Q & A with Dr. Ayesha Lall, Co-Founder and Principal Investigator, Vertex Research Group

Apr 19, 2023 | Blog

Tell us about your background in clinical research and the inspiration behind the founding of Vertex Clinical Research.

I have over ten years of research experience in both the industry and academic settings. Our founders have over 30 years of combined research expertise. We share a passion for the central nervous system (CNS) indications and wanted our site to focus on indications in psychiatry as well as healthy memory/mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease trials. The US is experiencing a mental health crisis, and it is important to be part of the solution. Having a variety of treatment options available to people of all ages is critically important. We wanted to contribute using our background, knowledge, and experience. Thus, we opened Vertex Clinical Research as a dedicated CNS facility specializing in these indications. We are committed to the discovery of new treatments and to providing the highest level of care to ensure patient safety.

Can you discuss current or past development work that you are particularly proud of?

We worked with an open-label trial (guaranteed study medication/no placebo arm) for patients with moderate to severe depression/major depressive disorder. This drug has been approved in other countries but not in the USA at this time. By trial completion, many patients had received the remission of their symptoms. What was particularly rewarding was to see them functioning much better in their work, schooling, and personal/family relationships. One patient shared that she felt that she had gotten her life back. At our site for this trial, the inclusivity of underrepresented groups was over 50% based on age, race, color, disability, and sex. We were very proud to be a part of this important study.

What interested you in joining Alcanza? Why is joining now important?

Alcanza and Vertex share a common mission. The inclusion of diverse and underrepresented populations is fully aligned with our purpose. Importantly, Alcanza strives to help all people through clinical research, while maintaining the highest quality standards and exceptional integrity. Partnering with Alcanza will allow us to reach even more people together. There is no time like the present and no time to spare in helping people through clinical research!

How does Vertex reach relevant and traditionally underrepresented patient populations for clinical research participation?

This is a truly important mission for us. Patients in clinical trials should reflect US demographics, and we have a long way to go. It is our goal to provide research for all people and provide a safe space where all are welcome. We foster relationships in the community with non-profit organizations, mental health counseling groups, mental health advocacy groups, and with physician practices. In addition, community-based events in our area are very important so that we may share what we do directly with our local neighbors. We also selected Clermont, Florida, for its diversity and rapidly growing demographics.

CNS is a thriving area of drug development. What excites you about the future of this therapeutic area?

The brain is the most complex human organ, and CNS work is the final frontier. Many people know someone who has a mental/behavioral health disorder and/or someone who is experiencing cognitive decline. In addition, healthy aging and memory care are pertinent for all of us. There are so many exciting drugs coming down the CNS pipeline! New investigational products offering novel mechanisms of action are already in various stages of clinical trial testing. Some of these compounds offer different or reduced side effect burdens as compared to already approved medications. These may provide people with relief or remission from their symptoms, possibly with fewer side effects. In addition, there are also products being tested for people with chronic mental illnesses. The more we have, the better we can do to help. We are honored to be a part of this innovative field and to improve the quality of someone’s life through medical research. Mental health is physical health and should be prioritized.

Dr. Ayesha Lall, MD
Vertex Research Group

With nearly 25 years of experience in the research site space, Casey has a long and exemplary career history in pharmaceutical research site services including serving as past President of the Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS), a global organization representing nearly 10,000 clinical research sites in 47 countries within the pharmaceutical industry.

Casey began his career leading a large pharmaceutical research site network, Research Solutions. In 2007, he was recruited to join Clinical Research Advantage/Radiant as EVP of BD and successfully led a network of over 75 research sites conducting clinical trials for pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical devices. Under Casey’s leadership, several crucial partnerships were formed with major pharmaceutical companies which fueled the company’s rapid growth both geographically and therapeutically. He facilitated the acquisition of two competitors securing the company’s spot as what was at the time the largest clinical research site network in the US.

In 2015, Casey and the executive team at Radiant merged with Synexus, a division of PPD. With Casey’s guidance, Synexus continued to expand to 215 global clinical sites in 4 continents and over 15 countries. Casey also served as SVP of Pharmaceutical Relationships at StudyKik, a full-service patient recruitment and retention technology company. Most recently he was the Chief Commercial Officer for CenExel leading the sales and commercial team to become the largest independent wholly-owned site network of 18 sites specializing in both inpatient and outpatient services in the CNS space.

Casey is passionate about representing the site voice within the industry while ensuring every research patient’s journey is a positive one. As a thought leader in the industry, Casey is regularly invited to be a keynote speaker and panelist and is often quoted by the leading publications covering the clinical research landscape. In 2020, he was recognized in PharmaVoice as one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the industry.

Chris Prader is the Chief Information Officer with more than three decades of diverse Information Technology and strategic management experience in leading IT. His career extends not only nationwide, but also globally, as he’s lived and worked internationally throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia.

As CIO of Alcanza, Chris oversees the management, integration and usability of data and information technology within the organization. Along with his team, Chris has helped to make operations more streamlined through technological innovation and transition.
Chris earned a Master of Business Administration degree from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA, and a Bachelor of Science from Arizona State University. He is also a member of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity.

When not working, you can find Chris vacationing with family and “in the sky” as a private pilot.

Rachel Truxall is VP Study Start Up and Performance. She oversees central call center operations, community engagement, and study delivery across Alcanza’s network of sites.

With more than 20 years of combined experience in health care, public health, and leadership roles, Rachel most recently served as Director, Delivery of North America for AES/Synexus, PPD’s global network of clinical research sites, where she oversaw study site performance.

After starting her career as research assistant, early experience with community outreach catalyzed Rachel’s career focus and management progression in several patient advocacy and experience roles of increasing responsibility at research site networks.

Rachel is a licensed Registered Nurse, she earned a master’s degree in public health from the University of West Florida and a bachelor’s degree food science and nutrition from the University of Florida.

As Executive Director, Clinical Operations, Hollis Ryan leads site operations, with responsibility for site capacity and utilization planning, and clinical training.

Hollis has 18 years’ experience in clinical research. Her experience includes positions as Clinical Research Coordinator, Clinical Trials Administrator, Site Manager, Regional Director, and Director of Clinical Operations, managing over 200 Phase II – IV investigational drug and medical device trials. In these roles, her responsibilities included activities supporting protocol development, SOP writing, publications, process improvements, budget management, and overall execution of clinical trials.

Hollis earned a bachelor of science degree from Troy University and is a certified clinical research coordinator. She currently serves as President of the Central Alabama Chapter of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP).

As Executive Director, Human Resources, Kara Chase develops and implements the company’s human resource strategies and initiatives across talent management, diversity and inclusion, employee relations, culture and engagement, compensation and benefits, and training and development.

Kara has 25 years of human resources experience, including more than 12 years in clinical research. With an expansive background in human resources leadership, strategy and management that ranges from small to large organizations, Kara brings specialization in post-acquisition cultural integrations. In 2012, she was the recipient of the Gold Best in Biz Award as Human Resources Executive of the Year, followed by the Silver Best in Biz Award as Human Resources Executive of the Year in 2013.

Kara earned a bachelor’s degree in human resources management and business administration from King’s College She holds both SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management.

Q & A with Dr. Ayesha Lall, Co-Founder and Principal Investigator, Vertex Research Group

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Casey Orvin

Chris Prader

Rachel Truxall

Hollis Ryan

Kara Chase