Leadership Team

Patrick Flanagan is Chief Executive Officer at Veristat, responsible for the company’s’ business management and financial performance. In collaboration with company leaders, Patrick is responsible for the development and implementation of Veristat’s organizational goals and business strategies.Patrick has built a 23 year career over multiple decades leading commercial growth, international expansion and financial & operational improvement initiatives for leading companies in the consulting, healthcare, and software fields including A.T. Kearney, Baxter International, Allegiance Healthcare and Oracle. Prior to joining Veristat, Patrick served as Chief Operating Officer of Certara and the General Manager of Certara’s Pharsight Consulting Services Group, a Vector Capital portfolio company engaged in the business of providing consulting services and software to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Patrick holds a BS in Business from Penn State University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance and Marketing from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Patrick is also an active father, skier, golfer, occasional marathon runner and aging tri-athlete.

John Balser, PhD, co-founder and President of Veristat, has developed the company as industry leaders in areas of clinical monitoring, data management, biostatistics and programming, medical writing, and project management. John is actively involved with clinical projects in his role as one of Veristat’s principal statistical consultants. In this role, he assists clients with clinical study design and program development based on his many years of experience in the statistical aspects of clinical research. He is often called upon to assist clients on a variety of statistical issues at meetings with regulatory agencies. Prior to founding Veristat in 1994, John served as Vice President, Biostatistics, and Data Management at Medical & Technical Research Associates, Inc. He has held positions of increasing responsibility in the biostatistics departments at various pharmaceutical companies including E.R. Squibb, Biogen, and Miles. John received his MS and PhD in Biometrics from Cornell University, and has been actively engaged in clinical biostatistics for over 25 years. John is an avid runner and has competed in the Boston Marathon.

Barbara Balser, VMD, co-founder, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Veristat, is primarily responsible for strategic planning and consulting, medical oversight, and production of regulatory submission documents. Barbara has more than 30 years of clinical research experience that encompasses both the pharmaceutical and contract research organization industries. Her experience includes oversight and production of Investigational New Drug (IND) applications, regulatory agency briefing documents, preparation for and representation at advisory panel meetings, and consultation across Phase 1 to 4 trials in multiple therapeutic areas with a specific focus in oncology and anti-infectives. Barbara has participated in the writing, oversight, and submission of multiple marketing applications to US, Canadian, Japanese, and European Union regulatory authorities. Prior to co-founding Veristat, Barbara served as Associate Director of Clinical Research at Medical & Technical Research Associates, Inc. where she was responsible for strategic planning, design, and management of clinical development programs; preparation and submission of regulatory applications; and scientific communications.

Barbara began her career in the pharmaceutical industry at Miles, Inc. (currently Bayer Corporation). In her capacity as Assistant Director of Clinical Research at Miles, Barbara assisted with strategic planning for the clinical development of anti-infective compounds from Phases 2 to 4 and with the planning, writing, and compilation of two successful NDAs for anti-infective products. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, Barbara practiced veterinary medicine at a private veterinary hospital. Barbara holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and a VMD from the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine. When Barbara isn’t busy traveling the world for our clients, she enjoys spending time on the beach with a good book.

Jim Roach is Chief Medical Officer at Veristat and in this role he provides strategic guidance to our clients as they plan and execute their clinical trials, and advance through the regulatory submission process. Additionally, he leads the clinical operations, medical writing, medical monitoring, safety/pharmacovigilance and regulatory affairs teams at Veristat.

Dr. Roach has over 20 years of experience supporting clinical development, registration, commercialization and product lifecycle strategy at several biotechnology, pharmaceutical and clinical research firms.   He brings a diverse background of therapeutic experience in the areas of Oncology, Rare Diseases, Autoimmune/Inflammation, CNS disorders and Cardiovascular disease. Throughout his career, he has built and led clinical research, clinical development operations, medical affairs, and regulatory affairs teams, working in unison to bring numerous products through the regulatory submission process.

Most recently, Dr. Roach served as Senior Vice President of Development and Chief Medical Officer at Momenta Pharmaceuticals and prior was the Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs at Sepracor Inc.    He has also held leadership roles in Clinical Research and Medical Affairs at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, LeukoSite, Inc (acquired by Millennium) and Astra USA, and also led the Medical Affairs, Safety/Pharmacovigilance and Medical Monitoring functions at Medical and Technical Research Associates (MTRA), a contract research organization acquired by AAI Pharma.  Dr. Roach has also maintained an academic appointment at Harvard Medical School and has been an Associate Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and member of the BWH Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division since 1993.

Cindy Henderson is the Executive Vice President, Strategic Development at Veristat overseeing the Business Development, Proposals & Contracts and Marketing functions as well as building and managing partner relationships and collaborating with the executive team on corporate growth strategies. With over 20 years of experience, Cindy concentrates on providing innovative functional and operational support to Veristat’s diverse, sponsor-based clinical studies. Cindy’s key areas of operational expertise include the ability to lend deep insight into the sequence of events clinical studies take as they advance toward the goal of product regulatory submission, the ability to effectively manage and assess client needs, and the ability to strategically outline the required resources for clinical programs. Cindy is a primary contributor in all tactical strategic planning both within Veristat and within client projects.

Prior to joining Veristat in 2007, Cindy served as the Senior Manager of Training, Innovations and Processes at Averion International Corporation where she led various initiatives to create and improve standard operating procedures, while implementing new technologies for data management and was a member of the integration team for several key corporate acquisitions. While at PAREXEL International Corporation as the Associate Director of Data Management, Cindy managed several international clinical trials, developed SOPs and processes, provided training and participated in software development, validation, and implementation efforts.

Outside of Veristat Cindy is a Supervising Judge for the North American Flyball Association (www.flyball.org). She also competes in this fun and fast paced sport with her two border collies and miniature Australian shepherd as part of the Weston Whirlwinds Flyball Team (www.wwflyball.org).

Theresa Bruce is the Vice President of Clinical Operations at Veristat. In this role, Theresa provides leadership and strategic oversight to Veristat’s clinical operations team including the project management and clinical monitoring groups. She has more than 24 years of clinical research experience in both the pharmaceutical and CRO industries. She is passionate about drug development having spent the last 16 years providing leadership and project management support for numerous complex trials.

Lindsey Lukis is the Senior Director, Talent and Culture at Veristat, responsible for the people related programs and initiatives that allow Veristat to achieve its strategic growth plans.  Lindsey leads the Talent and Culture team to attract, develop, and retain Veristat’s human capital; she is also responsible for the Company’s short and long term people strategies, talent development, and fostering a culture of engagement, agility, and partnership. 

Lindsey joined Veristat in 2015 with prior experience in the retail, financial services, and energy industries, having worked for companies such as Bose Corporation and The Hanover Insurance Group.  She brings more than 15 years of progressive experience in the field of human resources with a particular focus/expertise in talent acquisition and management.  Lindsey holds a B.S. from James Madison University, focused in Organizational Communication Studies and Training and Development.  Outside of work Lindsey enjoys a full home life with her young family, practicing yoga, running and perhaps her most important role - hockey mom.