Conference of the Sustainable Clinical Trials Community
Speakers
Organising team
Dr Fiona Adshead, Chair, Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
Biography: Fiona serves as the Chair for the Coalition, bringing together partners to advance sustainable healthcare. With over 25 years of experience, Fiona’s career began with a Bachelor of Medicine from the University of London. She has held many senior positions, including Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Director General in the UK Government, Director of Chronic Disease and Health Promotion in the World Health Organization, Chief Wellbeing Officer at Bupa, and Director in PwC’s health and sustainability teams. Currently, Fiona is a visiting Professor at UCL and a Senior Associate at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, providing valuable insight and guidance.
Fiona advocates for behaviour change as a pathway to sustainable healthcare and is passionate about reframing thinking and developing innovative strategies and programmes to work towards sustainability in both business and in government.
Mr Keith Moore, Programme Coordinator, Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
Biography: Keith Moore is an established environmental and sustainability professional with over 25 years’ experience. Before taking up the role of Programme Coordinator at Sustainable Healthcare Coalition, he was AstraZeneca’s lead on carbon and climate strategy helping the company achieve “A-list” on the CDP annual corporate benchmarking programme and inclusion in both the FTSE4Good and Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.
The Sustainable Healthcare Coalition is a healthcare sector led group that looks for the greatest opportunities to inspire sustainable practices in healthcare through the collaboration of its members.
Dr Nathalie Preiswerk, Community of Practice Moderator, Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
Biography: Nathalie is a scientist turned communications specialist passionate about rethinking drug development and healthcare paradigms to maximise access equity and environmental sustainability. She works with the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition, has founded a consultancy called Net Positive Health, and collaborates with NGOs, trade associations, patient organisations, expert groups and startups, in Switzerland, Europe and beyond.
Ms Sam Holmes, Project Manager, Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
Biography: Sam leads the Coalition’s programme enabling low carbon and sustainable clinical trials and supports work to enhance the sustainability of care pathways. After over 15 years of experience as a NHS clinician, Sam completed a clinical fellowship with the NHS England Chief Sustainability Officer in 2023. She then joined the Coalition in October 2024 as a project manager, motivated by the potential for greater influence in sustainable healthcare and the opportunity to engage with the Coalition’s diverse range of collaborative projects and workstreams.
Mrs Joanna Bell, Project Manager, Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
Biography:
Joanna is a business transformation professional with a passion for the planet and the people it supports. She is PMP and CISL Business Sustainability Management certified and has 20 years of experience in clinical trials.
Her core focus is driving the Coalition’s programme enabling low carbon and sustainable clinical trials; a role that makes full use of her skills in stakeholder management and business strategy allied to her strong commitment to design and implement solutions that balance business objectives with environmental and social impact.
Session 1: Introductions and fundamentals
Discussion panel: The clinical trial carbon calculator – a conversation with experts
Mrs Claire Taylor, Head of Submissions Planning, UCB
Biography: Claire is a biologist by trade and found herself in pharma by accident, starting in Data Management and now Head of Submissions Planning. Now a veteran of the industry with over 30 years in clinical trials working for Pfizer, GSK, ICON and now UCB. What drives Claire has always been ‘to do the right thing’. As well as her day job she is Champion for Sustainability at UCB and is chief nag getting everyone and anyone to listen because she strongly believes that WE ALL need to do the right thing.
Dr. med. vet. Karen Edelmann-Stergiou, Senior Principal Capability Manager, Boehringer-Ingelheim
Biography: Dr. med. vet. Karen Edelmann-Stergiou is a distinguished life science expert dedicated to advancing societal and planetary health for future generations. At Boehringer Ingelheim, she spearheads initiatives in risk-based quality management and sustainability development. She leads the global and multidisciplinary initiative to reduce the environmental footprint of clinical trials and promote sustainable practices. With a wealth of experience in business strategy consulting, international project management, change management, and advocacy, she excels in guiding multidisciplinary teams and driving quality initiatives. A respected speaker, Dr. Edelmann-Stergiou frequently presents on topics related to quality and risk management in clinical trials as well as sustainable development. Her commitment to sustainability extends beyond her professional life, as she is passioned to secure biodiversity by cultivating non-hybrid historical seed varieties.
