Kyowa Kirin North America Leadership

Steve Schaefer joined Kyowa Kirin in April 2023, bringing more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry across multiple therapeutic areas, including Neuroscience, Cardiovascular, Endocrine, and Gastroenterology. 

In his most recent role as Senior Vice President, Neuroscience Business Unit and Head of US Commercial Operations at Takeda, Mr. Schaefer was responsible for a commercial portfolio of specialty medicines as well as commercial data and advanced analytics, forecasting, sales and marketing operations, and corporate training and leadership development. Prior to Takeda, Mr. Schaefer held several leadership roles at Eli Lilly and Company, including work in marketing, sales, product commercialization, and running the US Specialty Business Unit. 

Mr. Schaefer began his career in the United States Marines Corps, where he attained the rank of Captain. A decorated veteran, he is passionate about veteran’s affairs. He holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois at Champaign, and an M.B.A. from LaSalle University, Philadelphia.

Ana Bastiani-Posner joined Kyowa Kirin in June 2020 as EVP, chief financial officer for Kyowa Kirin North America. Prior to Kyowa Kirin, Ms. Bastiani-Posner held the position of SVP, Finance and Administration at the New York Genome Center as a member of its executive team. In the last 20 years, Ms. Bastiani-Posner held positions of increasing responsibility in the pharmaceutical industry at Schering-Plough, Novartis, and Allergan across multiple functions including R&D, G&A, commercial finance, and corporate financial planning & analysis. She developed deal models, led Merger and acquisition activities, business integration and synergy efforts through several pharmaceutical deals including the proposed mega-merger of Pfizer-Allergan.

Ms. Bastiani-Posner is originally from Brazil where she began her finance career in the banking industry. in 1985. She holds a bachelor's Degree from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul and a Master of International Management from Thunderbird American Graduate School of International Management.

Tara D’Orsi joined Kyowa Kirin in September 2017 and was appointed EVP, chief compliance officer and general counsel in 2019. Prior to joining Kyowa Kirin, Ms. D’Orsi was a member of the Life Sciences group at Lowenstein Sandler LLP, where she advised biotech and pharmaceutical companies on legal and compliance matters throughout a medicine's lifecycle, from development through commercialization.

Throughout her career, Ms. D’Orsi has played a leadership role in providing legal and compliance advice designed to minimize risk and achieve her clients’ business objectives. She previously served as the General Counsel of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway and spent six years as Senior Counsel of Reliant Pharmaceuticals, before it was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2007. She began her career with a judicial clerkship in the New Jersey State Superior Court before taking positions in the Life Sciences and Healthcare groups at Gibbons PC and K&L Gates LLP.

Britt Byers joined Kyowa Kirin in January 2021, serving as Executive Vice President and Head of Human Resources for North America.

Over a 25- year career, Ms. Byers has held several senior roles spanning the pharmaceutical industry, with Sanofi and Novartis, as well as in the financial services sector, with Bank of America. Her experience includes a wide range of HR roles with deep expertise as a strategic business partner to commercial teams, R&D, and global functions. She also brings as well as Shared Service leadership experience including oversight for HR Operations, Call Center management, Occupational Health, Meeting & Events Management, Multimedia Studio, and Travel and Expense.

Mrs. Byers serves as a board member for a private nonprofit agency, JBWS, that provides safety, support and solutions for abuse and the prevention of domestic violence. Ms. Byers earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at Susquehanna University and a Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology at Kean University.

Richard Wilson leads Kyowa Kirin’s North American Rare Disease Franchise, bringing more than 25 years of diversified experience in sales, global and/U.S. marketing, alliance management, Business Development & Licensing, and general management.

He previously served as Vice President and Head of U.S. Endocrine Franchise at Takeda, where he had full P&L responsibility for the US Endocrine franchise and general management for all cross-functional activities, including marketing, sales, medical, market access, and patient services. He also was responsible for representing U.S. interests in global strategic alignment and with Business Development & Licensing.

His career also includes working for three years at Shire and more than 11 years at Novartis, where after rising through the global ranks, he ultimately served as Executive Director of Global Strategic Alliances and as Business Development and Licensing Executive Director.

Mr. Wilson earned his MBA from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management and his BSc in Chemistry from the University of Exeter.

