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Our Club

2020 / 2021 Board Members


PMCQ Board Member
Julie Arel
PMCQ President
AbbVie
 Email      Bio
 
PMCQ Board Member
Iain Boomer
PMCQ VP Planning
AbbVie
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Sina Pousht-Mashhad
PMCQ VP Education
Otsuka
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Christine Kor
PMCQ Treasurer
Execupharm
 Email      Bio
 
PMCQ Board Member
Andrew Merola
PMCQ VP Communications
Communications Consultant
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Shannon Quinn
PMCQ Past-President
Sanofi Canada
 Email      Bio
 
 
PMCQ Board Member
Zeshan Farooqui
PMCQ Director
Merck
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Taline Karasseferian
PMCQ Director
Novartis
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Evelyne Daoust
PMCQ Director
Lundbeck
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Carlos Sarmento
PMCQ Director
Pfizer Canada ULC
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Harvey Schwartz
PMCQ Director
Engage Presentations
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Michael Ness
PMCQ Director
Data-Ad
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Jadzia Ronald
PMCQ Director
Elsevier Canada
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Rana Salamé
PMCQ Director
Merck
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Valerie Barogiannis
PMCQ Director
Lundbeck
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Frank Santin
PMCQ Director
Pro-Staging
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Mariana Amaya
PMCQ Director
Novartis
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Gian Piero Paolitto
PMCQ Director
Pfizer
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Georges Ged
PMCQ Director
Optibrand Rx
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Simon Berdnikoff
PMCQ Director
Novartis
 Email      Bio
 
 

Accounting / Administration

PMCQ Board Member
Lucien Perreault
PMCQ Accountant
 Email      Bio
PMCQ Board Member
Hélène Brassard
PMCQ Secretary
 Email      Bio
 
 

Terry O'Shea

PMCQ Board Member

Terry O'Shea

Director, Strategy and Client Services, Pinnacle Marketing & Education and iMD Health

Terry is Director, Strategy and Client Services for Pinnacle Marketing & Education and also for iMD Health in the Province of Quebec. He is responsible for building and working with clients on their brand strategies, patient & healthcare professional engagements and tactical implementations.

Terry is a senior business manager with 20+ years of broad-based experience within the Canadian pharmaceutical and advertising sectors with strong strategic development of markets and opportunities, endowed with core skills of; sales, marketing and strategic planning.

Prior to iMD and Pinnacle ME, Terry worked for a number of dynamic organizations on both the agency side (kbs+, Sudler & Hennessey) and pharma side (Pfizer Animal Health, Novartis, Merck).

Terry is currently a Board Member of the PMCQ (Pharmaceutical Marketing Club of Quebec), volunteering his time to help share best practices in Pharma within Quebec.

Terry is a graduate of the University of Alberta, B.Sc and MBA.

Julie Arel

PMCQ Board Member

Julie Arel

 

Julie Arel joined AbbVie in January 2018 and is Brand Manager, AbbVie Care, Speciality Products and Oncology. She is responsible for developing patient tools and contributes to the ongoing development of the patient support program. Julie leads the program positioning by synthesizing input from cross-functional teams as well as gathering insights on patient journeys of people living with different types of Cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, Hepatitis C and Endometriosis.

The AbbVie Care program is designed to provide a wide range of customized services including reimbursement and financial support, pharmacy services, lab work reminders and coordination, personalized education and ongoing disease management support throughout the treatment journey.

Julie possesses strong team leadership and organization skills along with a big picture view. This blend of skills contributed to a successful support program launch and re-branding of AbbVie Care, Men and Women’s Health.

Prior to joining AbbVie, Julie held several marketing and project management roles in pharmaceutical, life science, medical device, and packaged goods organizations.

Comfortable in start-up, mid-size, and multi-national environments, much of Julie’s prior work focused on international and US markets particularly in diabetes management. Julie holds a PMP certification as well as a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University.

Iain Boomer

PMCQ Board Member

Iain Boomer

 

For over 11 years, Iain has elevated through various roles within the life science industry with the common goal of creating an effective learning environment to drive skills & capabilities. Iain has driven change & excellence at the Local Affiliate level, at the area level and within a global role. Iain now applies his multinational and multidisciplinary background to the AbbVie Canada affiliate leading the Learning Organization. Iain focuses his efforts on ensuring leadership, corporate and brand strategies are applied in a manner that benefits the learner, and ultimately, our patients.

