Executive Management
Dr. Steve Cutler
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Steve Cutler was appointed Chief Executive Officer of ICON plc in March 2017, having previously been Chief Operating Officer from January 2014. Dr. Cutler served as Group President, Clinical Research Services from November 2011 until his appointment as Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Cutler was appointed to the Board of Directors in November 2015.
Prior to joining ICON, Dr. Cutler held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Kendle having previously served as Chief Operating Officer.Prior to Kendle, Dr. Cutler spent 14 years with Quintiles where he served as Senior Vice President, Global Project Management; Senior Vice President, Clinical, Medical and Regulatory; Senior Vice President, Project Management - Europe; and Vice President, Oncology - Europe as well as regional leadership positions in South Africa and Australia. Prior to joining Quintiles, Dr. Cutler held positions with Sandoz (now Novartis) in Australia and Europe.
Dr. Cutler holds a B.Sc. and a Ph.D from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Birmingham (UK).
Mr. Brendan Brennan
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Brendan Brennan has served as Chief Financial Officer since February 2012. Mr. Brennan joined ICON in 2006 and he has served in a number of senior finance roles in the Company including the role of Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance. Prior to joining ICON, Mr. Brennan developed his corporate finance experience in Cement Roadstone Holdings, a major Irish building materials organization. Mr. Brennan qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Dublin City University.
Mr. Diarmaid Cunningham
Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel & Company Secretary
Mr. Diarmaid Cunningham is Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel, Executive Vice President and Company Secretary.
Mr. Cunningham joined the Company as General Counsel in November 2009. From 2009 until 2013, Mr. Cunningham was based in the Company’s global headquarters in Dublin. In 2013, Mr. Cunningham was seconded to the Company’s US headquarters in Pennsylvania and that secondment ended in 2018 when Mr. Cunningham returned to Dublin.
In July 2016, Mr. Cunningham’s role expanded to include Chief Administrative Officer in addition to General Counsel. This expansion of his role means Mr. Cunningham has responsibility to the Company’s Quality Assurance, Client Contracts Services, Facilities and Procurement groups in addition to his responsibility for the Company’s Legal group.
Mr. Cunningham graduated with a Bachelor of Business and Legal Studies from University College Dublin in 1997, qualified as a lawyer in 2001 and completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University in California in 2015. Mr. Cunningham served as Secretary to the Board of the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) in 2013 and 2014. ACRO represents the CRO industry globally to key stakeholders including pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, regulators, legislators and patient groups.
Prior to joining the Company. Mr. Cunningham spent 10 years with A&L Goodbody, one of Ireland's premier corporate law firms.
Mr George A. McMillan
Chief Commercial Officer
Mr. George A. McMillan is Chief Commercial Officer of ICON. Mr. McMillan joined ICON in 2012 as Executive Vice President of Finance Operations, a position he held until he was appointed Chief Commercial Officer in March 2017. Prior to ICON, Mr. McMillan held senior executive positions in a variety of service and consulting companies, most recently as CFO of PharmaNet Development Group. He also served as CEO of Palladium Group, a global leader in corporate performance management software and consulting; CFO and CEO of CMGI, the internet holding company, for which he was named Mass HighTech Turnaround CEO of the Year. Mr. McMillan was also CEO of BMG Direct, the North American music distribution division of Bertelsmann, A.G., and CFO/COO of Renaissance Solutions, a strategic consulting and technology services company. George holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Stanford University, a Doctor of Law from Harvard Law School and a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Nuala Murphy
President of ICON Clinical Services
Dr. Nuala Murphy has been President of ICON Clinical Services at ICON since January 2014. Prior to this, Dr. Murphy served as Executive Vice President of clinical and data operations globally. Dr. Murphy has over 20 years’ experience within the pharmaceutical and CRO industry. Dr. Murphy joined ICON in 2012 from Quintiles where she led a clinical and data management workforce (since 2009). Dr. Murphy also has over a decade of experience in therapeutics having led the CNS and internal medicine project management divisions for Quintiles. Dr. Murphy served in the field of late phase clinical research at Benefit International. During her tenure, Dr. Murphy published extensively in eminent peer reviewed journals. Having graduated from Trinity College Dublin, Dr. Murphy was awarded a PhD in neurochemistry, from the Department of Cardiovascular Studies in Leeds and conducted post-doctoral research in the Department of Neuropharmacology at the Collège de France in Paris.
