Industry News

Dr. Cathrin Weinstein has been appointed Managing Director of Thieme USA, with immediate effect. The company, based in New York, is one of four international subsidiaries of Thieme Group. Dr. Cathrin Weinstein will be responsible for operations and business performance at Thieme USA and will work with her team to further develop Thieme’s international activities in the North American market.

Thieme’s New York subsidiary has been a cornerstone of Thieme’s international business activities since 1979. It creates a rich variety of content for selected groups of medical practitioners and students, with a growing emphasis on digital assets.

“Cathrin Weinstein’s focus is the transformation of medical textbooks into innovative and pioneering digital resources, and her core task is digitization,” underscores Martin Spencker, Executive Vice President of International Business at Thieme Group. “We wish to continue our digital journey, especially in our international markets. Her proven experience in this space makes Dr. Cathrin Weinstein the ideal executive appointment for our New York office,” he continues.

Dr. Cathrin Weinstein, herself a qualified physician, originally joined Thieme in 1997. She was tasked with program planning in Stuttgart, Germany, and New York, USA, publishing materials for medical students and residents. Under her stewardship, Thieme established, for instance, the highly regarded Atlas of Anatomy product portfolio by Anne M. Gilroy and Brian R. MacPherson, including the Winking Skull digital platform. Moreover, Cathrin Weinstein played a key role in the creation of the via medici knowledge and education portal, recognized as the Best Specialist Medium of the Year in 2017 by the German Association of Business Media (Deutsche Fachpresse).

In her role as Managing Director of Thieme USA, Dr. Cathrin Weinstein will be tasked with the evolution of existing and the development of new products and services for North America. In this context, she will collaborate closely with Martin Spencker, and with Louisa Turrell, Managing Director of Thieme Brazil, Ajit Kohli, Managing Director of Thieme India, and Dr. Daniel Schiff, Managing Director of Thieme China.

Clarivate Analytics plc (NYSE:CCC; CCC.WS), a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation, announced today the appointment of Richard C. Finch as the Global Head of Life Sciences Consulting Services. Finch’s appointment will further expand the company’s consulting business, which delivers insights, recommendations and solutions focused on discovery and clinical development; regulatory strategy and pharmacovigilance; product portfolio, business development and licensing strategies; digital health; and technology and data science.

Finch joins Clarivate at a time when the industry continues to struggle to identify novel solutions and breakthrough therapies. With R&D and commercialization costs exceeding $2 billion to bring just one asset to market and average sales per asset declining by 50 percent since 2010,¹ drug and device companies require more effective and efficient solutions across the entire development lifecycle. Finch and his team of consultants will apply deep industry and functional expertise, combined with proprietary methodologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning platforms, to transform clients’ businesses and improve decision-making across the development and commercialization spectrum.

“Drug and device manufacturers are under unprecedented pressure to bring novel treatments to market in an environment that is riddled with risk and uncertainty,” said Mukhtar Ahmed, President, Life Sciences at Clarivate Analytics. “Our goal is to help customers make data-driven decisions that fuel faster, more efficient development, optimize the value of their assets and improve operational performance. Rick brings significant relevant experience in scaling a consulting business and partnering with clients to accelerate innovation.”

Prior to Clarivate, Finch held senior executive roles at several leading and innovative companies, including Accenture, where he was a Managing Director and Global Head of all commercial consulting engagements for a top 5 global pharmaceutical company. While at Accenture, he also served as North America Consulting Head for the cross-industry Product Group that included life sciences, consumer goods and retail clients. Most recently, Finch was Senior Vice President of Industry Solutions for Outcome Health, a PE-backed start-up, where he led sales efforts with life sciences and healthcare customers for the company’s point-of-care solutions.

“Clarivate is widely recognized as a leader in information and analytics for the life sciences industry,” states Finch. “It’s exciting to work with such a talented team, which can leverage our platforms and AI-enabled solutions to advance drug and device research. I’m eager to help our customers transform their businesses so they can achieve their collective goal of bringing life-saving therapies to market as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

1.“Unlocking R&D productivity: Measuring the return from pharmaceutical innovation.”  Deloitte LLC, 2018.