Iain’s current professional passion is transforming training to a strategic, value orientated, learning experience that is based off the end user, the learner. Having transformed a global organization, Iain is applying his influencing and strategic mindset to bring change to Canada.

Recently returned to home town in Canada and a local affiliate role, Iain’s other passion is staying away from flying everywhere and spending time with his family at home.

Iain holds a bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Animal Biology.

Sina Pousht-Mashhad

PMCQ Board Member

Sina Pousht-Mashhad

 

Sina Pousht-Mashhad joined Otsuka Canada Pharmaceuticals Inc (OCPI) back in 2016 as an intern in Medical and Regulatory affairs. He is currently a Specialist in Regulatory Affairs at OCPI. His work mainly consists of participating in the development and implementation of regulatory strategies, assembling regulatory files/dossiers, conducting regulatory monitoring of approved products and providing regulatory expertise to internal and external stakeholders regarding regulatory issues.

Prior to joining OCPI, Mr. Mashhad held a plethora of different interesting employments. Notably, he worked in Clinical Research in the Intensive Care Unit at the Montreal’s Sainte-Justine Hospital. Moreover, Sina has over 10 years of experience in the service industry. He has been consistently recognized as top salesman due to his ability to quickly build rapport and understand his clientele.

Mr. Mashhad obtained his Bachelor degree in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University. He spent a significant amount of time during his undergraduate degree conducting research in the fields of evolutionary biology and microbiology. He also holds a Master’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences with a specialization in regulatory affairs and pharmacoeconomics from the University of Montreal. Over the course of his studies, Sina has vividly been involved in student associations helping organize educational events, ameliorate the student life and represent students’ needs.

Outside of work, Mr. Mashhad enjoys spending time with family and friends, travelling to new destinations and discovering new cultures.

Evelyn Deros

PMCQ Board Member

Evelyn Deros

 

This year (2018) marks 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry.

I started my career in Quality but knew early on I wanted to be in Regulatory Affairs.

I worked my way to RA in 2003 and have been there ever since.

I currently hold the role of Senior Project Manager at Merck, working on a variety of portfolios including CNS and Oncology.

I hold a BSc from Concordia University, with a specialization in Biochemistry and a Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC) from the RA Professional Society.

On the side, I instruct indoor cycling classes at the YMCA.

Ticia Lee

PMCQ Board Member

Ticia Lee

Associate Account Director at Fusion MD medical science network

Ticia is an Associate Account Director at Fusion MD, where she leads her team members to deliver game-changing initiatives. Her experience in medical education and in online learning allows her to bring depth and breadth of knowledge to each project.

Ticia graduated from Concordia University with a B.Sc. in clinical exercise physiology. Based on volunteer work at a long-term care facility, she developed a keen interest in healthcare. Her organizational and people skills led her to join the pharmaceutical industry in 2003, and Fusion MD in 2011.

She has worked in a variety of therapeutic areas, including diabetes, immunology, cardiology, vaccines and oncology. She is passionate about medical education, and continues to deliver high-quality and customer-focused service.

In her spare time, Ticia enjoys personalizing greeting cards with calligraphy, and playing piano. She loves learning and connecting and meeting with new people from all walks of life and experiences. Most of all she enjoys spending time with her husband and two young children.

Harvey Schwartz

PMCQ Board Member

Harvey Schwartz

 

Harvey Schwartz is a specialist in presentation strategy, skills and content. He combines expertise in marketing, sales, business development, negotiation and the psychology of communication, to offer unique capabilities in the successful delivery of speeches, presentations and commercial messages to professionals and industry leaders. Harvey also provides direct support for presentation and briefing content development, including message refinement, message prioritization and message evolution.

Before founding Engage Presentations, Harvey had extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. During his tenure, Harvey’s career was characterized with a series of positions of increasing responsibility following outstanding delivery of expectations set out for him.

Harvey brings a wealth of insight and experience to the development of powerful presentations and presentation skills for his clients across Canada. With an educational background in marketing, web & database design, entrepreneurship and communication psychology, he aligns factual and emotional appeals, to deliver messages in a manner that engages attention, motivates and mobilizes for action. His clients have leveraged Harvey’s services to more effectively communicate with audiences ranging from internal executive bodies, to key opinion leaders, sales personnel, finance decision-makers, media and the general public.

Harvey’s first mandate was to define a communication value proposition for the organization, as well as define optimal dissemination of this value proposition using both traditional and innovative means, including maximizing our digital capabilities.

