Executive Leadership
CMR Institute is led by a group of experienced and knowledgeable professionals committed to enhancing patient healthcare through advanced education. CMR Institute’s legacy of educational excellence is continually strengthened by the team’s collective expertise and dedication to innovative learning strategies.
 | Michelle R. O'Connor, MEd, CMR
President and CEO |
With more than 18 years of service at CMR Institute, Michelle O’Connor has overseen most every aspect of the organization’s contributions to providing healthcare education to the biopharmaceutical industry.
Ms. O’Connor’s extensive background in education and healthcare has helped to shape her vision for the company. She has been instrumental in the development and evolution of CMR’s product development, to e-learning and mobile delivery of its educational content to improving learning outcomes for client organizations.
She is focused on meeting tomorrow’s educational needs of the biopharmaceutical and other life science industries which has expanded CMR Institute from being a niche certification provider to an innovative learning company during the industry’s most challenging economic era. Ms. O’Connor received an M.A. in education from Virginia Tech in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Training and Development.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors provides invaluable support of the Institute's executive team through strategic planning and fiscal oversight. The board actively supports the Institute's approach to mission achievement through the provision of their insight, endorsement, diversification opportunity introductions, as well as resource expansion as necessary.
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Jeff Mackie, PhD Director, Chair of the Board |
Jeff Mackie is a retired 20-year veteran of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals. He joined GSK in 1982 and held positions as Medical Science Liaison and Training and Development Department Director. In recognition of his ability to motivate patients to be more involved in their own care, GSK honored Dr. Mackie by naming him their "Ambassador to the Healthcare Community." In that role, he traveled the United States speaking to healthcare professionals and their patients helping them understand how best to motivate patients to be more active participants in their own care.
Currently, Dr. Mackie is President of Mackie and Associates. He is a professional speaker/motivating humorist specializing in the healthcare industry. He is a registered pharmacist and a former professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He is a member of the American Pharmacists Association and a Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. Dr. Mackie holds a doctorate degree in Pharmacy and Toxicology from Temple University.
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Anthony D. Slonim, MD, DrPH Director, Vice Chairman of the Board |
Tony Slonim is the Chief Medical Officer for Barnabas Health in West Orange, NJ where he oversees all initiatives supporting the delivery of exceptional patient care. Dr. Slonim brings more than a decade of diverse healthcare experience as a practicing physician, professor, author, and fellow. Prior to his current role, he was the Chief Medical Officer for Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Maryland, spent several years as Vice President of Medical Affairs at Carilion Medical Center, and spent eight years at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC where he was an attending physician in critical care medicine and held several management positions. Dr. Slonim is currently a Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, at the Virginia Tech-Carilion School of Medicine. He has authored more than 45 published manuscripts and 11 books. Additionally, he is a Fellow of the American College of Physician Executives and the College of Critical Medicine. Dr. Slonim completed his Medical Doctorate (MD) program at New York Medical College and completed his Master's and Doctorate in Administrative Medicine and Health Policy from the George Washington University School of Public Health.
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J. Lyle Bootman, PhD Director |
Lyle Bootman is Senior Vice President for Health Sciences for the AHSC at University of Arizona. He is professor of pharmacy, medicine and public health, and a Fellow of several professional associations including the American Pharmacists Association, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, and the American College of Apothecaries. He is the executive director and founder of the University of Arizona Center for Health Outcomes and PharmacoEconomic (HOPE) Research, one of the first such centers developed in the world. He is former president of the American Pharmacists Association and President Emeritus of the Pharmacy & Therapeutics Society. Additionally, he is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies, where he currently serves on the Board of Health Care Services, and Co-Chair of the IOM Committee which released the highly publicized report, Preventing Medication Errors. He received his pharmacy education at the University of Arizona and his doctorate at the University of Minnesota where he was given the university's highest alumni honor. He completed a clinical pharmacy residency at the world-renowned National Institutes of Health, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
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Sam English, PhD Director |
Sam English is an experienced biomedical and life science entrepreneur. English is the founder and managing partner of CIE Partners, a consulting business for entrepreneurs, small businesses and nonprofits in Western Virginia; CEO and founder of Attention Point, a medical software developer of clinical tools for ADHD assessments; and vice president of Pharmaceutical Services for OcuCure Therapeutics, an ophthalmic pharmaceutical company. Previously, English served as Director of University Relations for the Carilion Biomedical Institute where he launched OptiMetric Technologies, Inc., a biochip start-up company, and led it to acquisition. English started an educational software company, T2I2, during his tenure as Professor of Chemistry at Jefferson College of Health Sciences. He is a licensing professional and member of both the Association of University Technology Managers and the Licensing Executives Society, and holds a doctorate in Biochemistry from Clemson University.
