An exceptional partnership with a team of experts

Isagani (Gani) M. Chico, MD, is Vice President and Global Head for Oncology Therapeutic Expertise, Fortrea Clinical Development Services, based in Baltimore, Maryland. Gani has more than 35 years of experience in oncology clinical drug development from small and medium sized biotechnology companies, CROs and the FDA, focused on planning and execution global oncology clinical development projects from early phase to post approval, leadership of cross-functional strategic teams within medical affairs and clinical development organizations, and management of pharmaceutical, academic and regulatory interactions. Gani earned his medical degree from the University of the Philippines, completed his Internal Medicine residency at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, and completed his Medical Oncology fellowship training at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. 

At Fortrea, Gani leads a dedicated team of more than 50 oncology physicians with an average of 23 years of academic and industry-related clinical experience in countries across Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The oncology medical team executes program and study level medical oversight that span early phase clinical development through late-phase and post-marketing studies. Fortrea also offers a group of consultants that provide expertise in specific tumor indications, technologies and drug classes, including study protocol and clinical development planning and strategy, establishment of target product profiles, feasibility and risk assessment.

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.

Geoffrey Kannan, PhD, MD, is an Executive Medical Director in the Oncology Therapeutic Area, Head of the Americas Oncology Team, and Lead for the Pediatric Oncology Medical Science Leadership Center. Dr. Kannan also provides medical and scientific governance to Sponsors, supporting development and execution of oncology clinical trials. Dr. Kannan brings more than 25 years of oncology scientific and medical experience to Fortrea. Dr. Kannan trained as a pediatric hematologist/oncologist and pediatric neuro-oncologist and has served at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Hospital, and on faculty at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kannan joined Fortrea out of practice as a pediatric neuro-oncologist affiliated with Inova Children’s Hospital and Children’s National Medical Center. At Fortrea Dr. Kannan leads medical and scientific oncology therapeutic expertise and strategic endeavors for Fortrea’s Americas-based oncology physicians, and leads Fortrea’s pediatric oncology initiatives, lending an experienced voice to guide industry partners to bring life-saving therapies to children afflicted with cancer.

Kamal Saini, MD, executive medical director at Fortrea Inc., is a board-certified medical oncologist based in Cambridge, United Kingdom, where he also practices part-time at the Addenbrooke’s (Cambridge University) Hospital. He contributes to the scientific strategic leadership of the oncology therapeutic area at Fortrea and provides clinical and medical expertise to project teams and other Fortrea departments on clients’ drug development projects. He liaises with key opinion leaders and academic cooperative groups with regard to the design, setup, and execution of cancer trials, especially in the breast cancer subdomain. He manages a team of high-performing medical monitors who are a part of the European oncology team. He leads the Precision Medicine and Emerging Therapies Leadership Center at Fortrea, and is also our global Scientific Publications Lead (Oncology). He brings more than 15 years of experience in clinical research and development to Fortrea. He is the author or co-author of several peer-reviewed journal articles. He joined our company in 2015.

Kazuya Iwamoto, MD, PhD, MBA, FACP, is Senior Medical Director for Fortrea in Osaka, Japan. He provides medical and scientific expertise to oncology study teams on clients’ drug development projects and contributes to the development of medical strategies and execution of clinical trials. Dr. Iwamoto has more than 25 years of experience as a physician, research clinician and medical director. 

Before joining Fortrea, he was Head of the Medical Division, including Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, for Hospira Japan in Osaka. He previously served as Head of the Medical Division for Biogen Idec, Head of Medical Affairs for Bayer Yakuhin, and Clinical Research Physician for Eli Lilly in Japan. Currently President and Fellow of the Japanese Association of Pharmaceutical Medicine, Dr. Iwamoto joined our company in May 2016.

Krane Huang, MD, is a Senior Medical Director, China Regional Head of Oncology for Fortrea, based in Shanghai, China. Dr. Krane has nearly 20 years of experience as medical oncologist in cancer hospitals, global pharmaceutical industries and CROs, focused on planning and execution of global oncology clinical development projects in all phases (I-III), different drug types and classes. 

