About Brand Institute

Brand Institute is the global leader in brand name and identity development. For over thirty years, we have been providing a broad portfolio of branding and naming-related services, including name development, trademark searches, market research, regulatory services, and visual identity solutions.

Our Story

Brand Institute was founded in New York City in 1993 with the vision of providing world-class brand naming and identity development services to clients across industries. In 1996, we moved our corporate headquarters to Miami, Florida and recruited an exceptional team of branding professionals, many of whom are still with the company today. Over the following thirty years, Brand Institute opened offices around the world to provide clients with local, responsive, and expert service. Today, we are honored to be the world’s #1 naming company, partnering on more naming projects than any of our competitors.

Local Account Leads

William Johnson

William Johnson

Co-Chief Executive Officer & President, New York

William Johnson

Co-Chief Executive Officer & President, New York

Mr. Johnson joined BI - Miami as Market Research Manager in 1997. He was promoted to Director, Brand Development for BI - New York in 1999, Managing Director for BI - New York in 2001, President, U.S. Eastern Division in 2003 and promoted in 2012 to Global President, Brand Institute. In 2022, Mr. Johnson became Co-chief Executive Officer & President of Brand Institute. In this role, Mr. Johnson is responsible for running all facets of the business. He has led over 2,000 branding, brand naming and research projects in his 24 years with Brand Institute. Bill’s projects have worked with pharmaceutical, biotech, device, diagnostic and consumer healthcare clients. He has also led dozens of high-profile corporate identity projects for clients worldwide. Prior to Brand Institute, Mr. Johnson was with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Harvard Medical School. Mr. Johnson earned his B.S from Princeton University.

William Johnson

New York
Co-Chief Executive Officer & Global President
David A. Dettore, MBA

David A. Dettore, MBA

President, U.S. Western Division & Asia

David A. Dettore, MBA

President, U.S. Western Division & Asia

Mr. Dettore joined BI - New York in 1994 as Director, Brand Development. During his tenure, he has served as President for the San Francisco, Chicago, Raleigh-Durham and Los Angeles offices. He was promoted to President, U.S. Western Division and Asia in 2008 and is responsible for the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul and Tokyo regions.Mr. Dettore earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

David Dettore, MBA

Los Angeles
Divisional President, Western U.S. & Asia
Courtney Kilroy

Courtney Kilroy

Divisional President - Pacific Northwest

Courtney Kilroy

Divisional President - Pacific Northwest

Mrs. Kilroy joined BI – San Francisco in 2003 Director Brand Development. She was promoted to Managing Director, San Francisco in 2005, President, San Francisco in 2009 and then Divisional President Northern California & Pacific Northwest in 2019. She also worked with Microsoft European Operations Centre, Guess, Inc., and Gap Inc. She has been with Brand Institute for 20 years and has worked on over 400 Brand Names, 500 Nonproprietary Names, 50 Medical Devices, and 100+ Corporate Identities, Logos and Clinical Trial Names canvassing all therapeutic categories. She earned her B.A. from Loyola Marymount University.

Courtney Kilroy

San Francisco
Divisional President, Pacific Northwest
Brian Frasca, RPh, CPh, MBA

Brian Frasca, RPh, CPh, MBA

Divisional President, Midwestern U.S.

Brian Frasca, RPh, CPh, MBA

Divisional President, Midwestern U.S.

Dr. Frasca joined Brand Institute as a Drug Safety Evaluator in 2010. Dr. Frasca was promoted to Vice President of Brand Strategy, Market & Safety Research in 2015, where he oversaw over 850 nomenclature research projects worldwide in 2016. In 2017 he was promoted to President, Chicago and most recently promoted to his current position as Divisional President, Midwest Region. Prior to joining Brand Institute, he worked in various roles of retail pharmacy in MA and FL and as a Consultant Pharmacist in FL. He earned his B.S. in Pharmacy from Northeastern University, Consultant License at University of Florida and in 2014 completed his executive M.B.A. program with a concentration in Marketing.