Mr Régis Pignol, Head of Engagement & Strategic Collaborations, Sanofi
Biography: Graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy in Montpellier, he has held various leadership roles in early clinical operations internationally, spanning Europe, the United States, and Asia. Throughout his career, he has led cross-functional projects aimed at optimizing early-phase development timelines.
From 2010 to 2014, he served as Scientific Director of the Montpellier R&D site, before taking on the role of Project Leader for the Consumer Healthcare division between 2017 and 2020.
Since 2024, he has been appointed Global Head of Engagement and Strategic Collaborations within the Clinical Sciences & Operations in R&D department, where he focuses on strengthening strategic partnerships (IHI, IMI, iLCCT, Trancelerate, etc.) and driving scientific engagement on a global scale.
Mr Simon Aumônier, Director, Aumônier Consulting Limited
Biography: Simon Aumônier has over 35 years of experience working in the environmental field, specialising in assessing the environmental performance of products and services and in renewable energy and waste management. He was formerly a Principal Partner at global consulting firm ERM, where he led its life cycle assessment practice for 24 years. Amongst other roles, Simon was a member of the steering committee for the GHG Protocol product life cycle and corporate value chain (Scope 3) standards, and directed ERM’s work for the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition developing method and guidance documents and calculator tools on footprinting pharmaceuticals and medical devices, on appraising care pathways and on estimating the footprint of clinical trials. His other clients include many global companies in the healthcare sector.
Session 2: Decarbonising clinical trials – an entire supply chain in action
Scene setting: emission hotspots in clinical trials today
Ms Helena Bayley, Consultant, EMEA Thought Leadership, IQVIA
Biography: Helena is a Consultant in IQVIA’s EMEA Thought Leadership team, based in London, and she frequently develops and presents publications such as white papers. Her experience spans a wide range of high-priority topics relating to the pharmaceutical industry and the broader healthcare environment, such as novel therapies in major therapy areas, and she has a particularly strong interest in sustainability and global health. Helena holds a master’s degree in physics from the University of Oxford, where she specialised in biophysics.
Mr Jason LaRoche, Director, Innovative Health – Environmental Sustainability, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Health
Biography: Jason has over 20 years of experience working in Pharma, 16 years of which have been with Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. For the last 8 years, he has been a member of their Innovative Health team where he applies his strong technical and collaboration skills and global project leadership in delivering transformational innovation projects that have the goal to shape the future of clinical trial operations at Johnson & Johnson. Jason is Director of Environmental Sustainability in Clinical Research where he is leading the transformation of Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine’s global clinical operations towards sustainability. He is also co-founder and work package lead for the Horizons Europe funded Digital Health in the Circular Economy project, and a member of the Sustainable Design Engineering faculty at Delft University of Technology.
Dr Stephen Baker, Senior Director of Data Science and AI, Evinova
Biography: Dr. Stephen Baker leads global data science & AI initiatives within Evinova’s Data Science and AI team, driving innovation in clinical trial optimization, operational efficiency, and portfolio monitoring. The majority of his 20+ year career has been spent delivering impactful solutions to complex problems in pharmaceutical and healthcare environments. Stephen is passionate about transforming clinical trial design through modern data science and AI techniques, and fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration to accelerate patient-centric outcomes. One of his team’s responsibilities is the development of the emissions reporting and recommendation capabilities that are used to reduce emissions on clinical trials.
Stories of clinical trial decarbonisation
How an API’s carbon intensity shifts the hot spots in clinical trials
Mr Frederik Dam van Deurs, Partner, Care Pathway Consulting & Green Innovation Group
Biography: Frederik helps executives in pharma unlock the business value of sustainability – turning ESG challenges into strategic opportunities. As partner in Care Pathway Consulting & Green Innovation Group, he has led advisory projects for some of the world’s leading life sciences companies – including Novo Nordisk, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Boston Scientific. His work has spanned sustainability strategy, ESG due diligence, and transformation design, often at the intersection of commercial growth and regulatory compliance (CSRD, SBTi, EU Taxonomy, etc.). Whether designing clinical trial models, aligning decarbonization with market access, or integrating ESG into commercial strategy, Frederik brings a structured, action-oriented approach to complex challenges.
