ASERT : About Us

American Speaker Education Research and Training is an education and training company focused on custom solutions. Founded in 2002 by industry experts, ASERT delivers on Advisory Boards to the highest level of professionalism and expertise. They focus their attention on specialty markets and build training and educational programs for everyone from their sales personnel to their key opinion leaders. For more information please contact us.

Bill Jacobs, CRA - Founder / President

Bill has more than 20 years of pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device experience. He founded ASERT, LLC in 2002, after working at major pharmaceutical companies in various capacities. As President of the company, Bill is responsible for overseeing all business functions and maintains an active role in many client programs. ASERT has grown and expanded since its inception, delivering customized solutions for training and education in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

History
At Beecham Laboratories (before and during the merger with SmithKline), Bill worked four of his seven years as a divisional manager in the western United States. Relocating back to the east coast, he spent three years as a regional manager for SIMS/ Portex, a medical device company. He was later promoted to Director of National Accounts for the alternate care market.

Bill joined Anesta as a regional medical liaison in oncology. During the four years in the biotech industry, he worked with oncology specialists (medical oncologists, oncology nurses, oncology pharmacists, etc) to design and set up clinical trials, becoming a CRA in the process. After the acquisition of Anesta by Cephalon, Bill joined a sales training and medical education company, HealthAnswers Corp., as the Vice President of Sales.

Bill joined Aventis Oncology as the Senior Manager of Oncology Training, supervising a staff of training managers, regional trainers, and assistants. During his three years at Aventis, he restructured the sales training continuum and launched a training curriculum for the clinical teams.

Bill earned at BS from Seton Hall University. He also has a Clinical Research Associate certificate.

Bill Jacobs

Bill Devinney

Bill DeVinney - Vice President, Sales

Bill is responsible for new business development at ASERT. He has deep experience in pharmaceutical sales at the District, Regional and National levels in both sales and sales management. Bill has extensive experience in oncology.

History:
Before joining ASERT, Bill held various positions at GlaxoSmithKline for 35 years in sales and management. His last position was as Vice President of Sales Oncology.

Bill earned a BS from Lehigh University.

Matt Kann - Senior Director, Corporate Account Development

Matt is responsible for new business development at ASERT. He has extensive pharmaceutical management and training leadership experience. Throughout his career Matt has shown a passion for the learning process and brings that excitement and commitment to ASERT and its clients.

History:
Matt began his career with Schering-Plough Oncology Biotech in 1995.After that he joined Rhone Poulenc Rorer/Aventis, where he excelled in sales, training and leadership positions. Matt has worked as a Sales Professional, Product Manager, and District Sales Manager as well as a Training Director.

As the Director of Oncology Learning and Development for Sanofi-Synthelabo, Matt was responsible for the development of the oncology training function from inception through advanced training.

Matt lead a team that created extensive training processes for new and tenured sales professionals. This contribution within an overall company effort was recognized in an industry-wide survey that found Sanofi to have the top-quality sales team.

Matt earned a BA from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Matt Kann

LeAnn Bannister

LeeAnn Bannister, CMP - Vice President, Project/Meeting Management

LeeAnn leads the Meeting Management Services at ASERT. She has run successful healthcare meetings of every size (from 15 to 700+) with various audiences in diverse venues.

History:
LeeAnn came to ASERT, LLC with extensive experience in meeting and event planning in the association and pharmaceutical markets.

Working with the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) for five years provided LeeAnn with a background in continuing medical education meetings. She was responsible for the planning and execution of the College's annual meeting as well as other physician conferences. In addition to the meeting planning responsibilities, LeeAnn was a project manager for various other programs within the College. Prior to joining ACPE, LeeAnn was a National Sales Manager for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.

LeeAnn is a member of Meeting Professionals International and served as the Vice President of Membership for the Tampa Bay Chapter in 2003-2004.

LeeAnn earned a BS from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received her Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation in 2003.

Ronel Brealey

Ronel Brealey - Project Manager

Ronél is responsible for managing various training projects for ASERT clients.

