New Talent, New Expanded Roles

Suttons Creek is growing and advancing its talent base

Suttons Creek is promoting four of its employees to better capitalize on their expertise and leadership skills:

Director, Technical Services Jonathan Amaya-Hodges has taken on the newly created role of Consulting Director, reporting directly to Rob Schulz, Senior Vice President. With this transition, Jonathan will provide executive level technical consulting to our clients and be a dedicated resource for complex technical challenges facing clients for both Regulatory and Quality issues. Jonathan is well recognized both internally and externally for his technical acumen and knowledge, making him an ideal choice for acting as a technical mentor to Suttons Creek team members who are focused on regulatory consulting.  In addition to the consulting and advisory responsibilities, Jonathan will formally take on the leadership responsibilities for industry and regulatory intelligence, a task where Jonathan has consistently already been a key contributor. Jonathan will continue to provide support to the Technical Director team and will remain a core team member on the Suttons Creek leadership team. About his new role, Schulz commented, “Jonathan has been instrumental as a key leadership contributor to Suttons Creeks growth since coming on board almost 4 years ago. This new role is critically important for Suttons Creek, and I am excited that Jonathan is willing to take on the responsibility of being an expert leadership resource to our internal and external teams.”

Max Lerman, PhD is transitioning from his position as Senior Principal Consultant and Associate Director of Technical Development and Learning to become an Associate Technical Director, while Bryan Bobo is being promoted from Principal Consultant to Associate Technical Director. This is a newly created position at Suttons Creek. in which they will both continue providing Senior Principal-level consulting services to clients and will manage consultant direct reports and provide support for analyzing needs and onboarding of new clients. As Associate Technical Directors Max and Bryan will also play larger roles in leading internal initiatives to help move our team forward in our continued growth and process improvement. The Technical Services leadership team is very pleased to have them join the ranks, with Rob Schulz saying that both Max and Bryan have earned their new positions by, “proving themselves to be exceptionally capable at leading complex projects and moving clients past their unique challenges in an effective way.”

Also recently promoted is Melissa DiGerolamo, from Senior Associate, Business Development to Business Operations Manager. “While supporting our clients through the business development and onboarding process, Melissa has demonstrated a keen ability for optimizing procedure and operational efficiency,” says Steve Badelt, PhD, Executive Vice President and Managing Partner. “This promotion allows her to more effectively lead us toward continued improvement of our internal operations and the Suttons Creek client experience.” Melissa will continue to assist potential clients in their journey toward selecting the right support partner to bring their combination product programs to market. She will also take on new responsibilities to identify and prioritize enhancements to the process, bringing them to fruition for the benefit of Suttons Creek’s clients.

In addition to these well-deserved promotions, Suttons Creek has also hired new and promising experts this spring – adding to our ever-expanding talent resource pool for clients.

Kevin Ranucci joins Suttons Creek as a Senior Principal Consultant and brings over 25 years of experience in medical devices and combination products. For the past 9 years, Kevin operated as the Autoinjector Platform Lead, and prior to that as a Principal Design Engineer for Injector Platforms, at a large, multinational Pharma company. During the 9 years prior to that, Kevin led teams in New Product Development and Design Engineering at a major device manufacturer. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, has 46 published patent applications/grants, and his combination product specialties run the gamut from design controls and process development/validation to quality and risk management, human factors, and program management. Kevin reports directly to Director, Technical Services Albana Thorpe, who is thrilled to have him on her team. “Kevin Ranucci is a valuable addition to the team, bringing over 25 years of experience in Product Design Engineering, New Product Development, Technical Leadership, Sustaining Engineering, and Drug Delivery and Device Development in the medical device and combination product fields,” says Thorpe. “His extensive experience with prefilled syringes, auto injectors, and cartridge-based delivery systems is a great asset to executing complex combination product programs.”

Also excited is Director, Technical Services Carolyn Dorgan, who is welcoming Alan Wang to Suttons Creek as a Principal Consultant on her consulting team. “Alan Wang is a valuable addition to the team, bringing over a decade of specialized expertise in Quality Management and Engineering for complex combination products,” says Dorgan. “His deep experience with on-body injectors, design controls, and manufacturing process qualifications fills a critical niche, ensuring robust, compliant product development from concept through commercialization.” Alan’s 10+ years of experience in the medical device and combination product industries includes specialization in quality management, risk management, and engineering. Throughout his career, he has managed Quality departments for the development, industrialization, launch, and sustainment of on-body injectors, prefilled syringes, and drug delivery device systems. Alan earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University and his M.S. in the same field from Arizona State University.

In his new role, Max Lerman, PhD is welcoming a new direct report , Andrew Ozga, as Suttons Creek’s newest Senior Consultant. Andrew has been a Systems Engineer in the pharmaceutical industry for over 5 years. Throughout his career, he has developed well-rounded experience with systems engineering (ISO 15288), design controls (ISO 13485, 21 CFR 820.30), and risk management (ISO 14971). He has leveraged his hands-on knowledge to drive the design and development of numerous drug-device combination products, including auto-injectors, injector pens, and enhanced prefilled syringes. Andrew is an INCOSE certified systems engineering professional with a B.S. in Physics from Butler University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. Lerman states,“Andrew has a reputation of being passionate about developing products that satisfy the needs of all stakeholders, including the patient, healthcare providers, business, and regulators. Any Suttons Creek client will be lucky to have Andrew on their team.”

Suttons Creek’s leadership congratulates our talented team members on their promotions and welcomes our new experts into the fold. We look forward to their continued career growth at Suttons Creek and their contributions to the continued growth of our company.