Dr. Krane earned his medical degree from Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology and completed his internal medicine degree and medical oncology fellowship training at Wu Union Hospital. He joined our company in September 2019.

Diana Aguirre, MD, is Senior Medical Director in oncology for Fortrea Clinical Development Services, based in France. Dr. Aguirre has more than 25 years of experience in both oncology clinical practice and drug development within mid and large size Pharma companies, focused on solid tumors and systemic treatments development, planning and implementation of global oncology studies from phase II to phase IV and strategic interactions with different key stakeholders in oncology clinical development. 

Dr. Aguirre earned her Medical degree from the University of Caldas in Colombia and completed her Medical oncology training at the national Cancer Institute in Colombia. She completed a Masters degree in pharmacogenomics and molecular biomarkers in oncology at Paris XI University. She joined our company in January 2014.

Victor Angélico, MD, is a Senior Medical Director for Fortrea, based in Paris, France. He provides clinical and medical expertise to project teams and other Fortrea departments to advance clients’ drug development programs. Dr. Angélico performs medical monitoring on assigned projects; reviews protocols, case report forms and other data and materials, and contributes to the scientific leadership of the Oncology area at Fortrea with a special focus in early phase clinical studies and hematological malignancies. 

Dr. Angélico is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Oncology with 16 years in the clinic and has significant medical and pharmaceutical expertise with 14 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Before his current position, he served as Senior Medical Officer for Chiltern, France and as Medical Director at IQVIA France. Dr. Angelico joined our company in January 2019.

Liliana Baila, MD, is Senior Medical Director for Fortrea, based in Brussels, Belgium. She serves as lead project physician on clients’ drug development projects. Dr. Baila provides medical/scientific support to project teams, performs medical and safety monitoring on assigned projects, and develops and reviews protocols, case report forms and other data and materials. Dr. Baila has more than 25 years of experience as a physician, research clinician and medical director. Before joining Fortrea, she served as Clinical Research Physician for the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) in Brussels. Dr. Baila began her career as a physician training in neonatology and pediatrics at University Hospital in Romania. She joined our company in June 2020.

Moez Benali, MD, PhD, Senior Medical Director at Fortrea, also member of our global medical team, holds a medical degree and board certification in oncology supported by a PhD in molecular biology and anti-cancer drug development. He has over 22 years of overall working experience, 17 of which have been within the pharmaceutical industry (J&J, GSK, BMS, SOBI and Novartis Oncology) across Europe. As a well-rounded medical affairs and clinical development strategist, he has led activities across the life cycle drug development, and registered and launched 11 drugs at EMA, nine of them being the standard of care. 

Dr. Benali is a member of several cooperative groups such as ELN, EORTC and EBMT and head of Oncologues Sans Frontières. He joined our company in October 2022.

Maria Ignacia Berraondo, MD, is Senior Medical Director of oncology for Fortrea, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Berraondo has 10 years of experience in oncology clinical drug development, providing clinical and medical expertise to project teams and other Fortrea departments to advance clients’ drug development programs and contributing to the planning and execution of the scientific strategic leadership of the Oncology therapeutic area. 

Dr. Berraondo earned her medical degree from Universidad del Salvador, Argentina and is a board certified hematologist. She completed her Hematologic residency at Hospital Teodoro Alvarez, Buenos Aires Argentina and Sociedad Argentina de Hematologia. She joined our company in July 2020.

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.

Olga Bodriagova, MD, PhD, is a Medical Director in Oncology for Fortrea Clinical Development Services, based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Dr. Bodriagova has more than 20 years of experience in oncology clinical drug development as an Investigator, CRA and Medical Monitor in all phases of clinical development projects from early phase to post approval in different therapeutic areas, mainly oncology and women’s health. Dr. Bodriagova is serving as global lead project physician, providing medical and safety monitoring on assigned projects. 

