Ken Billard

Ken Billard is the Chief Commercial Officer for Cogstate, where he develops and executes strategies focused on expanding the adoption of Cogstate solutions to optimize the measurement of cognition and other clinical outcome assessments in pharmaceutical clinical trials.

Ken manages the global sales organization at Cogstate and brings a 30-year track record leading high-performing commercial teams across eClinical, healthcare and technology businesses. Under Ken’s leadership, Cogstate delivers a consultative and customer-focused sales culture based on accountability, integrity, trust and value.

Prior to joining Cogstate, Ken served as Vice President of Business Development and Global Strategic Partnerships at CRF Health (now part of Signant Health), and has held various global leadership roles with invivodata, McKessonHBOC, and CB Technologies.

Rachel Colite

Rachel is responsible for setting the strategic direction and management for the development, commercialization and operational delivery of Cogstate’s market-leading remote cognitive assessment capabilities supportive of decentralized clinical trials. Rachel has been with Cogstate for 6 years holding positions of increasing responsibility, and she brings more than 15 years of contract research organization experience to her role, including positions at ICON plc (Nasdaq: ICLR) across corporate marketing and early- and late-phase development groups.

Chris Edgar, PhD

Dr. Chris Edgar is an experienced leader in cognitive assessment and clinical endpoint strategy who provides expert guidance to Cogstate’s pharmaceutical customers throughout all stages of trial conduct, from study design and test selection through final analysis.

Prior to joining Cogstate as Senior Vice President, Clinical Science in 2018, Dr. Edgar oversaw clinical endpoint strategy for multiple neuroscience indications in the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research group at Roche. Dr. Edgar has held other key industry positions including Principle Scientist at Roche, Senior Clinical Lead at Bracket/UBC, and Scientific Director at Cognitive Drug Research Ltd. He holds a PhD in psychopharmacology from Northumbria University and has 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience.

Kristi Geddes

Kristi Geddes is Cogstate’s General Counsel. In this role, Kristi acts as principal counsel and advisor to senior leadership and the Board of Directors. She has global responsibility for the company’s legal, contracting, governance and compliance activities.

Prior to joining Cogstate, Kristi was Special Counsel in MinterEllison’s Health and Life Sciences team, with a practice focused on the research, life sciences and biotechnology sector, and was previously In House Counsel at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. She has 20 years’ legal experience in private practice and in-house roles, and has undergraduate and post graduate qualifications across law, health and psychological science.

Sara Giesen

Sara Giesen is the Chief People Officer for Cogstate, responsible for setting the People Strategy, leading the global HR team, building a high performing organization and an inclusive collaborative culture where people and results thrive. Sara is a leader in organisation transformation and brings a sharp customer and external focus to the business, finding creative ways to solve problems and unlock potential. Sara is passionate about putting the human in Human Resources and building forward thinking ways of working.

With over 25 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and automotive sectors, Sara is a strategic leader with deep expertise in all facets of human resources and a strong track record of execution. She is recognised for her collaborative approach in working with stakeholders to deliver ambitious outcomes at local, regional and global levels.

Sara holds an Masters of Business – Human Resources from Swinburne University and is an accredited Executive coach.

Kate Jopling

Kate Jopling is Vice President of Operations for Clinical Trials at Cogstate. She has led the global Clinical Trials Operations division since 2014. In her role, Kate sets the strategic direction for delivery of products and services aimed at helping pharmaceutical clinical trials sponsors, CROs, and sites optimize the measurement of cognition with eClinical technologies and customized solutions.

Kate has more than 15 years of clinical research experience. Having worked in many types of organizations, she brings a diverse perspective to the team and hands-on experience in various industry settings. These include positions at clinical study sites, sponsor, CRO and niche service providers, with companies including Lifespan Health System, Pfizer, and BLCPro. She joined Cogstate in 2009 with prior roles in project management, data management, and product management. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neurobiology from the University of Connecticut.

Brad O’Connor

Brad O’Connor has been Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Cogstate Limited since December 2005. He has responsibility for Cogstate’s overall strategic direction and day-to-day operations as well as development of expansion opportunities outside of the core clinical trials business.

Prior to taking the position of CEO at Cogstate, Mr O’Connor joined Cogstate as Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary in May 2004. Prior to that, he held senior positions at Spherion Group, Australian Wine Exchange and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mr O’Connor is a chartered accountant who holds a Bachelor of Business degree.

Other directorships and interests:

• Cogstate Inc.
• Cogstate Health Inc.
• Cogstate Canada Inc.
• Cogstate Sports Pty Ltd
• Cogstate Healthcare LLC
• Cogstate Spain SL.

Pamela Ventola, PhD

Dr. Ventola is Vice President, Science at Cogstate and Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center. Dr. Ventola leads Cogstate’s pediatric and rare diseases portfolio, providing Cogstate customers with strategic oversight and expert guidance throughout all stages of their study planning and execution – from endpoint selection, rater training and strategic monitoring to final statistical analysis.

As a licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Ventola’s primary clinical expertise is in pediatric neuropsychology and specifically developmental and genetic disorders. Her research interests involve developmental disabilities, and among her recent research is a study on brain-based mechanisms of treatment response in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She is also utilizing eye-tracking paradigms as a novel outcome of clinical trials in ASD and is involved in studies on novel pharmacological therapeutics in individuals with ASD.

Dr. Ventola received her Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology from University of Connecticut and completed her clinical training and Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine, Child Study Center. She serves on the editorial review board of multiple academic journals. Specifically, she serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Journal of the American Academy Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology Review, and the Autism International Journal of Research and Practice. Dr. Ventola has authored numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and scientific presentations.

Darren Watson

Darren Watson is Chief Financial Officer for Cogstate, responsible for the company’s financial strategy, driving business growth and ensuring proper governance and compliance. Mr. Watson leads all aspects of finance operations globally including corporate accounting, financial planning and analysis, internal audit, tax, insurance, and procurement. Mr. Watson is an experienced business executive with over 20 years working in the technology sector across a number of international locations.

Prior to joining Cogstate, Mr. Watson held roles at IBM across finance, operations and strategy roles, most recently as Chief Operating Officer, IBM A/NZ Global Technology Services. His most recent role followed stints in Shanghai, China working in strategy for the IBM Growth Markets Head Office, then in Singapore as the CFO for the IBM GTS Asia Pacific business covering A/NZ, ASEAN, India/South Asia, China and South Korea.

Mr. Watson graduated from Bendigo College of Advanced Education with a Bachelor of Business before joining KPMG and completing his Chartered Accountant qualification.