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Built by leaders. Guided by leaders.

RxVP was founded by two people who have spent their careers developing leaders in healthcare and life sciences. An international Advisory Board and a Steering Committee guide who speaks, what we cover and where we go next.

The founders

Co‑founder

Bonnie Lappin

President, The Lappin Company (since 1990)

The best way to grow as a leader is to hear from those who have done it.

Bonnie built and led the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association Global Ambassador Program from 2013 to 2025, the HBA's main leadership development programme for corporate partners. It reached more than 11,000 participants in 14 countries, across nearly 50 programmes at almost 30 companies.

Through The Lappin Company, she has advised organisations on leadership and career development for more than three decades. At RxVP she brings that experience to a new format: senior leaders from different companies and countries, speaking candidly and live, with the audience part of the conversation.

In one recent group, a third of participants were promoted before the programme ended
Speaker on leadership and career development across the US, Europe and Asia
PharmaVOICE 100 honoree (2017) and sole recipient of the HBA Visionary Leader Award
Served on HBA boards in Boston, Europe and Florida; co-founded the HBA Miami chapter

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Co‑founder

Suzette DiMascio

CHE, CMCE, CPC · Executive Healthcare Strategist

Every leader has a story. The lessons are in the telling.

Suzette founded CSI Specialty Group in 2002 and led it as President and CEO for 17 years, until its sale in 2019, advising health systems, pharma, specialty pharmacies and investors on market access. She now shapes strategy across the Evernorth and Cigna ecosystem.

A founder, CEO and long-time champion of women in specialty pharmacy, Suzette knows first-hand what it takes to build a business and a career in healthcare. At RxVP she hosts The RxVP Podcast, sitting down with women who are helping shape the future of the industry to talk about what they have achieved and what they have learned along the way.

Speaker and educator on specialty pharmacy and rare and orphan disease
APPA Hall of Fame; Founding Member and past Board Director of NASP
Founded Women in Specialty Pharmacy (2013); served on the HBA Global Ambassador Program executive team
Led CSI to four straight years on the Commonwealth Institute’s Top 50 Women-Led Businesses

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Advisory Board

Senior leaders from across the industry and its regions, who advise on RxVP's direction, programming and standards.

United States

Marian Mutch

Vice President, Global Quality Office
FortreaCHAIR

Japan

Glen Argyle

President
Baxter Japan

Switzerland

Dr. Edith Koller-Dette

Chief Quality Officer
Sandoz

India

Pushkar Kulkarni

Country Head & General Manager, India and South Asia
Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

Africa

Nyawira Njeru

Regional Director, Africa
Hologic

United Kingdom

Carol Pitcher-Towner

Senior Vice President, Head of Pipeline Delivery
Alnylam

United States

Arvashni Seeripat

President
Averitas Pharma, a Grünenthal company

United States

Deb Weiss

Former Chief Operating Officer
Gates Medical Research Institute

Switzerland

Nadia Younes

Head of DE&I, International Markets
Takeda

Steering Committee

Practitioners in leadership development, executive search and healthcare communications who shape RxVP's programmes. Our regional leaders, Catherine Canales, Dr. Deepa Desai and Pamela Landau, are also members of the Steering Committee.

Dr. Imen Elloumi-HannachiProfessor of PracticeUniversity of Washington BothellUnited States

Heads the Engineering Capstone Program & Industry Partnerships at UW Bothell, and advises AI × life sciences startups on product strategy and go-to-market.

PhD from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Founded the HBA Seattle Chapter.

Paula HacklHealthcare & Business Transformation ExecutiveUnited States

More than 25 years of international experience, with executive roles at Intouch Solutions, EVERSANA and BGB Group.

Former Leadership & Development Advisor to the HBA. Advisory Board member at Esteem Health and Networked.

Diana JiFounder and PresidentBongene Search & Bongene AcademyUnited States

Founded Bongene Search in 2014, a life sciences executive search and leadership advisory firm.

