Carolina Dutra, MD, is a Medical Director for Fortrea Clinical Development Services, based in Brazil. She is medical oncologist by training and provides clinical and medical expertise to project teams and other Fortrea departments to advance clients’ drug development programs. Dr. Dutra performs medical and safety monitoring on assigned projects, develops and reviews protocols, case report forms and other data and materials, and contributes to the scientific strategic leadership of the oncology area at Fortrea. Dr. Dutra has more than 15 years of experience as a physician and principal investigator. She joined our company in May 2021.

Carmen Besliu, MD, is Senior Medical Director in Bucharest, Romania. She serves as global lead project physician on clients’ drug development projects and provides medical/scientific expertise to project teams. Dr. Besliu reviews medical data and other materials, is responsible for medical and safety monitoring, and provides training in disease states and protocol-specific requirements to advance knowledge of good clinical practices across the company. She has more than 25 years of experience as a physician, research clinician, medical affairs head, and medical director. Before joining Fortrea, she was Oncology Medical Affairs Head for Novartis Pharma Services in Bucharest. She also has held medical affairs and clinical research positions with Baxter Healthcare, Sandoz, Roche, and AstraZeneca. Carmen joined our company in February 2021.

Carlo Lanza, MD, PhD, is Executive Medical Officer for Fortrea, based in Lugano, Switzerland. Dr. Lanza performs medical monitoring and safety assessments on Phase I-IV clinical trials for Fortrea clients. He leads early phase and translational research early development programs with targeted therapies, small molecules, biologics and gene therapy. Dr. Lanza also oversees development of late-stage development strategies, delivery and approval of registrational programs. He brings more than 20 years of experience in clinical research and development as a physician and medical director, specializing in pediatrics and oncology. 

Before joining Fortrea, he served as Medical Director for Medicines for Malaria Venture in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Lanza has also held leadership positions with Novartis Oncology, Pfizer Global R&D, and AstraZeneca UK. Carlo joined our company in 2012.

Brian Hamilton, MD, PhD, is Senior Medical Director for Fortrea, based in Newton, Massachusetts. He serves as Fortrea Subject Matter Expert for cellular immune-oncology, CAR-T and gene therapy. He also serves as global lead project physician on clients’ drug development projects. Dr. Hamilton has more than 35 years of experience in pediatric medicine, immunology, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and clinical research and development. Before joining Fortrea, he served as Executive Medical Monitor for Chiltern International. He has also held senior-level medical director, director physician, regulatory affairs and clinical research positions with Galena Biopharma, AstraZeneca, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Oncology, and other pharmaceutical and biotech firms. Dr. Hamilton joined our company in August 2018.

Brian is based in Chicago, Illinois, USA and has over 19 years clinical research experience, having worked at several biotech companies, a global CRO and GlobalCare Clinical Trials (acquired by Covance/Labcorp). Brian joined Fortrea in 2020 as a part of the GlobalCare acquisition. He has worn many hats in those years and has hands-on experience in clinical operations, strategic planning and growth, data management, medical writing, project management, portfolio management, line management, business development, contract execution, FDA submissions and working with advisory boards. He has therapeutic experience in Ophthalmology, Women’s Health, Neurology, Rare Disease, Oncology, Cardiovascular and Trauma research and has spent the last 3 years solely focused on Ophthalmology. 

Brian is passionate about patient centric clinical trials and finding creative solutions to reduce site and patient burden in a space filled with complex and debilitating disorders.

Begoña de las Heras, MD, is Senior Medical Director in the Oncology Therapeutic Area, based in Madrid, Spain. Dr. de las Heras has more than 23 years of national and international clinical/clinical research oncology experience including the pharmaceutical and CRO industry, focused on planning and execution of global oncology clinical development from FIH to registration. Dr. de las Heras has held regional and global positions of increasing responsibility in oncology clinical drug, being her main area of expertise the development of early phase oncology programs. She has provided significant contribution to INDs, orphan drug applications and one NDA submission. She has co-authored of 8 book chapters, authored/co-authored more than 20 papers in oncology and named as inventor of two patent applications, according to her contribution to the clinical trials. Dr. de las Heras earned her medical degree from the University Autonoma of Madrid and completed her oncology residence at La Paz Hospital in Madrid. She joined our company in 2016.

