Westwood & Wilshire has again sponsored and participated in the Alpha Club’s Annual Founders’ Summit, bringing founders, CEO’s and tech influencers from various industries together to learn from and collaborate with each other. Westwood & Wilshire was represented by Kristin Speer (Managing Director, Advanced Technology Practice) and Laura Wilson (Practice Director). 

The 8th Annual Founders’ Summit was held in Monterey, CA, and featured keynote speakers, breakout sessions and panels with executives from Lyft, Tech For Campaigns, LaunchDarkly, Moment, Insight Engines among others.  Breakout sessions included candid conversations about hiring in a competitive market, advice from tech leaders on scaling effectively, pitching to investors, promoting diversity and inclusion and build functional, high-performance leadership teams, and more.

Simplee, healthcare's leading technology platform for engaging patients and addressing affordability with personalized paths to payment, has hired Liam Goudge as their Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships. Liam joins Simple from Nokia Technologies, where he served as their Head of Business Development and Strategy. In addition to an Engineering degree with honors from Nottingham University and post graduate diploma in marketing from Cambridge College of Marketing, Liam has held positions of increasing responsibility at SuVolta, Tessera, ARM Inc. (UK) and Texas Instruments (France).

The search was successfully led by Kristin Speer at Westwood & Wilshire.

Super, a home warranty innovator that is shaking up the industry with transparent, comprehensive concierge home care and repair manageable from home or mobile devices, has hired Raman Naidu as their Vice President of Operations. Raman joins Super from Credit Karma, where he served as Senior Director of Member Support and Engagement. Raman holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from San Jose State University and has an accomplished history of customer support and experience leadership at Credit Karma, Yellow Pages.com, Yahoo!, Stata Labs, AOL and Apple, Inc.

The search was successfully led by Laura Wilson at Westwood & Wilshire of Westwood & Wilshire’s Advanced Technology practice.

Phiar, an auto AI/AR company seeking to enhance driving safety with a new form of navigation platform that combines intuitive wayfinding with AR visual display, has hired Nasser Iravani as their VP of Business Development & Strategy. Nasser joins Phiar from Here Technologies, where he served as Global Head of IoT Business Development and Partnerships. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from UCLA and has led business, product and market development teams at Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Here Technologies and Perceptronics.

The search was successfully led by Laura Wilson at Westwood & Wilshire of Westwood & Wilshire’s Advanced Technology practice.

Dr. Anne Borgman-Hagey has joined Jazz Pharmaceuticals as their new Vice President & Head of Hematology-Oncology Clinical Development. Dr. Borgman joined from Exelixis Biopharmaceuticals where she was the Vice President of R&D. Dr. Anne Borgman held senior executive level roles including CMO of KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, CMO of Talon Therapeutics and Global Project Head, Oncology at Abbott Laboratories.

The search was successfully led by Tamir Halaban. 

Dr. Robert Charnas has joined Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as their new Vice President & Global Head of Regulatory Affairs. Dr. Charnas joined from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he served as their Vice President of Strategic Program Direction - Oncology. Dr. Charnas has held senior executive level roles in regulatory affairs at Amgen, Cougar Biotechnology and Janssen.

The search was successfully led by Tamir Halaban. 

Westwood & Wilshire announced today that it has acquired the Executive Search practice of Meyer Consulting, Meyer Executive Search is one of the leading executive search firms in the Healthcare space.

Since 2007, Meyer has partnered with leading Healthcare Systems, Hospitals, Academic Medicine Centers and Insurance Companies to successfully fill a number of the most notable leadership roles in the industry. Meyer's clients include Banner Health, Baptist Health, Canopy Health (a joint venture of UCSF Health and John Muir Health), Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, MD Anderson Cancer Center, New York Genome Center, and Summit Health Management. Mike Meyer, the company’s founder, a 25-year veteran of the Healthcare Executive Search space, will be joining Westwood & Wilshire as an Advisor. Ryan Hubbs will become the new Managing Director of the Healthcare Division. Ryan has been in executive search since 2003 and with Meyer Executive Search since 2010. He became a partner in 2014.

Portola Pharmaceuticals, a drug discovery and development company specializing in thrombosis and other hematological conditions, has hired Brian Hogan as their Senior Vice President of Finance. Brian joins Portola from Adicet Bio, Inc., where he served as Chief Financial Officer. He holds both Bachelor and Masters degrees in Business Administration and has filled senior and executive roles (VP, CFO) in financial planning, reporting and accounting at ADP, VaxGen, Genomic Health and Adicet Bio.

