With over 24 years of consulting experience, Dr. Franco led PwC’s Pharmaceutical R&D practice where he specialized in improving pharmaceutical drug development, technology transfer, clinical trial operations, and manufacturing. Dr. Franco has worked with the senior management of several large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, NGOs, and multinational organizations to implement complex change management initiatives to improve growth, reduce costs, and remediate quality and regulatory issues. Dr. Franco has eight management consulting articles, 13 technical publications, and three patents to his name and has served on several international technical review and regulatory standards committees. He has a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science in biochemistry from the University of Rochester.

Kenneth Kaitin is Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and Senior Fellow at Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, where he previously served as Director for 23 years. He is also an Advisory Professor at Shanghai Medical College at Fudan University in China, and serves on the faculties of the European Center for Pharmaceutical Medicine at the University of Basel, the American Course on Drug Development and Regulatory Science at the University of California, San Francisco, and the IFAPP Academy-Kings College London Medical Affairs in Medicines Development Certification Program. Dr. Kaitin is internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of drug development policy and science. He consults, speaks, and writes on global trends in pharmaceutical development, and has provided public testimony before the U.S. Congress. A former President of the Drug Information Association, Dr. Kaitin served as Editor-in-Chief of Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, and as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense on bioterror countermeasures. In 2011 he received the Dr. Louis M. Sherwood Award, granted by the Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Investigators; in 2020, he was named Global Fellow in Medicines Development by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Physicians in 2020; and in 2021, he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SAPA). Dr. Kaitin is a director on the boards of Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS), Bio-Tree Systems, Inc., and QCDx LLC. He earned his BS from Cornell University and MS and PhD in pharmacology from the University of Rochester.

Christine is a Certified Strategic Alliance Professional (CSAP). She holds an M.S. in innovation and technology management from Boston University, Graduate Certificates in Management and Biotechnology Strategy from Harvard University, and a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire. Currently, Christine provides consulting services to biopharmaceutical companies looking to grow and create value through collaboration. During her time in the biopharmaceutical industry, she was the Chief Operating Officer at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Senior Vice President of Operations at Forum Pharmaceuticals, and Vice President of Program & Alliance Management at Biogen. She also holds several volunteer leadership roles supporting the University of New Hampshire, Great Bay Community College, and Dana Farber Cancer Institute.