PEOPLE

Real world, real time experience.

Years of real world experience is essential in evaluating a consulting team, but it’s not enough. Technology moves quickly and what was true yesterday may not be true today or tomorrow. At StraTactic, we keep up-to-date on market trends by working directly with University technologies on the leading edge of each life science vertical. This keeps us aware of groundbreaking trends and in conversation with scientific thought leaders.

James F. Jordan

President and CEO

Significant changes in the Life Sciences industry:

On the treatment side, we are moving beyond providing acute care to a greater emphasis on disease management. But to achieve this, greater collaboration has to happen between companies and markets that have traditionally considered themselves competitors. On the business side, analytics will become increasingly important to sales. As health care changes, the complexity of the value chain will continue to change. It’s not just verticals anymore, but more horizontal, meaning more partnerships beyond what has been the norm. Also, with the new ICD-11 coding standards digitizing health care to a greater degree, non-health care companies will be able to seamlessly enter this market, creating new opportunities for partnerships.

How does your prior career experience benefit your role today?

I began working in finance, then through a series of opportunities, moved through operations management, manufacturing, engineering, supervising plant managers, quality assurance, marketing, and OEM sales. That comprehensive progression of responsibilities has provided enormously valuable perspective and experience to help our startups. They are challenged with simultaneously balancing and successfully executing product development and testing, customer satisfaction, and the needs of both investors and potential acquirers.

What makes this work fulfilling?

I’ve been fortunate to have served in a number of consulting roles over the years, and watching individuals and organizations achieve the necessary convergences and partnerships to achieve success has always been extremely rewarding.

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Diane Hill

Sr. Consultant

First Life Sciences Job:

Post-MBA, I took a job in medical device sales and never looked back. At that time, I covered 8 major disciplines of surgery; how does one do that? It was pretty unique to work with such a wide array of technologies and surgical procedures; I’ve literally seen the body from the inside out. I think that experience has been foundational in my ability to quickly assess new technologies and understand the impact on current market trends.

Why StraTactic?

Every day is different. A new problem to solve. A new client to help. New discoveries about the ever-changing segment of Life Sciences. For someone with a low tolerance for boredom and repetition, it’s a perfect environment for me! And being able to work with really, really smart and experienced people it challenges me to bring my ‘A game’ every day.

What Does a Successful Day Look Like:

Any day that includes a client meeting where progress is made, there are ‘light bulb’ moments and new pathways discovered. And it must include laughter too!

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Alan West

Sr. Consultant

How does your experience translate to your consulting role today?

I’ve been in medical device start-ups and small companies since my first experience at J&J.  The experience provides me with a broad background in technologies, medical applications, corporate structure, IP, and the entire start-up environment.

A great story from your career:

My company had committed to shipping its first clinical prototype to a hospital on a Monday, and the project had experienced significant delays due to vendors shipping components and parts late. With our credibility on the line, the entire company spent the weekend assembling, testing, and preparing the device for shipment – which included working through a full-blown weekend hurricane – but by Sunday evening, we had done it. To this day, everyone who was there recalls that hurricane weekend with pride as being the most memorable because our teamwork and dedication had made a difference.

What are some of your hobbies outside of work?

I am interested in the history of medicine, in particular during the Civil War – a time when medicine moved away from “heroic” treatments towards the scientific method and evidence-based developments.

What is your perfect day?

When I go home feeling that I helped an entrepreneur or company overcome a challenge – that I made a difference.

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Haley Dudt

Program Manager

As our program manager, Haley Dudt is pivotal to our team’s and clients’ success. Haley brings over ten years of experience in program management and client relations. Her role involves strategically steering projects to success, ensuring they align with our client’s objectives.

At StraTactic, Haley brings her skills in Agile methodologies to our clients and manages cross-functional teams effectively. She’s adept at optimizing resources and achieving project goals within budget and ahead of schedule. Haley’s background includes a strong educational foundation in Professional Writing. Her expertise in data analysis, project planning, and customer engagement strategies significantly contribute to our team’s success.

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Kailey McGrath

Cybersecurity / Computer Science Intern

As a Cybersecurity/Computer Science Intern, Kailey plays a vital role in our projects and initiatives to ensure the security and integrity of our systems and data. She actively monitors our Healthcare Data Center site to provide ongoing cybersecurity efforts to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities.

With a keen eye for detail and a strong analytical mindset, Kailey assists in performing market research to ensure that our consulting firm has a clear grasp on current and emerging health IT and software solutions. You can see Kailey’s map of the Health IT industry at this link.

Finally, knowledge management is a significant competitive advantage for our firm; Kailey is optimizing our data structure using Coda.io

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Cyd Charisse Mercado

Market Research Analyst

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Ruby Rose Pakinkin

Market Research Analyst / Educational Programming

Ruby has a strong clinical, academic, and business background. Ruby has been with the company for several years. Ruby participates in many of our specialty market research efforts, from the pharmaceutical industry to the physician’s office to the U.S. reimbursement system.

In addition to individual research projects, Ruby organizes our Healthcare Data Center, where all our public research is published for our students, academic researchers, and entrepreneurs.

Ruby also coordinates our educational programming with outside organizations, including our annual BIO Bootcamp Startup Program.

Ruby is a Registered Nurse and has worked in the clinical field for 7 years. She began as a staff nurse and transitioned into academia as a clinical instructor.  Ruby’s experience includes medical research and has served as an Influenza surveillance nurse. She also has reimbursement experience as a medical records reviewer for medical organizations and law firms in the United States.

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