Brian Frasca, RPh, CPh, MBA

Chicago
Divisional President, Midwestern U.S.
Silivia Bellucci, Msc

Silivia Bellucci, Msc

Director, Basel

Silivia Bellucci, Msc

Director, Basel

Ms. Bellucci joined BI - Basel as Associate Director, Brand Development in 2020, and was promoted Director in 2021. Within Brand Institute, she worked on neurology Brands such as Noxarem as well as other products in development for oncology, endocrinology, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, COVID, and rare diseases for companies in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Prior to joining Brand Institute, she was Global Category & Brand Manager Beauty at Dufry, responsible for top brand partners in the Luxury, Skincare & Cosmetic industry such as Estée Lauder, Shiseido, and La Prairie. She was also Product Manager at Sudler & Hennessey where she worked with a wide range of clients such as Pfizer, Sandoz, Ferring, Roche and Amgen in the areas of infectious diseases (Vfend & Ecalta), oncology (Avastin), urology (Leuprorelin), reproductive health (Menopur, Endometrin and Bravelle) and cardiovascular disease (Repatha). She earned a B.S. in Biotechnology and M.S. in Medical Biotechnology from University of Bicocca in Milan, Italy.

Silvia Bellucci, MSc

Basel
Director
Daina Quevedo, PharmD

Daina Quevedo, PharmD

President, Boston

Daina Quevedo, PharmD

President, Boston

Dr. Quevedo joined BI - Boston as Associate Director, Brand Development in 2017 and was promoted to President in 2021. Prior to joining BI, she was a staff pharmacist for 10 years at CVS Pharmacy in South Boston and served as interim manager in November 2015. Dr. Quevedo has worked on 300+ global nonproprietary and brand development initiatives encompassing multiple therapeutic areas. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston, MA.

Daina Quevedo, PharmD, RPh

Boston
President
Mike Williams

Mike Williams

Senior Vice President, Charlotte

Mike Williams

Senior Vice President, Charlotte

Mr. Williams opened BI – Charlotte in 2022 as Senior Vice President, Brand Development with extensive global branding experience, including working with Amylyx (RELYVRIO™), Apellis (EMPAVELI™), Avadel (NOURESS™), BMS (SOTYKTU™), and Théa Pharma (iVIZIA™). Prior to Brand Institute, Mr. Williams was Managing Director at Brandsymbol for 5 years and worked on Name Development & Visual Design assignments for Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, OTC, Healthcare, Medical Device, Technology, and Consumer Package Goods companies. Prior to that, he was an Associate Vice President for 15 years at Innovatix/Premier, a Senior Consultant at Addison Whitney for 3 years working on Name Development & Visual Design projects, and a Specialty Representative for 3 years at Dura Pharmaceuticals. From 1991-1996, Mike served as a Non-Commissioned Officer in the United States Marine Corps. He has a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mike Williams

Charlotte
Senior Vice President
Steffen Lorenz

Steffen Lorenz

Divisional President, Central & Eastern Europe, Frankfurt

Steffen Lorenz

Divisional President, Central & Eastern Europe, Frankfurt

Mr. Lorenz joined BI - Frankfurt in 2008. Prior to BI, he worked in the healthcare industry as a corporate and entrepreneurial marketing and sales professional. Mr. Lorenz’s career includes over 20 years on the client side, including 14 years at Schering AG, now Bayer AG, managing brands like Noctamid®, Dopergin® and Ultravist®, and 4 years with Guerbet GmbH working on brands like Dotarem® and Xenetix®. He worked for Meyra GmbH and most recently at Otto Bock US as a regional director for the Americas. At Brand Institute, he has led over 400 naming projects mainly in the healthcare sector for large, midsized and startup companies. Select experience from his portfolio of brand naming projects includes names like Victoza, Saxenda, Kyleena and Comirnaty, as well as dozens of recommended INNs. Notable consumer/B2B brand naming projects include clients like BMW/MINI, Beiersdorf and the European Central Bank.

Steffen Lorenz

Frankfurt
Divisional President, Central & Eastern Europe
Mark Ghobry, MPharm

Mark Ghobry, MPharm

Divisional President, Western Europe & Emerging Markets, London

Mark Ghobry, MPharm

Divisional President, Western Europe & Emerging Markets, London

Mr. Ghobry joined BI - London as Director, Brand Development in 2011 and was promoted to Vice President, Brand Development in 2013 and more recently to President, London in 2014. Prior to joining BI, he was a manager of a multi-national retail Pharmacy chain and clinical pharmacist by training. Mr. Ghobry earned his MPharm from the UCL School of Pharmacy and is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Mr. Ghobry has led over 500 Brand Naming, Brand Architecture and Nonproprietary naming projects during his tenure with Brand Institute. Brand naming initiatives that Mr. Ghobry led include Fasenra (AstraZeneca), Fetroja (Shionogi), Nyxoid (Mundipharma), Restasis (Allergan) and Nucala (GSK).

