Great Lakes Clinical Trials Team

Steve Satek

Founder/CEO

Steve Satek has more than 30 years of experience in the clinical research industry. He began his career as a bench researcher at the Northwestern University Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center. Since that time has held senior management positions at the Chicago Center for Clinical Research, Radiant Research, Cognitive Drug Research and Forenap Pharma, where he specialized in the design, implementation, and management of central nervous system and clinical pharmacology research programs.

He is the founder and CEO of Flourish Chicago area sites, formerly known as Great Lakes Clinical Trials. Steve offers a diverse and thorough knowledge of clinical trial operations, which has been presented at over 300 meeting and events.  In addition, he has personally project managed and/or coordinated over 150 clinical trials.

Steve currently serves on the Planning Committee and is former Chairman for the Global Site Solutions Summit, one the clinical research industry’s leading conferences.  He is also an active member of Global Alzheimer’s Platform, a patient-centric, non-profit organization dedicated to speeding the delivery of innovative therapies to those afflicted with Alzheimer’s.

Locally in Chicago, Steve has served on the Board of Directors for the Swedish American Museum, is currently a Board Member for the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, sits on the Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Committee for the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce in addition to the Events Committee for the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce. He is also Chairman of the non-profit, Memory Care Coalition of Chicago.  In 2018, Steve was honored to be recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of Chicago’s Notable LGBTQ Executives.

Steve holds two Bachelor of Science degrees in Molecular Biology and in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an Executive MBA from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Steve is the Chief Commercial Officer for Flourish Research.

Amber Holst

VP, Operations

A native Chicagoan, Amber has been immersed in digital media and marketing over the past decade, assisting hospitality industry clients with a wide array of marketing programs and initiatives. A former editor at Chicago magazine and reporter at The Wall Street Journal, Amber worked in public relations before returning to the marketing world as Vice President of a Chicago visitor marketing company. Bringing 15 years of marketing and operations experience with her, she joined the Great Lakes Clinical Trials team in 2017 to oversee and implement the site’s recruitment and marketing strategies before transitioning into the role of site director.

A passionate advocate for underserved populations, she most enjoys her site’s commitment to educating communities and helping others understand the importance of research and the potential benefit it can bring to people’s lives. Amber is a contributor to EnjoyIllinois.com and is a member of the Swedish American Museum’s marketing committee, where she also serves as co-emcee of their annual Midsommarfest event. Additionally, she is an active member of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce, a caregiver support group facilitator through the Alzheimer’s Association, member of the non-profit Memory Care Coalition of Chicago, and planning committee member of the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation’s (CISCRP) annual Aware For All Chicago event.

Amber received her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Columbia College, where she served as editor-and-chief of the college’s award-winning newspaper.

Jeffrey Ross, MD

Principal Investigator - Andersonville

Dr. Jeff Ross is a board-certified psychiatrist who has conducted over 130 clinical trials across multiple disease areas including mood, anxiety, psychotic, cognitive (Alzheimer’s, MCI), sleep, and substance abuse disorders. As an instructor of medical students and psychiatry residents at Chicago-area institutions (Northwestern University Medical School, Rush Medical College, Evanston Hospital, Illinois College of Optometry) over the past 20 years, Dr. Ross has provided ongoing medical education in both psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, equipping new physicians with important insights into the interviewing, care, & long-term management of patients with psychiatric illness.

Following his post-graduate fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology at Rush-Presbyterian-St.Luke’s Medical Center, Dr. Ross served as Medical Associate at Rush’s Treatment Research Center and Attending Psychiatrist at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center, as well as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Rush Medical College. As a board-certified psychiatrist, Dr. Ross maintains licensure in Illinois and continues to maintain his affiliation with the aforementioned academic centers. In addition, Dr. Ross’ private practice enables him to remain connected to the real-world management of psychiatric illness.

From his extensive research experience, Dr. Ross has gained expertise in investigations across development phases (Phase I-IV), treatment settings (inpatient and outpatient), duration (short and long-term), trial design (open, blinded, acute therapy, relapse prevention), and intervention (psychotherapy and psychopharmacology). Aside from numerous peer-reviewed publications and lectures, Dr. Ross has also developed a particular niche providing psychiatric educational book reviews (Doody’s Health Sciences) for over a decade.

Manish Jain, MD

Principal Investigator - Ravenswood

Dr. Manish Jain is a board-certified rheumatologist in practice for over 9 years. He is one of three doctors on staff at Presence St. Francis Hospital and one of four at Swedish Covenant Hospital who specialize in Rheumatology. He also serves as medical chair for the Chicago chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, partnering with patients and rheumatologists across the country to raise funds and awareness about rheumatic diseases.