BioOne (about.BioOne.org) is pleased to announce the addition of Christine Orr, who will join the BioOne team on August 5 as Director of Sales and Marketing. Christine will develop and implement the sales and marketing strategy for BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org), collaborating with BioOne’s sales partners, librarians, and publishers to help steer the organization strategically forward.

Christine has been a part of the scholarly publishing community for more than 20 years. In her most recent role at Ringgold, she expanded the client roster via a consultative sales approach and developed a deep understanding of data infrastructure and persistent identifiers, which support our evolving field.

Christine has also held institutional sales and marketing positions at the American Institute of Physics (AIP) and The Optical Society (OSA). Armed with a Masters in Library and Information Science, Christine has an appreciation of global library acquisitions, licensing, and the broader scholarly communications field that will prove valuable assets to BioOne.

Christine remains active in the publishing community via her participation in the Society for Scholarly Publishing’s Career Development Committee and its Washington D.C. Organizing Committee. She has also presented at SSP, the Charleston Conference, and the Frankfurt Book Fair on such topics as the importance of data quality for publishers and the role of metadata and persistent identifiers throughout the scholarly communications workflow.

BioOne warmly welcomes Christine to the team, and we are looking forward to working with her to help fulfill BioOne’s strategy and mission.

Wolters Kluwer, Health announces today the appointment of Greg Samios, President & CEO of Health Learning, Research & Practice (HLRP). The HLRP business provides health solutions that help clinical professionals learn, practice, conduct research and advance their careers using market-leading tools and evidence-based information. Samios succeeds Cathy Wolfe who will become the President & CEO of the Emerging & Developing Markets group. Samios will report to Diana Nole, CEO, Wolters Kluwer Health.

Samios is an experienced executive in the health and legal information industries with a 25-year track record of successfully leading content-based businesses in driving transformation and growth. Most recently, he led Wolters Kluwer’s Legal & Regulatory US business where he transformed the business and returned it to growth by accelerating customer-focused product development and driving operational excellence. Among his accomplishments were the launch of innovative research and workflow products for legal practitioners, law school students, and business and health compliance professionals on a global scale.

“As a seasoned leader, Greg will bring great experience to HLRP. He has a very strong background in healthcare information solutions coupled with deep insights into customer needs and industry trends. Greg will be leading our next evolution of delivering expert solutions to our customers, fully benefitting from our investment in advanced technologies,” said Diana Nole, CEO of Wolters Kluwer, Health.

Samios joined Wolters Kluwer in 2014 from Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions where he served as the President of Health Programs successfully transitioning the company from classroom models to online education, and returning the business to growth. In this role, he rapidly expanded the business’s digital product and service offerings, broadened its geographic footprint, and developed its leading digital marketing capabilities. Prior to that, he held senior executive global positions in Reed Elsevier, including President of the medical education and communications division Excerpta Medica, and Senior Vice President of Strategy and Development for Elsevier Health Sciences, where he expanded the company’s position in high-growth areas and further advanced its business leadership position.

Samios earned an MBA at Duke University and graduated from the University of Rochester with a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering. He is an advisor and mentor to several early stage health information and education businesses and has lectured on healthcare innovation at Duke University.

Cengage, an education and technology company, today announced the appointment of Rebecca McNamara as Chief Integration Officer, reporting directly to CEO Michael Hansen as part of the Executive Team.  McNamara will lead all integration initiatives for the company’s planned merger with McGraw-Hill, which is expected to close in early 2020.

“I am thrilled to have Rebecca lead our integration efforts during this pivotal moment in our company’s journey,” said Michael E. Hansen, CEO, Cengage. “Having worked with Rebecca since my first day at Cengage, I am confident that there is no one better suited to lead us through this critical stage of transition. Her deep experience will guide the alignment of operating models, people and cultures to enable our new company to deliver on strategy and, ultimately, ensure a better learning experience for our customers.”

McNamara brings valuable expertise and experience to the new position, having played a central role in the pre-merger announcement activities, including due diligence and developing baseline synergies.  As Chief Integration Officer, she will oversee strategic planning and the post-merger implementation, including leadership of the cross-functional team responsible for ensuring both cultural and organizational alignment across companies and the plan to achieve cost synergies.  The combined companies will have a clear path to an efficient, combined operating model starting on day one and be well-positioned to drive the benefits of greater scale to support student achievement.

The merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill will provide college students with more affordable access to high-quality course materials and platforms.  Both companies have already made significant investments in new business models to lower college students’ costs, including Inclusive Access and Cengage Unlimited, the industry’s first all-access subscription for eBooks, online homework access codes and study guides.  Students using the subscription service saved more than $60 million during the 2018-19 academic year, and the new company plans to grow these types of affordability initiatives.

“I am excited to take on this role and believe my experience supporting our business transformation has equipped me to lead through our company’s next chapter,” said Rebecca McNamara.  “The deep relationships I’ve built within Cengage over the years will be invaluable as I work with the integration team to develop and implement plans for aligning the two organizations.”

Based in Cengage’s Boston office, McNamara has been with Cengage for more than 15 years. Most recently, she served as Interim Chief Financial Officer, leading Cengage through a period of significant business transformation with the successful launch of Cengage Unlimited. Prior to this role, McNamara held a number of senior finance roles within the organization, including Senior Vice President, Finance Planning & Analysis, as well as Vice President, Strategic Finance. Previously, she held positions at Thomson Reuters and TheStreet.com.

McNamara holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Lehigh University and an MBA, specializing in Finance and Economics, from Columbia Business School.

Kudos strengthens its leadership team with the appointment of Michael Tadman as Sales Director, bringing extensive experience of sales leadership and business development in the academic and educational sectors

Kudos (www.growkudos.com), the award-winning service for accelerating research impact through strategic communications management, is delighted to announce the appointment of Michael Tadman as Sales Director.

Michael has over twenty years of sales experience, with a decade in senior executive positions. His previous roles have included Sales Director at Elsevier and Vice-President Higher Education Services at Pearson. More recently, Michael has been developing international sales of exam software directly with university assessment offices and faculty. He joins Kudos as part of a £2.2m investment, led by Mobeus Equity Partners, to spearhead the launch of a cutting-edge new platform for planning, tracking and reporting on research engagement and impact activities.  

“Michael has experience that is very hard to find,” commented Melinda Kenneway, Kudos CEO. “Our market is an incredibly complex one, so understanding how publishing works – the currency of research communication to date – is really important. At the same time, universities are focusing on more strategic communications around their projects and programmes, and funders are requiring Principal Investigators to undertake more communications work with broader audiences outside of academia. Kudos’s new communications and impact management service meets these emerging needs. Michael’s blend of experience of selling publications, online databases and SaaS products gives him a very strong foundation on which to assist Kudos in developing business opportunities based on a deep understanding of how universities and research teams work.”

“I’m really excited to be joining the leadership team at Kudos,” added Michael Tadman. “Opportunities like this don’t come along that often. Kudos has already proven itself as one of the most innovative and respected companies in the research sector. I am looking forward to helping realise the potential of this fast-growing company to help researchers and publishers engage new audiences and demonstrate the critical role of effective communication in accelerating research impact.”

The Web of Science Group, part of Clarivate Analytics, has appointed Nicko Goncharoff to the newly-created role of Managing Director, Business Development for Greater China.  Reporting to CEO Annette Thomas, he will work closely with the existing team in China, led by David Liu, Executive Vice President, Managing Director for Clarivate Analytics, Asia Pacific and Linda Guo, Vice President, Head of Web of Science Group, Greater China region.

Nicko, who is fluent in Mandarin, will split his time between China and Europe. He will focus on building new opportunities and relationships in the region to accelerate the Web of Science Group growth strategy, by leveraging the power of the entire portfolio of brands, which range from the renowned Institute of Scientific Information and Web of Science to recent start-ups Publons and Kopernio.

Nicko Goncharoff, Managing Director, Business Development for Greater China said: “I am looking forward to ensuring our customers and research partners in China benefit fully from the Web of Science Group’s cutting-edge investments in research workflows, tools and data. Working closely with our excellent team in Beijing, we will incorporate China’s requirements and research practices into our global business strategy.”

Annette Thomas, CEO of the Web of Science Group said: “As the world’s second largest economy, China has seen phenomenal growth in scientific research activities in recent years. The Web of Science Group will continue to deepen our collaboration with China’s academia, research and development network and policy makers to accelerate the pace of innovation in the country.”