Mary Salib

PMCQ Board Member

Mary Salib

Mary Salib obtained a Bachelor Degree in biopharmaceutical sciences and a Graduate Diploma (D.É.S.S) from Université de Montreal in Drug Development with a specialization in Clinical Research.

Mary continued her education and obtained a Pharmaceutical Master's Degree at Université de Montreal by completing an internship in Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

Mary likes to volunteer and seek opportunities to meet people and gain experience.

She has been part of the Crohn’s and Colitis organizing committee since 2015 where she went from being the Volunteer Chair to now being the Co-Chair of the committee.

Mary enjoys listening to music, singing, playing cards, biking and traveling with friends and family. Mary is currently learning Spanish and Italian.

Sophia Kajla

PMCQ Board Member

Sophia Kajla, M.D.

Head, Medical Affairs
General Medicine and Consumer Health Care
Sanofi Canada

Sophia Kajla, is a business-focused, R&D executive and physician. Her work has been instrumental in generating results through clinical trial leadership and R&D success. She has over 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, during which time she has held positions of increasing responsibility and strategic focus.

She began her career in medical affairs at Schering-Plough and thereafter led the pharmacovigilance and medical teams in various related companies.

In 2010 she was appointed as the Head of Medical Affairs for Merck Consumer care and served on the Canadian executive committee. In 2015 she was named Medical Head of the Retina franchise at Novartis where she led the medical strategy, clinical trial program for Lucentis and various pipeline molecules and facilitated the Alcon integration.

Following Sanofi’s reorganization around global business units, in September 2016, Ms. Kajla became Head of Medical Affairs for the General Medicines and consumer healthcare business units in Canada.

Ms. Kajla, a family physician by training, holds a MD degree from the University of Szeged.

Taline Karasseferian

PMCQ Board Member

Taline Karasseferian

Customer Relations/ Trade Specialist – Novartis Pharma Canada

Taline has been working in the pharmaceutical industry for 5 years. In her most recent role, Taline is responsible for sales pacing intel, which represents a major contribution to the latest outlook landing, all by maintaining excellent customer relationship. She previously worked as a Travel & Expenses Analyst, being the lead expense report auditor for the Pharma Canada Division. With her experience, she has had the opportunity to collaborate closely with Compliance, Accounts Payables & Receivables, Business Planning, Financial Reporting & Accounting, and Medical Information departments, to name a few.

Taline holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at John Molson School of Business, double minoring in International Business and Political Science.

Taline loves to travel. She hasn’t been everywhere, but it’s on her Bucket List!

Andrew Merola

PMCQ Board Member

Andrew Merola

 

Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the John Molson School of Business and a certification from the Council for Continuing Pharmaceutical Education (CCPE), and he has been working in the life sciences sector for over 10 years. He got his start working with patient support programs, he cut his teeth in a pharmaceutical advertising agency, and now he is expanding his technological horizons working in the dynamic health IT sector.

Since Andrew was a child, he idolized Spider-Man, and he strongly believes in the saying "with great power there must also come great responsibility". As a marketer, Andrew's great powers lie in his ability to influence people and incite action. And with that power, Andrew believes he has a responsibility to use his skills for the good of the world. Because business and goodness should not be mutually exclusive.

Andrew is driven by the desire to use his strategic thinking and years of experience to help his clients serve their end customers in a way that helps the bottom line, while trying to do a greater good for society.

Brett Miles

PMCQ Board Member

Brett Miles

 

Brett currently works as a Sales Representative with Pfizer Canada and brings a diverse perspective and skillset in Sales, Marketing and Business Analytics. He has experience working across a variety of therapeutic areas at Pfizer and previously spent time working in group health insurance program management with Great-West Life. Brett holds an MBA from McGill University and a BBA from Wilfrid Laurier University with concentrations in Corporate Strategy and Marketing.

Michael Nessn

PMCQ Board Member

Michael Ness

 

Having begun his career in the automotive industry with Ford Motor Co. of Canada, Michael’s passion has always been communications and consumer insights. From retail marketing, to sales operations, consumer insights and sales, he learned the value of organizational synergy to accomplish corporate objectives, at any level.

In 2014, Michael followed his passion for marketing communications and joined the Data Ad team, where he is primarily focused on developing innovative strategies, tactics and programs for communicating to the various stakeholders in the healthcare market. Now offering a multichannel communication platform to the healthcare industry, Michael helps his customers execute their most ambitious campaigns.

