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Executive Management

Dr. Steve Cutler

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Steve Cutler was appointed Chief Executive Officer of ICON plc in March 2017, having previously served as Chief Operating Officer from January 2014. Dr. Cutler served as Group President Clinical Research Services since November 2011 until his appointment as Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Cutler was appointed to the Board of ICON plc in November 2015.

Prior to joining the Company, 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 has developed his career over the last 21 years from experience in various industries. 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 this he developed his broad financial experience in Cement Roadstone Holdings, a major Irish building materials organization. Mr. Brennan spent a number of years in public accounting with PwC prior to this. Mr. Brennan is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Dublin City University. Over his many years of experience in the CRO industry Mr. Brennan has been involved in many industry organizations and developments including ACRO (Association of Clinical Research Organizations) where he was the founding Chairman of the industry CFO round table group, a group formed to aid CROs dealing with the various industry challenges. Mr. Brennan held the position of Chairman of the round table from its foundation in 2017 to December 31, 2019.

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. Barry Balfe

President of ICON Functional Services

Mr. Barry Balfe is President of ICON Functional Services (IFS). Mr. Balfe has been with ICON for over fifteen years and has held a number of senior roles, predominantly within the DOCS organisation, where he has successfully grown this business and has developed and led a number of new strategic partnerships. Mr. Balfe was previously EVP, Global Business Development. As part of the DOCS team, Mr. Balfe served as Senior Vice-President, Global Program Management where he oversaw operational design, planning & delivery within DOCS' resourcing & FSP businesses. He initially joined ICON’s Business Development team in 2003, before taking on the leadership of DOCS' US Business in early 2007 and subsequently overseeing DOCS' European Operations. Mr. Balfe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry, having studied at Dublin City University and Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Toulouse. He subsequently studied pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacovigilance at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of London.

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.

Ms. Kim Boericke

President of ICON Commercialisation & Outcomes Services
Ms. Kim Boericke is President of ICON Commercialisation & Outcomes Services, having previously served as EVP Global Program Management, where she was responsible for a number of therapeutic units (Oncology, Cardiovascular/Metabolic Diseases, CNS and Aging Diseases, Rare Diseases, Infectious Disease and Vaccines, Internal Medicine and Immunosciences, and Biosimilars). Prior to joining ICON, Ms. Boericke has held positions with several clinical research organisations (CROs), including ClinTrials, Quintiles, INC Research, Duke Clinical Research Institute, and i3. Ms. Boericke graduated with a Batchelor of Science degree from Duke University in 1989.

Mr. Joe Cronin

Chief Human Resources Officer
Mr. Joe Cronin is Chief Human Resources Officer, 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. James Miskel

President of ICON Laboratory & Early Phase Services
Mr. James Miskel holds management responsibility for ICON’s central laboratories, specialty laboratories, bioanalytical laboratories, and early clinical development services. He joined ICON with an initial focus on central laboratories in November 2013, after executive positions in general and operations management at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and CROs MDS Pharma Services and Harlan Laboratories. Mr. Miskel spent his early career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company leading engagements in growth strategy, operational improvement, and merger integration for clients in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and several other sectors. He holds BS and MS degrees in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology along with an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Dana Poff

Executive Vice President, Program Management

Ms. Dana Poff is Executive Vice President, Program Management and is a member of ICON’s Leadership Team. In her role, Dana has global responsibility for the delivery of ICON’s clinical research programs across all therapeutic areas. Dana has over 27 years of clinical research experience, almost all of which have been with ICON. She joined ICON as Project Manager in 1997 and over time held roles of increasing responsibility, including Global Head of Project Management and Clinical Operations, President of Alliance Management and Chief of Staff. Dana left ICON in 2017 to become Chief Operating Officer of a life science technology company, before re-joining ICON in January 2019 to take up her current role. Prior to ICON, Dana was at ClinTrials Research and she also has experience in neonatal and paediatric nursing, having worked at Vanderbilt University Hospital.

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.

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