Prior to leading the Canadian Bayer organization, senior management positions have included global strategic product marketing, business development, clinical planning, product developments, and sales management. Furthermore, Mr. Blake has led an international action team in the strategic development and implementation of a new global and regional organizational structure for Bayer.

Mr. Blake has received his education from Bristol University and Oxford University Business School in the United Kingdom. Additional education includes business training at INSEAD Fontainbleu in Paris, and the Wharton Business School in Philadelphia.

Mr. Blake is a member of the Board of Directors of the research-based pharmaceutical association —  Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies. He is also a member of the Ivey Biotech Advisory Council at the University of Western Ontario's Richard Ivey School of Business.

DEBORAH M. BROWN       
Canadian General Manager and Regional Vice President,
Serono Canada and Oceania

Deborah Brown is the Canadian General Manager and Regional Vice President of Serono Canada and Oceania; the 3rd largest biotechnology company in the world, based in Switzerland. Her career has included positions in regulatory affairs, biometrics, sales management, research, marketing, and general management. She completed undergraduate and graduate studies in science and business from the Universities of Guelph and Western Ontario.

Deborah has led the launch of several leading biologic products in both the US and Canada. In her current capacity as Regional Vice President and General Manager of Serono Canada, she oversees one of Canada's most successful commercial biotechnology companies with sales exceeding $100M in four major therapeutic areas. She has been an active member of the board and Executive Committee of BIOTECanada for more than five years.

RAY CHEPESIUK
Commissioner,
Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board (PAAB)

After 20 years at the PAAB, Ray Chepesiuk is an expert in the ethics and regulation of the marketing of prescription drug products to health professionals and consumers.  He is the Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the autonomous Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board and is responsible for operations and the administration of the preclearance review mechanism. Ray has held management positions in community, hospital and government pharmacy and was elected twice to serve on the Ontario College of Pharmacists, chairing five committees. He achieved a Pharmacy degree from the University of Toronto and a Masters in International Business degree from the University of South Carolina. He is a Certified Association Executive as conferred by the Canadian Society of Association Executives. He has received a United Nations medal for peacekeeping.

PAT FORSYTHE
Vice-President Marketing and Business Development,
ALTANA Pharma Inc.

Pat Forsythe is the Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at ALTANA Pharma.  Pat has 22 years of experience in the Canadian Pharmaceutical industry and has experience in both Primary Care and Specialty based product marketing.  He has been involved in 12 launches, most recently Alvesco and Resultz.  Pat started his career with The Upjohn Company of Canada, finishing there as Director of Marketing. He spent nine years at Hoffmann-La Roche culminating in the role of Business Unit Director for Hospital, and Business Unit Director, Hepatitis.

DAVID GASCOIGNE
Vice- President, Global Promotion Management,
IMS Health Canada

David Gascoigne brings experience in US and international markets that spans the healthcare, consumer packaged goods, automobile and financial services industries to his leadership of Global Promotion Management at IMS. In this role, Gascoigne oversees new offerings development, ensures global consistency and alignment of offerings and spearheads thought leadership initiatives for the company's promotion management information, analytic and consulting services on a worldwide basis.

Prior to assuming this role, Gascoigne led the Promotion Management practice at IMS Management Consulting, where he managed more than 100 promotional response projects across more than 400 brands and 600 advertising campaigns. His primary areas of focus included innovating promotional response methodologies to address promotional resource issues throughout a product's lifecycle and across all promotional activities, applying new technologies to improve and monitor sales force allocation and targeting, assessing message effectiveness, managing promotional resources across the product portfolio, and maximizing the impact of sampling.

An expert in determining the impact of direct-to-consumer advertising, Gascoigne also has extensive experience in econometric and statistical modelling and the techniques used to assess all aspects of promotion effectiveness. He has presented a number of professional papers at notable conferences, such as the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), Pharmaceutical Marketing Congress and Pharmaceutical Management Science Association. Before joining IMS, Gascoigne was the Vice President of Global Analytical and Media Solutions at Millward Brown, an international market research firm specializing in total brand communication. He managed a team of statisticians responsible for providing advanced analytics for the company's operations in North and South America. Gascoigne also held titles of Vice President of U.S. Analytical and Media Development and Head of European Statistics there.

