At RealtimeCRO, a proud member of the Viitai family, we deeply comprehend the multifaceted challenges and extensive workload that statistical programmers grapple with daily. Their collaborative journey encompasses working closely with biostatisticians, bridging the gaps between source and validation programmers, and maintaining effective communication with pivotal internal departments like clinical, medical writing, and regulatory. In addition, they play a crucial role in securely exchanging data with external partners such as EDCs and central labs. We’ve keenly observed the IT and QA hurdles (e.g., effective access control, single source of truth, etc.) that many budding biotech companies face. These insights have inspired us to incorporate industry-leading best practices and our in-depth expertise into the BPS system.

After more than four years of meticulous requirements gathering and architectural optimization, we proudly introduced our first iteration of BPS in 2018. That same year, we onboarded our inaugural BPS client. Since then, we’ve been on a relentless pursuit of excellence, adding new features and fine-tuning BPS to become an unparalleled statistical computing environment in the industry. To cater to diverse needs, we now offer:

TAHOE

A pre-validated and compliant statistical computing environment hosted by RealtimeCRO in Microsoft Azure

BPS Integration

A seamless installation into the client’s existing SAS environment, elevating compliance, productivity, and collaboration to unparalleled heights

Custom Environments

Establishing a validated, compliant environment tailored to client specifications, be it on-premises or cloud platforms like Azure, AWS, or others.
Why shouldn’t biometrics functions be like electricity? On when you need it, off when you don’t. With TAHOE, you’re empowered by the flexible terms and by the automation that streamlines and simplifies your work. Plus, you always have peace of mind as TAHOE is audit-ready anytime.
As a forward-thinking contract research organization, RealtimeCRO offers a state-of-the-art, regulatory-compliant cloud platform. This empowers biotech firms, life science consultants, and patients to collaboratively expedite therapy development while reducing costs. Distinct from conventional CROs, our on-demand platform, innovative tools, and critical services provide unmatched efficiency and compliance, and real-time project status.

Board of Directors

Chito Hernandez
Chito Hernandez is a life science executive and Ph.D. statistician with extensive experience leading Data Science organizations. He is currently Group Vice President and Head of Data Science at BioMarin, a company that develops and commercializes innovative biopharmaceuticals for serious diseases and medical conditions. Chito is Founder and Senior Partner at FocusQ, a statistical consulting firm based in Carlsbad, CA.
He previously served as Vice President of Biometrics and Information Management for Elan Pharmaceuticals, a neuroscience-focused company, and as Vice President of Biometrics at Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy Research and Development. Chito has been involved in numerous regulatory filings including NDAs, PMAs, BLAs, and MAAs.

He has worked primarily in Research and Development but has experience in Medical Affairs at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and Strategic Development at Scirex Corporation. He received his Ph.D. from Arizona State University.

Ying Lu
Ying Lu, Ph.D., is a Professor of Biomedical Data Science in the Department of Biomedical Data Science, and by courtesy in the Department of Radiology and Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, co-directs the Stanford Center for Innovative Study Design, BERD Research Methods Core of the SPECTRUM, and the Biostatistics Core of the Stanford Cancer Institute. He was the director of the VA Cooperative Studies Program Palo Alto Coordinating Center (2009-2016), a Professor of Biostatistics and Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco (1994-2009), and an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at University of Miami School of Medicine (1990-1994). He was a consulting biostatistician for Triton Biosciences from 1987-1900.

Dr. Lu is a world-renowned expert in clinical trial methodology and has published more than 300 peer-reviewed journal articles. He provides consultations to pharmaceutical industry clients and was a member of the FDA Advisory Panel on Peripheral CNS Diseases from 2007 to 2011. He is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and served as the 2014 President of the International Chinese Statistical Association (ICSA)and 2019 President of IBC Western North American Region (IBC WNAR).

Dr. Lu received his BS in Mathematics from Fudan University, MS in Applied Mathematics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Matt Cravets

Matt Cravets has over 28 years of experience as a clinical biostatistician in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and has served in a variety of biostatistics and biometrics leadership roles across a wide range of therapeutic areas. He is currently Senior Vice President, Biometrics, Gossamer Bio. Before joining Gossamer Bio as the head of Biometrics in 2018, Matt was Vice President of Biometrics at Heron Therapeutics Inc. from 2016 to 2018, where he played a key role in the late-stage development programs for Zynrelef for the treatment post-surgical pain and Cinvanti for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

Before joining Heron, Matt was Executive Director of Biometrics at Receptos Inc. from 2014-2016, where he built the biostatistics, SAS programming, and data management functions while contributing to mid- and late-stage development programs for ozanimod (Zeposia) in multiple sclerosis (MS) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Before joining Receptos, Matt was the head of biostatistics at Ardea Biosciences from 2011-2014, building the biostatistics and SAS programming functions while also making significant contributions to the designs and analyses of late-stage studies of lesinurad (Zurampic) for the treatment of gout.

From 2003-2011 Matt served in roles of increasing responsibility in the biostatistics group at Biogen Idec Inc., contributing to the successful regulatory approvals of rituximab (Rituxan) in both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). From 1996-2003, Matt was in the biostatistics group at Amgen, Inc., working on multiple products across various neurology, rheumatology, cardiovascular, and bone disease indications.

Matt began his career in the pharmaceutical products division of Abbott Laboratories in 1994 after completing his master’s degree in statistics at the University of Michigan and his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at UCLA. Matt also holds an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Jeff Cao

Jeff is an engineer, entrepreneur, and biotechnology executive with 21 years of experience working in the life science industry. He is co-founder and CEO of RealtimeCRO. He is also President of Viitai, an innovative software company focused on developing efficient and compliant applications to streamline the drug development process. Previously, Jeff served as the head of IT at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, where he reported to the CEO and built the IT organization from scratch.

Jeff joined BioMarin Pharmaceutical in 2007, where he was responsible for information technology for all functions in DevOps. Together with the CMO, he developed an advanced application that Google requested to make it its first case study for the biopharmaceutical industry.

Jeff started his career in life science at Parexel International in 2001. He developed specialized systems that hosted clinical trial information for hundreds of sponsors. From 2005-2007, he was the technical lead for Parexel’s biggest IT project ever, PMED. Before Parexel, Jeff was at Compaq developing software applications for internal content search/indexing.

Jeff holds a master’s in computer science and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Memphis.