🎙️ Host of the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast (80+ episodes)
🎓 Medical anthropologist by training and external lecturer at the University of Southern Denmark
Addressing IMP oversupply and site pre-loading
Dr Bernd Steffens, IU Sustainablility Lead Clinical Trials, Boehringer Ingelheim
Biography: Bernd Steffens is currently IU Sustainability Clead Clinical Trials, at Boehringer Ingelheim, based in Biberach, Germany. Before that he was for about 30 years Head of the Global Clinical Trial Supplies Unit or related functions in the same company, with focus on Supply Chain Management in general, outsourcing strategies, smart global distribution strategies and digitalization initiatives.
He is chemist by profession with diploma and PhD from the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum and started in industry with process development in API manufacture.
The Case for Greener Supply Chains in Clinical Trials
Mr Patrick Eckenstein, Clinical Environmental Sustainability Lead, Novartis
Biography: Patrick is the Clinical Environmental Sustainability Lead at Novartis, responsible for integrating Environmental Sustainability principles and practices across all trial stages & relevant business processes. In his role he works with study teams across Novartis Development as well as Vendors, Clinical Sites, and Industry peers as part of SHC to ultimately reduce emissions by significantly optimizing the levels of waste, material shipments, unnecessary activities, and travel linked to clinical trials. In 2023, the Sustainable Market Initiative (SMI) awarded Novartis and the Greener Clinical Trials program that Patrick is leading with the Terra Carta Seal for actively leading the change to create a climate and nature positive future. Previously to his current role, Patrick worked 5 years in the Global Clinical Supply function of Novartis and was responsible for the Business Excellence and Environmental Sustainability strategy. In addition, Patrick is a One Young World ambassador and is generally striving to create positive impacts and a better world for people and the environment.
Greener Trials: from the public sector perspective
Dr Lisa Fox, Assistant Operations Director, Institute of Cancer Research – Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU)
Biography: Lisa Fox is an Assistant Operations Director at the Institute of Cancer Research Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU). Lisa has over 20 year’s experience in the operational delivery of both commercial and non-commercial clinical trials. Lisa has professional interests in Pharmacovigilance, Quality Assurance and Greener Trials. Lisa is co-chair of the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP) Greener Trials Group and co-led the development of the NIHR-funded method and guidance to carbon footprint publicly funded clinical trials.
Optimising patient and staff travel towards patient-centricity, cost-efficiency, and environmental responsibility
Mr Christian ‚Fred‘ Hieronimi, CEO Convien, CEO of myoncare group
Biography: Christian ‚Fred‘ Hieronimi is a healthcare entrepreneur with extensive experience in digital transformation and sustainable care. After founding and successfully exiting Medical Intelligence (to Elekta) and humediQ (to Varian/Siemens Healthineers), he now focuses on myoncare, a certified platform for virtual care coordination and patient pathway management, and on Convien, a solution for sustainable meeting and travel management with cost and CO₂ optimization. He is committed to advancing integrated care, patient journey continuity, and sustainable healthcare ecosystems.
Innovation on four wheels: creative ways to cut carbon in last-mile lab deliveries
Mrs Sandra Voss, Director Global Sustainability, Marken, UPS Healthcare Precision Logistics
Biography: Sandra Voss joined Marken in 2012 as Project Manager, Clinical Trial Logistics. During her time at Marken, Sandra managed multiple global clinical trial projects and collected leadership experience in Director roles across Direct to Patient Services, Project Management as well as Personalized Medicines. She supported additional functions within Marken, including sustainability, business development, and quality assurance. Sandra has taken a critical role in meeting Marken’s Environmental, Social and Governance directives by developing related standard operating procedures, training and certifying the Marken network, and managing other innovative sustainability projects. Sandra holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Management and obtained her master’s degree in Sales and Marketing at University of Applied Sciences, RheinMain. She has gained working experience in managing key accounts in the freight forwarding business (DB Schenker) as well as advertising industry (Ogilvy Brains).
