Leadership
ARG’s leadership team is on a mission: partner with agile and emerging biopharma companies to realize important therapeutic goals. They are supported by an engaged Board of Directors as well as ARG’s invaluable Strategic Advisory Board (SAB).
The Board of Directors is made up of industry veterans who use both experience and knowledge to provide oversight to the organization. The SAB, with members from across multiple disciplines including sponsors, patient advocacy groups, and government agencies, was formed to improve connectivity and collaboration to solve the most pressing challenges faced in complex clinical trials.
Chief Executive Officer
“We believe helping biopharmaceutical innovations reach people with unmet medical needs is one of the great opportunities of our time.”
Paul Bishop is Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic Research Group, one of the fastest-growing and most successful CROs dedicated to small and emerging biopharmaceutical concerns. Paul, with his co-founder Lyle Camblos, has led ARG to 10 years of record sales and customer growth. Prior to co-founding ARG, Paul served in various management roles at a large global CRO, where he specialized in project and functional management for small biotech projects. His professional experience includes oncological, immunological, metabolic disease and ophthalmological development programs both in project management and business development.
Before that, Paul held clinical development positions and participated in academic research at the University of Virginia.
Paul received his Bachelors of Arts in Biology from the University of Virginia.
President
“ARG is at its core dedicated to unique, innovative, and responsive relationships with clients. Our people are builders: we use our experience, technology, and corporate system as tools to make successful clinical trials.”
Lyle Camblos is President of Atlantic Research Group, and serves as President of the Board of Directors of Pharmaceutical Service Network. In this role, Lyle manages finance and overall operations while mentoring team members on project management and clinical trial execution. He is the architect of ARG’s corporate business framework, developing procedures and processes to manage explosive growth while providing a guiding hand to ensure the company retains the welcoming and supportive atmosphere of an agile small business. Prior to co-founding Atlantic Research Group, Lyle held positions in the clinical research industry, as varied as entry-level site management to clinical research associate and project manager: his career achievements include leadership roles in mid-sized and large multinational CROs.
Lyle’s clinical research expertise extends from novel agents in orphan status phase I trials to post-marketing safety, surveillance, and oversight, including some of the largest and most successful supportive care and chemotherapeutic products on the market today. His knowledge beyond oncology includes plasma derivatives, endocrinology, immunology, and inflammatory disease indications.
Lyle earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the Virginia Military Institute.
Chief Technology Officer
“I remember building applications in days that enabled researchers and sponsors to see exactly how their studies were doing. They were astonished at how that much data could be easily at their fingertips. That reaction is what drives me to continuously improve ARG’s technology and systems.”
Hunter Walker is Atlantic Research Group’s Chief Technology Officer and is responsible for all clinical data management, safety, and data integration and analytics systems. Hunter’s team manages and deploys the software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications upon which all corporate operations run. Prior to joining ARG, Hunter served as a clinical technology developer with a large CRO and a small biotechnology company in San Diego. An early adopter of cloud-based technologies, Hunter constantly evaluates and implements SaaS platforms to improve the management of clinical trials.
Hunter graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and an M.S. in Management of Information Technology.
Hunter’s early career as a technology expert at a clinical research organization helped him see unique opportunities for cloud-based technology to bring powerful insights to all stakeholders in the clinical trial process.
Senior Vice-President of Business Development
“Seeing a molecule or even an idea go from inception to drug approval and playing a small part is an amazing feeling.”
Mike Baker is Senior Vice-President of Business Development at Atlantic Research Group, responsible for leading global business strategies, initiatives, and actions in lead generation, sales, marketing, and proposals. Mike is dedicated to creating awareness throughout the world of the accomplishments of ARG, acting as the organization’s voice in educating sponsors, partners, and stakeholders about ARG, and helping sponsors advance their clinical programs and objectives.
Mike, with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, has participated in the process of bringing numerous drugs to the market. He has previously held leadership roles at Medsource, Covance, Chiltern, Ockham, and ASG, Inc.
Mike earned a BA in Communication from Lynchburg College.
Vice-President of European Operations
“My new role will be challenging but extremely exciting, allowing me to use all my previous expertise and knowledge to put me at the forefront of developing ARG in Europe.”
Dr. Ignazio di Giovanna, ARG Vice-President of European Operations, has deep experience in the clinical research domain, having worked in the CRO field since 1990 and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole since 1986. Previously, Ignazio owned and operated the European CRO CCA Clinical Research, from 1999 until its acquisition by ARG in 2018. Ignazio was a board member at the Institute of Clinical Research (1999-2006) and Chair from 2004 – 2006. Ignazio is past-President of the Clinical & Contract Research Association (CCRA) and a member of the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals Sector Advisory Group (BPSAG), advising and influencing UKTI on trade and investment matters for the sector to help improve the UK market.
