Catherine is the Founder & Managing Director of On Q Recruitment, a leading life sciences recruitment agency that recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. A founding Member of INRALs , an international network of privately owned Life Science recruitment companies, InRAls has an extensive network across Asia, Europe, UK, Ireland, Dubai, USA & Japan. Catherine is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Recruitment, Consulting & Staffing Association, the RCSA is the peak body for the recruitment, staffing & industry across Australia & New Zealand. She recently completed the AICD company director’s course.

Ryan Atkins is passionate about connecting people practices to business strategy and creating cultures that support inclusion, engagement and performance. With a career in HR and Psychology and having worked for almost 20 years with Sanofi and Philips, offers substantial experience in HealthTech multinationals, leading change programs, business repositioning, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Commercial and pragmatic, with a proven ability to develop collaborative relationships with partners, stakeholders, and employees to achieve positive, sustainable business outcomes. Specialties include governance/risk, culture, DEI strategy to action, change management, business integration, employee experience/EVP, leadership development, talent acquisition strategy, assessment, and management, health & wellness, and sustainability. Ryan earned a Masters in Psychology at Sydney University and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Paullette brings over 30 years of leadership experience in global central laboratory services, supporting pharmaceutical and biotech industries across the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the United States. As CEO of Sonic Clinical Trials, she leads a highly specialised global team delivering integrated laboratory solutions for clinical trials, with a strong emphasis on operational excellence, innovation, and global collaboration. Her areas of expertise span laboratory and quality management systems, systems development, corporate training and development, risk and crises management, stakeholder engagement, ESG leadership, corporate and commercial strategy. With deep experience in regulated laboratory environments, Paullette combines scientific rigour with commercial acumen and people-centric leadership. She has successfully established start-up operations in Australia, Singapore, Belgium and US, led large-scale transformation initiatives, shaped operational frameworks, mentored emerging leaders and fostered collaboration of diverse teams within complex, global organisations. Paullette holds a Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences, a Master of Business Management, and has recently completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors course.

Shan-e Elahi is a senior quality and operations leader with over 20 years of international experience across the pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare, and life sciences sectors. As the Head of Quality for Global End-to-End Operations at PharmaCare Laboratories, Shan-e oversees global quality systems across manufacturing, supply chain, and commercial operations—ensuring excellence and compliance across diverse, regulated markets. Shan-e’s career spans leadership roles at global companies including Reckitt, where he served as Regional Quality Manager for Africa, Middle East, Turkey, and South Asia, navigating a complex matrix of cultures, languages, and regulatory environments. Prior to that, he was Head of Quality at Roche in Australia and New Zealand, and held earlier quality and operations roles at Radpharm Scientific, Baxter, and GSK. Having worked across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Asia-Pacific, and North America, Shan-e brings a first-hand understanding of the importance of cultural intelligence in building high-performing, collaborative teams. His leadership approach emphasises adaptability, local engagement, and respect for cultural diversity while delivering consistent global quality outcomes. As a panellist on “Cultural Competence in a Globalised Workplace”, Shan-e will draw on his cross-regional leadership experience to share practical insights on fostering inclusive environments, leading multicultural teams, and embedding cultural awareness into global operational strategy.