History:
Ronél worked as a Senior Sales Executive for a shipping company. She was part of a team that started a new shipping service to West Africa. She managed client relationships and served as a liaison for corporations such as Nestle, Coca Cola and SAB (parent company of Miller Brewing).

Ronél has worked as a personal assistant, in general office management, sales and accounting. She was also in human resources, industrial relations and eventually worked as the Personal Assistant to a Senior Consulting Engineer who ran one of the largest (30,000 employees) platinum mining houses in the world.

Ronel has a secretarial certificate.

Karen Allen - DialogCoach™ Project Manager

Karen is responsible for running programs based on our proprietary, interactive, self-paced, DialogCoachTM application.

History:
Karen began her career as an Office Manager for a dental practice. After 16 years she moved into training dentists and their staffs in practice management as well as digital radiography technology.

More recently, Karen was the Professional Development Manager for a manufacturer of interactive products. She was responsible for the continued development of the company's live, interactive online training program. Karen also directed the development of an onsite professional development program, and developed the company's on-demand web-based training component. She was also responsible for developing and maintaining all of the help files for various products marketed by her division.

Karen earned a BS from DeSales University.

Karen Allen

Justin Elliott

Justin Elliott - Production Coordinator

Justin is responsible for all visualization, video production and presentation development for ASERT client programs. He is also responsible for scenario development, design and testing for the DialogCoach software.

History:
Justin came to ASERT with a background in journalism and documentary film making. He worked as a video journalist covering US Senate Committee hearings. Justin also worked as a production assistant on documentaries and commercials.

Justin Elliott earned a BA from American University.

Melissa Reeves - Information Technology

Melissa is responsible for scenario development and testing of the DialogCoach™ System. She also maintains the technical infrastructure at ASERT and DialogCoach™.

History:
While working in a customer service role at Lafayette Ambassador Bank, Melissa earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science from DeSales University. Melissa is integral in the design, development, and deployment of DialogCoach projects. She is responsible for scenario development as well as the testing of the DialogCoach System. Melissa has developed web sites and maintained an existing LMS system for ASERT. She is also responsible for maintaining the server infrastructure which includes creating ftp accounts and maintaining domains for ASERT and DialogCoach.