Gascoigne earned both a B.S. and M.S. in Applied Statistics from Sheffield University in England. He is based in the company's Philadelphia-area office.

BRUCE GOOD
President and General Manager,
IMS Health Canada

Bruce Good was appointed President and General Manager of IMS Health Canada in 2004.  He has overall responsibility for business operations, plans, strategies, and relationships with key healthcare stakeholders in Canada. Bruce was formerly head of commercial operations for IMS Health Canada.

He brings over 20 years of proven leadership experience in the telecommunications and information technology sectors, having held several senior positions with leading Canadian and US companies including Rogers AT&T Wireless, IBM Canada and Nortel Networks.

A tireless philanthropist, Bruce supports the community whenever he can. He is a long-time sponsor of the West Island Community Shares (WICS), as well as a national sponsor of the Mentors in Motion program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Montreal. Recently, he was appointed to the Board of Governors of CEPSUM, a newly-formed group of business leaders whose mission is to promote and ensure excellence in sports at the University of Montreal.  He also finds the time to coach the Lac St. Louis girls Pee-Wee AA hockey team. He is a past cabinet member of the United Way Peel Region Board of Directors and Chair of the pharmaceutical industry division for Centraide.

IMS Health Incorporated is Canada's leading source of neutral and anonymized data and analysis on disease states and the use of prescription drugs.  IMS is the world's leading provider of health information solutions in over 100 countries.  Governments use IMS Health information and analysis for various purposes including: pharmacovigilance, monitoring and control of pharmaceutical expenditure, development of reimbursement policy and for specific investigations.

The complex IMS databases represent an invaluable source of insight into the management of disease and are used by governments, industry, drug safety organizations, health institutions, universities, researchers, professional medical and pharmacy bodies and patient organizations across the world to continuously improve the efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of drug therapy.

ROBERT HAMILTON
President and General Manager,
UCB Pharma Canada Inc. 

Rob Hamilton is the President and General Manager of UCB Pharma Canada Inc. In this position, Rob has responsibility for establishing, building out and leading all commercial, medical, regulatory, clinical and administrative functions of the UCB Canada affiliate.

He has worked in the Canadian healthcare sector for over 20 years, serving in a number of commercial and general management roles at three other large Canadian brand-name biopharmaceutical companies (Biogen Idec, Hoffmann-La Roche and Syntex). Rob has well-developed strategic and tactical skills with experience in ethical product launches, product recoveries, lifecycle extensions and co-promotion situations, with both Specialist and Primary Care products.  A native of Kingston, Ont., he holds B.Sc. (Honours) and M.B.A. degrees from Queen's University.   

Founded in 1928, UCB is a leading global biopharma company dedicated to the research, development, and commercialization of innovative pharmaceutical and biotechnology products in the fields of central nervous system disorders, allergy/ respiratory diseases, immune and inflammatory disorders and oncology. UCB is focused on securing a leading position in severe disease categories, as evidenced by its corporate tagline, Innovation for SpecialistsTM.

JOSEPH KNOTT
CEO,
The Pangaea Group of Companies

Joe Knott is the CEO and founder of the Pangaea Group of Companies. He specialized in marketing training, business development and building sales and marketing strength in the healthcare industry. Joe has over 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical related sector, commencing his career with the Pennwalt Corporation and building upon this career to President of Fisons. He successfully launched numerous ethical and OTC products, negotiated strategic business alliances and spearheaded Fisons into an era of strong growth driven by memorable sales and profit achievements.

Joe has recently restructured Pangaea and created Pangaea Trade and Logistics Inc., Pangaea Development and Training Inc., Pangaea Customized Consulting, as well as establishing a new Montreal and London office.

Currently, Joe and Pangaea have entered into a successful strategic alliance with Humber College to develop and deliver Canadian Pharmaceutical Marketing Programs (CPMP) namely, 'Marketing Pharmaceuticals in Canada' and 'Managing Pharmaceuticals Sales in Canada — People and Process'.