The search was successfully led by Andrea Tegstam at Westwood & Wilshire.

Tech For Campaigns (TFC) , a technology company that connects progressive and centrist political campaigns with volunteer, world-class technology talent needed to build a competitive digital presence, has hired Tom Perrault as their Executive Director (CEO). Tom joins TFC from MemSQL, where he served as Chief People Officer. He holds a law degree from Duke University, an undergraduate degree in History and Political Science from Rice University and is a member of the California State Bar. Tom has served as Vice President of Human Resources at Ziprealty, Glu Mobile and Meebo.

The search was successfully led by Khusbu Talati at Westwood & Wilshire.

Virtualitics, a state-of-the-art data analytics platform company merging artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented technologies to visualize and understand data, has hired Jerome Josz as their Head of Finance and Operations. Jerome joins Virtualitics from GoGuardian, where he served as Director of Finance. With multiple honors undergraduate degrees in economics and finance as well as a Master’s of International Finance from HEC Paris, Jerome started as an intern at J.P. Morgan (UK) where he quickly rose to an Associate role and then became Director of Finance at GoGuardian.

The search was successfully led by Laura Wilson at Westwood & Wilshire.

Neural Analytics, a medical robotics innovator integrating ultrasound, robotics and machine learning to assess brain health, has hired Mahmoud Elaskary as their Vice President of Finance. Mahmoud joins Neural Analytics from Natus Medical, Inc., where he served as Senior Director of Strategic Planning. As well as holding an MBA with honors from Pepperdine University and a graduate degree in Accounting from American University Cairo, Mahmoud has an accomplished history of finance leadership at Natus Medical Inc., Hansen Medical Inc., Medtronic Inc. and Kyphon Inc.

The search was successfully led by Laura Wilson at Westwood & Wilshire.

Descartes Labs, a predictive intelligence company whose cloud-based modeling platform uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to collect, analyze and display spatial data for global-scale supply and demand systems analysis, has hired Philip Fraher as their Chief Financial Officer. Philip joins Descartes Labs from Zilliant, Inc. where he was Chief Financial Officer. With a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and an MBA from the University of Rochester, Philip has served in many roles ranging from VP of Finance to CFO, COO and CEO at software companies such as Visual Numerics, Houston Technology Center, FuelQuest, Metal Networks, The Right Place, Bask Technologies, PAS Global, Zilliant and more. 

The search was successfully led by Andrea Tegstam at Westwood & Wilshire.

Virtualitics, a state-of-the-art data analytics platform company merging artificial intelligence and virtual and augmented technologies to visualize and understand data, has hired Mari Jansdotter as their VP Sales - Commercial Enterprise. Mari joins Virtualitics from Birst, where she served as BI Regional Sales Director, Strategic Accounts. She earned a Master’s of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management from Linkoping Institute of Technology, Sweden, and in addition to Birst, has held directorships and executive positions in sales, strategic accounts and business development at Embarcadero Technologies, SugarCRM, Pentaho, Microstrategy, and Sisense.

The search was successfully led by Andrea Tegstam at Westwood & Wilshire.

Dr. Shirali Agarwal has joined Jazz Pharmaceuticals as their new Medical Director, Hematology Oncology. Dr. Agarwal joins Jazz from Seattle Children’s Hospital and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where he served as a physician and Clinical Research Investigator. In addition to a Fellowship of Indian Academy of Pediatrics in Pediatric hematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Dr. Agarwal has held positions of increasing related responsibility at BLK Super Specialty Hospital, Rainbow Children’s Hospital, a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research throughout his career.

The search was successfully led by Chris Tillman at Westwood & Wilshire.

At Westwood & Wilshire, we recognize that people are an organization's top asset. We are passionate about delivering premier talent to the world’s most innovative companies. We are particularly focused on companies ranging from VC-backed start-ups to mid-sized commercial entities and our assignments range from C-Suite to mid-management. Based in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in Silicon Valley, we serve our clients on a local, national and global basis.

William Janzen has joined Ribometrix as their new Vice President – Lead Discovery & Research Operations. Mr. Bill Janzen joins Ribometrix following 30 years of experience across over 500 drug discovery projects. His experience in strategic lead generation activities spans academia, start-up ventures and large pharmaceutical companies. He has held executive and operational positions including executive director of lead generation at Epizyme, director of assay development and compound profiling at the University of North Carolina, president and chief operating officer of Amphora Discovery and director of lead generation technologies at Eli Lilly and Company.

