Nick has spent his entire career in healthcare and life sciences and joined Catalyst as Chief Executive Officer in October 2018. For 21 years prior to joining Catalyst, Nick has worked in the clinical research space with Quintiles (now IQVIA) and PPD Development leading clinical operations, finance, IT, and sales/marketing functions. In 2011, he joined Novella Clinical as Chief Commercial Officer, and in 2016, he was appointed President. While at Novella, Nick fervently embraced the need for therapeutically focused clinical research organization (CRO) solutions interlaced with a flexible small biotech customer service model.

Nick earned his bachelor’s degree in London, England, then completed a three-year postgraduate program with the National Health Service (NHS) working in various healthcare and healthcare management settings. From there, Nick went on to lead the Support Services Finance Group for a large hospital in the southern part of England.

Nick is passionate about soccer (aka football in his native England) and played for club, regional, school, and university teams. He continues to pass down his love of football to his sons Eric and Harrison and spends significant time coaching and watching them play. Nick also loves to cook, watch movies, and read.

Nik joined Catalyst in April 2022 as its Chief Operating Officer. He started his career as a biostatistician with Smithkline Beecham (now GSK) where he worked for nearly seven years before joining PPD. While at PPD, Nik spent four years in project management, leading the hematology and oncology portfolio for two. In 2010 he accepted the global leadership role for biostatistics and programming. In 2016 Nik became Senior Vice President, Site and Patient Access, leading the newly formed global function accountable for selecting and activating sites and accelerating clinical trial access for patients across all therapeutic areas.

In January 2020, Nik launched a new business unit focused on the design and implementation of digitally enabled and decentralized trials. The timing coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic, which introduced extreme demand for solutions from this new startup. Nik led the significant growth of that group and the establishment of those solutions.

Vern Davenport is Partner at NovaQuest Capital Management and has more than 35 years experience of building and transforming healthcare technology and services companies. He is Investment Committee Member at NovaQuest Private Equity.

Before NovaQuest, Vern was CEO and Board Member at Medfusion. Previously, Vern was Chairman and CEO of Medquist before and after the privatization of the company. He rebranded the company to M*Modal and led the take private process, resulting in the sale to One Equity Partners.

Vern’s experience includes President, Allscripts; CEO, Misys Healthcare; GM & EVP, Kodak Health Group (now Carestream Health) and executive leadership roles at Siemens and Shared Medical Systems. He also was at IBM for 11 years, serving in sales leadership and executive management positions.

Vern received an MBA and a BSBA in Business from East Carolina University.  He serves on the East Carolina Board of Trustees and the WakeMed Health and Hospitals Boards and has held other board positions.

Jeff Edwards has over 18 years of investment experience and is a Partner at NovaQuest Capital Management. He is responsible for transaction origination, investment policy, fundraising, and the day-to-day management of NovaQuest Capital Management. In addition, he directs the Private Equity team in acquisitions, divestitures, and oversight of portfolio companies.

Prior to joining NovaQuest, Jeff co-led the Principal Investment Private Equity program at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, leading the efforts in the Healthcare and Industrial sectors across a variety of geographies. In that role, he was responsible for making investment decisions, deal origination, as well as portfolio construction and portfolio management.

Jeff’s previous experience also includes M&A advisory work for Raymond James Capital Markets, focusing on middle-market companies. He also worked for State Street Global Markets (SSGM). His efforts were focused on private equity fund formation, portfolio management, and investment due diligence. Before moving back to the capital markets sector, Jeff worked in finance and administrative roles in the healthcare industry with Carolinas HealthCare Systems and HCA, Inc. He started his career with the middle market investment bank RW Baird.

Jeff received an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MSF from Boston College, and a BA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He is also a CAIA Charter Holder.

Dr. Jeff Kasher is a pharmaceutical development executive with more than 30 years of experience. He focused on improving clinical outcomes, bringing patients and research sites into the drug development process, and decreasing time to market.  He is a top 20 Innovators Changing the Face of the Clinical Trials Industry and was recognized on The Medicine Maker Power List 2015.

Jeff spent 28 years at Eli Lilly and Company serving in various leadership positions, including VP of Clinical Innovation and Implementation and VP and Chief Operation Officer of the Global Clinical Development Organization.

Jeff was a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Yale University School of Medicine and received a PhD, Pharmacology from the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. He received a BS in Chemistry from Franklin & Marshall College. Jeff currently serves as Board Director of Javara Research, an integrated research organization, and is President of Patients Can’t Wait LLC.

Ms. Robin Smith Hoke is a seasoned pharmaceutical and healthcare executive with a passion for linking commercial strategies with innovation to drive company growth and transformation. She is results-oriented and thrives on aligning and building productive and engaged management teams.

For the past 6 years, Ms. Hoke served as President and CEO of Leiters, an FDA-registered outsourcing facility under 503B of the DQSA. Under her leadership, Leiters experienced a growth rate exceeding 1200% and a successful sale to a private equity (PE) financial sponsor.

Prior, at Cardinal Health, her roles included Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and Strategic Initiatives, Generic Pharmaceuticals, and General Counsel for the pharmaceutical technologies & services business segment. She also held legal roles at Abbott Laboratories and was Partner in the business law firm of Kegler, Brown, Hill & Ritter, Co., L.P.A.

 Ms. Hoke has served on several private and public boards, including Ricerca Biosciences, a PE-backed, pre-clinical CRO, and Camargo Pharmaceuticals, LLC., a global 505B2 specialty services company. Her public board experience includes Aeterna Zentaris and Oncobiologics. She currently serves on the board of AeroSafe Global, a strategic advisor to Leiters.  She received her law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School, cum laude, and her undergraduate degrees from Michigan State University.

Jackie Kent is a global pharma executive, board director, and advisor with a passion for working toward all patients having access to clinical trials. Comprehensive knowledge of innovative healthcare technology, clinical trial design and execution, as well as clinical trial supply planning. Develops innovative, transformative capabilities, casting vision, change leader and advocate, managing process innovation portfolio, building collaborative relationships, and launching new IT platforms and strategies. Deeply knowledgeable around the dynamics of diverse healthcare systems, GCP/GMP regulations, program development, clinical development and quality outcomes, as well as experience with global regulatory agencies.