About Us

OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

We provide responsive, personal attention to each research project by having seasoned, senior executives lead every assignment. This helps us better pinpoint the right questions to ask, which helps us hunt more precisely for facts in the specialty pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device marketplaces. The result is honest, true answers to tough questions.

JOE BERWANGER

President

Through his adept use of qualitative and quantitative research, Joe provides clients with critical insights on corporate positioning, competitive intelligence, product brand strategy, and marketing communications messaging. In the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technology, he has run campaigns in male and female health, emergency care, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, urology, gastroenterology, and rare chronic disorders. Joe holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire (Durham) and an MBA in marketing and entrepreneurial studies from Babson College.

ISABELLE SMITH

Senior Vice President

Isabelle heads up our Adaptive Recruiting division and oversees the hundreds of recruiting projects Qessential executes each year. Her expertise in both qualitative and quantitative market research, and her deep understanding of the medical technology and pharmaceutical market participants ensure her clients get the quality recruiting they have come to expect from us. Isabelle received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management, with a focus on Accounting from Rivier College.

JANET BARKER

Senior Director of Recruitment

Janet manages the Adaptive Recruiting team and uses her extensive knowledge and experience to continually fine-tune Qessential’s recruitment process to find the best respondents for any study.  Her pragmatic and hands-on approach ensure our medical and technology clients get the answers they are looking for. Janet has a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Dickinson College

LAUREN JOHNSON

Director, Data & Analytics

Lauren leads the programming, data processing, and analytics team, ensuring solid design and strong analytics for quantitative research. In online survey, advanced methodologies and analytics, focus groups, in-depth interviews or another creative research methods, Lauren’s research design and analytical skills uncover the insights our clients need for their business decisions. Lauren received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in Marketing, at Fairfield University.

SUE HINES

Director, Research & Analysis

Sue leads the Observant Research team in the design, execution, and analysis of  Qualitative and Quantitative market research to drive clients’ business growth, increase brand awareness, and strengthen customer loyalty. Sue’s experience helps leverage insights to fuel our clients’ strategic planning, product development, branding, and communication objectives. Sue received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from University of South Africa.

PHILIP DEAN

Senior Advisor

Philip Dean began his research career conducting interviews on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the precursor to today’s MRI technology. He never looked back. Today he is considered one of the premier qualitative IDI and focus group moderators in the healthcare field. Over the last 20+ years, Phil’s work has covered virtually every medical technology field including surgery, interventional medicine, device implantation, rare chronic disorders, coagulation disorders, diagnostic imaging, patient referral patterns, patient selection and technology adoption. Phil received his Masters in Management from California State University Northridge.