Leadership at Medidata

Medidata co-founder Tarek Sherif assumed the full-time role of Life Sciences & Healthcare Sector board Chairman for Dassault Systèmes in July 2021.

Over the span of 20 years, in his role as Chairman and CEO, Tarek led Medidata from startup to becoming one of the leading global providers of cloud-based solutions to the life science industry and the largest in clinical development, while defining the vertical cloud company business model. 

Medidata is the most-used platform for clinical trials around the world, powering tens of thousands of clinical trials, with millions of patients. Medidata is now also redefining the patient experience in clinical trials and is helping customers use the power of data and AI to bring safer drugs to market more quickly. In 2019, in one of the largest healthcare technology acquisitions in history, Medidata became part of Dassault Systèmes.

Tarek has more than 35 years of leadership experience in health-tech and finance. Prior to Medidata, he co-managed and managed equity funds focused on public and private technology and life sciences companies, as well as holding various positions in finance.

Tarek received his BA in economics from Yale University in 1984 and graduated from Columbia Business School in 1991, where he earned a degree in business administration and finance. 

He serves as the co-chair of the Partnership Fund for New York City, which is focused on creating business opportunities and jobs for city residents. Tarek also sits on the advisory board of Students on Ice, a not-for-profit organization focused on inspiring youth through educational expeditions to the polar regions, the Musculoskeletal Advisory Board at NYU Langone Medical Center​, the board of directors of Florence Healthcare, and the Yale University Council. 

Anthony Costello, CEO of Medidata, has been advancing the use of technology in clinical trials for nearly 30 years. Across numerous leadership roles from entrepreneur to corporate c-suite, Anthony has transformed the patient, site, and sponsor experience, while accelerating the delivery of life-changing treatments. He has played a critical role in the development of revolutionary technologies—including decentralized trials— and pioneered the use of data solutions and advanced analytics to empower patients via experience-led platforms.

Anthony’s leadership across the Medidata organization spans key strategic planning, critical sales initiatives, and groundbreaking new products and capabilities including the myMedidata patient portal, patient registries, telehealth & virtual visits, Sensor Cloud (Medidata’s advanced system for wearable sensors and digital biomarker discovery), and Health Record Connect (Medidata’s newest technology for connecting patient health records and clinical trial data). Anthony is also a champion for the award-winning Medidata Diversity Program, the industry’s most comprehensive solution to diverse studies, and is committed to supporting better study design, reducing patient burden, improving diversity, and creating connected experiences for all.

Anthony’s impactful contributions resulted in Medidata’s recognition as a market leader in Everest Group’s “Decentralized Clinical Trial Platforms PEAK Matrix®️ Assessment 2023,” with an exclusive “Star Performer” designation for two consecutive years. He was named one of PharmaVoice’s Top 100 Most Inspiring People in Clinical Research, and is the former Chairman of the Board for the Society for Clinical Data Management (SCDM). Anthony is co-founder of Nextrials (acquired by PRA Health Sciences) and Mytrus (acquired by Medidata). He also serves as a board observer for Circuit Clinical, and is the executive sponsor of Medidata’s award-winning Social Innovation Lab, a skills-based volunteering program that pairs employees with non-profit partners.

Janet Butler is the EVP, Head of Global Sales.

Janet leads the commercial go-to-market team responsible for global sales of Dassault Systèmes brands and solutions into the life sciences sector. She joined Medidata in 2016 to lead their strategic partnerships and expanded her role to include leadership of the enterprise business.

Prior to Medidata, Janet worked at IBM for more than 20 years, where she held numerous leadership roles. Her most recent role at IBM was Vice President of Hybrid Cloud. In this position, she led sales of the Hybrid Cloud Software across North America. She also held global roles leading worldwide sales for IBM Commerce and Industry Solutions. Janet arrived at IBM by way of acquisition and led software sales for IBM’s Wall Street business.

Janet graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Tom Doyle heads product development at Medidata, a leader in clinical research technology and a life sciences arm of Dassault Systèmes. In this role, Tom leads Medidata’s work in developing industry-leading solutions for patients, sites, sponsors, and CROs, improving and accelerating the design, execution, and oversight of clinical trials – essential in bringing new and novel treatments for patients. 