Mark Ghobry, MPharm

London
Divisional President, Western Europe & Emerging Markets
Joris Fokker

Joris Fokker

Director, Miami

Joris Fokker

Director, Miami

Mr. Fokker joined BI - Miami as a Market Research Analyst in 2017. He was then promoted to Market Research Coordinator in 2020, where he has assisted in managing the marketing research department for more than 18 offices globally, working on 750 brand naming initiatives in his role at Brand Institute Miami Operations in the following select therapeutic categories: Animal Health, Antibiotic, Antiviral, HIV, Corporate Identity, COVID-19, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Gastrointestinal, Hematology, Immunology, Medical Device, Neurology, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Pain & Inflammation, Respiratory, and Women’s Health. Most recently, he was promoted to Director, Brand Development. He has a B.A. in marketing and finance from Florida International University.

Joris Fokker

Miami
Director
Alisa Umanskaya, PhD, MPhil, MA

Alisa Umanskaya, PhD, MPhil, MA

Vice President, New York

Alisa Umanskaya, PhD, MPhil, MA

Vice President, New York

Dr. Umanskaya joined BI - New York in 2016 as Associate Director, Brand Development. In her 7 years at Brand Institute, Dr. Umanskaya has worked on 200+ pharmaceutical name development projects including BREYANZI, UBRELVY, XCOPRI, ESPEROCT, and REBINYN. Prior to joining Brand Institute, she was a Scientific Associate at Syneos Health and Medical Content Developer for Flywheel Partners. Dr. Umanskaya earned her Ph.D., M.Phil. and M.A. degrees in Physiology and Cellular Biophysics from Columbia University, New York and her B.A. degree from Macaulay Honors College - CUNY Hunter College, New York.

Alisa Umanskaya, PhD

New York
Vice President
Richard Alvarez, MBA

Richard Alvarez, MBA

President, Rockville

Richard Alvarez, MBA

President, Rockville

Mr. Alvarez joined BI - Miami as Senior Trademark Analyst in 1997. In 2002 he was promoted to Creative Nomenclature manager, Operations Manager in 2005, Director of Operations in 2007 and Vice President of Operations in 2009. Most recently he was promoted to President of Rockville where he is be responsible for brand management and new business development for the Rockville region. He earned his B.A. from Florida International University.

Richard Alvarez, MBA

Rockville
President
Carlos Fernandes, MBA

Carlos Fernandes, MBA

Vice President, São Paulo

Carlos Fernandes, MBA

Vice President, São Paulo

Mr. Fernandes joined BI - São Paulo as Director of Brand Development in 2019. Prior to joining the Brand Institute, he was regional brand manager at Procter & Gamble, responsible for managing the P&G dietary supplement line, working with brands that included Metamucil, Pepto-Bismol and Align. Prior to that, he worked at Euromed Scapa Healthcare Company on products for skin care and dermatology. At Boehringer Ingelheim, he worked as a senior manager responsible for managing the Micardis product line. Early in his career, he served as junior product manager for Danone, responsible for managing infant nutrition product line, Aptamil. In his professional experience, he has led development projects for more than 50 brands marketed in Brazil and Latin America, mainly for the Pharmaceutical, Medical Devices and Consumer segments. He obtained his master’s degree in New Business Administration from ESPM and graduated in Advertising & Marketing from FAAP.

Carlos Fernandes, MBA

São Paulo
Vice President
Kurt Yoon, RPh

Kurt Yoon, RPh

Divisional President, Asia, Seoul

Kurt Yoon, RPh

Divisional President, Asia, Seoul

Mr. Yoon joined BI - Seoul in 2015 as Associate Director, Brand Development. Prior to Brand Institute, Mr. Yoon was a Global Regulatory Affairs Manager at Daewoong Pharmaceutical and a Licensing & Business Development Manager at Kukje Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Yoon earned his B.S in Genetics, PGDipSci and Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Otago. He is a registered Pharmacist in Australia and New Zealand. He has led over70 Nonproprietary (USAN/INN) projects, including efineptakin alfa, fexuprazan, rivoceranib, and timbetasin, and 52 Global Brand Naming projects, highlighted by Celltrion’s biosimilar brands Yuflyma, Remsima, Herzuma and Truxima.