My Green Lab: helping labs minimise their footprint
Dr Pernilla Sörme, Senior Director, Research and Technical Resources, My Green Lab
Biography: Pernilla Sörme has worked in the pharma sector for over 20 years. She now works with the non-for-profit organisation My Green Lab, where she serves as the project lead to continually update and improve the My Green Lab Certification Program. She also develops the technical resources and research to support green lab best practices as well as program support in the implementation of the My Green Lab program across the industry.
Kits4Life – destruction to donation
Dr Carly Santer, Strategic Advisor, Pharma and Healthcare Systems Sustainability, Bayer
Biography: With an interest in how healthcare has evolved in response to our environment, along with how this will impact future generations, Carly has worked in clinical research for over 15 years. With a long-term focus on the negative impact that healthcare has on the environment and on global health access inequity, in 2023 Carly was Bayer’s first Impact Officer for the UK and Ireland. She currently leads a team optimising global clinical trial protocol design for sustainability at Bayer, which includes reducing carbon emissions and cost. Carly holds sustainability advisory roles across a range of sectors, she is an alumnus of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).
A Circular Approach to Clinical Tiral Equipment
Alejandra Medina, Chief Sustainability Officer, Quipment
Biography: Alejandra Medina is Chief Sustainability Officer and Quality & Regulatory Affairs Director at Quipment, where she contributes to embedding compliance and sustainability into Quipment’s operations. With over 18 years of experience in quality management systems and regulatory compliance across Europe and Latin America, she has supported organizations in aligning with international standards, health authority requirements, and corporate governance. Her career spans roles at Eli Lilly France, Laboratorios Sophia Mexico, and various consulting missions, where she focused on Quality Assurance, ISO & GMP certifications and cross-border compliance. At Quipment, Alejandra works closely with a dedicated and skilled team, whose collective efforts have led to achievements such as became a Mission-Driven Company, B Corp certification and a strong EcoVadis rating, reinforcing the company’s commitment to responsible practices. She continues to support strategic initiatives with a focus on collaboration, continuous improvement, and regulatory integrity, contributing quietly but effectively to Quipment’s Mission.
From Acorn to Oak: Leaveraging Personal Agency to Inspire Organisational Change
Ms Marlene Knupfer, COA Instrument & Translation, Global Leader for ERG LEAF, Fortrea
Biography: Marlene is an Instrument and Translation Manager at Fortrea, where she leads the licensing and localization of multilingual research instruments with precision and cultural sensitivity. Alongside this core role, Marlene is the Global Lead of Fortrea’ s sustainability ERG, LEAF, and an active advocate for sustainability within Fortrea, contributing to initiatives focused on environmental responsibility and carbon footprint calculations for clinical trials.
Session wrap-up: an ambitious future
Mr Peter Morley, Clinical Sustainability Manager, Novo Nordisk
Biography: Peter Morley is the global environmental lead for clinical trials at Novo Nordisk. Combining his 25+ years in clinical operations with a personal passion for environmental action, Peter is dedicated to finding innovative approaches and implementing practical solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of clinical trials while benefiting the wider industry and society. He collaborates with both public and private sector partners to accelerate action, through initiatives such as the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Health Systems Task Force, the Low Carbon Clinical Trials (iLCCT) group, and the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (SHC).
Session 3: Accelerating impact through collaboration
Discussion panel: Regulators for clinical trial sustainability
Dr Piia Vuorela, Director of Safety and Effectiveness, Finish Medicines Agency
Biography: Piia Vuorela, MD, PhD, MSc (Econ), an experienced healthcare professional and leader with broad international work experience, currently serves as Director of Safety and Effectiveness activities at the Finnish Medicines Agency FIMEA. Her previous career includes serving as Editor of evidence-based National Clinical Practice Guidelines as well as scientific research on the costs of healthcare. Recently, she has initiated a European pilot study on Sustainability of Clinical trials.
