Speakers

Cyrus Desouza is a Professor and Chief of the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center inOmaha, Nebraska, USA. He is also the Director of the Diabetes and Obesity Program for the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Healthcare System. He is a board-certified Clinical Endocrinologist with research interests related to cardiovascular disease in insulin resistance and diabetes, and improving outcomes in diabetes and obesity.

Dr Desouza has been a Principal Investigator for several trials and is a site Principal Investigator and an ancillary study and steering committee member for a large US National Institutes of Health (NIH) study, GRADE, which is a national study comparing the efficacy of current medications and protocols used in diabetes treatment. He is also the Chair of the ancillary studies committee for a large NIH trial using vitamin D to prevent type 2 diabetes in people with pre diabetes. In addition, he is involved with a number of cardiovascular outcomes trials including LEADER, SUSTAIN, PIONEER, Theracos and PROMINENT, and serves as a global consultant on some of these trials.

Elise Ryan is a Global Scientific Recruitment & Retention Manager in Study Programmes at Novo Nordisk, based in Copenhagen,Denmark. She joined the SOUL team in early 2024. Prior to her role with SOUL,Elise was a key member of the FLOW trial team, focusing on ensuring trial targets were met and a successful completion period, through engaging expert panel members and her cross-function affiliate colleagues. In April 2024, Elise transitioned to the SOUL team, where she leads the National Study Coordinator Panel and Patient Recruitment and Retention Panel. She is responsible for managing country-specific tasks, alongside her support of the Global Expert Panel.

Elise holds a Bachelor’s degree in AppliedScience in Occupational Therapy from the University of Sydney, Australia, and has 1.5 years of experience in the rehabilitation field. After relocating toDenmark, she completed her Master’s in Business Administration and Innovation in Healthcare at Copenhagen Business School. During her studies, Elise began her career at Novo Nordisk as a student assistant.

Henrik Otto is Project Vice President, Clinical Operations at Novo Nordisk, Copenhagen, Denmark and has been with Novo Nordisk for more than 24 years. He is recognised for building strong relationships and has an exceptional track record of success across many different functional areas and cultures within cardiovascular and emerging therapy areas.

Henrik has served as Project Vice President for SELECT, FLOW and SOUL, where he ensured that these trials met their respective timelines and delivered robust and high-quality data.

Prior to becoming Project Vice President for large outcomes trials, Henrik was Global Director in Global Medical Affairs, responsible for the generation of real-world evidence to ensure patients living with diabetes and other serious chronic diseases have access to the best care available.

Joannie Lortet is a Senior Scientific Publications Manager at Novo Nordisk, Copenhagen,Denmark, where, since June 2025, she has been responsible for executing the SOUL publication plan. She holds a PhD in Public Health from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and brings over 20 years of experience in the analysis, description and publication of health data. Her diverse career includes roles in a contract research organisation, a charity, an international organisation and a scientific communications agency.

A native of France, Joannie has lived in both Canada and the USA, enriching her global perspective. To deepen her immersion in Danish culture, she actively attends Danish language classes.

Matthew Cavender is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NorthCarolina, USA. Dr Cavender is clinically active as an Interventional Cardiologist and specialises in transcatheter therapies for patients with advanced coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease and valvular heart disease.

Dr Cavender has extensive experience in clinical research studying the clinical effectiveness of clinical interventions, devices and pharmacotherapies. His current research is focused on defining the clinical outcomes of patients with cardiovascular disease, or those at high risk of cardiovascular events, including patients with diabetes, and determining the clinical effectiveness of existing treatment strategies and therapies. He is also currently anAssistant Editor of Circulation: CardiovascularInterventions and the Co-Director of cardiovascular clinical trials at the University of North Carolina.

Steve Bain is Clinical Director of the Diabetes Research Unit Cymru and Assistant MedicalDirector for Research & Development for Abertawe Bro Morgannwg (ABM) University Health Board inSwansea, UK.

Prof. Bain’s clinical interests include the genetics of diabetic nephropathy, new therapies for diabetes and the provision of diabetes services within the community. He has been Principal Investigator for several multi centre trials investigating novel therapies for diabetes.

Prof. Bain is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, UK, the Diabetes Lead Clinician for the ABM University Health Board and a member of the Wales Diabetes & Endocrine Society executive committee. Currently, he chairs the Joint ClinicalResearch Facility in Swansea, as well as the National Specialist Advisory Group for Diabetes in Wales. He was previously Clinical Director of the Academic Health Science Collaboration and chaired the Diabetes & Endocrinology SpecialistTraining Committee for Wales from 2010–2016.

Zaklina Davicevic-Elez is International Medical Director, Medical& Science at Novo Nordisk. She is a cardiologist with extensive clinical, pharmaceutical and academic experience. Zaklina earned her medical degree from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, where she also began her career as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry. She completed her internal medicine residency, subspecialty training in cardiology, and a PhD thesis at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, Serbia.

She also received training in echocardiography at Allgemeines Krankenhaus (AKH), Vienna, Austria. Her pharmaceutical industry experience includes roles in Medical and Science, Medical Affairs, and Global Safety. During her six years at Novo Nordisk, she has been responsible for several semaglutide trials and early-phase cardiovascular projects.