Kurt Yoon, RPh

Seoul
Divisional President, Asia
Akira Mori, MS

Akira Mori, MS

President, Tokyo

Akira Mori, MS

President, Tokyo

Mr. Mori joined BI - Tokyo as Director, Brand Development and was promoted to President in 2017. Prior to joining BI, Mr. Mori was with Takeda Pharmaceuticals for over 25 years. He worked in management roles for the pharmaceutical research division at Takeda, Medicinal Chemistry, Platform Technology and Research Communications – Public Affairs / Relations. He earned his B.S. in Industrial Chemistry from Kyushu Institute of Technology and M.S. in Molecular Engineering from Kyushu University, Graduate School of Engineering Science.

Akira Mori, MS

Tokyo
President
Devin Krebs, BSc

Devin Krebs, BSc

President, Toronto

Devin Krebs, BSc

President, Toronto

Mr. Krebs joined BI - Toronto as Associate Director, Brand Development in 2018, was promoted to New York Director, Brand Development in 2020 and promoted to President Toronto in 2022. During Devin’s time at Brand Institute, he has had vast pharmaceuticals experience, working on name development initiatives including Tetra Bio-Pharma’s corporate business unit (ENJOUCA), and several pharmaceutical brand names including oncology (DAURISMO, PIQRAY, RIXIMYO), endocrinology(INCRELEX, RYBELSUS), immunology (RYALTRIS, ZEPOSIA), pain & inflammation (AVSOLA, SUVEXX), respiratory (ITULATEK), and hematology (INCLUNOX, TAVALISSE) therapeutic areas. Prior to joining BI, Devin worked for 4 years as an Account Manager at IMCD, a leading distributor of pharmaceutical products from manufacturers including BASF, DuPont, CP Kelco, Lubrizol, Shin-Etsu and Firmenich. In this role, he provided excipients and APIs for pharmaceutical formulations. He earned a B.Sc. in Medical Sciences from Brock University.

Devin Krebs, BSc

Toronto
President

Operations Leadership Team

James L. Dettore

James L. Dettore

Founder, Chairman & CEO

James L. Dettore

Founder, Chairman & CEO

James Dettore, senior strategist and founder of Brand Institute in 1993, has been instrumental in advancing BI's hallmark of innovation and excellence. In 2004, he extended this legacy by establishing Drug Safety Institute (DSI), which has since become a premier company known for providing unparalleled expertise and cutting-edge regulatory services, setting the industry standard.Mr. Dettore is an alumnus of the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Harvard University New York Chapter Owner & President Management Program (OPM).In recognition of BI and DSI's unwavering support of the pharmacy profession and commitment to patient safety, Mr. Dettore was inducted into the Phi Lambda Sigma Pharmacy Leadership Society in 2020.Mr. Dettore, demonstrating the company’s steadfast commitment to advancing patient safety, spearheaded Drug Safety Institute’s partnership with the NSU College of Pharmacy to establish the prestigious Stephanie Feldman Aleong National Patient Safety Award. Since 2009, this annual award is presented to healthcare industry leaders and patient advocates whose unique efforts have significantly advanced patient safety.In 2023, under Mr. Dettore’s guidance, Brand Institute became a member of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer. Founded in 2001, following a challenge from former President George H.W. Bush to corporate executives, the CEO Roundtable on Cancer calls for organizations to evaluate their health benefits and workplace culture and take extensive, concrete actions in five key areas of health and wellness to address cancer in the workplace. Brand Institute’s membership to this organization underscores our ongoing commitment to employee health and wellness, and aligns with our broader commitment to partnering with healthcare industry organizations whose efforts serve the public good.With over three decades of experience in brand management, he has held key positions at renowned organizations, including PepsiCo, J. Walter Thompson, Hilton International Hotels, and Ralph Lauren.