Ignazio was co-editor of “Principles in Clinical Research,” published in 2001, and in April 2004 was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Institute of Clinical Research.
Ignazio earned a PhD in Biophysics at Guys Hospital, based on the development of non-invasive cardiovascular diagnosis techniques.
Vice-President of Biostatistics and Informatics
“We want to deliver strategy and quality in the clinical development process through relationships with the Sponsor.”
Dr. Michael Wisniewski, ARG Vice-President of Biostatistics and Informatics, is responsible for driving growth initiatives in three functional areas: Data Management, Statistics, and Drug Safety. Previously, Mike has held leadership positions in several organizations within the clinical research industry: Vice-President of Statistical Fellows at Covance (2018), Vice-President of Biostatistics at Chiltern (2014-2017), Director of Biostatistics at PPD (2011-2014), and Director of Clinical Statistics at GSK (1988-2011).
Mike earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics from North Carolina State University in 1991.
Vice-President of Strategy and Client Relations
“My love of learning paired with an ever-changing clinical research environment allows me to combine academic best practices with rich experiences gained over the course of a career.”
Shay Brill is Atlantic Research Group’s Vice-President of Strategy and Client Relations, responsible for building both the strategies behind proposals as well as the internal and external relationships that go along with them. Prior to joining ARG in 2012, Shay served many roles in a large CRO, including process improvement with a focus on technology, management of global clinical services, and clinical training. She is certified as a CRA with ACRP (Association of Clinical Research Professionals) and as a PMP (Project Manager Professional) with PMI (Project Management Institute).
Shay earned an MSHS in Clinical Research Administration at George Washington University in May 2018, and was appointed Adjunct Instructor of Clinical Research and Leadership at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences for the fiscal year July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.
Shay also holds a BS in Medical Technology from Mary Washington College.
Senior Director of Project Management
“I really enjoy motivating and mentoring others, as well as learning from shared ideas and experiences. It’s rewarding when innovation comes to fruition and impacts others in a positive way.”
Erin Farris is Senior Director of Project Management at Atlantic Research Group, responsible for overseeing Project Management, Clinical Operations, and Medical Monitoring services. Erin, along with her leadership team, provides the training and infrastructure (tools, systems, processes) necessary for individual contributors to be successful in performing the tasks at hand.
Erin looks forward to implementing an efficient and streamlined approach to risk-based quality management using robust data analytics to help project teams make informed decisions. Erin’s clinical research career started at the site level, where she was responsible for managing investigator-initiated and cooperative studies.
Always looking to understand how the pieces fit together and how to improve processes led her into project management. Erin holds a BS in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Virginia Tech.
Director of Data Management
“I am dedicated to clinical research because there is evidence every day these studies improve lives and help patients get well.”
Marilee Newman is Director of Data Management at Atlantic Research Group, responsible for leading the operations and business functions in Data Management and Drug Safety. Marilee provides oversight for all of ARG’s clinical databases, external data integration, coding, reconciliation, as well as Data Management and Drug Safety study files.
In addition, she determines and implements strategic planning for managing changes across the organization for data governance, processes and functions. Moving forward, she will continue to help ARG Data Management and Drug Safety embrace new technologies as the organization implements a unified platform.
Marilee has previously held Director roles at large CROs, overseeing global FSPs and functional areas. Marilee has a BS in Medical Technology from Saint Louis University.
Director of Human Resources
“I love connecting people across functional areas and geographic locations–ensuring we have one global culture and people strategy.”
Stephanie Reese is Human Resources Director at Atlantic Research Group, responsible for hiring top talent, engaging and retaining employees, ensuring competitive benefits and compensation, leveraging people analytics, managing performance, overseeing office and administrative tasks, and processing payroll. As global head of Human Resources, she wants ARG to be a premier, coveted destination where clinical trial professionals feel like family and can take advantage of a myriad of opportunities. Looking forward, Stephanie envisions partnering with the Business Intelligence team to better use data in decision-making, and with the Information Technology group to connect different systems and platforms.
She has held two previous HR positions in global technology-focused organizations and is certified via Professionals in Human Resources (PHR) and the Society for Human Resource Management(SHRM).
Stephanie earned a BS in Psychology from Radford University.