Meet the Team

At AXIS Clinicals, every one of our team members is proud to be on your team

When you work with AXIS, you partner with a senior management team that brings over 100 years of collective hands-on experience.

James Carlson

Pharm. D.

Chief Scientific Advisor

Keith Gallicano

PhD

Senior Advisor, Clinical & Scientific Affairs

Dinkar Sindhu

PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Ardeshir Khadang

Senior Vice President, Bioanalytical Operations

Peter Boldingh

Vice President, Clinical Operations

John Pottier

Senior Vice President, Business Development

Amy Karels

Director, Quality Assurance

Melissa Burgard

Director, Clinical Research Services

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James Carlson

Pharm. D.

Chief Scientific Advisor

James D. Carlson, Pharm.D provides over 35 years of experience in the clinical research industry. Dr. Carlson co-founded the PRACS Institute, LTD in Fargo in 1983 and assumed ownership and principal investigator status in 1990. He directed the growth of PRACS, which included adding e-DC, scientific affairs, regulatory affairs, bioanalytical sample analysis, data management, business development and dermatology studies. Dr. Carlson later served as President/CEO of Algorithme Pharma USA LLC in Fargo. Dr. Carlson received his Bachelors and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the Universities of Iowa and Michigan, respectively, and as a Clinical Pharmacy Residency from Buffalo General, NY. At AXIS Clinicals, Dr. Carlson aids in enhancing our clinical and bioanalytical services to support various studies while facilitating study designs and project execution of these programs. He is a member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the North Dakota Pharmaceutical Association.

Keith Gallicano

PhD

Senior Advisor, Clinical & Scientific Affairs

Dr. Gallicano brings over 32 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and an exceptionally diverse background including various positions in government (Senior Research Scientist, Health Canada), academia (Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Ottawa; Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia), the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry (Head, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs, Axar Laboratories, Inc.; Director, Biopharmaceutics, Watson Laboratories, Inc.) and the CRO service industry (Chief Scientific Officer, Novum Pharmaceutical Research Services; Vice President, Research and Development, Axelson Biopharma Research, Inc.; Scientific Director, CroMedica Prime and Prime Trials).

Dinkar Sindhu

Chief Executive Officer

Dinkar brings experience from over 20 years in building and developing organizations. With that, he has developed business and organizational design plans, and has executed these in all phases of organizational maturity. Dinkar has held many leadership positions in the CRO, Pharmaceutical, Engineering, and Railroad industries. He has led teams in International Commercial Operations, Business Development, and General Management. Dinkar holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelors Degree in Engineering.

Ardeshir Khadang

Senior Vice President, Bioanalytical Operations

With over 25 years of experience in the Bioanalytical field, Mr. Khadang provides overall direction of the Bioanalytical Division, offering hands-on leadership in the areas of method development, analytical method validation, and sample analysis. Mr. Khadang has held numerous leadership positions at major global CRO’s by leading teams in the bioanalytical techniques including mass spectrometry, chromatography, and automation. Over the last two decades, he has developed and/or overseen hundreds of LC/MS-MS methods and authored several publications. Mr. Khadang received his B.S. in Analytical Chemistry from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. He is a member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.

Peter Boldingh

Vice President, Clinical Operations

Pete Boldingh, Pharm.D. has over 12 years in the clinical research industry. He has held past management positions with PRACS Institute, Ltd., Webber and Judd Pharmacies, and Vibra Hospital Pharmacy. Currently, Dr. Boldingh oversees clinical study scheduling and management. His oversight includes pharmacy operations, training, SOP’s and strategic planning for clinical operations. He has served as principle or sub-investigator on clinical projects for over 20 years. Dr. Boldingh is a registered pharmacist in Minnesota and North Dakota. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from North Dakota State University, Fargo. He is a member of the Minnesota Pharmaceutical Association, North Dakota Pharmaceutical Association and the Association of Clinical Research Professionals.

John Pottier

Senior Vice President, Business Development

As a collaborative business development executive, John Pottier has over 25 years of leadership experience within the contact research industry. Identifying and implementing sales and marketing strategies, John has built business models to serve the pharmaceutical markets’ research and development requirements of bioequivalence, 505(b)(2), and pharmacology programs. Facilitating business development initiatives, John addressed clinical research markets within areas of dermatology, cardiac safety, diabetes, and neurology/psychology for ANDA and NDA regulatory filings. John earned a Bachelor of Science Business degree with a major in Marketing and is a member of American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientist, Drug Information Association, and Associates for Affordable Medicines.

Amy Karels

Director, Quality Assurance

Amy Karels brings with her a rich experience of 16 years in clinical research with 11 of those years as a Senior Clinical Coordinator. As a Senior Clinical Coordinator, she worked on a multitude of clinical projects and gained in-depth working perspective on clinical studies. Amy was also involved in many sponsor visits and responded to questions raised during these visits. In addition, she has worked with many disciplines to assure timelines were met and a quality product delivered. For the past year, Amy has been with the Quality Assurance Department with AXIS Clinicals.

Melissa Burgard

Director, Clinical Research Services

Melissa Burgard brings 30 years of experience in clinical trials and clinical research management.  Melissa started her research career in Neurology and Psychiatry with federal grant-funded projects, including one of the first studies comparing telemedicine to in-person therapy for the treatment of eating disorders.  In addition to CNS experience, she has clinical trial experience in the areas of pediatrics, women’s health, vaccine (pediatric and adult), infectious disease, pulmonology, oncology, and cardiology.  Melissa oversaw clinical research studies conducted in hospitals and clinics across the United States.  Her most recent appointment, prior to joining the AXIS Clinicals team in 2018, was Director of Operations for Research at Sanford Health, one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States.  She is certified in clinical research, sat on an advisory board for operational activities for an oncology immunotherapy network, is on her 9th year of serving on the local school board, and is on the board of directors for a regional software service provider.   

 

Interested in bringing your study to AXIS? Please reach out:

John Pottier
Senior VP Business Development