Summit Clinical Research Announces Key Leadership Appointments to Drive Next Phase of Growth

SAN ANTONIO, May 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Clinical Research, LLC ("Summit"), a leading Integrated Research Organization (IRO) specializing in liver disease, obesity, and Alzheimer's Disease, announces the appointment of key senior leaders to drive the next phase of Summit's growth. Dr. Naim Alkhouri, MD, FAASLD, DABOM is a key opinion leader in the field of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH) and joins Summit as Chief Academic Officer. This new role will lead Summit's medical & scientific functions, while perpetuating a focus on industry partnerships that advance drug development among these therapeutic areas. In addition to Dr. Alkhouri, Brandon Early, MS, joins Summit as President, leading all Summit functions and reporting to CEO & Co-founder Gail Hinkson.

"I'm thrilled with the arrival of these two leaders to generate a step-change in Summit's growth," said Gail Hinkson. "We've been fortunate to work with Dr. Alkhouri for years during his time at Arizona Liver Health. His experience treating patients and advancing drug development objectives with sponsor partners makes him an ideal leader for Summit. We look forward to this new role and the impact on our medical functions. In a complementary fashion, Brandon joins us from a long tenure of CRO leadership roles. He brings a level of operational rigor and customer partnerships to our unique IRO. Together these leaders are foundational to our continued growth."

"Summit is industry-unique for supporting both sponsors and sites," noted Dr. Alkhouri. "We've done excellent work in MASH drug development where Summit contributed an average of 30% of the sites per trial yet enrolled an average of 50% of the patients. There is a compelling opportunity to expand this impact into obesity and Alzheimer's Disease trials, and I look forward to this growth."

"I've followed Summit for years and witnessed their impact on many clinical trials," noted Mr. Early. "Summit supports clinical research sites and biopharma sponsors in a way that adds tremendous value to each. The industry needs better support mechanisms for sites to offset the shifts happening among large CROs: Summit offers high-science and hands-on support for our network sites."

About Summit Clinical Research:
Summit Clinical Research is a premier international Integrated Research Organization (IRO) offering a full suite of services to support clinical development. With a network of 120 sites, Summit has been instrumental in advancing MASH and liver disease trials—consistently enrolling more than 50% of patients in global MASH studies while maintaining one of the lowest screening failure rates, significantly reducing costs for sponsors. Building on this success, Summit has expanded into obesity, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer's—therapeutic areas well represented in its database and site network. Backed by leading KOLs, Summit has submitted over 500 abstracts and papers through direct efforts of its network and expert investigators.

About Dr. Naim Alkhouri:
Naim Alkhouri, M.D., is the Chief Academic Officer at Summit Clinical Research and the Director of the Steatotic Liver Program at the Clinical Research Institute of Ohio (CRIOH). Prior to joining Summit, Dr. Alkhouri was Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Chief of Transplant Hepatology, and Director of the Steatotic Liver Program at Arizona Liver Health (ALH) in Phoenix, AZ. Dr. Alkhouri also previously served as the director of the Metabolic Health Center at the Texas Liver Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatric at the University of Texas (UT) Health in San Antonio, TX. Dr. Alkhouri is a key opinion leader in the field of MASH therapeutics and an advisor/ consultant to many pharmaceutical and biomarker development companies. Dr. Alkhouri has been published in over 270 peer-reviewed publications and he presents his work at both national and international medical conferences.

About Brandon Early:
Brandon Early is a drug developer with demonstrated experience merging scientific strategy with operational scale. In his current role as President of Summit Clinical Research he leads the organization to support sponsors, network sites, and CROs to advance metabolic drugs to market. Prior to joining Summit, Brandon led global Project Management for ICON Biotech, formed via the acquisition of PRA Health Sciences. He served as Therapeutic Area head for hematology/oncology at PRA while also delivering various operational improvements in study start-up, CTMS launches, and organizational design. Prior to PRA/ICON, Brandon led clinical development for Heat Biologics' allogeneic cell therapy platform, including clinical operations, regulatory strategy, and interfaces with CMC. Brandon began his career as a study coordinator at the University of Virginia Asthma and Allergic Disease Center in the lab of Dr. Larry Borish, and moved into the CRO space at INC Research where he served in various project management roles in the US and Europe. He earned his undergraduate and Master's degree from the University of Virginia.

SOURCE Summit Clinical Research