Joe has held Board and Director positions for the Non-Prescription Drug Manufacturers' Assocation of Canada, Canadian Wholesale Drug Association of Canada and the Rx&D.

ANDY McCLENAGHAN
General Manager,
P&G Pharmaceuticals Canada

Mr. McClenaghan began his career with P&G in 1989 as a product development manager for OTC products. He joined P&G Pharmaceuticals Canada, a subsidiary of the world's leading consumer products company, in 1993.  He has held leadership roles in Government Affairs, Reimbursement, R&D and Regulatory Affairs for Pharmaceuticals, Oral Care, and OTC products.  His career has also included experience in Patent Strategy, Litigation, Sales, Distribution and Quality Assurance.

Mr. McClenaghan's leadership has been key to the company's rapid growth, with the R&D group delivering a portfolio of patient preferred therapies and advantages in life cycle initiatives. Under his leadership, P&G Pharmaceuticals Canada is pursuing an aggressive licensing and acquisition strategy focused on leveraging P&G's unique consumer marketing capabilities and scale in categories where patients play an active role in managing their health. 

Mr. McClenaghan graduated from McMaster University in 1989 with a degree in Chemical Engineering and Management.

MARK McELWAIN
Vice President and Partner,
Allard Johnson Communications

Mark McElwain is Vice President and Partner at Allard Johnson Communications, where he heads the Toronto wellness division and develops advertising programs for pharma and other healthcare clients. In this capacity, he is launching a new joint-venture in the healthcare-interactive space called Pharsite.

Prior to joining Allard Johnson, Mark was Commissioner (CEO) of the Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board (PAAB). During his four-year tenure at PAAB, he worked to improve service turnaround times, reform the complaints process, and together with stakeholders to raise PAAB's profile in industry self-regulation.

Earlier in his 25-year career, Mark consulted in health economics and worked at senior levels in health policy and communications for both federal and provincial governments. He has master's degrees from the London School of Economics and from Queen's University.

RONNIE MILLER
President & CEO
Hoffmann-La Roche Limited

Ronnie Miller has over 22 years of extensive and varied experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He began his career in the United Kingdom as a General Practitioner sales representative. From there, he worked as a hospital sales representative and then accepted a series of progressive positions including Regional Sales Manager, Product Manager, Director, Sales and Marketing for oncology; and National Sales Manager. 

Ronnie joined Roche in 1988 as National Sales Manager for Roche Products Ltd. in the United Kingdom. In 1992, Ronnie moved to Roche's head office in Basel, Switzerland to take on the role as International Product Manager.

From 1993 to 1996, Ronnie worked for Roche in Japan as Marketing Director and Deputy Divisional Director of the Pharmaceutical Division.  In 1996, he moved back to Roche's global head office in Basel to lead the global task force for Xenical on strategies and tactics including clinical, regulatory and marketing perspectives.  From 1997 to 2000, Ronnie worked again in the United Kingdom as Divisional Director of Pharmaceuticals. 

In April 2000, Ronnie Miller was appointed President and CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals in Canada. Ronnie holds a Bachelor of Science from Glasgow University in Scotland and several diplomas and certificates from Executive Programs. He is the former captain of the Glasgow University and Scottish Universities Soccer Team and an avid player and spectator of soccer, tennis, squash and golf.

VICTOR PETRENKO
President and Co-Founder,
Healthwise Creative Resource Group

Victor Petrenko has over 32 years of Canadian and US healthcare experience, including 12 years on the client side in sales, scientific, regulatory affairs and marketing and 15 years with his agency. He has experience in most therapeutic areas and has successfully launched over 60 new products.

DR. SHAFIQ QAADRI
General Practitioner,
MPP (Ontario), Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health Promotion

Dr. Shafiq Qaadri is a Toronto family physician, Continuing Medical Education (CME) lecturer, medical writer and broadcaster. He writes a monthly column for doctors in The Medical Post, has a weekly, nationally-syndicated radio segment (Corus Network), and has logged more than 1,000 radio and television shows across Canada.