Greg Mr. Palko serves as vice president of the Kyowa Kirin North America Oncology Franchise. He is a strategic pharmaceutical industry commercial executive with experience in U.S. and global marketing, U.S. sales, franchise and portfolio strategy, new product planning, business development, and advertising agency client management.

He also brings nearly 25 years of oncology experience across both solid and hematologic cancers (prostate, lung, ovarian, breast, CRC, CML, CLL, AML, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma), including launching several successful oncology products.

He previously served as commercial head of oncology at Imbrium Therapeutics, head of U.S. oncology sales at Sun Pharma, and global franchise head for hematology at Novartis.

Mr. Palko earned his Pharmacy degree from Rutgers University and his MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has served as adjunct professor for Fairleigh Dickenson University’s Pharmacy School and has led multiple pharmacy and business student preceptorships during his pharmaceutical career.

Chris Valosky leads the CNS Franchise for Kyowa Kirin North America. He brings more than 24 years of industry experience, including Marketing and Sales leadership roles within endocrinology, cardiovascular, obesity, neuroscience, oncology, and digital therapeutic fields. He worked for six years in marketing at Eli Lilly, 15 years at Takeda in various roles of increasing responsibility growing brands and sales, and most recently served as vice president of sales and marketing at Pear Therapeutics, where he successfully launched the first FDA-authorized prescription digital therapeutics.

Mr. Valosky earned his MBA from Indiana University and his BS from The Ohio State University. Mr. Valosky serves as a mentor for the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, and volunteers with the Knights of Columbus and Canine Companions for Independence.

Shannon Lindsley serves as Head of Strategy, leading short- and long-term business planning processes and employee engagement planning. She brings more than 20 years of industry experience, coming from Takeda, and previously working in leadership roles at Pfizer, Roivant Sciences, and UCB. Over her career, Ms. Lindsley has held several sales leadership, marketing, strategy and operations roles, most recently developed at Takeda their commercial launch plan for a pipeline asset for rare forms of epilepsy, led commercial planning efforts as well as the long-range strategic planning process.

A native of Denver, Ms. Lindsley earned her MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado.

Rieko Waxman leads Corporate Planning for Kyowa Kirin North America, having joined Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. more than 20 years ago. She devoted her first 15 years working as a chemical, manufacturing, and controls research scientist, with expertise in molecular biology, biotechnology, oncology, and Bioassay Development. In 2018, she became Manager of Corporate Strategy and Planning and four years later was promoted to Executive Vice President of Kyowa Kirin North America.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Biology from Nagoya University, Japan.

Daniela van Eickels is leading Kyowa Kirin North America’s Medical Affairs Department and serving as the company’s Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. van Eickels is a seasoned medical affairs leader with 20+ years in pharmaceuticals. She previously worked at Bristol Myers Squibb, serving as Global and U.S. Head of Medical Affairs for the Cell Therapy Organization overseeing pipeline assets and product launches in hemato-oncology, immunology, and neurology while building and growing a new medical affairs department. Prior, she was member of an early CAR-T launch team at Kite helping bring treatments to patients in Europe. She then moved to the U.S. in 2019 to become the Global Medical Head for Kite Pharma’s second CAR-T and their pipeline. Earlier in her career, when working at Takeda, she learned to embrace the work environment of a Japan-based company. She has experience working across multiple therapeutic and cross-functional areas from years in consulting for pharmaceutical, diagnostic and med-tech companies.

Dr. van Eickels is passionate about working on addressing areas with high unmet medical need and improving patients` lives. She enjoys working in dynamic and highly motivated teams and providing help and mentorship to others. She is committed to making work be rewarding and enjoyable and providing an environment where everybody can be at their very best.

She earned her Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University, her Doctor of Medicine and PhD from the University of Bonn, also spending some time at the Universite Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg as an ERASMUS student.

Paul Testa joined Kyowa Kirin in 2019 as EVP for supply chain and operations. Part of his role includes overseeing the design and construction of Kyowa Kirin’s first North American manufacturing plant, scheduled to open in North Carolina in 2027 to manufacture innovative biologic therapies, including next-generation antibodies.

