Respiratory & Pulmonary Diseases 

Michael George, MBBS, MRCP, MFPM, is the Global Therapeutic Area Head at Fortrea. 

His areas of expertise include global strategic clinical drug development and portfolio and program management across multiple therapeutic areas, including immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and women’s health. 

He has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and CRO industry, having held numerous posts of increasing seniority across all phases of clinical drug development in various therapeutic areas and pharmacovigilance with both regional and global responsibility. At Fortrea, Michael is responsible for medical portfolio oversight, executive governance and clinical business development. He has authored several articles in the areas of IMID development, hypertension, heart failure, diabetic retinopathy and neuro-endocrine modulation.

Veerle Van De Velde, MD, currently works as a Global Project physician in the IGM therapeutic area (TA). In this role, she is responsible for overseeing global trials, mostly in rare respiratory indications. Tasks include protocol development and feedback, team training, site communication, data review and interpretation, DMC and adjudication support, data review meetings, assistance with CSR writing. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and CRO industry, Dr. Van De Velde gets involved in business development activities and may also act in a consultant role as part of a molecular development team. 

Dr. Veerle Van De Velde obtained her medical degree in 1995 and worked as a sub-investigator in the Respiratory Department of the University Hospital in Ghent. She started her career in drug Development in the respiratory area in a hospital setting and spent four years doing clinical research in Phase II, III, and IV trials in asthma, COPD, respiratory infections and pulmonary oncology under the guidance of Prof R.A. Pauwels. As a sub-I, Dr. Van De Velde was responsible for recruiting patients, administering patients’ project-specific procedures, compiling CRF data, collecting adverse event information, and timely reporting to sponsors and ethics committees. She has experience in both basic and clinical research, with expertise in rare respiratory disease and IPF. Later, she worked as a project physician in a variety of indications and was responsible for overseeing global clinical trials, medical data review and team training both internally and externally.

Mark Dowling is a Senior Director of Strategic Delivery & Growth. He has more than 30 years of industry experience, 22 of which are with Fortrea. Mark offers extensive respiratory experience in both strategic and operational delivery.

Dana Romano, MD, is a Senior Medical Director at Fortrea. In this position, she has the responsibility of leading the medical team working on global respiratory Phase I, II, III and IV studies, ensuring the Execution of the projects and direct communication with sponsors, including Medical Monitoring to support to Clinical Operations and Pharmacovigilance and ensure the development of compelling medical strategies and integrated solutions to meet sponsors’ needs. 

Dana started her pharmaceutical career as a Principal Investigator conducting Phase IV studies at her GP practice and Phase I and II studies at Richmond Pharmacology (Croydon University Hospital, UK), before moving to the Clinical Research Physician and Medical Monitor roles at Wyeth and Pfizer UK. 

Dana is board-certified in Family Medicine and has strong medical expertise gained through 11 years of clinical practice experience in Romania and the UK. She worked as a GP for 7 years at her own practice and with the largest private service providers. Dana has more than 21 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and CRO industry and managed successfully Phase I-IV clinical trials in biopharmaceutics, from the early protocol development through to medical oversight of enrolled adults, adolescents and children.

Verena brings more than 25 years of clinical research experience, with 17 years in global project management across Phase I to Phase IV. She has more than 16 years of experience at Fortrea and offers extensive operational background in respiratory indications, including sinusitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis and pneumonia. 

In her previous role as Director of Project Management, Verena provided oversight for several international studies in Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). She currently provides functional support from a strategic perspective to our teams.