LEADERSHIP TEAM

Customer Focused Leadership

Our board members were pioneers in the development of patient-focused technology and have supported and nurtured customer-focused solutions to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical industry for 12 years. The vision and passion for progress is shared by our Executive team, who works with our global teams to make this a reality every day and to ensure that our customers’ needs are met with the highest quality outcomes.

Board Members

Lars B. Thoresen, Managing Partner, Verdane Capital Advisors

Since joining Verdane in 1999, Lars has been instrumental in the acquisition of several portfolios of direct investments as well as the acquisition of a number of individual companies. He has also helped build companies such as Opera Software and Liaison Tech, the former from first investment through to IPO. Lars has been managing partner at Verdane Capital Advisors since 2008.

He was formerly a senior associate at Braxton Associates in London, where he advised companies in the European IT and telecom industries. Prior to this, Lars was a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting.

Education: Lars holds an MBA from INSEAD (France) and a BSc in Finance from St. John’s University, New York (USA).
Alan Howarth, Non-Executive Chairman

Alan Howarth has served as Chairman of several fully listed companies, such as Gresham Computing plc Alternative Investment Market (AIM) businesses (including Highams Systems Services Group) and private companies like The Message Pad Limited and Pharmacy Initiative Series plc. He has also successfully developed businesses in all stages of maturity. Additionally, he has chaired the turnaround of a National Health Service (NHS) Acute Hospital, which now ranks as one of the foremost in the UK.

His non-executive experience most recently includes his role as Managing Director of Compass Management Consulting, where he was responsible for developing business strategies to establish brand, quality and performance criteria. Prior to joining Compass, he was a partner with Ernst & Young for nearly 20 years and was also one of the founders of the UK Management Consulting practice.

Mr Howarth who has a degree in Business Studies, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the Institute of Directors and the British Computer Society.
Rachael Wyllie (King), Chief Executive Officer and Board Member

Rachael Wyllie (King) is an accomplished leader with exceptional knowledge of the eCOA market and a strong IT and scientific foundation, holding an MA in Pharmacology from Cambridge University. As leader of the senior CRF Health team she has developed a vision that ultimately links development of the company’s services to the needs of the company’s customers. Prior to joining CRF Health she worked for etrials (formerly MiniDoc and Araccel) as Operations lead, Managing Director and Company Secretary of the UK division. Prior to etrials, Ms. King worked for Pfizer, UK as a discovery scientist as well as in Biology computing where she specialized in Laboratory Information, Automation Systems, Real Time Data Acquisition of physiological signals, and ISO9001 Tick-IT lead auditor.
Oliver Kolbe
Jarkko Joki-Tokola, Co-Founder and Board Member

Jarkko Joki-Tokola, Co-Founder of CRF Health is an experienced growth company executive, entrepreneur and angel investor. Jarkko has background on new business development from Teliasonera Corporation and Fortum Group in Finland. Jarkko is also a Founding Partner and investor in Lifeline Ventures, an investment company focusing on early stage investments in start-up companies. Jarkko holds a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Helsinki University of Technology.

Management Team

Rachael Wyllie (King), Chief Executive Officer and Board Member

Rachael Wyllie (King) is an accomplished leader with exceptional knowledge of the eCOA market and a strong IT and scientific foundation, holding an MA in Pharmacology from Cambridge University. As leader of the senior CRF Health team she has developed a vision that ultimately links development of the company’s services to the needs of the company’s customers. Prior to joining CRF Health she worked for etrials (formerly MiniDoc and Araccel) as Operations lead, Managing Director and Company Secretary of the UK division. Prior to etrials, Ms. King worked for Pfizer, UK as a discovery scientist as well as in Biology computing where she specialized in Laboratory Information, Automation Systems, Real Time Data Acquisition of physiological signals, and ISO9001 Tick-IT lead auditor.
Jeffrey S. Payne, Chief Financial Officer

Jeff Payne has more than 20 years of public and private accounting and finance experience. Prior to joining CRF Health, Mr. Payne was the Chief Financial Officer of TRANZACT where he oversaw the sale of TRANZACT to new private equity firms, negotiated an $80 million credit facility, and reorganized the legal structure to increase tax efficiency.