Melissa Reeves


Bill Jacobs, CRA - Founder / President Bill has more than 20 years of pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device experience. He founded ASERT, LLC in 2002, after working at major pharmaceutical companies in various capacities. As President of the company, Bill is responsible for overseeing all business functions and maintains an active role in many client programs. ASERT has grown and expanded since its inception, delivering customized solutions for training and education in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. History At Beecham Laboratories (before and during the merger with SmithKline), Bill worked four of his seven years as a divisional manager in the western United States. Relocating back to the east coast, he spent three years as a regional manager for SIMS/ Portex, a medical device company. He was later promoted to Director of National Accounts for the alternate care market. Bill joined Anesta as a regional medical liaison in oncology. During the four years in the biotech industry, he worked with oncology specialists (medical oncologists, oncology nurses, oncology pharmacists, etc) to design and set up clinical trials, becoming a CRA in the process. After the acquisition of Anesta by Cephalon, Bill joined a sales training and medical education company, HealthAnswers Corp., as the Vice President of Sales. Bill joined Aventis Oncology as the Senior Manager of Oncology Training, supervising a staff of training managers, regional trainers, and assistants. During his three years at Aventis, he restructured the sales training continuum and launched a training curriculum for the clinical teams. Bill earned at BS from Seton Hall University. He also has a Clinical Research Associate certificate.
	Bill DeVinney - Vice President, Sales Bill is responsible for new business development at ASERT. He has deep experience in pharmaceutical sales at the District, Regional and National levels in both sales and sales management. Bill has extensive experience in oncology. History: Before joining ASERT, Bill held various positions at GlaxoSmithKline for 35 years in sales and management. His last position was as Vice President of Sales Oncology. Bill earned a BS from Lehigh University.
Matt Kann - Senior Director, Corporate Account Development Matt is responsible for new business development at ASERT. He has extensive pharmaceutical management and training leadership experience. Throughout his career Matt has shown a passion for the learning process and brings that excitement and commitment to ASERT and its clients. History: Matt began his career with Schering-Plough Oncology Biotech in 1995.After that he joined Rhone Poulenc Rorer/Aventis, where he excelled in sales, training and leadership positions. Matt has worked as a Sales Professional, Product Manager, and District Sales Manager as well as a Training Director. As the Director of Oncology Learning and Development for Sanofi-Synthelabo, Matt was responsible for the development of the oncology training function from inception through advanced training. Matt lead a team that created extensive training processes for new and tenured sales professionals. This contribution within an overall company effort was recognized in an industry-wide survey that found Sanofi to have the top-quality sales team. Matt earned a BA from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
	LeeAnn Bannister, CMP - Vice President, Project/Meeting Management LeeAnn leads the Meeting Management Services at ASERT. She has run successful healthcare meetings of every size (from 15 to 700+) with various audiences in diverse venues. History: LeeAnn came to ASERT, LLC with extensive experience in meeting and event planning in the association and pharmaceutical markets. Working with the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) for five years provided LeeAnn with a background in continuing medical education meetings. She was responsible for the planning and execution of the College's annual meeting as well as other physician conferences. In addition to the meeting planning responsibilities, LeeAnn was a project manager for various other programs within the College. Prior to joining ACPE, LeeAnn was a National Sales Manager for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. LeeAnn is a member of Meeting Professionals International and served as the Vice President of Membership for the Tampa Bay Chapter in 2003-2004. LeeAnn earned a BS from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received her Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation in 2003.
	Ronel Brealey - Project Manager Ronél is responsible for managing various training projects for ASERT clients. History: Ronél worked as a Senior Sales Executive for a shipping company. She was part of a team that started a new shipping service to West Africa. She managed client relationships and served as a liaison for corporations such as Nestle, Coca Cola and SAB (parent company of Miller Brewing). Ronél has worked as a personal assistant, in general office management, sales and accounting. She was also in human resources, industrial relations and eventually worked as the Personal Assistant to a Senior Consulting Engineer who ran one of the largest (30,000 employees) platinum mining houses in the world. Ronel has a secretarial certificate.
Karen Allen - DialogCoach™ Project Manager Karen is responsible for running programs based on our proprietary, interactive, self-paced, DialogCoachTM application. History: Karen began her career as an Office Manager for a dental practice. After 16 years she moved into training dentists and their staffs in practice management as well as digital radiography technology. More recently, Karen was the Professional Development Manager for a manufacturer of interactive products. She was responsible for the continued development of the company's live, interactive online training program. Karen also directed the development of an onsite professional development program, and developed the company's on-demand web-based training component. She was also responsible for developing and maintaining all of the help files for various products marketed by her division. Karen earned a BS from DeSales University.
	Justin Elliott - Production Coordinator Justin is responsible for all visualization, video production and presentation development for ASERT client programs. He is also responsible for scenario development, design and testing for the DialogCoach software. History: Justin came to ASERT with a background in journalism and documentary film making. He worked as a video journalist covering US Senate Committee hearings. Justin also worked as a production assistant on documentaries and commercials. Justin Elliott earned a BA from American University.
Melissa Reeves - Information Technology Melissa is responsible for scenario development and testing of the DialogCoach™ System. She also maintains the technical infrastructure at ASERT and DialogCoach™. History: While working in a customer service role at Lafayette Ambassador Bank, Melissa earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science from DeSales University. Melissa is integral in the design, development, and deployment of DialogCoach projects. She is responsible for scenario development as well as the testing of the DialogCoach System. Melissa has developed web sites and maintained an existing LMS system for ASERT. She is also responsible for maintaining the server infrastructure which includes creating ftp accounts and maintaining domains for ASERT and DialogCoach.