Mr. Testa previously held senior executive positions in global supply chain and operations at Shire (acquired by Takeda) and Johnson & Johnson — most recently leading 500+ professionals in 25+ countries, managing a supply chain strategic transformation, and helping Shire to grow its revenue from $3 billion to ~$15 billion.

Mr. Testa earned his BS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, his Master of Science Degree from Washington University, and his MBA from Boston University.

Ted Buckley is shaping and leading Kyowa Kirin North America’s government relations team.

Dr. Buckley brings a unique combination of data analytics, strategy insight, and policy prowess to the KKNA leadership team. He has driven policy changes at both start-ups and established companies that positively impacted both the company and its external stake holders, including patients.

Dr. Buckley previously served as vice president of government relations for Shionogi, where he led U.S. government affairs focused on infectious disease, and at Braeburn as vice president of government affairs & advocacy where he built the company’s high performing government affairs function critical to advancing the company’s strategy. Also having worked at Shire leading their U.S. government affairs work, Dr. Buckley started his career as a consultant at McKinsey and Company, then worked for BIO as their economist and later with Bloomberg.

Dr. Buckley earned his undergraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania and his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business in Applied Economics.

Dan McNamara is transforming patient services at Kyowa Kirin North America as the company works to become known as best-in-class in its support of patients and their families.

Mr. McNamara joined Kyowa Kirin in January 2024, having previously served as executive vice president of commercial and patient strategy for Ambit and senior vice president of commercial/head of the Americas at Homology Medicines in Massachusetts. He previously led patient services as a group vice president at both Takeda and Shire Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. McNamara started his career as a clinical consultant with Elan specializing in movement disorders, then moved into training at Biogen before becoming a district manager for Bristol Meyers Squibb launching their first ever biologic for RA and then moving into his passion area: patient services and rare disease.

Mr. McNamara earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Albany and his MBA from St. John’s University.

Patrick Adams leads Marketing Access and Pricing for Kyowa Kring North America. A pricing strategy expert, he is future- focused with the ability to gather and transform insights into strategy and has an established record of driving profitability across multiple therapeutic areas. Previously working for Payer Sciences, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk, he brings global market access experience in launching products within North America, Europe, and Japan. He also has expertise in enterprise strategy development, with a focus on profit growth through pricing and market access strategies.

Mr. Adams earned his MBA from Fox School of Business at Temple University and his BS from Miami University.

Jeremy Morrissey leads Commercial Operations for Kyowa Kirin North America. He brings more than 20 years' experience in commercial operations, analytics, and marketing, with expertise in analytical-based approaches in marketing and new product launches. He has successfully led cross-functional teams in strategic initiatives focusing on cost reduction and productivity improvement, resulting in millions of dollars in savings and reduced expenses. He has extensive knowledge of pharmaceutical, medical device, and CPG industries.

Mr. Morrissey earned his MBA from the Fordham Gabelli School of Business and his BS in mass communications from the University at Albany, SUNY.

Dr. Aycardi serves as Chief Development Officer for Kyowa Kirin, bringing more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and clinical development.

He previously served as Xenon Pharmaceuticals’ Chief Medical Officer and has held key roles in clinical development, biostatistics, data management, translational medicine, and medical research with Teva Pharmaceuticals, EMD Serono, Biogen Idec, and Merck & Co.

Dr. Aycardi has worked in multiple therapeutic areas throughout his career, concentrating heavily in Neurology and conditions of the central nervous system.

He received his medical degree in his home country of Colombia and was a practicing neurologist there prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry.

Dr. Mitchell Katz is an accomplished leader with more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors in the areas of preclinical and clinical research, pharmaceutical operations, and regulatory affairs. In his current role as the Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Operations for Kyowa Kirin, Inc. Dr. Katz plays a vital role in shaping the strategic and operating framework of Kyowa Kirin’s broad global clinical development program within the Global Development Organization.

Dr. Katz is leading the efforts to ensure operational excellence and continuously improve process and performance across clinical operations activities. He is responsible for supervising clinical operations staff in North America, Europe, and Japan.