The search was successfully led by Tamir Halaban at Westwood & Wilshire.

At Westwood & Wilshire, we recognize that people are an organization's top asset. We are passionate about delivering premier talent to the world’s most innovative companies. We are particularly focused on companies ranging from VC-backed start-ups to mid-sized commercial entities and our assignments range from C-Suite to mid-management. Based in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in Silicon Valley, we serve our clients on a local, national and global basis.

Islam Hassan, MD has joined Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., as their new Associate Medical Director. Dr. Hassan joins Agios from The University of Texas, where he served in the Department of Cancer Systems Imaging. In addition to his Postdoctoral Fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Hassan has held positions of increasing related responsibility at the University of Texas Neuroradiology Section throughout his career.

The search was successfully led by Gerard Danishek at Westwood & Wilshire.

At Westwood & Wilshire, we recognize that people are an organization's top asset. We are passionate about delivering premier talent to the world’s most innovative companies. We are particularly focused on companies ranging from VC-backed start-ups to mid-sized commercial entities and our assignments range from C-Suite to mid-management. Based in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in Silicon Valley, we serve our clients on a local, national and global basis.

Guy De la Rosa, MD, has joined Takeda as their new Medical Director of Clinical Development - Norovirus. Dr. De la Rosa joins Takeda from Janssen R&D, where he served as the Medical Leader-Lumicitabine. Dr. De la Rosa has held positions of increasing related responsibility at Tibotec Therapeutics, Abbott Laboratories, and Iowa Methodist Medical Center throughout his career.

The search was successfully led by Julie McDonald at Westwood & Wilshire.

At Westwood & Wilshire, we recognize that people are an organization's top asset. We are passionate about delivering premier talent to the world’s most innovative companies. We are particularly focused on companies ranging from VC-backed start-ups to mid-sized commercial entities and our assignments range from C-Suite to mid-management. Based in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in Silicon Valley, we serve our clients on a local, national and global basis.

Marc Wiles, Ph. D. has joined Baxter as the new Senior Director Global Regulatory Affairs Lead, Generic Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Wiles joins Baxter from Camargo Pharmaceutical Services where he served as the Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs. In addition to earning a Postdoctoral fellow at Park-Davis Pharmaceutical Research Division, Department of Immunopathology, Dr. Wiles has held positions of increasing related responsibility at NDA Regulatory Science, Ltd., ERA Consulting, Novexel SA, and Shire, Human Genetic Therapies throughout his career.

The search was successfully led by Tamir Halaban at Westwood & Wilshire.

At Westwood & Wilshire, we recognize that people are an organization's top asset. We are passionate about delivering premier talent to the world’s most innovative companies. We are particularly focused on companies ranging from VC-backed start-ups to mid-sized commercial entities and our assignments range from C-Suite to mid-management. Based in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in Silicon Valley, we serve our clients on a local, national and global basis.

Aftab Alam, MD MBA has joined Baxter as the new Global Medical Director, Clinical Development Strategy Lead – Medication Delivery. Dr. Alam joins Baxter from Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Inc., where he served as their Director of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. Dr. Alam has held positions of increasing related responsibility at Novartis Pharma AG, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, and Gandhi Medical College throughout his career.

The search was successfully led by Chris Tillman at Westwood & Wilshire.

At Westwood & Wilshire, we recognize that people are an organization's top asset. We are passionate about delivering premier talent to the world’s most innovative companies. We are particularly focused on companies ranging from VC-backed start-ups to mid-sized commercial entities and our assignments range from C-Suite to mid-management. Based in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in Silicon Valley, we serve our clients on a local, national and global basis.

Dr. Gregory Ursino has joined Takeda as their new Medical Director, Medical Affairs – Hematology Oncology. Dr. Ursino joins Takeda from Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he served as their Medical Director of Medical Affairs – Health Systems. In addition to his Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Rochester, Dr. Ursino has held positions of increasing related responsibility at United Health Group, Novartis AG, Glaxo Smith Kline, and Blue Cross Blue Shield throughout his career.

The search was successfully led by Michael Cane at Westwood & Wilshire.

At Westwood & Wilshire, we recognize that people are an organization's top asset. We are passionate about delivering premier talent to the world’s most innovative companies. We are particularly focused on companies ranging from VC-backed start-ups to mid-sized commercial entities and our assignments range from C-Suite to mid-management. Based in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in Silicon Valley, we serve our clients on a local, national and global basis.