James L. Dettore

Founder, Chairman & CEO
Jerry Phillips, RPh

Jerry Phillips, RPh

President, Client Relations

Jerry Phillips, RPh

President, Client Relations

Mr. Phillips joined Drug Safety Institute (DSI) - Miami as President & CEO in 2004 and he was promoted to President, Client Relations at Brand Institute in 2020. He retired from the U.S. Public Health Service at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004, after 16 years with the Agency. Joining the Agency in 1988, he became the Director of the Division of Labeling and Program Support in the Office of Generic Drugs, where he shared responsibility for the approval of all generic drugs in the U.S. In particular, he developed his expertise in the labeling and safe use of pharmaceutical products. In December of 1998, he became the Associate Director for Medication Error Prevention in the newly created Office of Post-Marketing Drug Risk Assessment (OPDRA), which is now known as the Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology (OSE).During his 6 years with OSE, he created and became the Acting Director of the Division of Medication Errors and Technical Support (DMETS), recently renamed the Division of Medication Error and Prevention Analysis (DMEPA), responsible for the review and analysis of all proprietary names in the United States. While with the OSE, he developed the methodology that the FDA uses in testing all U.S. proprietary names for safe use.Mr. Phillips’s leadership in preventing medication errors has included work on a plethora of projects and committees stateside, including the recent Bar Coding Rule published by the FDA. In addition, he was the Chair of the Medication Errors Committee in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Chair of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP), principal author of the Taxonomy of Medication Errors created by NCC MERP, member of NIOSH Working Group on Hazardous Drugs, and member of the Department of Defense (DoD) working group to establish pharmaceutical bar coding in the DoD.Mr. Phillips earned his B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Houston and completed an ASHP hospital pharmacy residency at the U.S. Public Health Service hospital in Staten Island, N.Y.Mr. Phillips oversees all proprietary & nonproprietary strategy, naming, safety research, labeling, risk management, name submissions, rebuttals and special consults for DSI.

Jerry Phillips, RPh

President, Client Relations
Rogelio Reyes, Esq

Rogelio Reyes, Esq

General Counsel

Rogelio Reyes, Esq

General Counsel

Mr. Reyes joined BI - Miami in 2001. He oversees Brand Institute’s trademarks department. He has led over 5,000 branding initiatives during his 20 years with Brand Institute for a multitude of large, midsized and startup healthcare and consumer/B2B clients. Mr. Reyes received his B.A. from the University of Chicago and J.D. from Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans.

Rogelio Reyes, Esq

General Counsel
Scott Piergrossi

Scott Piergrossi

President, Creative

Scott Piergrossi

President, Creative

Mr. Piergrossi joined BI - Miami in 2003. As President, Creative, Mr. Piergrossi is Brand Institute’s lead creative naming and brand name strategy official. He has led thousands of branding and naming initiatives during his 19 years with Brand Institute, developing creative nomenclature for a multitude of large, midsize and startup healthcare and consumer/B2B clients. Heis proficient in the disciplines related to the creation and marketing of brands, including strategy, positioning, trademark law and regulatory affairs. In his previous role as President, Operations & Communications, Mr. Piergrossi led Brand Institute’s Miami-based operations and global corporate communications. He continues to serve as head of media relations for BI. Mr. Piergrossi received his B.A. in Advertising from Barry University in Miami.

Scott Piergrossi

President, Creative
Carlos Gomez, MBA

Carlos Gomez, MBA

Senior Vice President, Information Systems

Carlos Gomez, MBA

Senior Vice President, Information Systems

Mr. Gomez joined BI - Miami in 2000. He oversees Brand Institute’s Information Systems (IS) Department and leads technology initiatives for every department. Mr. Gomez started as a Software Engineer and has held many leadership roles in the IS department over his 22 years with the company. He currently serves as Brand Institute’s Senior Vice President of Information Systems. Mr. Gomez received his B.A. in Systems Engineering from the “Universidad de los Andes” and M.B.A from FIU Chapman Graduate School of Business.

Carlos Gomez, MBA

Senior Vice President, Information Systems
Mary Lewis

Mary Lewis

Senior Vice President, Professional Development

Mary Lewis

Senior Vice President, Professional Development

Mrs. Lewis joined BI - Miami as Associate, Business Development in 2007, was promoted to Vice President, Professional Development in 2018 and most recently was promoted to Senior Vice President, Professional Development. Mrs. Lewis has worked on over 400 creative naming and name research projects including well-known brands such as KYMRIAH, STEGLUJAN, ZEMAIRA, TREMFYA and PROAIR RESPICLICK. She is responsible for brand management and new business development for the New York region. She earned a B.F.A. in MultimediaDesign from the University of Florida.

