CRO Synteract Expands Team with Rare Disease Experts

Rare Daily Staff

The contract research organization Synteract said it has added two experienced members to enhance its Rare and Orphan Diseases Center of Development.

Lisa Dilworth, previously the director of therapeutic expertise, scientific affairs and rare disease at PRA Health Sciences; joins Synteract as vice president of rare and orphan diseases. Elisabeth Schrader, who served as the executive director of clinical development for Syneos Health Clinical Solutions, joins as executive director of program strategy, pediatrics, and rare diseases.

Synteract provides rare and orphan clinical trial expertise across all phases of drug development, with more than 136 trials performed in the last five years across more than 50 indications. The company specializes in studies for diseases that affect a small portion of the population and on studies that have never before been done.

“Trials in this rapidly developing area come with their own unique set of challenges, particularly in components like recruitment and the high variability in global consensus on the standard of care,” said Steve Powell, CEO of Synteract. “Trials in this rapidly developing area come with their own unique set of challenges, particularly in components like recruitment and the high variability in global consensus on the standard of care. Our customers will greatly benefit from Lisa’s and Elisabeth’s strategic knowledge, delivery expertise, and long-standing relationships with sites and advocacy groups to address these needs.”

Dilworth comes to the company with 18 years in study design, eligibility criteria, and overall program strategy with her prior work experience in clinical settings. She will provide leadership in rare and orphan diseases that span various therapeutic areas and specialties, including neurology, metabolic and endocrine, ophthalmology, oncology, hepatology, and others.

Prior to her work at PRA Health Sciences, she held managerial roles at UCB and Chiltern International. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Integrative Biology from University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree in Clinical Research from University of California, San Diego. She volunteers as a consultant, committee member, and speaker for the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America, and as consultant, advocate, and content contributor to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.

Elisabeth Schrader has more than 20 years of clinical research experience working in large, mid-size, and small CROs developing partnerships, delivery models, population, and indication-specific operational delivery study strategies and training programs, and relationships with advocacy groups and global site networks. She will work closely with Synteract’s centers of development heads and customers in developing operational strategies for pediatric and rare disease programs as well as providing training and oversight to the project teams focused in these specialized areas of clinical focus.

Prior to her work at Syneos, she was senior customer operations director at IQVIA supporting customers with a rare disease and pediatric focus as well as leader in the Pediatric Center of Excellence. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Health Policy and Administration from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

September 26, 2018
Photo: Lisa Dilworth, vice president of rare and orphan diseases for Synteract