Alcanza Clinical Research

Dr. James Andersen is a principal investigator at Accel Research Sites’ Lakeland location, specializing in family and addiction medicine. He has completed 226 clinical trials as a principal investigator. His experience in addiction studies includes opioid and cocaine use disorder, opioid-induced constipation, and smoking cessation. In addition, he is Suboxone-certified and has conducted trials evaluating buprenorphine and COVID-19 vaccines, including presenting at the FDA Sublocade Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Andersen honed his addiction medicine capabilities during nearly two decades as medical director of Polk County’s first Opioid Treatment Program. Additionally, he served as medical director for two facilities operated by Bridges of America. Dr. Andersen is a Fellow in the American Society of Addition Medicine and a Diplomate with the American Board of Addiction Medicine. He is a former medical review officer, AAMRO, and diplomate, emeritus, of the American Board of Family Practice. He also formerly served for two, three-year terms as director of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians.

Dr. Rowell S. Ashford, II, is a principal investigator at Accel Research Sites’ Birmingham, Alabama location. He is also currently a gynecologist at Cahaba Medical Care-OBGYN and Baptist Health Centers in Birmingham. Dr. Ashford has been with Accel Research Sites since 2018, and his areas of expertise include obstetrics and gynecology and women’s health.  Dr. Ashford was the chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baptist Princeton Hospital and Cooper Green Mercy Health System, where he also served as Institutional Review Board chair and medical director of the National Community Center of Excellence in Women’s Health. He has won numerous awards and honors, including the Baptist Health System Compassion Award in 2015, and he has written abstracts about gynecological conditions and cervical cancer and been published in Cancer Gene Therapy and the Journal of Bacteriology. 

Dr. Diane Ryder Counce is a principal investigator in the Accel Research Sites Network. She is also a physician and medical director at Neurology & Neurodiagnostics of Alabama, LLC. She has been with Accel Research Sites since 2019 and has completed six neurology clinical trials. Dr. Counce serves as a neurology consultant with MedPlex Injury in Birmingham. She has also been a member of the ProAssurance Companies’ Regional Advisory Board and has been the Alabama medical director for Ambulatory Video EEG Monitoring, Alliance Family of Companies since 2019. She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, American Society of Neuro Imaging, National Headache Foundation, and American Headache Society. She is certified in Neuroimaging and Headache Medicine from the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties. Dr. Counce has been published extensively in prestigious medical journals, serves on advisory boards for nearly a dozen different pharmaceuticals and speaker boards for six pharmaceuticals, and has received numerous awards.

Over the past 20+ years, Dr. Freilich and his team at KCRI have conducted more than 330 clinical trials, focusing on more than 20 different disease areas. KCRI has been instrumental in the processes it takes to bring new treatments to the public. Without physicians like Dr. Freilich and places like KCRI, many treatments may never receive FDA approval or be available to you.

Dr. Eva-Maria Heurich is a principal investigator at Accel Research Sites’ Maitland location and a board-certified family physician. She has conducted clinical research since the 1990s and has worked on more than 300 studies, including those on osteoarthritis, pain management, diabetes, and mental health. Dr. Heurich previously worked as an investigator at Florida Hospital in Orlando. She worked on the landmark ALLHAT Trial, which helped to establish the standard of care for hypertension. Dr. Heurich is a senior physician affiliate member of Cenegenics Age Management Medicine and holds memberships with the American Academy of Family Physicians, Florida Academy of Family Physicians, and Florida Osteopathic Medical Association. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and serves on the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACR) CPI Task Force. She is also certified in Age Management Medicine.

Dr. Rosario Hidalgo is a principal investigator and sub-investigator at Accel Research Sites’ St. Petersburg-Largo location. She joined Accel Research Sites in 2021. She has been conducting CNS clinical trials since 1998. Her areas of expertise include mood disorders (bipolar disorder, depression, TRD), all the anxiety disorders, PTSD, schizophrenia and others. Dr. Hidalgo has clinical research experience both at academic institutions (Duke University 1998-2005 and University of South Florida 2006-2012) as well as in private research sites. At USF she rose to the position of director of the Depression and Anxiety Research Institute (DARI) from 2010 to 2012. Since 2012, she has been the medical director of Tampa Comprehensive Psychiatry, LLC and continued to be involved in clinical research in private sites. Dr. Hidalgo obtained her medical degree at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and completed her general psychiatry residency at Duke University with a fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology with the Duke-GlaxoSmithKline program. Dr. Hidalgo is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN), a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the Florida Psychiatric Association. She has over 16 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is fluent in both English and Spanish. Dr. Hidalgo volunteers at the Judeo Christian Health Clinic providing free psychiatric care to the working poor of Tampa Bay.

