Leadership

Learn about who’s guiding us on the way to our goals.

Leadership

Our amazing leadership team paves the way for success.

Derk Arts, PhD, MD

Founder, CEO

Dr. Derk Arts has more than 10 years of experience in medicine, research and data management. He also founded Castor and launched a platform that enables researchers to easily capture, standardize and integrate data from any source.

Derk Arts, PhD, MD on LinkedIn
Tobias Schaefer

Chief Financial Officer

Tobias’s professional journey spans over a decade and includes various Finance leadership roles at high-profile companies, including Medidata Solutions and Siemens Healthcare. His expertise in strategic planning and financial acumen will be vital in transforming Castor into a leader in clinical trial technology.

Tobias Schaefer on LinkedIn
Andrew Sadler

Chief Product Technology Officer

Andrew Sadler is a seasoned technology leader with over 25 years of experience in leading software engineering teams in startups and enterprises. Prior to joining Castor, Andrew led Engineering teams at Yieldify and H4, where he worked cross functionally to architect SaaS products for the MarTech and LegalTech spaces. Andrew led teams at Google that integrated financial price comparison products directly into search results following the successful acquisition of BeatThatQuote, where he was the Head of Engineering.

Andrew Sadler on LinkedIn
Daniella Mulder

SVP of Professional Services

Daniella Mulder, SVP, Professional Services, is an accomplished leader with over 15 years of experience managing global teams in delivering successful eClinical solutions for small biotech, mid-tier, and top 10 pharmaceutical companies. Daniella’s continued passion and focus is on accelerating clinical trials at lower costs using patient-centric technologies made available to those who need it.

Daniella Mulder on LinkedIn
Fatma Elfaghi

VP Quality and Compliance

An experienced compliance leader with over a decade in GXP and healthcare compliance, ensuring adherence to FDA, EMA, MHRA, and implementing robust QMS for companies such as Anju Software and OmniComm Systems.

As a Certified Quality Auditor and member of the ASQ, Fatma has a proven track record hosting audits for top Sponsors and CROs globally. She built a robust Quality Management System (QMS) emphasizing data integrity, ethics, information security, and continuous improvement.

Fatma has been fostering a culture of quality excellence by helping develop key processes for Vendor Management, Validation, CAPA Management, and corporate Learning Management Systems. She holds an MBA from Loyola University New Orleans and resides in Miami, FL.

Fatma Elfaghi on LinkedIn
Lewis Baird

Head of Global Sales

Before joining Castor, Lewis spent 15 years driving profitable market growth for eClinical SaaS organizations and CROs. Most recently, Lewis led the commercial GTM as CCO at EvidentIQ, where he grew revenue exponentially through acquisition and organic bookings. Prior to EvidentIQ, Lewis held commercial leadership roles at Medidata, Medrio and was a President’s Club member at Quintiles where he contributed over $200 million in bookings.

Lewis holds a Bachelor of Business Communications from the University of Colorado and lives in Montana with his wife and two children.

Lewis Baird on LinkedIn

Advisory Board

Our team of industry experts helps guide us and provide us with advice.

Brad Hightower

CEO, Hightower Clinical

Brad brings more than 10 years of experience in clinical research, as the former Executive Director of the Oklahoma Heart Hospital Research Foundation. He founded Hightower Clinical, a research network that offers services that support researchers and patients to access trials easily. 

Ann van Dessel

Sr VP, Johnson & Johnson Regulatory and Clinical Operations

Mrs Van Dessel has more than 30 years of experience in the industry, of which 28 years in Johnson & Johnson, with extensive experience in clinical development including clinical operations, clinical supplies and regulatory operations. 

Ann van Dessel on LinkedIn
Baljit Samra
Baljit Samra

Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific Parexel

Baljit (Boo) Samra has over 25 years of experience in clinical trials and is a seasoned leader with global expertise in operations, digital health and technologies, account leadership, quality, and general management. Having lived in the UK, USA, and Asia including China, Japan, India, and Singapore, his work experience spans the globe.

Baljit Samra on LinkedIn
Mark Slaughter
Mark Slaughter

Senior Vice President Sidekick Health

Mark currently leads Pharma Business Development for Sidekick Health, a leading Digital Therapeutics company. Prior to joining Sidekick, Mark was the Commercial Leader-Pharma for Philips; an Independent Member of the Board of Directors at Castor; and the Founder and CEO of venture backed hospital informatics company Cohealo.

Mark Slaughter on LinkedIn
Niels van Royen
Niels van Royen

Head of Cardiology Department (Prof. dr)

Niels van Royen is a full professor at the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences. He is connected to the Vascular damage theme and head of the Cardiology department.

Niels van Royen on LinkedIn
Sarah Fisher
Sarah Fisher

Senior Director, Global Markets, External Innovation

Accomplished executive with 18 years HealthTech/MedTech/Sector Convergence experience in global corporate entrepreneurial ventures.

Sarah Fisher on LinkedIn

Board of Directors

Helping supervise the management of the company.

Villi Iltchev
Villi Iltchev

Partner at Two Sigma Ventures

Villi Iltchev joined Two Sigma Ventures in 2019 and focuses on SaaS, enterprise software, developer tools, and mobile applications. Prior to joining August, he was a member of the leadership teams at Box and Lifelock. Previously, Villi was a Vice President at Salesforce.

Villi Iltchev on LinkedIn
Michael Treskow
Michael Treskow

Partner at Eight Roads

Michael focuses on venture and growth investments in technology companies across Europe and Israel. Previously, he invested in technology companies at Accel in London, and Warburg Pincus in San Francisco and New York. Michael received a BA from Yale University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Michael Treskow on LinkedIn
Thijs Cohen Tervaert

Partner at INKEF Capital

Thijs is a qualified medical doctor with a strategy consulting background. He is currently a Partner at Inkef who has an interest in investing in early stage companies in healthcare and technology. Thijs has also been a Castor board observer since 2018

Thijs Cohen Tervaert on LinkedIn
Derk Arts, PhD, MD

Founder, CEO

Dr. Derk Arts has more than 10 years of experience in medicine, research and data management. He also founded Castor and launched a platform that enables researchers to easily capture, standardize and integrate data from any source.

Derk Arts, PhD, MD on LinkedIn
Frans van Houten

Chairman of Board Of Directors

Frans van Houten, recognized worldwide for his tenure as CEO of Philips, contributes a proven track record in business transformation, and technology innovation. During his tenure at Philips, he was responsible for transforming the organization from a diversified conglomerate into a focused health technology solutions company. Aside from his role at Castor, van Houten also serves on the Board of Directors of Novartis, a leading global pharmaceutical company, and acts as a key advisor to private equity companies. 

Frans van Houten on LinkedIn
Jeanne Hecht

Board Member

Jeanne Hecht, a Global Business Executive in the clinical research industry, has 25+ years of experience leading successful teams across mature and emerging markets within the product development, pharma services and life sciences space. Before joining Castor, she held multiple key roles at renowned life science organizations namely IQVIA, Median Technologies, and Ora where she held various executive leadership roles responsible for leading and implementing the companies’ global strategy. Her significant expertise in driving businesses will help Castor achieve breakthrough growth in key segments. 

Jeanne Hecht on LinkedIn

Backed by

How can we help you?

Contact Us