Leaders in innovation

Dr. Sunu Valasseri is a Senior Medical Director within Clinical Pharmacology Services at Fortrea, with approximately 16 years of experience in Phase I clinical research. He provides medical oversight and safety monitoring for early phase clinical trials, with experience across more than 150 studies, including First-in-Human, drug–drug interaction, bioequivalence, thorough QT, and radiolabeled studies.

Prior to joining Fortrea, Dr. Valasseri served as a Principal Investigator at Labcorp’s Leeds facility, leading multiple First-in-Human programs with a strong focus on subject safety and regulatory compliance. He holds an MBBS, a Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine (UK), and an MSc in Pharmacology, and is actively involved in medical appraisal and academic activities.

• 33 years in industry with experience in pharmaceutical and medical device product development 
• 28 years in Project Management roles 
• Career spans both CRO and Pharma/Biologics/Med Device roles 
• Project Manager/Project Director on two Fortrea home hemodialysis studies 
• Experienced in set up and conduct of hemodialysis studies

Veerle Van De Velde, MD, currently works as a Global Project physician in the IGM therapeutic area (TA). In this role, she is responsible for overseeing global trials, mostly in rare respiratory indications. Tasks include protocol development and feedback, team training, site communication, data review and interpretation, DMC and adjudication support, data review meetings, assistance with CSR writing. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and CRO industry, Dr. Van De Velde gets involved in business development activities and may also act in a consultant role as part of a molecular development team. 

Dr. Veerle Van De Velde obtained her medical degree in 1995 and worked as a sub-investigator in the Respiratory Department of the University Hospital in Ghent. She started her career in drug Development in the respiratory area in a hospital setting and spent four years doing clinical research in Phase II, III, and IV trials in asthma, COPD, respiratory infections and pulmonary oncology under the guidance of Prof R.A. Pauwels. As a sub-I, Dr. Van De Velde was responsible for recruiting patients, administering patients’ project-specific procedures, compiling CRF data, collecting adverse event information, and timely reporting to sponsors and ethics committees. She has experience in both basic and clinical research, with expertise in rare respiratory disease and IPF. Later, she worked as a project physician in a variety of indications and was responsible for overseeing global clinical trials, medical data review and team training both internally and externally.

Laura Vidal, MD, is a certified medical oncologist with extensively experience in oncology drug. She holds two fellowships in Clinical Drug Development from the Royal Marsden hospital, London and the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto. She spent 15 years in clinical and academic positions specializing in the field on oncology and drug development. Throughout her career, Dr. Vidal has authored or co-authored dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles and received numerous health and research awards. Her research interests are focused on early phase development of targeted agents, molecular and imaging biomarkers and anticancer immunotherapy. She holds a thesis title from the London University in oncolytic viruses from her pre-clinical and clinical work in reovirus (Reolysin®). 

She joined our company in December 2020. Dr. Laura Vidal is the Medical Head of the Oncology group in EU. She contributes to the development of Fortrea policies involving medical, safety and therapeutics; serves as point of contact for key clients on business and studies oversight; manages relationships with investigators/sites for clinical trials, and mentors clinical research physicians and medical directors across the company.

Publications

• The Evolving Landscape in Multiple Myeloma: From Risk Stratification to T Cell-Directed Advanced Therapies
• Bladder Cancer, Loss of Y Chromosome, and New Opportunities for Immunotherapy
• Equitable inclusion of diverse populations in oncology clinical trials: deterrents and drivers
• Cancer Trials Ecosystem in India—Ready for Prime Time?
• Biomarkers in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: unraveling the path to precision immunotherapy

Dr Vanja Vucetic is a board certified Clinical Pharmacology specialist and licensed Medical Doctor, educated at the University of Belgrade, Serbia. With over 18 years of experience in clinical pharmacology and global clinical research, developed expertise in medical monitoring, protocol development, and safety oversight across Phase I–IV clinical trials. Focused on early phase development and complex, multi therapeutic programs, and managed studies in diverse therapeutic areas including cardiometabolic disease, neuroscience, oncology, gastroenterology, and immunology.