Tom joined Medidata in 2019, bringing 20 years of global experience in medtech and data science. Before coming to Medidata, Tom held leadership roles at Janssen and at Boehringer Ingelheim, championing technology to drive new experiences and better insights. He’s passionate about the power of innovation to transform clinical research towards better outcomes and better experiences for patients.

Tom has a BMath in computer science from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

Rick Goldstein serves as General Counsel at Medidata.

Rick leads Medidata’s business-focused Legal and Compliance teams, which support the company’s commercial relationships, protect the company’s intellectual property, advise on data privacy and protection regulations, identify and mitigate enterprise risk, and guide Medidata through cutting-edge legal and compliance issues attendant to creating transformative technology and data analysis products.

Prior to Medidata, Rick was a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, a leading global law firm, where he represented some of the world’s best-known technology and pharmaceutical companies in antitrust, intellectual property, and other complex commercial litigation and investigations. Earlier in his career, Rick was Deputy General Counsel at internet advertising pioneer DoubleClick Inc. and was a member of the commercial/legal team at Merck & Co., Inc. He received a JD from New York University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.

Chris King is Medidata’s Senior Vice President, Head of Customer Success, Services & Support. 

With an impressive 25 years in the technology industry—15 of which have been spent in executive leadership—Chris brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of driving success and growth across global organizations.

Most recently, Chris led the innovation and professional services teams at Salesforce, overseeing large-scale services operations and delivering exceptional results. His deep expertise in customer success, professional services, and strategic leadership will be instrumental in further elevating our customer partnerships and service excellence here at Medidata.

Chris received both his Master’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services from Hofstra University.

Lisa leads the Strategic Customer Engagement organization at Medidata, ensuring our customers’ voices drives the value we bring to market.

Lisa is a seasoned leader in the intersection of technology and clinical research, with nearly 25 years of experience across pharma, biotech, and medical devices. Her roles include leadership of product, engineering, AI research, and customer engagement organizations within both sponsor and product technology companies – supporting the industry’s ever evolving need for innovative technology to improve clinical development and patient outcomes.

Lisa serves on the board of ACRO, and is on the advisory board for the Sexual and Gender Minority Alliance. Lisa holds a BS in Biomedical/Biochemical engineering from the University of Southern California.

Edwin joined Medidata in 2014 and currently leads the Asia Pacific Life Science industry business in Dassault Systèmes. With a robust skillset, under Edwin’s leadership, the company’s business in the region has recorded significant year on year growth, gaining significant number of sponsors and partners while providing valuable insights to the industry.

The Medidata, BIOVIA and other Dassault Systemes integrated applications, is at the forefront of digital transformation in both life science and healthcare. The company’s commitment to advancing research, development, quality, manufacturing, and clinical trials through comprehensive end-to-end solutions underscores its dedication to supporting sponsors and partners across the APAC region.

With a career spanning about 30 years, Edwin brings extensive experience in starting a business and also managing enterprise business from previous roles in companies such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, StorageTek, and Sun Microsystems in various management roles across the region.

Edwin holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Engineering from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Matt Noble is the Head of Patient Cloud, a suite of powerful patient-facing solutions including eCOA, eConsent, and Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT) capabilities. Previously, as Senior Vice President of Product Management, Matt led the product development efforts for Patient Cloud technology since the initial launch of Patient Cloud eCOA, the industry’s first BYOD (bring your own device), app-based solution in 2014. 

Noble has over 17 years of experience building and leading complex B2B software products across both the life sciences and financial services industries. Prior to joining Medidata, Noble was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs, focused on building financial pricing and reporting software.

Jennifer Plumer is the senior vice president, Head of Medidata and Life Sciences Engagement Marketing.  She is an award-winning marketing leader who brings 20 years of well-rounded experience and proven track record across all marketing disciplines within the life sciences technology and healthcare industries.

Joining Medidata in 2016, Jennifer is responsible for leading the global marketing strategy and execution for Medidata and the life sciences sector. Driven by a passion for developing cross-functional marketing strategies and plans, she has developed centers of excellence, operating models, and frameworks that have led to increased impact in the market and greater synergies across marketing teams, channels, and tactics.

Jennifer has received recognition for her marketing initiatives, including Forrester’s 2022 Marketing Program of the Year Award for her strategic work establishing and implementing the audience framework and marketing levers across the marketing discipline. She was also recognized with a 2022 Global ACE Gold Award by the ANA for Medidata’s Solve the Impossible brand campaign.

Jennifer received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Liberty University.