Dr. Sarah A. Holder is a principal investigator at Accel Research Sites. Dr. Holder has over 30 years of experience in private practice as an OB/GYN and joined Accel Research Sites in 2021. Her areas of expertise include OB/GYN and women’s health studies. Prior to joining Accel, Dr. Holder spent 10 years working in research with IC Research. Dr. Holder received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and earned her medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit.  Her residency in OB/GYN was completed at St. Joseph-Mercy Hospital and The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Dr. Rosa E. Negron Munoz is a principal investigator at Accel Research Sites’ Lakeland location. She has been a practicing psychiatrist for over 18 years and has served as a principal investigator with Accel Research Sites since 2020. In addition to her role at Accel, Dr. Negron Munoz currently supports several organizations with psychiatric services in the Lakeland area. Dr. Negron Munoz is triple board-certified psychiatrist by the ABPN in Adult, Child and Adolescent, and Forensic Psychiatry. She is a distinguished fellow of both the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). She is on the board of directors of NAMI Polk County, as well as the Tri-County Human Services Foundation. She is a member of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, AACAP, APA, and the Florida Psychiatric Society.

Dr. Marshall L. Nash is chief principal investigator at Accel Research Sites-NeuroStudies Decatur location. Dr Nash also serves as Medical Director for the NeuroStudies subnetwork within Accel Research sites. Dr Nash has been a certified principal investigator since 2002 and has served as a PI on more than 200 clinical trials, which have enrolled over 1,000 patients. Dr. Nash currently conducts and supports Phase 1 trials at Accel Research Sites Florida locations in addition to running several phase 1 trials at the Decatur, Georgia-Accel Research-NeuroStudies site. Dr Nash supports several high-volume vaccine trials in both Georgia and Florida. Dr Nash, a board-certified neurologist since 1995, specializes in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, migraine, and stroke research. Dr. Nash is a Fellow of the American Heart Association as well as a Fellow of the Academy of Physicians in Clinical Research. Dr Nash has many peer reviewed publications and has been a speaker at several national neurology academy meetings. Dr Nash has a lifelong commitment to improving treatment options through neurology research.

Dr. Ramana Puppala is a principal investigator at Accel Research Sites. He is also an attending OB/GYN physician at Emory Decatur Hospital in Decatur, Georgia. Dr. Puppala has been a practicing OB/GYN for 18 years and came to Accel Research Sites in 2021 with 22 years of research experience as a principal investigator and sub-investigator. His areas of expertise include women’s health and gynecology, plastic surgery, dietetics, endocrinology, and more. Dr. Puppala is a member of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, and the American Board of Obesity Medicine. He also served his country in the United States Army and was an attending OB/GYN physician with various appointments, including Fort Sill Oklahoma, and Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

Dr. Bruce G. Rankin is the Medical Director at Accel Research Site Deland, which conducts Phase 1-4 clinical trials. He has been in medical practice in the Deland area for over 35 years and has served as an investigator with Accel Research Sites since 1998 during which time he has conducted over 500 clinical trials. His experience includes trials for vaccines, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cardiovascular, neurologic, arthritis, infectious disease and pain treatment indications. Dr Rankin is a Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (FACOFP), certified clinical investigator by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (CPI), and is a diplomate of the National Board of Osteopathic Medicine. He has served as past Chief of Staff at Florida Hospital Deland and is past President of the Florida Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (FSACOFP). He is a Florida Delegate to the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and serves on the Executive Board for the Florida Osteopathic Medical Society (FOMA). He was awarded Physician of the Year from FOMA in 2022.

Dr. Hiten Upadhyay is a principal investigator at Accel Research Sites St. Petersburg location. Dr. Upadhyay has been practicing emergency medicine for more than 20 years and has served as a principal investigator with Accel Research Sites since 2021. He has completed several COVID-19 clinical trials as a principal investigator, with expertise in emergency and general medicine.  Dr. Upadhyay is currently a fellow of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. He is board certified in emergency medicine with the ABEM. He graduated from Wayne State School of Medicine with a doctor's degree in medicine in 1997 before completing his residency in emergency medicine at Wayne State in 2000. Dr. Upadhyay currently has credentials at four local hospitals as an emergency department staff physician or staff physician in the trauma department. 

Dr. Timothy J. Wierzbicki is a principal investigator in the Accel Research Sites Network. He has participated in numerous clinical trials since 2009 and has served as a principal investigator with Accel Research Sites since 2018. His area of expertise is neurology, and he has worked on trials involving multiple sclerosis, dementia, Parkinson's disease, migraine headaches, epilepsy and Alzheimer's. Dr. Wierzbicki is the owner of the Brain & Spine Institute, which he founded in 2013. His previous experience as a neurologist includes Neurology Associates of Ormond Beach and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. He has been twice named a diplomate by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and he holds an NIH Stroke Scale Certification and a Carotid Ultrasound Certification. His medical society memberships include the American Medical Association, American Academy of Neurology, AAN Section of Interventional Neurology, American Society of Neuroimaging, American Stroke Association, and the American Heart Association.