Liang Wan, MD, PhD, is a Medical Director for Fortrea in Shanghai, China. He serves as lead project physician on clients’ drug development projects, provides medical/scientific expertise to project teams, reviews protocols and medical data, and is responsible for medical and safety monitoring on assigned projects. 

Dr. Wan has more than 25 years of experience as a physician, research clinician and medical director with therapeutic experience in oncology, gastroenterology, and hematology. Before joining Fortrea, he was Medical Director for IQVIA in Shanghai, serving as Global or Regional Medical Advisor on assigned projects. He began his career as a surgeon and clinical investigator at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Rui Jin Hospital. Dr. Wan joined our company in May 2019.

Friedrich (Fritz) Wieser, MD, is an OB/GYN who received his MD from the Vienna Medical University (Vienna, Austria). After completing his gynecology residency at the Dept. of Gynecology at the University Hospital in Vienna, he did a fellowship in Reproductive Medicine at UCSF in San Francisco, CA. 

Dr. Wieser has over 20 years of clinical and research experience in a broad range of indications including endometriosis, fibroids, menopause, contraception, gynecological cancer and medical devices. 

Before joining Fortrea as Medical Director, Dr. Wieser was a Global Medical Director at Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, GE) and served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. During that time, Dr. Wieser served as an NIH-funded investigator and sub-investigator for many gynecology studies and lead several global women’s health programs.

Reigetsu Yoshikawa, MD, PhD, is a Senior Medical Director for Fortrea in Osaka, Japan. She contributes to the development of medical strategies and execution of clients’ clinical programs and provides medical/scientific expertise to project teams. Dr. Yoshikawa has more than 30 years of experience as a physician, medical director/advisor, and professor of medicine in Japan. 

Before joining Fortrea, she was Senior Medical Advisor for Eli Lilly and previously served as Senior Medical Lead for Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma in Japan. Dr. Yoshikawa has served on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals and has authored or co-authored dozens of articles, presentations, and abstracts. She joined our company in January 2021.

Ryan Zantua, MD joined Fortrea in 2020 where currently he works as a medical lead for several respiratory studies.

Dr. Ryan Zantua is a board-certified pulmonologist and received his medical degree at Far Eastern University in the Philippines in 1995. He went on with his residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine at St. Luke’s Medical Center in the Philippines. He did additional training on Pulmonary Physiology at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado and was an international scholar in Pulmonary Medicine at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Prior to joining the industry, he established a successful practice for 12 years at St. Luke’s Medical Center, where he headed a tertiary pulmonary laboratory for 8 years. His practice was focused on pulmonary diseases and critical care, with particular interest in COPD and Bronchial Asthma. In 2014, he joined Advance Medical/Best Doctors/Teladoc Health in Boston, Massachusetts in a Medical Director role, where he established professional relationships with key opinion leaders and experts in a variety of specialties around the globe with his main function of providing medical opinions and telemedicine to their extensive clientele. His introduction to the CRO industry was thru ICON in 2019 where he served as Medical Director for Pulmonary for more than a year, heading their respiratory studies including COVID -19. Currently, he is the study physician for several pulmonary studies, focusing on COPD, Bronchial asthma and IPF.

Kiki Zhang, is the Senior Director of Digital Strategy at Fortrea, based in Shanghai, China. Her area of expertise within Fortrea lies in Digital and Mobile Health solutions, where she specializes in exploring the feasibility, compliance, and localization of digital technologies and solutions tailored for the APAC/China region. She supports clients and CRO study teams in developing the digital health solutions that are fit-for-purpose and practical for local implementation.

Kiki has over 20 years of professional experience in the clinical research industry, with expertise spanning Data Management, Project Management, Client Success and she possesses extensive experience with electronic clinical systems, encompassing the design and maintenance of Electronic Data Capture (EDC), electronic Clinical Outcome Assessment (eCOA), Medical Imaging, Randomization and Trial Supply Management (RTSM/IRT), and Clinical Trial Management Systems (CTMS). This deep understanding of eClinical systems allows her to provide invaluable insights and guidance, ensuring that the digital health solutions developed are robust, compliant, and user-friendly.