Joe Schmidt is the Chief Operating Officer of Medidata, a Dassault Systèmes company. For the past seven years, Joe led the global Customer Success, Services and Support team supporting over 2,000 customers, delivering professional services from product configuration, ongoing study support, strategic consulting, digital transformations, study management, analytics, and platform management.

Joe has over 25 years of experience building and leading teams in the clinical research industry, largely focused on technology-enabled solutions that help bring better treatments to patients faster. Since joining Medidata in 2017 servicing enterprise clients, Joe created the Patient Cloud services team, focusing on the support of mobile, patient-facing, and decentralized clinical trial solutions.

A proven executive with a record of success managing global service delivery businesses within life sciences, Joe is a highly effective leader, driving efficiency in large company and start-up environments. His specific expertise spans across creating strategic plans, and building and leading diverse teams to deliver sustainable financial results via innovative technologies.

Joe previously served as the Chief Operating Officer of Clinical Ink. Before Clinical Ink, he spent 10 years with MedAvante (now WCG) as Executive Vice President and General Manager, leading the solution development and global expansion activities. Joe started his career at Covance working in clinical operations with roles of increasing responsibility. He has a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Scranton.

Josh Schwartz is the SVP, Chief Financial Officer at Medidata, responsible for overseeing financial planning and analysis, pricing, commercial engagement, controllership, procurement, tax and operations. He and his team partner with leadership across the organization to implement financial strategies that drive forward the company’s strategic and operational objectives. 

Josh brings nearly 20 years of corporate and operational finance experience across the technology industry with a focus on SaaS. Since joining Medidata in 2010, Josh has held financial leadership roles with increasing responsibility, helping to build high performing teams and driving scale across the organization.

Josh received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Maryland. He started his career with Grant Thornton and obtained his CPA license in the state of Maryland.

Esmerita Sepulveda-Lusky is SVP, Head of People at Medidata Solutions. In this role, she oversees critical functions that instill Medidata’s culture, contribute to the company’s overall performance, and advance Medidata’s mission and business.

As the head of the People Organization, Esmerita leads People Operations, Talent Acquisition, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Workplace Benefits and Resources, Talent Management, and Corporate Social Responsibility.

A 25-year industry veteran, Esmerita’s career reflects achievements in leadership and management roles with industry leaders such as Prudential Financial, Unilever, and Merck & Co.

Esmerita’s efforts have contributed to Medidata’s score of 100 on HRC’s Global Equality Index and appointment to the Great Place to Work list for workplace excellence.

Prior to Medidata, Esmerita worked at Prudential Financial for nearly 10 years, where she held numerous leadership roles. Her most recent role at Prudential was Human Resources Director. In this position, she provided strategic partnership to executive leaders and served as the primary HR Business Partner to the Financial Services organization. Esmerita led the HR teams to drive key HR strategies that impacted business performance. She also held global roles managing the HR function at industry leaders including Unilever, and Merck & Co.

A passionate advocate for women’s leadership and career development, Esmerita graduated from the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business with an MBA.

Alicia Staley is Chief Patient Officer at Medidata, leading the Social Impact and Engagement teams to amplify patient, site, and employee insights across the product lifecycle. A three-time cancer survivor, Alicia uses her personal experiences and empathy to champion patient-centric innovation. She created  Patient Centricity by Design (PCbD) in 2018, to provide better structure and governance for developing patient-centric technical solutions, transforming how patients engage with clinical trials. 

With more than 25 years of experience in software design and information systems management, Alicia maintains an extensive network of patient advocates, non-profits, and industry stakeholders organizations to enhance policies and practices to improve cancer care. As a champion of patient advocacy and engagement, Alicia understands the critical issues facing patients seeking to engage in clinical research. 

Alicia has been recognized with numerous awards for her advocacy , including Ellen L. Stovall Award for Innovation in Patient-Centered Cancer Care given by the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, the Eye for Pharma Patient Champion award, and the CHI SCOPE Participant Engagement award for her work on Medidata’s Patient Centricity by Design initiative. 

Alicia is an accomplished researcher and author, having co-led numerous research studies and published extensively on patient engagement and the need for patient-centric approaches in the design and development of clinical trials. Alicia earned a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Syracuse University, a Masters of Information Systems, and an MBA from Boston University. Her passion for patient advocacy drives her mission to create meaningful change in clinical research.