Cytespace believes in creating career and growth opportunities for people instead of plain jobs. Our SSEs are qualified, trained and experienced clinical research professionals who perform the role of clinical research coordinators and more, in terms of supporting the conduct of clinical trials at sites. Our Site Solutions Managers (SSMs), located in the area/region of the sites would be responsible for managing the performance of the SSEs. SSMs are responsible for overseeing trial conduct and quality of delivery from trial sites and developing strong relationships with sites across specific therapeutic areas. Cytespace creates an empowered environment leading to better communication between the team members, and an open and sharing work culture.
Cytespace has an efficient management structure which focuses on processes and systems to ensure smooth management of clinical trial sites. The features of this managerial structure are
- Ensuring a high-quality set up with training and oversight
- Providing specialized training through classrooms and e-learning
- Using train-the-trainer approach for Managers
- Offering assessments and certifications
- Bringing external faculty as and when needed in the training process
- Creating access to technology and integrated systems for managing the workflow
- Facilitating management processes based on metrics and analytics
Management Team
With over 100 person-years of combined experience, the Cytespace management team is focused on creating an organization based on credibility, values and ethics. With demonstrated experience in managing scalable operations, the team is geared towards creating a process oriented and technology based model. With a strong understanding of every aspect of the clinical trial value chain, the team also comes with a wide base of global contacts and a wide network in growing markets.
Suresh Ramu
Suresh Ramu has been involved in Quintiles, India for the last 9 years. His last position was as Vice President & Head – India for Clinical Development Services. He has also headed the Global Data Management Asia Team and helped in setting up the largest multi shift data management operations in Bangalore for processing clinical trial data.
He has led the team that established Asia’s largest Cardiac Health safety lab in Mumbai. A Bachelor in Engineering with an MBA from IIM, Kolkata, Suresh Ramu is a member of prominent biotechnology, biometric and clinical data management organizations and has represented the organization at multiple industry events and conferences.
Rajiv Ramanathan
Rajiv Ramanathan last served as the Vice President, Global Sales, at Quintiles for the Asia Pacific, China and India regions. With a Bachelor’s Degree from Bombay University and a Management Diploma, he has also attended Management programs in IIM Ahmedabad, and INSEAD France.
Armed with 15 years of experience in Indian and multinational pharmaceutical companies, Rajiv has led Business Development activities and was involved in the initiation and launch of Innovex in India. His deep understanding of the industry also helped launch the Site Management Services group in Quintiles India.
Himanshu Shah
Himanshu Shah last served as Executive Director, Corporate Development and was member of the Senior Management Team of Quintiles, India. A post graduate from Gujarat University, and trained in the various programs at Kellogg School of Management (USA), IIM Ahmedabad (India) and ISB Hyderabad (India), he has been involved in various positions in the pharmaceutical industry since 1989.
He joined Quintiles in 1997 as part of initial five member team and has contributed in exceptional ways to Finance, Clinical Operations, Facility Management, Quality Assurance and Corporate Development. He was instrumental in developing the Project Finance Function and his financial expertise has been instrumental in the establishment of business verticals like Innovex, Data Management, Cardiac Safety, Phase I, and Pharmacovigilance.
Board of Advisors
Ferzaan Engineer
Ferzaan Engineer PhD is a cofounder of Cytespace Research Private Limited and also serves as a consultant to the global Quintiles Consulting group.Ferzaan served as CEO of Quintiles in India from 1997 to 2010 and was a member of the company’s Asia-Pacific Management Board. He has contributed to establishing and growing the CRO industry in India.
After obtaining his BPharm in 1985 from the LM College of Pharmacy in Ahmedabad, Ferzaan received a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1990, from the College of Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina, USA. He has completed senior management training programs at the Kenan-Flagler Business School (USA), IIMA (India) and INSEAD (France). From 1990-92, Ferzaan worked as Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the United States, followed by an industry position as Vice-President of R&D at Core Healthcare.
Ferzaan has been a member of professional bodies such as AAPS and AACP. He is a recipient of the AACP New Investigator’s Award and has been awarded research grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His research papers and abstracts have been published in leading international journals. He has lectured at several international conferences and at Cambridge University, IIMA and other academic institutions. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR). He is a member of the CII National Committee on Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and the FICCI Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Committee. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Cellworks and Image Core Lab. Ferzaan lives and works in Bangalore, India with his wife and two children.
Narges Mahaluxmivala
Narges Mahaluxmivala has been a valuable advisory board member with a career in the industry which dates back to 40 years. Joining Quintiles in 1997, she contributed to the organisation’s growing role in clinical research and development in India. Retiring as the President, Clinical Operations, she continues to lend her expertise to the organization as a Consultant.
A physician with Post Graduate Qualification in Physiology, she has spent more than 3 decades in the Indian Pharmaceutical industry before joining Quintiles. Her ability and management in dealing with various responsibilities like liaising with government and regulatory authorities and Board Membership of various Pharmacy companies is well known. Her main interests are people development and competency training at clinical trial stakeholders. A member of the FERCI (Federation of Ethics Review Committees in India), she is also a member of the clinical research committee of the FICCI.