He is a Designated Medical Practitioner (DMP) of the Government of Canada, and a leader in making health information understandable to the public and physicians alike. He has delivered more than 125 medical lectures, and published more than 700 articles, on a wide range of topics. He is the author of the international selling health manual for baby-boomer men, The Testosterone Factor: A Practical Guide to Vitality and Virility, Naturally, which is now available in five countries in four languages.

A long-time advocate of quality public healthcare and a compassionate society, Dr. Qaadri was elected to the Government of Ontario as the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Etobicoke North in October 2003. In March 2006, the Premier appointed Dr. Qaadri to the post of Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health Promotion.

Educated at Upper Canada College, he graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1988. During his academic career, he won numerous awards and scholarships, including a Canadian National Debating Championship, an English-Speaking Union Essay Prize to Oxford University, and a Medical Research Council Scholarship in Clinical Neurosurgery. He was recently appointed to the Healthcare Policy Group of the Council of State Governments (New York), an American-based think-tank which offers strategic counselling to government.

Dr. Qaadri and his wife live in Toronto with their two children.

HENRY ROBERTS
COPD Canada 

Henry Roberts has been involved in the publishing industry for over 30 years and is the owner of Birchwolfe Communications and a founding member of COPD Canada.  He has held the position of publisher for most of his career in a variety of markets, including medical, as publisher of Physician's Management Manuals for Maclean Hunter Medical Publishing, a division of Rogers Media.  He was also involved in the legal field as a contract publisher of the National for the Canadian Bar Association. Henry also has extensive advertising sales and marketing experience and was Vice President Sales and Marketing of Maclean Hunter Medical Publishing, with a national ad sales staff of over a dozen people and an annual sales budget in excess of $20 million.

In April 1995, he launched and managed Maclean Hunter's first bilingual web site, MD Link, a password protected medical site for Canadian doctors. During his three-decade career in publishing, he has been a key partner in the creation and introduction of over 15 new Canadian magazine and newspaper titles, in business-to-business and consumer communications. Within contract publishing, Henry has been a pivotal member of the magazine launch team for Chronicle Information Resources Inc. (The Chronicle of Healthcare Marketing), Dynamic Mutual Funds (Investment Life) and Money Concepts (Guide to Financial Freedom). He is a founding member of COPD Canada, a non-profit patient advocacy group, whose primary goal is to increase national public awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and to upgrade the information, services and support currently available to Canadian patients and their caregivers.

DR. JACQUELINE SHAN
President and CEO,
CV Technologies Inc.

Dr. Shan entered industry in 1993 by co-founding two biotechs — CV Technologies Inc. (CVT) and HerbTech Inc. both of Edmonton. She has discovered/co-discovered 10 US and PCT patented products and lead an in-house team of 25 scientists (13 PhDs, two MDs) with expertise in pharmacology, neurochemistry, immunology, process engineering, phytochemistry, analytical chemistry, western and traditional medicine.

She is currently serving as President, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of CVT. She has been instrumental in building CVT's extensive research collaborative programs with national and international academic and industrial research and development organizations. Additionally, she organized and oversees CVT's regulatory and clinical activity in Canada, the US, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and manages all aspects of intellectual property. Dr. Shan is also a nationally and internationally recognized speaker in nutraceutical/natural health product research and development and a past/present member of 20 government, industry, science and research bodies.

MITCHELL SHANNON
President
Chronicle Companies

Mitchell Shannon is CEO and co-founder of Chronicle Companies, a leading provider of business information to Canadian pharmaceutical marketers, and organizing corporate partner of the first National Pharmaceutical Congress. Since 1995, Chronicle has served the life sciences industry through its newspaper, The Chronicle of Healthcare Marketing™, and weekly newsletters, ChronicleMONDAY and ChronicleMIDWEEK. This year marks the fifth annual presentation of the Canadian Healthcare Marketing Hall of Fame Awards, a program initiated by Chronicle as a means of honouring our industry's builders.