Dr. Katz's extensive career spans across various start-up biotechnology companies, including Acorda Therapeutics, InterMune, Connetics, and NABI. He has served as Vice President, Development Operations, at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and as the Head of Clinical Research and Drug Safety Operations at Purdue Pharma L.P. Additionally, Dr. Katz held management positions at Eisai, Ortho Biotech, and Schering-Plough, contributing to seven successful New Drug Application (NDA) submissions. Dr. Katz holds a BA in Biology, a PhD in Microbiology, and served as a postdoctoral research fellow at Downstate Medical Center in NY.

Dr. Casilda Barnes serves as Head of Regulatory Affairs and VP of Regulatory Affairs at Kyowa Kirin, North America. She brings more than 25 years of global experience in Regulatory Affairs which includes Pre- and Post- Approval regulatory strategy, and regulatory compliance in advertising and promotion, gained at leading pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Celgene, and Schering Plough.

She has led biologic and small-molecule NDA/BLA filings in Oncology, Rare Disease, Neurology, Immunology, and Inflammatory Disease areas, at all product lifecycle phases through commercialization. Most notably, Dr. Barnes has provided strategic regulatory leadership to successfully bring market applications from filing through approval and post launch, resulting in treatments to include psoriatic arthritis, migraine headaches, and chemotherapy- induced nausea and vomiting.

Dr. Barnes holds a Bachelor degree in Pharmacy from Howard University and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Albany College of Pharmacy. She recently received her Drug Information Association Regulatory Affairs Certificate (RAC).

Joseph Zarkoski leads Quality Assurance for Kyowa Kirin North America. He brings 30 years of industry experience in quality, manufacturing, and supply chain roles. He also has expertise developing processes and leading teams at both site and global levels.

Over the course of his career, Joseph has also held leadership roles at Wyeth, Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Shire. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Villanova University.

Brian Kesselman leads the strategic planning and execution of information and communication technology across Kyowa Kirin North America operations.

Mr. Kesselman joined Kyowa Kirin in February 2025, coming from KBI Biopharma, where he served as Vice President of Global Information Technology for a biological CDMO.

He spent the majority of his 30-year career working in roles of increasing responsibility at Bayer. His most recent role at was the Vice President, Digital Transformation and IT for the Commercial Americas region and the Oncology strategic business unit. He has a passion for advancing business transformation through people, process, technology and data.

Mr. Kesselman earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Boston University.

Dr. Kaufmann oversees Kyowa Kirin’s North America team of researchers based in La Jolla, CA, as well as the Open Innovation Department, which seeks external partnerships to accelerate drug discovery and the application of new biotechnologies.

Dr. Kaufmann is an immunologist and chemical biologist experienced in discovery and preclinical development of small molecule and biotherapeutic drug product candidates, including monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, antibody drug conjugates, cellular therapies, and vaccines.

He has expertise in multiple therapeutic areas, including immunology and oncology, as well as in preclinical research strategies. He has, throughout his career, taken projects from inception through non-clinical R&D into clinical trials. In addition to being an active member of several industry associations, Dr. Kaufmann also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at The Scripps Research Institute in the Departments of Chemistry and Immunology and Microbial Science.

He earned his BS Degree in Human Biology from the Phillip University of Marbug; his MS Degree in Human Biology from the Universität Greifswald ernst Moritz Arndt; and his PhD in Biology from the Scripps Research Institute.

Dr. Eslie Dennis joined Kyowa Kirin in May 2021 as SVP, Chief Medical Officer for Kyowa Kirin North America. She is a physician with 10 years’ experience in clinical practice (internal medicine and hematology/oncology) and research, and more than 20 years international biopharma experience holding positions of increasing responsibility in pharmaceutical and diagnostic organizations at MSD, Novartis, and Roche, including leadership of public-private consortia at the Critical Path Institute. Prior to joining Kyowa Kirin, she served as Vice President and Head Global Medical Affairs at Ventana/Roche Tissue Diagnostics.

Throughout her career, Dr. Dennis has championed innovative science and solutions to address unmet needs for patients and society, particularly addressing healthcare disparities. Dr. Dennis received her MBChB from the Godfrey Huggins School of Medicine in Harare, Zimbabwe, and was the recipient of the Winston Churchill, Margaret Low, and Prankard-Jones Scholarships, as well as the Guy Elliot Bursary.  She is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of South Africa and received her internal medicine and hematology/oncology training at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.