Vice President & Therapeutic Strategy Leader at Fortrea, Board Certified Nephrologist, Adjunct Professor at University of North Carolina, Division of Nephrology & Hypertension and past Associate Medical Director at local dialysis units. 

Board of Directors (2018-2023) for the Kidney Health Initiative (a public-private collaboration between the FDA and the American Society of Nephrology). Co-chair of Steering Committee for APOL1 Kidney Disease; work group member (and publication co-author) for Endpoints in IgAN, FSGS, C3G, Peds IgAN and CVO Trial challenges in CKD patients. Steering Committee for NFK CKD Patient Registry (Patient Network) and serves on multiple Advisory Boards and Stakeholder Committees (e.g., NephCure and International Society of Glomerular Disease’s PARASOL for FSGS Endpoints; PREPARE-NS for PROs; NKF Scientific Workshops for Renal Endpoints in Early CKD; Medical Ad Board for Regional NKF, NephCure MN Consensus Group, PCORI, SONG) and invited faculty speaker at many global nephrology conferences. 

Collaborating with sponsors since 2006 on renal clinical development programs across 20+ indications in both CKD and End Stage Kidney Disease and associated complications

Dr. Todorova is a board-certified Neurologist and Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Movement Disorder-focused medical expert with 19 years of clinical research experience. She has mainly worked with patients with neurodegenerative conditions and demyelinating diseases. Dr. Todorova is a member of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society, a chapter author for textbooks in PD and has contributed to 14 publications in international medical journals, 13 of which are in PD and movement disorder as well as 16 abstracts or oral presentations in international medical journals/conferences in movement disorders.

AnnMarie DiGiacomo is an Associate Director in Strategic Delivery & Growth for Infectious Diseases and Critical Care and is based in San Diego, California. AnnMarie has more than 25 years of clinical research experience including in academia, biotech/pharmaceutical and the CRO industry. Her expertise focuses on planning and execution of Infectious Disease, Vaccines and Critical Care with experience in clinical development from first in human to registration. She has held regional and global positions of increasing responsibility in program delivery, with primary focus in Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) and more recently, COVID-19 trials. AnnMarie has provided significant contribution to the FDA approval of treatment for patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. 

AnnMarie earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southern California. She joined our company in 2003.

Andrew Cwiertniewicz, MSN, RN, is an accomplished professional with extensive expertise in vaccine clinical development. Based in Pennsylvania, he serves as a Senior Delivery Director for Infectious Diseases and Critical Care. Throughout his career, Andrew has more than 20 years of experience working with pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Sanofi, and within Contract Research Organizations (CROs). Prior to these roles, Andrew also worked directly with patients in various healthcare and research institutes providing him direct site experiences in research studies. 

Andrew's work has spanned the entire spectrum of vaccine clinical development, from infants to older adults, and his efforts have contributed to vaccine licensing on a global scale as well as notable efforts in several pandemics. He possesses in-depth knowledge of all phases of vaccine development, including clinical research and clinical trial strategy. 

Andrew earned his master’s degree in nursing from Drexel University, bachelor’s in nursing from Cedar Crest College and a graduate nursing degree from St. Luke’s School of Nursing. Andrew served more than 15 years in the United States Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel, Executive Officer for the 8th Medical Brigade (New York, NY). He is a veteran with more than 28 months on active duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He is a graduate of various military officer programs, military medicine programs and schools including chemical, biologic, nuclear and explosive warfare. Andrew joined Fortrea in July 2023.