Meet The Team
We’re proud to always remain a people-focused company.
Mike Keens
CEO
Mike is an experienced clinical trial operator and commercial leader, with over 20 years’ experience supporting companies advancing treatments for treating disease and enhancing patient care. His career has been focused equally between clinical trial operations and commercial strategy at both large CROs as well as niche service providers. Mike’s efforts and industry leadership have been recognized externally with his selection as a PharmaVoice Top 100 Most Influential Person in Pharma (Patient Advocacy), as well as selection by CenterWatch as a Top 20 Innovator in Pharma Development.
Mike earned his undergraduate degree in Biology and Psychology from James Madison University, his master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Virginia, and is a guest lecturer for the Master’s of Biotechnology programs at Georgetown University and The University of Virginia. In his free time, he is a burgeoning trail runner, and enjoys spending time with his family furiously trying to learn whatever new activity, lingo, or information teenagers are into at the moment.
Dawn Pope
Chief Operating Officer
Dawn Pope is a clinical research professional with over 20 years in the protection of research participants. As a purpose-driven leader, she has spent her career building high-functioning teams, implementing strategic plans to elevate organizational performance, and delivering innovative solutions to strengthen client relationships. She has extensive experience in operations, client relations, continuous improvement methodologies and regulatory compliance. She is passionate about operational efficiencies that help bring new therapies to patients sooner. Dawn earned her undergraduate degree in English and a master’s degree in Applied Leadership from Campbell University in North Carolina. In her free time, you can find her reading, at the beach, and traveling with her husband and two children.
Chris Jenkins
Founder, Chief Scientific Officer
Chris Jenkins, PhD, MPH, is the Founder and current Chief Scientific Officer at Sabai Global with subsidiaries of Clinical Biosafety Services (CBS), Castle Institutional Review Board (Castle IRB), Alpha IRB, and Shield Consulting. He founded the organization in 2017 and served as CEO until September 2023 when he transitioned to CSO. He is proud to have started and grown a one-person organization into what is now a key biosafety and ethical supporter of gene, cell, oncology, and rare disease treatments.
Chris holds a Doctorate and Masters in Public Health in Biosecurity from Saint Louis University, and Bachelors of Biology from the University of Missouri. He has previously been registered and certified as a Biosafety Professional and Hazardous Materials Manager, with prior roles in private industry and academia. His continued personal goal, shared with Sabai, is to provide ethical and biosafety review and support that leads with science and differentiates with service.
Melanie Gill
CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER
Melanie brings over 20 years of commercial and leadership experience to Sabai, with a proven track record of building strategic partnerships and driving revenue growth in the clinical research industry. Throughout her career at industry leaders including IQVIA, legacy-Quintiles, i3 Research and PPD, she has consistently delivered results – earning multiple business development awards for closing major deals and recognition for her leadership excellence. As a collaborative leader, Melanie thrives on bringing together diverse teams to achieve ambitious goals. Her expertise spans business development, strategic partnerships, contracting and proposals, project management and finance. Melanie has participated in several executive leadership training programs and serves as a mentor to emerging leaders in the industry. Her entrepreneurial spirit was evident during her time building a retail business, an experience that deepened her appreciation for the challenges and rewards of growing a company from the ground up. Known for her hands-on approach and ability to balance organizational growth goals within a changing industry, Melanie is focused on expanding Sabai’s market presence and revenue growth while fostering the collaborative culture that makes great partnerships possible.
Austin Read
Chief FINANCIAL Officer
Austin Read is the Chief Financial Officer of Sabai, where he leads all aspects of financial strategy, operations and corporate development. He brings a diverse background in both financial and operational leadership across high-growth, private equity-backed, start-up and Fortune 100 organizations, with a strong focus on life sciences, healthcare and clinical research. His leadership is rooted in data-driven decision-making, cross-functional collaboration and a commitment to building scalable, resilient businesses.
Prior to joining Sabai, Austin served as Head of Precision Medicine at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he held full P&L responsibility and led strategy, commercial and operational functions supporting biopharma clients in pre-clinical research initiatives. Before that, he held executive roles in both finance and operations at CorEvitas, a leading provider of real-world evidence, where he helped scale the business through two successful recapitalizations.
Austin began his career as a consultant with Ernst & Young (EY), advising global clients on financial and operational performance improvement. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Accounting from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Melissa Fink
Senior Director, IRB Services
Melissa Fink, MA, CIP is a Certified IRB Professional with over 20 years of IRB administration and IRB member experience in academic and central IRB settings. She has served as a PRIM&R mentor, on NIH/Foundation grant Advisory Boards, AAHRPP working groups, and has consulted, published, and presented in various areas of IRB Operation best practices and clinical research compliance. Prior to joining Sabai, Melissa served as the IRB Director for an academic medical center IRB. She has extensive insight on institutional IRBs, IRB reliance agreements, and Single IRB Use. Melissa is a solutions-oriented, outcomes-driven servant leader who is passionate about Sabai’s people-first culture. In her free time, you can find her coaching or cheering for her daughters’ various sports teams.
Garry Coulson
SENIOR Director, Regulatory & QUALITY
Garry Coulson has two decades’ experience in research and regulatory compliance in Academic, Government and Industry sectors. He holds an MS in Clinical Microbiology and a Ph.D in Infectious Diseases. Most recently, he served as the Biosafety Officer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is deeply passionate about public health and translational research that advances knowledge from the bench to the bedside.
Jessica Poole
Director, IBC Services
Jessica Poole is a dedicated biosafety professional with over 15 years of experience in academia. Due to her career path, Jessica brings a broad range of expertise to Clinical Biosafety Services. She has experience in animal husbandry, development and maintenance of a select agent program, performing risk assessments of infectious agents and biological toxins, reviewing IBC protocols and IACUC applications, training laboratory personnel, ensuring compliance with applicable state and federal regulations, performing laboratory inspections and investigating accidents involving biological agents. She takes pride in being known as an out-of-the-box thinker, assisting clients in coming up with creative solutions, and creating enjoyable safety trainings (believe it or not).
Jessica received undergraduate degrees in Biology and Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In 2014, she received her graduate degree in Animal Science from NC State University.
Jessica began her career in animal husbandry at Duke University and eventually transitioned to biosafety at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Heels!). Most recently she served as the Biosafety Officer at Cleveland Clinic’s Florida Research and Innovation Center.
Originally from North Carolina, she currently resides in sunny Florida with her twin boys (Graham and Grayson) and dogs (Bailey and Luke). If Jessica is not working or being her boys’ personal chauffeur, you will most likely find her on the beach reading a book or attending some sort of sporting event.
Megan Aiken
Director, CLIENT Services
Megan Aiken, CIP is a Certified IRB Professional with over two decades of experience in central IRB Operations and Client Services. She has collaborated with sponsors, CROs, site networks and investigators across various therapeutic areas and phases of clinical research to enhance trial efficiency and advance therapeutic developments. Her commitment to exceptional customer service is reflected in the trusted relationships she has built, offering tailored solutions and support based on each client’s distinct needs. Outside of work she enjoys watching English Premier League soccer, gardening and exploring the mountains and beaches of North Carolina with her family.