Author of Power Recruiting, and founder of Bongene Academy and the Women's Leadership Scholarship. Fluent in English and Mandarin.

Amina LobbanSenior Director, Program Management & Portfolio StrategyHalozymeUnited States

More than two decades across manufacturing, quality, engineering and HR, including 18 years at Shire and Takeda.

Co-founded the HBA Global Ambassador Program. 2022 HBA Rising Star and 2024 INvolve Future Leader Role Model.

Stefania MigliuoloFounder and CEOAlecrìa | Ahead in HealthcareItaly

A paediatrician by training, with an MD and PhD from Sapienza University of Rome, she spent seven years in paediatric oncology before more than 20 years in pharma and healthcare communications, including senior roles at DDB Health Italy and Havas PR.

An HBA volunteer leader for more than 15 years and Deputy Chair of the Global Affinity Groups Council. HBA LEAD Award (2015) and Legacy Awards (2021, 2024).

Regional leadership

Led from every region

RxVP's regional leaders work from Barcelona, Mumbai and Tokyo, so each region helps set the conversation rather than just joining it. In Europe, Catherine Canales leads the speaker network and alliances. All three regional leaders are also members of the Steering Committee. With leadership, Advisory Board members and speakers based in Japan, RxVP brings first-hand Japanese market experience to every global conversation.

Catherine Canales

Head of Strategic Growth and European AlliancesBarcelona, SpainLife sciences & CRO · Commercial leadership

Expertise is rarely the gap. Visibility is.

Catherine Canales is Head of Strategic Growth and European Alliances at RxVP, where she develops the offering and grows the European speaker network and alliances. She brings more than 25 years of commercial experience in life sciences and clinical research, including three tenures as Chief Commercial Officer.

Through ChiliPink, she helps life sciences companies and leaders turn expertise into growth and visibility. Through NoGap, she teaches negotiation, networking and personal branding at business schools across Europe. She is also publishing Your Safety Net, a practical book on turning expertise into career options.

Named among CIO Views’ Top 10 Empowering Women Leaders to Follow in 2025. Mexican, German and Swiss, and based in Barcelona, she works in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Dr. Deepa Desai, BHMS

Head of Asia PacificMumbai, IndiaHealthcare & life sciences · People & business transformation

Claim it before they name it.

Dr. Deepa Desai is Head of Asia Pacific at RxVP. A homoeopathic physician, business transformation leader and INSEAD alumna, she brings more than two decades of global healthcare experience leading strategic growth, operational transformation and cross-functional teams across international markets.

Through D Cube Consultancy, she partners with organisations to drive people and business transformation at scale. She was Senior Vice President and Country Head, India, at Labcorp Drug Development (now Fortrea), and before that spent nearly two decades at IQVIA in global leadership roles across Cardiac Safety, Core Clinical Global Delivery and Quality.

Deepa serves on the Global Board of Directors of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association, where she helped build HBA India into its fastest‑growing community, and advises Loyal VC. She received the HBA Luminary Award and was named in the PharmaVOICE 100 as an inspirational change agent.

Pamela Landau

Head of JapanTokyo, JapanGlobal healthcare commercialization · US, Japan & Europe

Great brands travel. Local insight takes them there.

Pamela Landau is Head of Japan at RxVP. She is Executive Vice President and Managing Director at EVERSANA INTOUCH, where she leads global healthcare commercialization for the US, Japan and Europe, and a PharmaVOICE 100 Global Visionary. Her work spans pharmaceutical and medical device products, from clinical trials and global brand strategy to global product launch and lifecycle growth.

Her specialties include global product commercialization, pharmaceutical marketing strategy, market expansion, lifecycle management, customer insights, global strategic planning and marketing communications, branding, digital and direct-to-consumer marketing, market research, business development and organisational leadership.

Fluent in Japanese and AI-savvy, Pamela brings a Japan-based perspective to RxVP’s international network.

Three people of different ages and backgrounds, with world-map accents painted on their faces

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