Dr. Bodriagova earned her medical degree from the Kyiv Medical Institute in Ukraine and completed OB/GYN residency at the Kyiv City Hospital #2. Dr. Bodriagova received an oncogynecology certification from the Kyiv Institute of Postgraduate and defended her PhD thesis in the field of endocrine gynecology. She joined our company in 2014.

Patrícia Andrade Brandalise, MD, is a boarded clinical oncologist in Brazil since 2005. Dr. Brandalise earned her MD and MsC degrees at Campinas State University (UNICAMP), Brazil, and received her oncology qualifications in the Campinas Institute of Oncology. She is an active member of the Brazilian Society of Oncology. 

Dr. Brandalise has more than 18 years of experience in clinical oncology with clinical, investigational and administrative responsibilities and 15 years serving in pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Fortrea, Patrícia worked for Janssen and Abbvie as Medical Director for Latin America in the Hematology and Oncology Business Unit. She also served as Oncology Medical Leader for Roche Brazil implementing several compassionate use programs in Latin America, preparing and delivering launches for new molecules/indications. She also has been designing and implementing Phase I-II-III-IV trials in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, México, Peru, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Korea and Australia, many as lead physician.

Oxana Bzhadug, MD, PhD, is a Medical Monitor of Fortrea's global team, based in Moscow, Russia. Dr. Bzhadug has significant medical and pharmaceutical expertise with 14 years in the industry. Dr. Bzhadug received extensive scientific and clinical experience as a medical oncologist at Cancer Research Center (Moscow, Russia) for nine years. She has more than 23 years of experience in clinical trials, starting as sub-investigator in Phase I-III clinical trials and continuing in the industry supporting Phase I-IV trials within biotech (Amgen) and CRO. 

Dr. Bzhadug earned her Medical Degree in Moscow Medical and Dentist University and completed her Medical Oncology Fellowship in Cancer Research Center (Moscow). She has PhD degree in molecular biology of Breast Cancer. She joined our company in 2019.

Luca Cantini, MD, PhD, is Medical Director at Fortrea, based in Leiden, the Netherlands. Dr. Cantini has 8 years of experience in oncology clinical drug development from academia to CROs, dealing with all aspects of early and late phase clinical trials. As a Medical Oncologist, he has been actively involved in translational research in Immuno-Oncology with a special focus on thoracic cancers. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pisa, Italy and completed his medical oncology fellowship training at the Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy. In 2020, he was awarded with the ESMO Translational Research Fellowship, to carry on a project titled “ENSURE study - dENdritic cell therapy combined with SURgEry in mesothelioma” at the Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. During the Fellowship, he decided to pursue a PhD trajectory at the same Institution, which has been finalized in 2022. Besides the ESMO Fellowship, he has been awarded with the IASLC Early Career Education Award, the ESO Grant for participating to the “18th ESO/ESMO Masterclass in Clinical Oncology,” the ESMO Grant for participating to the “Translational Research Unit Visit,” the ESMO Travel Grant for participating to the “2022 European Lung Cancer Conference,” and the NRS Travel Grant. He has authored 53 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. He joined our company in December 2022.

Valery Chatikine, MD, PhD, is a medical oncologist, board certified by University of Paris XI and Cancer Research Center of the Russian Academy Medical Science, with more than 10 years medical oncology clinical practice. He is experienced in oncology drug development Phase I-III studies for multiple solid tumors and selected hematologic malignancies with small, large molecules (Immuno-Oncology), ADCs, T cells and NK cells in solid tumors, glioblastoma and lymphoma with FDA and EMA relevant IND/NDAs/BLA submission and approval involvement. Dr. Chatikine is well published with more than 40 publications in peer-reviewed journals (Journal of Clinical Oncology, American Journal of Clinical Oncology, European Journal of Clinical Oncology and Cancer Letters). He is an active member of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO). He joined our company in April 2022.

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.