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George Lutzow Director |
George Lutzow is currently owner of “lutzowsolutions”, an organizational consultancy focused on providing human solutions that drive performance through strategy, development and engagement. In addition, he is currently an adjunct professor, teaching human resource management, in the MBA program at Delaware Valley College. Lutzow was previously Director of Education at Acme Markets, a division of Supervalu, a leader in grocery, drug and supply chain operations in the United States. He brings a wealth of experience in human resource practices, training, development, organizational effectiveness and change management. George is a graduate of Drexel University, in business administration and received his masters in organizational dynamics from University of Pennsylvania.
Mark Sorrentino, MD, MS
Director
Executive Medical Director, Global Product Development, PPD Inc.
Former Chief Medical Officer, ADMA Biologics
Mark Sorrentino, MD, MS, has over 15 years experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He is currently the Executive Medical Director, Global Product Development, at PPD Inc, and is responsible for support of pharmaceutical development consulting services focusing on biologics development and post approval strategies.
Prior to joining PPD Dr. Sorrentino was the global Chief Medical Officer at ADMA Biologics where he oversaw all clinical development operations. Prior to ADMA, Dr. Sorrentino was the Director, Medical Science at MedImmune where he had primary responsibility for development and oversight of numerous Phase IV and post-marketing studies across several therapeutic areas including infectious diseases, respiratory diseases, and transplant medicine, and worked closely with the sales and marketing teams.
Dr. Sorrentino has also served as a consultant to biotechnology firms and has overseen implementation of medical information systems. Dr. Sorrentino received his MD as well an MS in Clinical Nutrition from the Chicago Medical School. He completed both a residency in Pediatrics and fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC and currently holds an appointment as a Assistant Clinical Professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Sorrentino was an attending physician in the CNMC pediatric intensive care unit for 8 years and participated in numerous Industry sponsored critical care trials.
Dr. Sorrentino holds active medical licenses in Washington DC and Maryland. He also serves as the Medical Director for all Susan G. Komen events in the DC area and has volunteered on several international medical missions.
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Jeffrey L. Thomas Director |
As Chief Commercial Officer, Jeffrey Thomas leads commercial strategy and development to ensure PuraCap’s integrated commercial success. An executive with 30 years experience in the commercialization of pharmaceutical products, he has held roles within several multi-billion-dollar companies.
As Vice President of Corporate Customers, Customer Marketing and Strategic Alliances at Novartis, he was in charge of multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical sales and marketing departments and programs.
As U.S. President of Ranbaxy, the largest Indian Pharmaceutical company, he had full profit and loss responsibilities for building the branded products group in North America – launching four products in the first full year of operation.
Most recently, as President of the Strategy and Analytics group at inVentiv Health, he was responsible for strategic planning and financial performance for four companies that made up the consultancy arm of inVentiv. He built the Ventiv Access Group, a company that provided managed markets services for client portfolios – including emerging through the top ten pharmaceutical and biotech companies with a focus on product launch lifecycle management.
Mr. Thomas earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from West Liberty State College in West Virginia. He serves on the Board of Directors for CMR Institute and on the Advisory Board for the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, Metro Chapter.
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Donald Stark Director Emeritus |
Don Stark has extensive experience serving the pharmaceutical industry in various roles including Chairman, CEO and President of Nova Pharmaceutical Corporation; President of Sandoz Japan; President of Sandoz, USA; President of Sterling Drug Pharmaceutical Group; Founding Member and Vice Chairman of Nova; and Director of MicroCarb, Business Advisor to Medical Science Partners created by Harvard Medical School. He currently serves as a Director of Tenvera. In addition, Mr. Stark has served as Treasurer of the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education; on advisory committees for Farleigh Dickinson University and the National Wholesale Druggists Association; as a Trustee of Lakeland College; on the Science Center Committee of Drake University and as a member of the CMR Institute Strategic Advisory Board. Mr. Stark holds a Master's Degree in Science in Education from Drake University, where he received an Alumni Achievement Award.