Michael is a graduate of the John Molson School of Business and holds a Master’s of Science degree in Marketing. He joins the Board of the PMCQ after attending meetings and events over numerous seasons, as well as supporting the Club through Data Ad. He looks forward to putting his skills to work to help enhance the experience the Club offers the industry.

Santiago Molanon

PMCQ Board Member

Santiago Molano

Purchasing Agent - Novartis Pharma Canada

With over 7 years of professional experience, Santiago Molano has worked in multiple sourcing and operations related projects within large and small settings, both locally and internationally.

Santiago is passionate about tackling new challenges and working with others to achieve objectives. He is eager to learn and discover different aspects of the pharmaceutical industry and sees in the PMCQ a great vehicle to do so. Santiago is an advocate of sports, being himself an active CrossFitter and a strong tennis fan.

Santiago holds a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Concordia University and an MBA from the John Molson School of Business.

Evelyne Daoust

PMCQ Board Member

Evelyne Daoust

 

Evelyne Daoust has evolved in the pharmaceutical industry for 19 years utilizing her science expertise and leadership skills to embrace several roles in commercial. Prior to joining the oncology marketing team at Lundbeck in 2012, she worked for 13 years at GSK in sales and training. Through multiple therapeutic fields (CNS, Oncology, Immunology and Vaccines), she strives to improve patient outcomes by bringing tailored solutions and added value through each interaction.

After several years leading different sales team as a regional business sales manager, she is now a senior product manager at Lundbeck. She believes in partnering with the allied staff and the entire healthcare team including physicians, nurses and healthcare professionals to understand how our industry can improve the lives of patients living with mental disorders.

She enjoys volunteering for community causes in mental health and strives to transpose those values to her spouse and daughter. She takes great pride at participating to fund raising activities in her community.

Her vision of life “Inspire, energize, lead and grow through others”.

Zeshan Farooqui

PMCQ Board Member

Zeshan Farooqui

 

Zeshan Farooqui has been in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 7 years holding positions of increasing responsibility in Clinical Operations managing Clinical Studies in Canada for Oncology, Cardiology, Diabetes, and Neuroscience. He is a change agent and innovator enhancing the way clinical trials are executed in Canada and Internationally.

Mr. Farooqui is a Senior Clinical Site Manager at Bristol Myers Squibb. He is concurrently doing a work rotation supporting the Clinical Trial Planning & Operations global organization to provide technological solutions to enhance the patient journey in Bristol Myers Squibb clinical trials. Also, he is the CTPO hub specialist supporting the Canadian organization to find innovative solutions to support clinical trials in Canada.

Mr. Farooqui efforts have been recognized at Bristol Myers Squibb. He has won numerous awards at Bristol Myers Squibb such as:

  • 2015 R&D and Global Development Operations Galaxy Award.
  • 2014 Bristol Myers Squibb Canada Innovation Bio-Pharma Award.
  • 2013 R&D and Global Development Operations Galaxy Award.
  • 14 time recipient of the Bristol Myers Squibb Star Award.

Mr. Farooqui completed a Master of Science Applied degree from McGill University in Biotechnology. He completed a graduate diploma (D.E.S.S) from the University of Montreal in Drug Development with a specialization in Clinical Research. He completed a Bachelor of Science from McGill University with a major in Microbiology and Immunology. He is a Certified Clinical Research Professional (C.C.R.P.) as accredited by the Society of Clinical Research Associates.

Zeshan has been selected by Bristol Myers Squibb to be a delegate at the One Young Conference in Thailand, Bangkok for 2015. When he is not at work, Zeshan likes to understand how consumer technology can enhance the patient experience.

John Oster

PMCQ Board Member

John Oster

 

John's experience in Pharma spans more than 20 years, with roles in sales management, CHE management, and brand management. John operates an independent consultancy in business planning, marketing strategy, and project execution. John has driven commercial success in multiple disease areas including addiction medicine, cardiovascular, diabetes, dermatology, gastroenterology, urology and mental health. He has also been enriched by working in several different business models and product life cycles, encompassing Rx and OTC, generic and brand name, launch to LOE environments. John hopes his wealth of experiences, desire to learn, curiosity, & interest in adding value will contribute to successful PMCQ decisions and events for members.

Shannon Quinn

PMCQ Board Member

Shannon Quinn

Marketing Manager - Sanofi

Shannon Quinn has capitalized on diverse experience spanning research, compliance, and operational excellence over 20 years in the contract research, biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. As an experienced bilingual PMP professional & Lean Six Sigma practitioner, Shannon has led teams on initiatives aimed at process improvement and cultivated best practices with every project.

