Research@UIC > Life Sciences Initiative > Presenter Bios

Presenter Bios

Gardner, Mary
Hull, Andy
Joseph-Ridge, Nancy M.D.
Sahelijo, Leonardo M.D.

Mary Gardner

Director of Technology Assessment, Hospira Inc., U.S.

Mary Gardner, Director of Technology Assessment, Hospira Inc. Lake Forest, Illinois. In her role at Hospira, Mary is focused on bringing in new technology and product opportunities to support Hospira's inorganic growth. She leads efforts for the identification & evaluation of these external candidates. Mary's experience in the healthcare and biotech industries includes positions in consulting, process & design engineering and project management. Prior to joining Hospira she held the position of Business Development Manager for the Lawson Health Research Institute and London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario where she was responsible for technology transfer & spin-off of companies created from Innovations arising out of leading Canadian teaching hospitals. She holds an MBA from McMaster University, Hamilton and a BEngSc (Chemical & Biochemical) from the University of Western Ontario, London.

Andy Hull

Vice President, Global Alliance Management, Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc., U.S.

Andy Hull, Vice President of Global Alliance Management at Takeda, oversees the company's commercial and R&D partnerships. Hull is a 20 year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry having held leadership positions at Abbott, Immunex (acquired by Amgen) and TAP (now Takeda). His roles have included VP of Specialty Therapeutics Marketing, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Senior Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Product Planning. This past January, Andy was elected Chairman of the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization (iBIO) Board of Directors, a clear demonstration of commitment to fostering growth of the life sciences sector in Illinois.

Nancy Joseph-Ridge, M.D.

President, Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc., U.S.

Nancy Joseph-Ridge, M.D., is president of Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc., U.S. In this capacity, Dr. Joseph-Ridge is responsible for overseeing the organization's development activities. The organization works to develop new product candidates, conduct post-marketing clinical studies and identify and develop innovative lifecycle management approaches for marketed drugs.

Previously, Dr. Joseph-Ridge worked at TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc., where she was vice president of research and development. Having joined TAP in 2002, she also served as therapeutic area head of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology and department head for publications, medical writing and clinical trial registries.

Before joining TAP, Dr. Joseph-Ridge gained experience in the cardiovascular and arthritis therapeutic areas while working in drug safety and clinical development at Searle, which has since become part of Pfizer.

She also brings extensive knowledge of internal medicine, rheumatology and clinical trial work through her clinical and academic roles at the University of Chicago and Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. At the University of Chicago, Dr. Joseph-Ridge served as assistant professor of medicine, director of the Lupus Clinic and medical director of the clinical trials unit. In addition, she worked at Rush as clinical director of the clinical research unit and the Lyme arthritis unit and was assistant professor of medicine and assistant chairman of the department of Medicine at Rush's medical school.

Dr. Joseph-Ridge earned her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Rush Hospital, where she later became chief resident, and completed her fellowship in Rheumatology at the University of Chicago. Dr. Joseph-Ridge is board certified in both internal medicine and rheumatology.

Leonardo Sahelijo, M.D.

Director, Pharmacogenomics, Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc., U.S.

Dr Sahelijo studied chemistry at the Philipps University Marburg, Germany, and received his medical degree from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. After several years of clinical practice in theNetherlands and United Kingdom he joined the clinical drug development group of Knoll AGLudwigshafen, Germany, in 1991. In 2001 he moved to the US to become Abbott Laboratories global Medical Director Pharmacogenetics. Since 2007 he is the Director Pharmacogenomics at Takeda Global Research and Development.