Thierry BernardChief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Mr. Bernard joined QIAGEN in February 2015 to lead our growing presence in Molecular Diagnostics, the application of Sample to Insight solutions for molecular testing in human healthcare. He was named Chief Executive Officer in March 2020, after having previously served in this role on an interim basis since late 2019. Mr. Bernard previously worked at bioMérieux, where he served in roles of increasing responsibility for 15 years, most recently as Corporate Vice President, Global Commercial Operations, Investor Relations and the Greater China Region. Prior to joining bioMérieux, he served in management roles in multiple international groups. Mr. Bernard was appointed a member of the Board of Directors of T2 BioSystems in 2020. He has earned from Sciences Po (Paris), Harvard Business School, London School of Economics and the College of Europe and is a member of French Foreign Trade Advisors.
Stephany Foster
Senior Vice President, Head of Human Resources
Joined QIAGEN in 2005 as Head of Global Internal Audit and was most recently Vice President, Head of Human Resources. Ms. Foster was also member of the NAELT (North America Executive Leadership Team) and steers the Diversity and Inclusion program at QIAGEN. She was named to her current role in October 2019. Prior to joining QIAGEN, Stephany Foster worked in internal audit at Morgan Franklin and Independence Air. She started her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, specializing in Sarbanes Oxley Auditing. Ms. Foster has a master’s degree in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Certified Internal and Information Systems Auditor (CIA / CISA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).
Dr. Barthold Piening
Senior Vice President, Head of Global Operations
Joined QIAGEN in December 2018 as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Operations, and a member of the Executive Committee. Dr. Piening has more than 30 years of experience in strategy and operations in the pharmaceutical, life science and medical device industries. Prior to joining QIAGEN, he was Executive Board member in charge of production and technology for the German pharma company STADA. Dr. Piening had previously served as Chief Operating Officer and EC member of Acino Pharma, and before that as Head of Global Operations for Takeda Pharmaceuticals International. Earlier, he had roles of increasing responsibility at Byk Gulden, ALTANA Pharma and Nycomed. After studying pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Kiel in Germany and the University of Wales in Cardiff, U.K., he earned a degree in Pharmaceutics with Approbation and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Kiel. He also earned an MBA at WHU-Vallendar in Germany and Northwestern University in the United States.
Roland Sackers
Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director
Mr. Sackers joined QIAGEN in 1999 as Vice President Finance and has been Chief Financial Officer since 2004. He became a member of the Managing Board in 2006. Between 1995 and 1999, he served as an auditor with Arthur Andersen Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Steuerberatungsgesellschaft. Mr. Sackers earned his Masters Degree in Business Administration (Diplom-Kaufmann) from the University of Münster, Germany. In 2019, he joined the Supervisory Board of Evotec SE and is chair of the audit committee. Mr Sackers is a board member of the industry association, BIO Deutschland. From 2011 to 2018, he was a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee of Immunodiagnostic Systems Holding PLC (IDS) in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Thomas Schweins
Senior Vice President, Life Science Business Area
Joined QIAGEN in 2004 as Vice President Corporate Strategy and was appointed Vice President Marketing & Strategy in 2005, where he was deeply involved in managing the global business toward Life Science customers. In late 2011, Dr. Schweins assumed responsibility for Human Resources and initiated a multi-year transformation process to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the function. In 2017, Dr. Schweins took over the leadership of the Life Science Business Area and consequently resigned from his role as head of HR. Dr. Schweins came to QIAGEN from The Boston Consulting Group. He previously worked as Technology Manager, and later as an Assistant to the Management Board at Hoechst / Aventis. Dr. Schweins earned an M.Sc. Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Hanover. He obtained his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Society and received an M.Sc. from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he studied Business Administration and Chemistry.
Dr. Jonathan Sheldon
Senior Vice President, QIAGEN Digital Insights Business Area
Joined QIAGEN in 2018 as Senior Vice President, QIAGEN Digital Insights Business Area. He leads QIAGEN's growing presence in bioinformatics, enabling customers to transform raw data from biological samples into valuable molecular insights. Dr. Sheldon came to QIAGEN from Oracle, where he was Global Vice President leading Oracle's Healthcare business globally in the Health Sciences Global Business Unit and served on the executive committee. Previously, he established the bioinformatics group and served as Head of Bioinformatics at Roche (UK) Pharmaceuticals, as well as providing leadership in software firms serving the life science and healthcare sectors. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Drug Information Association (DIA). He received his B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Manchester, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge.
Jean-Pascal Viola
Senior Vice President, Head of Molecular Diagnostics Business Area and Corporate Business Development
Joined QIAGEN in 2005 and worked in increasingly responsible roles until he was named Senior Vice President, Molecular Diagnostics Business Area and Corporate Business Development, in 2015. In October 2019, Mr. Viola was appointed member of the Executive Committee. He leads global efforts to expand QIAGEN’s portfolio through acquisitions and strategic partnerships, as well as the protection of the company’s intellectual property. Among other business transactions, his track record includes the acquisitions of Cellestis, Corbett Life Science, DxS and Enzymatics. Prior to joining QIAGEN, Mr. Viola served as President and CEO of Nextal Biotechnologies Inc., a provider of technologies for protein crystallization, and when QIAGEN acquired Nextal in 2005 he joined as Director of Protein Crystallization. Moving to Business Development in 2007, Mr. Viola led efforts in Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Global M&A and Corporate Ventures. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Montreal, Canada.