Mary Lewis

Senior Vice President, Professional Development
Amauris Diaz

Amauris Diaz

Senior Vice President, Visual Identity

Amauris Diaz

Senior Vice President, Visual Identity

Mr. Diaz joined BI – Miami in 2000 as Creative Assistant Manager and then moved to Senior Webmaster in 2004. Mr. Diaz was promoted to Senior Vice President, Visual Identity in 2019 and oversees a team of creative designers and has been involved in over 750 logo, packaging and website development project. These include BIOVENTUS, SEQIRUS and CORREVIO corporate identities. Mr. Diaz has over 25 years of experience in Art & Advertising Design and website development.

Amauris Diaz

Senior Vice President, Visual Identity
Can Celebican

Can Celebican

Senior Vice President, Business Development

Can Celebican

Senior Vice President, Business Development

Mr. Celebican joined BI - Miami as Associate, Business Development in 2002. He was formerly Director, Global New Business Development and was most recently promoted to Senior Vice President, Global New Business Development Operations. Mr. Celebican has worked on over 500 creative naming and name research projects including well-known brands such as COMIRNATY, MYLOTARG, REXULTI, MOVANTIK and BRILINTA. He is responsible for brand management and new business development in the New York region. He earned a B.A. in International Finance & Marketing from the University of Miami.

Can Celebican

Senior Vice President, Business Development
Alexa Lash, MA

Alexa Lash, MA

Senior Vice President, Creative Nomenclature

Alexa Lash, MA

Senior Vice President, Creative Nomenclature

Ms. Lash joined BI - Miami in 2013. She serves as one of the leading experts in specialty creative projects ranging from brand strategy recommendations to live creative sessions. Ms. Lash has spearheaded thousands of creative naming, brand architecture and naming strategy projects during her tenure with Brand Institute, while also contributing to creative innovation and outfacing deliverable program design. Before joining BI, she worked as a Social Media & Marketing Coordinator and as a freelance writer and editor. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida and her Master of Arts degree in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College in Boston.

Alexa Lash, MA

Senior Vice President, Creative
Sanae Suga, LLB, MBA

Sanae Suga, LLB, MBA

Vice President, Creative

Sanae Suga, LLB, MBA

Vice President, Creative

Ms. Suga joined Brand Institute - Miami in 2008. She leads the day-to-day operations of Brand Institute’s creative department and oversees the company’s diverse and global creative team. Ms. Suga is bilingual, speaking and writing fluently in English and Japanese. She has spearheaded creative naming projects and brand strategy recommendations for hundreds of global and Japanese-specific projects over the course of her tenure. As the company’s leading expert in name development for the Japanese market, she contributes katakana transliterations and Japanese language translations to projects that require those services. Ms. Suga received her B.A. in Law from Rissho University in Japan and her M.B.A. in International Business from Florida Metropolitan University in the US.

Sanae Suga, LLB, MBA

Vice President, Creative
Luisanna Mejia, MBA

Luisanna Mejia, MBA

Senior Vice President, Market Research

Luisanna Mejia, MBA

Senior Vice President, Market Research

Ms. Mejia joined BI - Miami in 2013 as an Administrative Assistant. In November of 2014 Ms. Mejia joined the Market Research team as a Market Research Analyst and was later promoted to Market Research Team Lead. In 2017 she was promoted to Vice President of Market Research, where she oversaw research projects worldwide. During her tenure at Brand Institute, Ms. Mejia has worked on 3500+ global nonproprietary and brand name development initiatives encompassing multiple therapeutic areas and industries. In 2022, Ms. Mejia was promoted to Vice President, Brand Development. Ms. Mejia earned a B.A. in Public Relations and a M.B.A. in Advertising from Barry University.