Previously, Nicko was Chief Business Development Officer at Digital Science, where he was one of the original team members. Nicko led strategic customer and partner relationships, managed sales teams for publisher and EMEA institutional markets and, as part of the Digital Science senior management team, informed and supported overall product, investment and business strategy.  He was also founder of two AI software startups supporting life sciences research.

In addition to his work at Digital Science, Nicko has been actively involved in several STM industry initiatives to enable sustainable article sharing between publishers, scholarly collaborative networks, institutions and other stakeholders in academic research, including Springer Nature’s SharedIt.

As a further example of Clarivate Analytics’ increasing commitment to the Greater China research community and customers, the company announced the opening of a new office in Guangzhou in South China this week. The brand-new Guangzhou office is situated at GTland Plaza in Guangzhou Tianhe Central Business District. As the largest Central Business District in South China, Guangzhou is home to business clusters of high-end financial services, science and technology, and modern commercial industries.

Elsevier, the information analytics business specializing in science and health, today announced Kumsal Bayazit has been appointed Chief Executive Officer effective February 15, 2019.

Bayazit has worked at RELX Group, Elsevier’s parent company, since 2004. She started her career at Legal and Risk & Business Analytics, where she held a number of senior strategy and operational roles. In 2012, she was appointed Chief Strategy Officer of RELX Group, as well as chair of the company’s Chief Technology Officers’ Forum, formed to foster a strategic acceleration into an increasingly data-driven business focused on analytics and decision tools. For the past three years, she has been the Regional President for Europe, Middle East and Africa at RELX Group’s exhibitions business. Prior to joining RELX Group, Bayazit worked at Bain & Company in the US, South Africa and Australia. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.

Bayazit replaces Ron Mobed who, after seven years as Elsevier’s Chief Executive Officer, has decided to retire. Mobed joined Elsevier in 2011 and became Chief Executive in 2012. He will support his successor during the transition, providing counsel and advice until June. Youngsuk (YS) Chi will remain Chairman of Elsevier.

Founder and CEO, Georgios Papadopoulos, has assumed the new role of Chairman, and Marty Picco, Atypon’s Senior Vice President of Product, has been promoted to the new role of General Manager.

This leadership transition will allow Mr. Papadopoulos to turn his attention from the company’s day-to-day operations to focus full-time on new technology initiatives and strategic ventures.

“Atypon has always been committed to applying our deep technical resources and creative minds to advance scholarly research communication,” said Mr. Papadopoulos. “I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to focus more closely on new innovations that help enable the creation and dissemination of knowledge through technology.”

As General Manager, Mr. Picco will be responsible for the company’s operations and management. He joined Atypon in 2010 and has served as Atypon’s Senior Vice President of Product for the last five years.

“It’s an honor to take the helm of a company with such talented colleagues, world class technology, and prestigious clients,” said Marty Picco, Atypon’s new General Manager, “particularly at a time of such significant industry transformation. I’m excited to focus on strengthening our organization and technology platform to help scholarly publishers not only navigate today’s business uncertainties but to succeed long-term.”

Bart Murphy, an innovative technology leader with significant application development and infrastructure management experience, has been named Chief Technology and Information Officer of OCLC.

Murphy’s technology experience spans a diverse set of organizations and industries. He most recently was the Chief Technology Officer of PriorAuthNow, a technology organization that enables streamlining of healthcare access through prior authorization automation. Before joining PriorAuthNow, he was the Chief Information and Technology Officer at York Risk Services Group.

The depth of Murphy’s technology experience in software development, infrastructure, data management, security, portfolio and agile management makes him an ideal technology leader for OCLC. That technology leadership earned Murphy a spot among IDG’s Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leaders, which recognizes exceptional technology leadership and innovative approaches to business challenges.

“Bart is a skilled technology leader with experience leading large technology teams,” said Skip Prichard, OCLC President and CEO. “His knowledge of application development, architecture and infrastructure will help us continue to deliver innovative technologies libraries need to serve their users.”

OCLC is a leading nonprofit global technology organization headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. OCLC provides shared technology services, original research and community programs to libraries worldwide. OCLC and its member libraries worldwide cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services.

“I’m thrilled to be part of the highly respected team at OCLC,” said Murphy. “It is an organization I have long admired for its reputation, talent and purpose. I look forward to continuing the great work of OCLC.”

Murphy will oversee OCLC’s global engineering centers. He will be based in the Dublin, Ohio, headquarters.