Dr. Ferzaan Engineer is Co-founder & Board of Director of Cytespace. He is Co-founder and Chairman of Cytecare Hospitals and Co-founder and Joint Chairman of Medwell Ventures. Ferzaan serves on the Board of Director of Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Ltd (SPARC). He is an Observer on the Board of AUM Biosciences, Singapore. He is a mentor at Escape Velocity Accelerator (EVA) in Bangalore. Ferzaan helped launch the international CRO industry in India and served as Chairman and CEO of Quintiles India from 1997 to 2010. He was also a member of the Quintiles Asia-Pacific Management Board. He has also served on the Board of Cenduit LLC and on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Cellworks, USA and Image Core Lab, India. A graduate of the LM College of Pharmacy in Ahmedabad, Ferzaan completed his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of South Carolina, USA. He attended executive management programs at INSEAD (France), IIMA (India) and the Kenan-Flagler Business School (USA).

Ferzaan has previously worked as Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the United States, followed by an industry position as Vice President of Research for Core Healthcare. He has been a member of professional bodies such as AAPS and AACP. He received the AACP New Investigator's Award in 1990 and received research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA. He has published papers in leading international journals and lectured at several conferences and at management schools such as IIMA and the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) and has been a member of the CII National Committee on Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and the FICCI Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Committee.

Bhavesh Acharya is Chief Operating Officer for Cytespace and has a total of 22 years of Clinical Research experience across Bio-equivalence, Clinical Development including but not limited to Clinical Operations, Clinical Data Management and Clinical Trial Site Solutions. He has led and managed global and regional multinational projects (Phase I, II III & IV) in various capacities in Clinical and Data Management including a Functional Service Provider (FSP) delivery centre in Bangalore and led a Centre of Excellence for a US-based large pharma.

Prior to heading Cytespace, Bhavesh was associated with Quintiles for 14 years and held various positions. Additionally, Bhavesh successfully helped establish two Data Management offices in China, one in Shanghai and the other in Dalian in a span of 2 years. Played pivotal role in strategic development, finalizing locations and identifying customers for Data Management in China, Japan and South East Asia.

A Bachelor in Pharmacy, Bhavesh Acharya is trained in the various programs at IIM Ahmedabad (India) and Forum Corporation (USA) on building Strategies, Leadership and on Coaching. Bhavesh has participated in various clinical research conferences in India and abroad.

Suresh Ramu is Board Member and Director of Cytespace. He has overall executive responsibility for the Cytespace business and is a member of the Cytespace Africa Board. Ramu has a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, and a Post-graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.
Prior to Cytespace, Ramu served at Quintiles for about 10 years. His last position was Vice President & Head – India for Clinical Development Services, Quintiles India and was responsible for Clinical Operations, Feasibility, Regulatory and Access to Patients. He earlier headed the Global Data Management Asia team which included a large multi-shift data management operation of over 500 staff in Bangalore. Ramu also was involved in the establishment of Asia’s largest Cardiac safety lab with Quintiles in Mumbai.
Prior to joining Quintiles, Ramu was a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, advising on process improvement, cost management and customer relationship management solutions. He was also an early team member for a start-up telemedicine company in India.
He is a member of various biotechnology, biometric and clinical data management organizations and has presented at various global professional conferences.

Board Member, Cytespace. Board Member, Cytecare Hospitals & Medwell Ventures Pvt Ltd.

She co-founded Clindepharm International Pty Ltd, the first clinical Contract Research Organisation (CRO) in South Africa, in 1990, which was acquired by the US-based Quintiles Transnational Inc. She held various senior positions at Quintiles in the US and Brazil, and was also a board member for the company’s two regions – Africa, Asia and Australia (AAA) and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Passionate about Africa and its people, Gillian contributes as a healthcare professional in the Sub-Saharan region and other emerging markets. She has been the Non-executive Chairperson of Cytespace Research Management (a clinical research site solutions organisation), Africa, since November 2012. A member of the International Community for Accordia, she has also co-founded two natural therapy companies – Phytotherapy Pty Ltd and Phytoderm cc. Community-based programmes, initiated by her in Brazil and South Africa, have enabled disadvantaged youth to enter the workplace.

Gillian obtained an MPharm (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, majoring in Clinical Pharmacy. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the Rhodes University, South Africa, and has completed INSEAD’s International Executives Programme (IEP) in France and Singapore.

Board Member, Cytespace. Board Member, Cytecare Hospitals and Medwell Ventures Pvt Ltd.

M.D. In Psychiatry from the University of Natal. MpharmMed and MBChB, University of Pretoria. Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, the Royal Colleges of Physicians, UK. Co-owns and operates a senior living enterprise and related publishing business.

He initially served as the President of Global Product Development and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Early Development and Laboratory Services at Quintiles. He was later appointed as the President for its Africa, India and Australia Regions, and eventually, Latin American too was added to his portfolio.

A pharmaceutical-industry expert, he co-founded several corporations, including PharmaNet Inc., a retail pharmacy franchise. He holds key positions in many companies in this sector and is active as the Vice Chairman of Quintiles Transnational and Chairman of Cenduit, LLC (formerly Cenduit, Inc.). He also served as a Director of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd.
Dr. Oppel was elected as a Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom, in 1997.

Board Member, Cytespace. Board Member, Cytecare Hospitals & Medwell Ventures Pvt Ltd. CEO at HealthCrest AG, Switzerland.

Gerardus Hoogland is a medical professional with a proven record for building strong, growth-oriented phrama and healthcare businesses. His over 30 years of experience spans the research, marketing, entrepreneurial, and operational aspects, of these sectors.

Gert began his career as a research fellow at the Amsterdam University and moved on to hold several roles in the pharmaceutical sector. His key achievements include boosting the market share of Schering, New Zealand, as their CEO. He was also the CEO of the company’s South African operations and managed their pharmaceutical and agrochemical divisions. He founded two businesses in South Africa, which represented international pharma brands in the country. One of them, Pharmaplan Pty Ltd, got acquired by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed Litha Healthcare Group. He served as the Executive Director and Board Member of Lithia Healthcare Ltd and expanded the business to encompass the full spectrum of pharma products from OTCs to orphan drugs. Under his leadership, the company’s sales grew to about USD 75 million. Gerardus is currently the Chief Executive Officer at HealthCrest AG, a Switzerland-based investment and consulting company. He also serves on the board of several enterprises, such as the CBMG (China Bio Med Group listed on Nasdaq OTC), and Allcare AG (a Zurich-based primary care group practice). He graduated as a Doctor from the Amsterdam University and also studied law at the Erasmus University, Holland. He has an MBA from INSEAD, France.

Himanshu cofounded Cytespace and is currently CFO. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Cytespace in India and Africa.

A post graduate from Gujarat University, he has also trained at the Kellogg School of Management, USA, IIM-A and ISB, India. Himanshu has over 24 years of experience in different segments of the pharmaceutical industry.

Himanshu served as Executive Director, Corporate Development and member, Quintiles India Management Board for several years. He joined Quintiles India at inception and lead various business and governance functions including Finance, Administration and Corporate Development. He has served as member of the Boards of Directors of Quintiles Technologies and Quintiles Data Processing Centre. He is a member of various professional bodies including the IMA CFO Forum.