Presented by:

Lauren Gogo 
Lauren Gogo is currently the Manager of Research Contracts at Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation. She is responsible for reviewing and negotiating clinical research contracts and providing direction to a team of contract negotiators, as well as focusing on strategic and policy projects involving research. Prior to joining HHSC, Lauren was a Contracts Officer at the University of Toronto and a Research Business Analyst at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, and negotiated many clinical trial agreements as well as participated on the research ethics board to answer any contract-related questions. Lauren has a Masters in Biomedical Technology, and is an active member of the Canadian Association of Research Administrators (CARA) as a Member at Large on the Board. Lauren has contributed articles to the CARA Connection and blog, presented webinars, and has also presented workshops and sessions at CARA National.

Marlon Rajakaruna 
Marlon is a thought leader in the area of clinical research and frequently speaks at national and international clinical research conferences, is recognized by his clients, colleagues, and opposing parties as a skilled negotiator, and was a finalist for the Top 40 under 40 Award for lawyers in Canada. Marlon works with Kingsgate Legal, a new law firm serving corporate, institutional and individual clients with a modern, innovative and cost-effective approach.
He acts for Canadian and foreign pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, clinical research organizations, academic research organizations, academic health regions, universities, site management organizations, medical clinics and various health professionals. For these clients, Marlon helps negotiate and draft a broad range of agreements, advising on risk management issues, regulatory matters, funding requirements, and contract enforcement and interpretation. He also helps develop various operating policies and procedures for his clients and provides them with strategic advice on organizational efficiencies.
Marlon currently acts for three academic research organizations (including two of North America’s largest), two of Canada's largest academic health regions, two of Canada's largest universities, one of Canada's largest clinical research site management organizations, a leading Canadian clinical research organization and several other academic and non-academic clinical research sites.  Marlon has a B.A. from the University of Calgary, an LL.B. and M.B.A. from the University of Alberta; and he also successfully completed an intensive negotiation course for lawyers at Harvard Law School.