Most recently, Shannon enjoys her role of Marketing Manager at Sanofi in the Consumer unit where her results-oriented attitude and passion for patient choice has seen the successful launch of a nation-wide multi-manufacturer patient benefit program to help ensure that cost is not a factor in treatment decisions.

As a Director on the PMCQ Board, Shannon, a self-proclaimed "show-and-tell" junky is hoping to share her experiences and, as a continuous learner, take in the vast knowledge of our engaged speakers. Invitations to connect are welcome for participation in educational, charity or networking events relating to healthcare and Pharma.

Rana Salamé

PMCQ Board Member

Rana Salamé

 

Rana joined the Market Access team at Merck in 2016, where she currently holds the position of Manager Health Economics and Outcomes Research. She worked on a wide variety of therapeutic areas, including HIV, biosimilars and pneumococcal vaccines . Prior to that, she worked as a Clinical Research Assistant in the Hospital setting. Rana is also an avid coffee drinker, a love she developed from her many years working in coffee shops.

Rana holds a Bachelor of sciences in biopharmaceutical sciences, a specialized graduate diploma (DESS) in drug development, as well as a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Science with a specialization in Pharmacoeconomics & Pharmacoepidemiology, all from University of Montreal.

Fun fact: Her name means frog.

Georges Ged

PMCQ Board Member

Georges Ged

 

Prior to joining OCPI in 2013, Georges was a Senior Manager at Teva Canada Innovation (TCI) the branded arm of Teva and lead marketing efforts for different brands (PD, Migraine & MS consumer).

Prior to his role at TCI, he has held various positions with increasing responsibilities within the pharmaceutical & medical device space, fulfilling assignments in different markets and geographical areas spanning from the Middle East to North America.

Holder of an Engineering degree from Concordia University, he is also actively involved in volunteer work in Montreal, specifically with the homeless at the Old Brewery Mission and with "Jeunesse Au Soleil". Georges lives in Montreal with his wife Abla and his 2 children, Tatiana & Joseph.

Frank Santin

PMCQ Board Member

Frank Santin

Director of Sales & Marketing, Pro-Staging Audio Visual Board member, Pharmaceutical Marketing Club of Quebec Committee member, Montreal West Island Chamber of Commerce

Frank Santin has been involved in the audiovisual business for over 30 years. As Director of Sales, he has successfully trained and managed many sales teams. He has organized events in all sectors of the corporate industry, from shareholder meetings to large-scale international conventions. His dedication for proper planning and coordination has been the key to the success of many major conferences in North America and abroad.

He has been involved with several committees, namely as a director on the Board of the PMCQ (Pharmaceutical Marketing Club of Quebec) and sits on several committees for the Montreal West Island Chamber of Commerce.

Simon Berdnikoff

PMCQ Board Member

Simon Berdnikoff

Simon joined Novartis Pharma in 2019 after 3½ years working in Supply Chain at Sandoz as a Demand Planner.

In his current role in Sales Operations, he leads the Incentives & Compensation process for the division, including governance and liaison with key internal stakeholders and cross-functional teams. In addition to this, Simon works closely with marketing and sales teams and focus on operationalizing key projects & initiatives across different franchises.

Simon holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at HEC Montreal, with a specialization in Supply Chain Management. He then pursued an internship in process optimization at McKesson Canada. On a personal side, Simon is deeply passionate about sports – after having played and coached basketball for years, he now practices golf, boxing and sailing. He enjoys reading and learning about real estate investments.

Carlos Sarmento

PMCQ Board Member

Carlos Sarmento

Carlos has over 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

Carlos started his career as a research associate of clinical operations at JSS Medical Research (Merck) before joining Pfizer’s Drug Safety Unit as a safety data management specialist in 2010. He is currently a regulatory affairs manager within the Pfizer Established Health business.

Carlos obtained his Master’s degree in Physiology from McGill University by assessing novel iron chelators and is currently finishing his Diploma in marketing at Concordia University (part time). He also was the first Montreal Chapter Manager for BioTech Annecto.

Information  

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Virtual Meeting
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Online only!

RSVP:
Tel: (514) 486-3458
Fax: (514) 486-4794
 

Creative by Lemieux Bédard
Printing courtesy of Data-Ad
AV courtesy of Pro-Staging
Digital courtesy of
Engage Presentations Inc.

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