Who we are
Management Team
Sergei Varshavsky
Chairman of the Board
Sergei was a prominent physician at the Department for Urgent Cardiology at the Research Institute of Cardiology in St. Petersburg, Russia. He started his PhD research into the pre-hospital use of thrombolytic therapy in acute coronary syndromes, and a year later was invited to serve as the national coordinator in the European Myocardial Infarction Project. Dr. Varshavsky’s research group was one of the first Contract Research Organizations (CROs) in Eastern Europe, eventually adopting the name Evidence Clinical and Pharmaceutical Research. With headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, Evidence employed over 350 people, operating across seven offices in five countries and managing hundreds of clinical trials.
After Evidence was acquired by a global CRO, Dr. Varshavsky and Dr. Kelman founded aptly-named Confidence Pharmaceutical Research to share their clinical trial experience and serve the biopharmaceutical industry.
Efim Kelman
Chief Executive Officer
Efim has over 30 years of experience in the world of international clinical research.
Dr. Kelman had a noteworthy career in medical practice at the Institute of Cardiology at the St Petersburg Institute of Research before joining Evidence Clinical and Pharmaceutical Research in 1995. At Evidence, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all of the CRO’s clinical trials, including large-scale international studies and smaller studies in different indications.
Dr. Kelman co-founded Confidence Pharmaceutical Research, where he is currently responsible for daily operations and resource management, supervision of most operational functions (including Clinical Operations, Medical and Project Management, Quality Assurance, and Data Management), and operational oversight of the company’s ongoing studies.
Dr. Kelman holds an MD from Pavlov Medical University, St. Petersburg, and an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics. Dr Kelman works from Confidence’s corporate headquarters in Burlingame, California.
Anna Ravdel
MBA, VP of Business Operations
Anna has 20 years of business and operational experience in clinical research, and has been with Confidence since its creation. She has served as a Project Manager and Director of Business Development at large and mid-sized CROs and has collaborated with a range of pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Her current responsibilities include development and operational support of company strategies and operations. Ms. Ravdel oversees supporting functions (Regulatory, Vendor Selection, Legal, Business Development, etc.), and serves as a liaison between operational and supporting functional groups to enable the achievement of critical project and corporate goals.
Anna Ravdel holds an MBA from the university of Manchester Business School, UK, and is based in Rhode Island, USA.