He received his medical degree from Rush Medical College and completed his Rheumatology Fellowship at New York University. His research experience includes Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, and Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

His passion for becoming a rheumatologist was twofold – first, the science of inflammation was fascinating to him as a student, and second, his father, also a practicing rheumatologist factored heavily into his decision to join the field. He uses his inner drive for furthering the rheumatology field by staying committed to bringing innovative clinical trials to his patients and has done so by serving as Principal investigator on over twenty studies.

Rupal Trivedi, MD

Principal Investigator - Andersonville

Dr. Rupal Trivedi, MD is Principal Investigator at Great Lakes Clinical Trials Chicago. Dr. Trivedi is board-certified in Family Medicine with more than 15 years of experience. She has served as Principal Investigator on more 100 trials, with primary focus on nutritional and metabolic studies. She has also led multi-center USONA Psilocybin Study for Treatment-Resistant Depression at our Andersonville Site. Her experience ranges from Nutrition, Obesity, Cardiometabolic Disease, Chronic Pain, Rheumatology, Alzheimer’s, Psychiatry, Dermatology, COVID-related studies, and Vaccines. 

  Dr. Trivedi did her residency at Wheeling Hospital and continued clinical practice at WVU Student Health Center and later at SLU’s Faculty Practice.  She joined Great Lakes Clinical Trials after moving back to Chicago and is deeply committed to bringing health awareness and new therapies to the forefront of medicine. She is Board Certified in Family Medicine and dedicates her time exclusively to Clinical Research. She enjoys giving back to the community through service projects, especially at FMSC. 

 

Yevgeniy “Eugene” Bukhman, DO

Principal Investigator - Gurnee, IL

Dr. Eugene Bukhman is a board-certified and practicing internal medicine doctor with 4 years of clinical research experience as a Principal Investigator in over forty studies with a focus in dementia, obesity, and vaccinations.  

 He earned a medical degree at A. T. Still University in Missouri followed by an internal medicine residency training at University Hospitals in Cleveland. He oversees the execution of clinical trials in accordance with study-specific protocols while monitoring participants for adverse effects and clinical data abnormalities. 

 He is a curious individual who is always expanding his extensive working knowledge of medical and philosophical theories and practices.  He takes an empathic approach in his oversight and is always willing to take the extra time to ensure subjects are safe and informed. He believes that clinical research epitomizes the human project for therapeutic truth discovery going back to the Enlightenment and participating in this endeavor has been a profound privilege. 

Allison Ramsey, MSN, NP

Site Director - Ravenswood

Allison “Alli” Ramsey is a Nurse Practitioner who obtained her Master’s Degree in Nursing in 2018 from North Park University.  She received her certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.  She has worked in Clinical Research since 2018.  Before obtaining her Master’s, Alli worked as a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Department for nearly 7 years at Advocate Lutheran General in Park Ridge, and in Cardiac Telemetry at Illinois Masonic Medical Center for 3 years.  Her undergraduate degree is a Bachelor’s from Ball State University which she completed in 2008. 

Alli joined Great Lakes Clinical Trials in 2021 after doing a contract with Matrix Medical Network for a COVID-19 decentralized trial.  In this trial, she met Dr. Manish Jain, one of the Primary Investigators for Great Lakes Clinical Trials.  Dr. Jain decided to expand into his private practice for Rheumatology and Immunology based clinical trials and sought Alli to head the expansion as a Site Director for Great Lakes Clinical Trials-Ravenswood.  At this site, the focus is on providing care to the immunocompromised and elderly populations with research in COVID prevention and treatment, vaccine development, and immunomodulating treatments. 

Liz Gustavsen, RN, BSN

Site Director - Gurnee, IL

Liz Gustavsen has been a registered nurse with almost 40 years’ experience in all aspects of hospital operations. She has dedicated her career for over 30 years in Emergency Medicine and then progressed to administrative roles including house supervisor and Director of a Neurology Telemetry Unit in addition to heading up the hospital’s organ donor volunteer program.  

Liz received her Associate’s Degree in nursing from William Rainey Harper College and enjoyed a long career as a Registered Nurse before pursuing her BSN from Capella University (once her three children were raised). She has multiple certifications in various fields and has taught and mentored many nurses throughout her career.   

Liz joined the Great Lakes Clinical Trials team at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. She opened our Gurnee Location, which conducted multiple COVID-related clinical trials ranging from observational to interventional. Leading the Gurnee team, she is proud to offer both Lake County and Wisconsin residents access to clinical trials spanning from vaccine and memory loss prevention to obesity and diabetes-related research.