OUR TEAM

Leadership & Vision at Rainier Clinical Research Center

At RCRC, we believe that deep site relationships, operational excellence, and scientific integrity are the foundations of transformative clinical research.

Our team is made of long-time collaborators who share a unified mission: to run smarter, patient-centric clinical trials.

Our Team

  • Eric has 30 years of experience in the clinical trials industry including four successful clinical outsourcing startup companies. Prior to RCRC, Eric was President and CEO of LabConnect, a central laboratory, from startup to 270 employees. During his tenure, LabConnect was recognized 13 years as one of Washington State’s “Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately-Held Companies”—more than any other company in the 30-year history of the list. Prior to LabConnect, Eric continuously served on the 3-person executive team at Radiant Research, a site management organization, from startup to 1,000 employees across 54 wholly-owned research sites. At Radiant, Eric oversaw the company’s site acquisitions, sales, marketing, and participant recruitment functions. He also served as Director of North American operations at MDS Harris (MDS Pharma Services), and as senior consultant with Accenture.

    Since 2002, Eric has been an instructor at the University of Washington's Master’s and certificate degree programs for clinical trials. Eric holds a BA from Whitman College and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He lives in Seattle and Whidbey Island with his wife and two children and enjoys playing multiple sports, cooking and gardening.

  • Dr. Frances "Fran" Broyles is a board-certified Endocrinologist with over 30 years of clinical leadership and patient care experience in Seattle. She currently serves as Co-Medical Director and Principal Investigator at Rainier Clinical Research Center, where she leads clinical trials across a broad spectrum of endocrine and metabolic conditions, including diabetes, obesity, lipid disorders, osteoporosis, and women's health.

    Dr. Broyles earned her medical degree from the University of Florida and completed her Internal Medicine residency in Dallas, where she served as Chief Medical Resident. She then completed a fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Washington in Seattle. For more than three decades, she has maintained a thriving clinical practice at Swedish Medical Center and has been repeatedly recognized as one of Seattle’s Top Doctors in Endocrinology.

    Throughout her career, Dr. Broyles has held numerous system-wide leadership roles, including Medical Director of the Neuroendocrinology and Pituitary Program at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute and Medical Director of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition for the Swedish Health System. She also served as Clinical Lead for the inpatient glycemic management program, the outpatient Diabetes Pathway, and the Healthy Weight Initiative for Swedish and Providence, and she played an integral role in developing the Osteoporosis Program at Minor and James and Swedish.

    Her clinical and research interests span diabetes, obesity, lipid disorders, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, women’s hormonal health, pituitary conditions, and adrenal disorders. She is passionate about education and continues to serve as a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. She has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications and presented at clinical and educational conferences throughout her career.

    Outside of medicine, Dr. Broyles enjoys reading fiction, hiking, yoga, and spending time with her husband, two daughters, and two grandchildren, often getting delightfully lost in play.

  • Dr. Sheryl Marks is a board-certified Anesthesiologist and Medical Director with over 15 years of leadership experience in perioperative medicine and healthcare operations. She currently serves as Co-Medical Director and Principal Investigator at Rainier Clinical Research Center, where she leads early- and late-phase clinical trials focused on obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, Alzheimer’s disease, vaccine development, and overall cardiometabolic health.

    Prior to joining RCRC, Dr. Marks directed Swedish Medical Center’s Preadmission Clinic, where she oversaw the preoperative optimization of more than 35,000 surgical patients each year. In this role, she authored numerous clinical protocols and spearheaded system-wide initiatives in perioperative diabetes management, anemia optimization, and frailty risk assessment.

    Dr. Marks brings a strong foundation in healthcare governance, having served as a founding Board Member of U.S. Anesthesia Partners–Washington and as Vice President of Medical Affairs at Physicians Anesthesia Service. Her experience spans strategic operations, interdisciplinary team leadership, and patient-centered innovation.

    Since entering the clinical research field, Dr. Marks has served as Principal Investigator and Sub-Investigator on more than 40 clinical trials across Phases I–IV, collaborating with sponsors such as Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Merck, Moderna, Abbott, Medtronic, Dexcom, and Tandem. Her therapeutic areas of focus include GLP-1 receptor agonists, mRNA vaccines, AID systems, monoclonal antibodies, lipid-lowering therapies, and CGM technology.

    Dr. Marks earned her M.D. from Columbia University and completed her residency in Anesthesiology at the University of California, San Francisco. She lives in Seattle with her husband and three children.

  • Sya Magee was born in Germany and grew up in Lacey, Washington. After graduating from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Physiology. Sya then earned a Master’s in Business Administration with concentration in Leadership & Entrepreneurship from Seattle University. Using a passion for combining business, science and data she focuses on improving the customer experience and driving business outcomes. She lives with her wife and dogs in the greater Seattle area. In her spare time active in the soccer community, fostering dogs, and cultivating her love of wine.

  • Tina joined Rainier Clinical Research Center in 1999 as a Clinical Research Coordinator.  After many years in this role, Tina returned to college to further her education, and obtained her nursing degree in 2018.  After graduation, she worked as a Med Surg RN at a local hospital gaining valuable hands on clinical experience. She returned to RCRC as an RN CRC, and shortly after rejoining the research center, she was promoted to the Clinical Management Team, overseeing all clinical trials. She is actively involved in patient care, training, teaching and assisting with complex device studies requiring glycemic challenges and insulin therapy management.

    Tina is passionate about patient care and safety.  She enjoys getting to know her patients, building rapport and trust, and helping them better understand their disease through patient education and participant involvement.

  • Shann Emerald, CCRC, is a Seattle-based clinical research professional with a strong passion for advancing studies from feasibility through closeout, currently contributing to business development work at Rainier Clinical Research Center, Seattle Clinical Research Center, and Curiex sites around the country. She is recognized for her analytical mindset, organizational strength, and ability to drive study start up process improvements and effective study execution.

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