Experienced International Business Leader in mature and emerging Markets with scientific, sales and marketing background in microbiology, molecular biology and immunology.

With more than 10 years of Leading International Teams to drive sales and business development in countries with direct or distribution presence, Simona has gained a strong understanding and experiences in IVD and Life Science.

Her experience ranges from launch of new products to market development and successful marketing strategies in infectious diseases, oncology, next generation sequencing, from sample technologies to instrumentation, assays and digital insights.

Fluent in English, German, Slovenian and Croatian, Simona is passionate about bringing healthcare – especially diagnostics- innovations into research , academia and routine laboratories. Convinced that emerging countries deserve equal access to quality healthcare, she has developed an extensive work with Public Health Agencies.

Simona is currently heading QIAGEN commercial activities in Eastern Europe, Russia , Middle East and Africa as well Public Health and Global Export department. She is based in Vienna, Austria.

Dr.Kumar Pabbisetty has about 17 years of industrial experience in various departments Research & Development, Manufacturing, Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs and Project Management. He started his career as a R&D Associate in Shantha Biotechnics Ltd (A Sanofi Aventis) and then moved on to various multinational organizations and roles of increasing responsibilities including bench Scientist in Syngene International Limited (A Biocon Company), Vimta Labs Limited, ThermoFisher Scientific, and Medical affairs in Becton Dickinson India Pvt Ltd, and Regulatory affairs of IVD Medical devices in HCL Technologies. He worked with a wide range of Fortune 500 companies in the Life Sciences and healthcare sector, identified operational issues, evaluated solutions, and then created best course of action. He brings a highly consultative approach in developing new ideas and workflows.

Currently, Dr. Kumar Pabbisetty is working in IQVIA as an Associate Director in Medtech group. He leads a team of professionals and through them coordinates activities to provide solutions to various Med tech global clients.

Sudhakar Marla is the Head of Oncology R&D at Cepheid with overall responsibilities for building cancer diagnostics and disease monitoring portfolios on the GeneXpert platform(s). With the overarching goal of democratizing access to cancer diagnostics, Cepheid is developing easy to use and interpret, “sample-in-result-out” molecular tests in the areas of hematology, solid tumors, and liquid biopsy.

Prior to his tenure at Cepheid, Sudhakar was at Nanosphere (now Diasorin via Luminex) where he developed a gold nanoparticle probe-based technology for the sensitive detection of nucleic acids. Subsequently, as the head of Assay Development, he brought to market several multiplexed syndromic panels for the detection of Sepsis, Gastrointestinal, and Respiratory diseases.

Sudhakar has a PhD in Chemistry from Princeton and he was the Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT.

Dr. Anthony Marotta, Ph.D. is the North American Medical Director for Amoy Diagnostics (AmoyDx), Canada. In this position, Marotta supports AmoyDx with overseeing key opinion leader engagement and establishing/overseeing investigator initiated activities. Marotta has been in the IVD industry since 2008 where he worked as the Chief Scientific Officer at Augurex Life Sciences Corp. During Marotta's eleven year tenure at Augurex he was responsible for the development of the 14-3-3η biomarker programs and the successful approvals of the JOINTstat™ blood test in Canada, Europe, Australia and the United States. During his time at Augurex, Marotta co-published 90 conference proceedings and 10 peer reviewed publications with key opinion leaders citing the clinical benefits of measuring the JOINTstat™ marker along the continuum of disease. Marottta is also an Adjunct Professor in the Division of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Marotta began his scientific career in research at Kinetek Pharmaceuticals whilst pursuing his Ph.D. in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Marotta’s Ph.D.centered on investigating the role of Integrin Linked Kinase in the development of sporadic colon cancer and the hereditary familial adenomatous (FAP) form of the disease.