Prior to TRANZACT, Mr. Payne was the co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of The Credo Group, where he handled all accounting, finance, HR, legal and administration. Before that, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Harte-Hanks DiMark and was responsible for three other Harte-Hanks subsidiaries. Mr. Payne began his career with Arthur Andersen where he was a manager with the commercial audit group.

Mr. Payne is a CPA, CGMA and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from Lehigh University.
Pekka Keskiivari, Chief Technology Officer

Pekka Keskiivari has over six years of experience in development of eCOA technology solutions. His background is in software and systems development and telecommunications. Prior to joining CRF Health, he worked for TeliaSonera Finland (formerly Sonera Corporation), the leading communications operator in Finland, where he held various executive and management positions in development and management of mobile data technologies, products and services. At CRF Health, he has leveraged his IT and software development experience of over 25 years in driving innovation and patient focused application of user-friendly technology in the clinical study environment.

Mr. Keskiivari holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Helsinki University of Technology where he is currently working toward his Ph.D. in advanced query languages. He was also a fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Advanced Engineering Studies.
John Larson, Chief Operating Officer

John comes to CRF Health with over two decades in the Technology, Medical Device and Pharmaceutical sectors. He brings executive perspective from prior leadership roles at a number of Global 100 companies. From new product introduction through lifecycle management, John engages a customer’s approach to managing operations and setting strategy. He has been called upon to lead organizational transformation, introduce innovation and drive hyper-growth in global business settings.

Previously, as Head of Global Services for Medtronic Surgical Technologies, John was responsible for integrating clinical, professional and technical services into a comprehensive growth engine, supporting the corporation’s international expansion. Prior to his work at Medtronic, John provided executive leadership at Philips Healthcare (Vice President & General Manager), Agfa Healthcare (Vice President, Services and Support), StorageTek (Senior Vice President, Global Services), Toshiba Corporation (Vice President, Technical Services and Support), AT&T and NCR Corporation.

John assumed his present role as COO in May 2011. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and an MBA in international business from James Madison University.
Mark Maietta, Senior VP of Business Development

Mark comes to CRF Health with over two decades of experience in business development, strategy and marketing in the Clinical Research and Pharmaceutical sectors. He brings keen insight in culture development, accountability, people development and strong operating principles to ensure customer satisfaction and success.

Mark assumed his role as Senior Vice President, Global Business Development July 2012. He holds a Bachelor of Marketing from Ithaca College and an MBA from Binghamton University.
Jaime Racine, VP Contracts and Vendor Management

Jaime Racine is responsible for pricing and contracts, as well as overseeing CRF Health's key vendors. Ms. Racine has been with CRF Health since 2006 and has extensive experience in contracts management in the Healthcare industry. Prior to joining CRF Health, Ms. Racine was a Product Manager for Medsite Inc., later acquired by WebMD Health Corp. As a Product Manager, she oversaw Medsite's largest grossing product, which was an online pharmaceutical marketing solution directly targeting physicians.

Jaime Racine holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.
Rauha Tulkki-Wilke, VP, Product & Service Management, CRF Health

Rauha Tulkki-Wilke works in the CRF Health technology center in Helsinki, Finland, where she manages the development of new ePRO solutions for the pharmaceutical industry. Rauha has been with CRF Health since it was founded and has 10 years of experience with ePRO: developing new mobile and patient-friendly eDiaries and delivering them to clinical trials.

Rauha holds an MSc in Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering and has a genuine interest in eHealth. Prior to moving to the pharmaceutical sector, she developed solutions for anesthesia management and neonatal intensive care.