Luisanna Mejia, MBA

Senior Vice President, Market Research
Joe Bazerghi

Joe Bazerghi

Vice President, Commercial Research & Strategy

Joe Bazerghi

Vice President, Commercial Research & Strategy

Mr. Bazerghi joined BI - Miami as Vice President, Brand Development in 2020 and was recently promoted to Vice President, Commercial Research & Strategy. Prior to joining Brand Institute, Mr. Bazerghi was Vice President of Marketing at Alkermes where he was the commercial lead for marketing, brand strategy and lifecycle development for numerous brands, including the Brand Institute partnered brands Aristada and Aristada Initio. Prior to that, he served as Senior Director of New Product Planning, responsible for integrating Therapeutic Thought Leader involvement in product planning decisions and serving as the commercial lead for multiple clinical-stage medicines in Addiction, Schizophrenia, Major Depressive disorder, Bipolar I disorder, Binge Eating disorder, Pain, Multiple Sclerosis, Opioid-induced Constipation and Parkinson’s disease. Earlier in his career, he worked in award-winning marketing strategy and product management roles at Gilead Sciences, Abbott Laboratories (now AbbVie) and GSK, partnering on and overseeing the commercial development and marketing activities of numerous Brand Institute partnered brands, including the antiviral brands Hepsera, Viread, Norvir, Epivir, Kaletra and Synagis, the cardiovascular brand Tricor, the blockbuster brand Humira, the anti-infective brand Biaxin, and the anti-migraine brand Imitrex. He earned a B.B.A. from Université du Québec, Montréal, Canada.

Joe Bazerghi

Vice President, Commercial Research & Strategy
Cristina Milesi, Pharm.D.

Cristina Milesi, Pharm.D.

Vice President, Safety Research

Cristina Milesi, Pharm.D.

Vice President, Safety Research

Dr. Cristina Milesi joined BI - Miami in 2014 as a Drug Safety Evaluator. Prior to joining Brand Institute, she worked in various roles in retail pharmacy in Italy. In 2017, Dr. Milesi was promoted to Manager of Safety Research and to her current position of Vice President, Safety Research working on over 2,500 safety research initiatives. Dr. Milesi received her Pharm.D from the University of Milano College of Pharmacy.

Cristina Milesi, PharmD

Senior Vice President, Safety Research
Steve Anderson

Steve Anderson

Vice President, Trademarks & Head of Product

Steve Anderson

Vice President, Trademarks & Head of Product

Mr. Anderson joined BI - New York as Vice President, Trademarks & Head of Product in 2021. He is an expert in brand establishment, IP product management, IP software solutions and pharmaceutical name clearance. He has extensive experience, both inside and outside the pharmaceutical industry, developing customer-focused solutions and technologies that automated project workflows and improved the trademark filing and clearance process. Prior to joining Brand Institute, he served for 12 years at Corsearch, most recently as Director of Product Management, where he directed product development and lifecycle initiatives globally and set forth the vision and strategy for Corsearch’s online trademark screening global platforms. He served for 7 years at Pfizer/Wyeth, as Senior Trademark Specialist and Trademark Analyst.During his time at Pfizer and Wyeth, he was recognized for his innovation in technology workflow solutions in the pharmaceutical trademark establishment process, and administrated large trademark portfolios, working on major brands such as CELEBREX, EFFEXOR, ADVIL, ENBREL, PREMARIN, CENTRUM, ZOSYN, PROTONIX, RAPAMUNE, PREVNAR, and many others. Steve has collaborated on numerous product naming projects with cross-functional teams as a trademark professional and product manager. He earned a B.A. from University of Iowa, received his Master’s Certification in Applied Project Management from Villanova University, and has a level 6 Pragmatic Marketing certification.

Steve Anderson

Vice President, Trademarks & Head of Product
Jacqueline Chamberlain, Esq

Jacqueline Chamberlain, Esq

Senior Vice President, Human Resources & Legal Affairs

Jacqueline Chamberlain, Esq

Senior Vice President, Human Resources & Legal Affairs

Jacqueline joined BI-Miami in 2012 as a trademark attorney with BI’s in-house legal team. In a position that allowed her to apply her interests in both trademark law and linguistics, she used specialized software to screen and risk assess thousands of potential names against existing global trademarks to provide BI clients with the best possible legal recommendations. In 2018, Jacqueline was promoted to Vice President, Human Resources & Legal Affairs where she currently leads BI’s global HR team with recruitment, employment, and corporate law matters. Jacqueline received her law degree from the American University Washington College of Law in 2010.

Jacqueline Chamberlain, Esq

Senior Vice President, Human Resources & Legal Affairs
Alejandro Bretana

Alejandro Bretana

Vice President, Information Technology

Alejandro Bretana

Vice President, Information Technology

Alejandro Bretana joined BI – Miami in 2014. As Vice President of Information Technology, Mr. Bretana oversees the IT department and is responsible for creating a strategic defense for the company’s data and its resources across the network. Mr. Bretana’s first position with BI was Helpdesk Technician, and he rapidly grew in title and skillset as he simultaneously pursued and received his bachelor's in IT from Florida International University in 2014.

Alejandro Bretana

Vice President, Information Technology