Dr Steve Hoare, Deputy Director, Partnerships
Biography: Steve Hoare works at the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), supporting its mission as an enabling, risk-proportionate regulator. In this role, he collaborates with national and international stakeholders to ensure patients have timely access to high-quality, safe and effective medicines. With over 15 years’ experience spanning scientific, quality, and policy roles, Steve brings extensive expertise in regulatory affairs, change management, and science communication. A former analytical chemist and qualified Lead Auditor, he is committed to advancing regulatory policy and sustainability to strengthen the UK’s life sciences ecosystem.
Discussion panel: Amplifying individual contributions through collaboration
Dr Clare Brooke, EMEA Sustainability Lead, Boston Scientific
Biography: Clare grew up in South Africa, where climate change and social injustice sparked her interest in sustainability. She is the EMEA Sustainability Lead at Boston Scientific, leading sustainability initiatives across EMEA. With 16 years of experience in commercial and strategic roles, Clare is dedicated to embedding sustainability and developing collaborative partnerships to identify value levers for Med Tech solutions that benefit both patients and the planet.
She holds a PhD in Biochemistry and a PGCE in Higher Education from the University of Westminster, and completed the Sustainability Business Management course at CISL in 2022. Clare regularly shares her expertise through panels, talks, and workshops, and is passionate about mentoring the next generation via community and school programmes. Outside of work, she is an enthusiastic runner, triathlete, and active member of the Green Runners.
Mrs Clare Campbell-Cooper, Global Head, Digital Health and Innovation, Fortrea
Biography: Clare Campbell-Cooper serves as Fortrea’s Global Head of Digital Health and Innovation has over 25 years of industry experience. Clare is an active member of a number of boards and associations and, a recognised leader within the field of digital health. Clare specialises in strategy development that benefits all stakeholders within the research ecosystem.
Ms Ewa Lindqvist, Director, DCT Lead, Clinical Delivery & Patient Centricity, Merck KGaA
Biography: Industry veteran, bringing over 20 years of experience in global clinical operations in various leadership and management positions, with a strong passion for clinical trial innovation.
Expert in decentralized clinical trials, dedicated to advancing the implementation of technology and digital health solutions in clinical trials.
Prof. Paula Williamson, Professor, University of Liverpool
Biography: Paula Williamson is Professor of Medical Statistics at the University of Liverpool. Her research in evidence-based medicine spans clinical trials, meta-analysis, health outcome selection, and reducing research waste. She chaired the MRC Network of Hubs for Trials Methodology Research (2008–2018) and led the establishment of the MRC Trials Methodology Research Partnership and Doctoral Training Programme. A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and NIHR Senior Investigator, Paula co-founded the global COMET Initiative to improve the relevance of health research, recognised with the Cochrane-REWARD Prize (2017) and MRC Open Science Impact Prize (2022). She co-leads the MRC-NIHR TMRP Greener Trials Group, promoting low-carbon research practices, and her current NIHR work supports carbon footprinting in clinical trials. Her studies, such as the ASYMPTOMATIC asthma trial, exemplify environmentally conscious, data-efficient research with potential benefits for both patients and the planet.
Ms Rebecca Hastings, VP Client Delivery, Parexel
Biography: Rebecca has more than 30 years’ experience in the CRO industry across both operational and commercial roles. Her extensive experience includes leadership of enterprise account delivery with Parexel’s largest customers.
Rebecca also serves as project leadership lead on several innovation workstreams, leveraging her process improvement skills to optimize organizational end-to-end delivery ─ enabling more seamless and faster drug development, ultimately driving study success.
Rebecca serves as Chair of the UK & Ireland Inclusion Committee and acts as a Business Continuity Representative.
Rebecca holds a BSc in Pharmacology from King’s College London and maintains a PMP certification.
Mr Thierry Escudier, Portfolio Lead, Pistoia Alliance
Biography: Leader in Clinical Research, with more than 30 year’s experience in Corporate R&D pharma organizations , Thierry has been promoting patient engagement strategy across the Industry.
Thierry acts as a Portfolio Lead for the Pistoia Alliance, a global, not-for-profit members’ organization collaborating to lower barriers to innovation in life science and healthcare R&D.