Mr. Colin Stanley
President of ICON Functional Services
Mr. Colin Stanley is President of ICON Functional Services, ICON’s dedicated functional outsourcing service line. ICON’s functional services include strategic resourcing, delivered under our DOCS brand; FSP; and government sponsored research, delivered under ClinicalRM, which ICON acquired in 2016. Mr. Stanley has over 20 years of CRO industry experience. He joined ICON as a Project Manager in 2001 and since then has held a range of roles of increasing responsibility, which has enabled him to develop extensive operational, functional, and geographic expertise. His roles in ICON have included Chief Operating Officer of DOCS; Vice President, Clinical Operations, Asia Pacific; Director of Clinical Operations, US; and Head of EU Data Management. Mr. Stanley also led a global, cross-divisional, process improvement initiative within ICON. Mr. Stanley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology from Dublin City University.
Mr. Tom O'Leary
Chief Information Officer
Mr. O'Leary is ICON's Chief Information officer previous to this he held the position of President of ICON Central Laboratories. Mr. O'Leary joined the company in Feb-2001 as Manager of Data management in Dublin, Mr. O'Leary subsequently went on to set-up ICON's process improvement initiative "IMPROVE" and returned to Data Management to become EU VP of Data Management before becoming Global Head of Data Management in 2006. From 1994-2001 Mr. O'Leary worked for SmithKline Beecham and later GlaxoSmithKline and held positions in Data Management, Project Management and Resource Management. Mr. O'Leary is a graduate of Kingston University in Surrey and a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Mr. O'Leary holds a Degree in Medicinal Chemistry and a Masters in Data Management.
Mr. Joe Cronin
Executive Vice President of Human Resources
Mr. Joe Cronin is the Executive Vice President of Human Resources, responsible for designing and implementing people practices and building organisational leadership and culture that enable ICON to execute its strategy. Mr. Cronin joined ICON in 2014. Mr. Cronin has almost 20 years of HR experience in a variety of global industries, including ten years at the Kellogg company in a number of regional and global HR leadership roles. Mr. Cronin also spent time early in his career with the General Motors (GM) Corporation and the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). Mr. Cronin has a Bachelor of Business degree with a major in Human Resources, from the University of Limerick.
Mr. Don Kraft
Executive Vice President, Strategic Projects
Mr. Don Kraft is EVP of Strategic Initiatives, focused on developing ICON’s capabilities and performance as a partner to our customers. Mr. Kraft joined ICON in 2012 and served as the EVP of Human Resources before transitioning to this role in 2016. Mr. Kraft has over 30 years of experience in the Pharmaceutical and CRO industries, including ten years as the Human Resources leader at Covance, and over ten years at Abbott Labs in a variety of leadership roles. Mr. Kraft has a wide breadth of experience in human resources and organizational development / capability building and was part of negotiating and implementing some of the industries early groundbreaking partnerships. Mr. Kraft has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Villanova University and a Masters in Management from Northwestern University.
Mr. Jim Mskel
Executive Vice President, ICON Laboratory & Early Phase Services
Ramita Tandon
Executive Vice President, ICON Commercialisation & Outcomes
Ms. Ramita Tandon leads ICON Commercialisation and Outcomes, the industry leading provider of services to help life science companies achieve market authorisation, accelerate market access, and drive market adoption. ICON Commercialisation and Outcomes delivers resources and expertise to generate and analyse real world evidence and communicate treatment safety and value to help regulators, payers, providers and patients make informed health decisions. With over two and a half decades in the drug development industry, Ms. Tandon, is a recognised executive leader for her success in broadening boundaries, innovation, and architecting lean and efficient organizational models organically and through M&A activity. Ms. Tandon is known for her dynamic and engaging leadership encouraging teams to think more provocatively and to develop innovative solutions integrating expertise across the R&D landscape and through a treatment’s entire lifecycle to optimize biopharmaceuticals’ product value. Ms. Tandon is a sought after speaker, author and thought leader with regular industry commentary on the life-sciences industry and a member of the board of the Not-for–Profit Mapi Research Trust.
Mr. Simon Holmes
Executive Vice President, Corporate Development
Mr. Holmes leads ICON’s M&A strategy from target identification to deal close and in his time at ICON has led the acquisition of 16 companies. A member of ICON’s Leadership Team he is also involved in Strategy Development and Business Planning. Mr. Holmes joined ICON in 2005 originally as VP of Marketing and Market Development and took responsibility for Corporate Development in 2006. Between 2013 and 2017 he also had responsibility for ICON’s Investor Relations functions. Prior to joining ICON, Mr. Holmes held a number of senior roles within “Blue Chip” organisations in the IT Services and Telecommunications sectors ,including Cable and Wireless, Logica and Microsoft. Mr. Holmes has an MBA from Smurfit Business school and is a graduate of Cambridge University and the University of East Anglia.