Global Trial Accelerators™: Fast-Tracking First-in-Human Trials, Anywhere

In this episode, we welcome Alfonso, CEO at Leon Research and Managing Board Member and Marketing Director at AICROS, for an in-depth conversation on leadership, clinical research, and business development in the pharmaceutical industry.

Alfonso has 14 years of experience in managerial and executive roles, with the last 10 years dedicated to clinical investigation. Originally trained in psychology, his curiosity and passion for continuous learning have driven a career that blends science, strategy, and people-centered leadership.

As CEO of Leon Research, a full-service CRO operating in Southern Europe, Alfonso leads with a clear mission: to grow the organization by empowering its people and staying true to core principles of intelligence, creativity, flexibility, and honesty. Through AICROS, he has also played a key role in designing and implementing sales and marketing strategies that strengthen client relationships and expand business opportunities across the CRO alliance.

This episode features Steven Collens, CEO of MATTER, a premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub that has supported over 1,000 healthcare startups. MATTER helps entrepreneurs and organizations innovate faster and more efficiently while increasing the likelihood of long-term success.

Founded by Steven in 2015, MATTER provides an accelerator-as-a-service solution for health systems, life sciences companies, payers, and foundations seeking to collaborate with startups, while also working directly with established companies to strengthen their innovation capabilities.

Steven previously served as Senior Vice President at Pritzker Group, where he helped create 1871, Chicago’s digital startup center and the world’s top-ranked business incubator in 2018. His background also includes leadership roles at Abbott and public service as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun.

In this episode, we discuss the evolution of healthcare innovation, building successful startup ecosystems, and how organizations can work more effectively with entrepreneurs to drive meaningful change.

In this episode, we sit down with Pablo Yarza, a bioinformatics expert with over 15 years of experience developing advanced databases for both academic and industrial applications.

Throughout his career, Pablo has gained deep insight into one of the most critical challenges in R&D: data curation. He explains how poor-quality or inaccessible data can significantly delay research and development projects, and why this issue is often underestimated.

These challenges led him to found BIOINFILE, a company with a clear mission: to make high-quality data more accessible to R&D professionals across sectors. As Pablo firmly believes, good data is the foundation of progress.

This episode features Scott Stout, who is helping reshape clinical trial recruitment through MedVector’s innovative HCP Recruitment model. By engaging community physicians in a new way, MedVector enables access to larger and more diverse patient populations for clinical trial sites.

Their approach allows trusted healthcare providers and their patients to benefit from clinical trials as a care option—without requiring physicians to become investigators or risking patient leakage. By aligning provider incentives, MedVector opens access to millions of patients who are traditionally excluded from clinical research.

In this episode, we discuss the challenges of patient recruitment, the importance of diversity in clinical trials, and how MedVector is redefining provider participation in clinical research.

This episode features Matteo Talotta, a global leader with experience across banking, academia, government, and a wide range of organizations — from start-ups and scale-ups to large multinationals. After working in Canada, Italy, the U.S., Spain, and Romania, Matteo brings a rich, multicultural perspective to the world of clinical innovation.

Fluent in four languages and driven by collaboration, his career has led him to focus on the transformative power of AI in biotechnology. He is currently part of Biorce, an AI-powered organization redefining how the pharmaceutical industry, biotech companies, hospitals, and clinical trial teams develop new therapies. Their goal: to make breakthrough treatments more accessible and affordable by uniting advanced technology with human insight.

In this episode, we’re joined by Sonal Pendharkar Kulkarni, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chief Science Officer at Uvisa Health. With a background that bridges women’s health, the microbiome, digital health innovation, and medical device development, Sonal is at the forefront of creating smarter, science-driven solutions for vaginal health management.

Sonal shares her journey from research scientist to entrepreneur, the insights that shaped Uvisa Health’s mission, and the importance of designing products that truly respond to women’s real needs. We explore her multidisciplinary approach—combining clinical research, product design, and technology—to rethink how women’s health challenges are understood and addressed.

In this episode, we sit down with David M. Kraemer, Founder of a boutique investment bank and former Vice President at Merrill Lynch and Wilshire Consulting. With deep experience across public and private markets, David shares insights on capital formation, innovation, and navigating complex investment landscapes. 

From biotech and MedTech to AI, robotics, and venture capital, his perspective bridges finance and technology in today’s fast-changing world. Tune in to hear how he’s built global partnerships and what drives his success in the ever-evolving world of investment and entrepreneurship. 

Today we’re joined by Dr. Joseph M. Palumbo, a physician-scientist, mentor, and therapeutics developer with more than three decades of leadership in psychiatry, neurology, and neurodegenerative research. 

Dr. Palumbo has led groundbreaking work across the full R&D spectrum—from preclinical innovation to global drug approvals—advancing programs valued at over $1 billion. He has held senior leadership roles as Global Head of Psychiatry at Johnson & Johnson, Vice President & Fellow at Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, and Chief Medical Officer at Zynerba and BioVie. 

His contributions include several successful FDA approvals, including Risperdal Consta®, Invega®, Invega Sustenna®, and Radicava®. At BioVie, he currently serves as Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, and Chief Medical Officer, as well as Principal Investigator on a $13 million U.S. Department of Defense study on Long COVID. 

A Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Fellow of the American Neurological Association, Dr. Palumbo brings a rare combination of scientific innovation and executive leadership—bridging translational medicine, enterprise strategy, and patient impact.

In this episode, we welcome Nicholas Kadysh, CEO of PharmAla Biotech, the company pioneering GMP MDMA production and named the top-performing stock on the Canadian capital markets in 2023 by The Market Herald. 

As Chair of Psychedelics Canada, Nicholas has been instrumental in advancing legal and ethical standards, building strong relationships with government, and shaping a regulatory landscape where healthcare innovation can thrive. His leadership has also been recognized by The Peak, which honored him in 2023 for emerging leadership in healthcare. 

Tune in for an insightful conversation on the future of psychedelic medicine, biotech innovation, and the policies driving change in healthcare. 

In this episode, we sit down with Carolina [Last Name], a senior biotech executive with over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Carolina is the Founder & Principal of Bio Strategy Advisors, serves on multiple biotech and nonprofit boards, and is the Co-Founder & Co-Chair of Latinos in Bio. 

She shares insights from her leadership journey at companies like Genzyme, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, and Novelion Therapeutics, and discusses the future of biotech, the role of angel investing, and why diversity in innovation matters. 

Tune in to hear how Carolina is shaping the next generation of biotech leaders and building a more inclusive innovation ecosystem.