Mitch is the publisher of Chronicle's seven nationally-distributed journals for the medical specialties, including the recently established Comprehensive Cardiology Canada (C3)™, and Best Practices Chronicle™. He maintains an avid interest in new and emerging media technologies, having brought to market a pioneering on-line service for physicians while serving as publisher of several medical titles at Southam, Inc. in the late 1980s. He is currently overseeing Chronicle's introduction of patient-information and video podcasting projects, scheduled for next year.

Prior to assuming the role of serial-entrepreneur and rapacious arch-capitalist, he was a medical journalist and editor who held senior positions in New York City and Toronto. He earned degrees in education and arts from the University of Toronto, and studied graduate journalism at the University of Oregon, back during the first age of Duran Duran. He is a director of the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Association. Among many career honours and distinctions, he is particularly proud of having been granted Most Favoured Trading Partner status by Betsy, the silver toy poodle and pantomime-artist who resides with his in-laws.

JOHN H. STEWART
Executive Vice President and General Manager
Purdue Pharma

John Stewart is Executive Vice President and General Manager of Purdue Pharma, Canada.  Throughout his 32-year career with Purdue, John has held positions of responsibility for the areas of business development, clinical research, product development, regulatory affairs and sales.

John is Past-Chair of Rx&D's Board of Directors and Executive Committee — the association representing Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies. During his many years on the Rx&D Board, he has served as Chair of Rx&D's Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) Committee, Health Canada Committee and National Political Action Plan (NPAP) Committee, and is currently Chair of their Policy Committee.

In addition to his Rx&D activities, John has represented the industry on the National Advisory Council on Pharmaceutical Research, Treasury Board's Advisory Group on Cost Recovery/User Fees, and the Advisory Committee to the Ontario Drug Programs Reform Secretariat.

JOHN SUK
President and Chief Executive Officer,
ALTANA Pharma Inc.

John Suk, President and CEO, launched ALTANA Pharma Inc., in Canada in 1997.

Within six months, Mr. Suk's company, then known as Byk Canada, had a full complement of 70 employees, had begun to market its key product PANTOLOC® and was initiating its first clinical development activities. Renamed ALTANA Pharma Inc. in 2002, the company now boasts over 225 employees across the country and a commitment to innovation and integrity.

ALTANA Pharma's team of scientific professionals is engaged in developing new drugs and carrying out clinical testing of products in the key areas of gastroenterology and respiratory.  ALTANA has recently entered the respiratory market with the successful launch of another innovative product —  ALVESCO®.

Mr. Suk has built a participatory environment of autonomy and empowerment for his employees. "We ask everyone to keep the customer in mind and always to ask themselves if there is a better way. Then we encourage and support them to implement their solutions."

Before launching ALTANA Pharma, Mr. Suk held positions of increasing responsibility with companies such as McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Glaxo Canada Inc., and Hoffmann-La Roche Canada Inc.

Mr. Suk holds a Honours B.SC from Brock University and has completed post-graduate coursework in business at University of Toronto and McMaster University.

Mr. Suk is on the board of directors of Rx&D Canada and is vice chair of the Health Research Foundation. He is married and has three children.

RUSSELL WILLIAMS
President,
Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D)

Mr. Williams joined Rx&D after a successful career in provincial politics and community service. For 15 years, Mr. Williams represented the Montreal riding of Nelligan in the National Assembly of Quebec. During his career as Liberal MNA, he lead numerous public policy debates on important and complex issues such as the role of government in research and development (R&D), compensation for victims of contaminated blood, linguistic policy, access to services for handicapped people, pre-hospital emergency services, and gambling. He is well known for his dedication and perseverance as an advocate for individual rights, and government services focused on the needs of its citizens.

During his tenure as parliamentary assistant to two Ministers of Health and Social Services, Mr. Williams identified and initiated strategies for a more efficient and integrated healthcare system. In addition, he spearheaded the development of an R&D policy for the pharmaceutical sector.

Prior to and during his political career, Mr. Williams played a key role in numerous non-profit and community-based initiatives in areas ranging from palliative care to human rights.