Executive Search
CHROs and Chief People Officers in life sciences.
How we search for the top people seat in life sciences, pharma and healthcare, and the changes in that seat the sector's public companies reported to the SEC.
Next Horizon Leadership
Updated October 8, 2026 · 8 moves from SEC filings
Next Horizon Leadership leads CHRO and Chief People Officer searches for life sciences, pharma and healthcare companies. Our Life Science CHRO / CPO room brings together people leaders across life sciences and pharma, and we can call on it during a search.
Matthew Guss, our founder and CEO, has recruited hundreds of Chief People Officers across Fortune 500, venture-backed and PE-backed companies, during 12 years at Russell Reynolds Associates and since founding NHL. See how we search or read about the Life Science CHRO / CPO room.
Who moved
From July 2025 to September 2026, 6 life sciences and healthcare companies reported 8 changes in their top people seat to the SEC in a Form 8-K: 4 departures and 4 appointments. Each row names the person and links to the company’s own filing.
| Filed | Company | Move | Person | Title | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cencora COR | Departure | Silvana Battaglia | Chief Human Resources Officer | Form 8-K filed by Cencora on Jun 15, 2026, on sec.gov | |
| Cencora COR | Appointment | Samantha L. Hammock | Chief Human Resources OfficerFrom outside the company · Has held the seat before | Form 8-K filed by Cencora on Jun 15, 2026, on sec.gov | |
| Aditxt ADTX | Departure | Christopher J. Porcelli | Chief People Officer | Form 8-K filed by Aditxt on Jun 5, 2026, on sec.gov | |
| MiniMed MMED | Appointment | Gillian Chandrasena | Chief Human Resources OfficerFirst officers at the spin-off | Form 8-K filed by MiniMed on Mar 9, 2026, on sec.gov | |
| Enovis ENOV | Departure | Patricia A. Lang | Chief Human Resources Officer | Form 8-K filed by Enovis on Dec 15, 2025, on sec.gov | |
| Enovis ENOV | Appointment | Laura Singleton | Chief Human Resources Officer | Form 8-K filed by Enovis on Dec 15, 2025, on sec.gov | |
| Immunocore IMCR | Departure | Tina St. Leger | Chief Human Resources Officer | Form 8-K filed by Immunocore on Nov 28, 2025, on sec.gov | |
| KalVista Pharmaceuticals KALV | Appointment | Linea Aspesi | Chief People Officer | 8-K press release filed by KalVista Pharmaceuticals on Oct 6, 2025, on sec.gov |
Departures and appointments are counted side by side. A company must file when a named executive officer leaves, and chooses whether to file a new people leader’s appointment, so the two columns measure different things.
Where the new leaders came from
| What the filing says | Appointments |
|---|---|
| From outside the company | 1 |
| Promoted from inside | 0 |
| Origin not stated in the filing | 3 |
| Had held the top people seat before | 1 |
| First time in the seat | 0 |
| Experience not stated in the filing | 3 |
What the filings call the seat
Across the 8 moves, the filings name the seat Chief Human Resources Officer 6 times and Chief People Officer twice.
How this is counted
US public companies file a Form 8-K, Item 5.02, within four business days when a named executive officer leaves, and some also file one when they appoint a new people leader, which for a CHRO or Chief People Officer is their choice. We search those filings for the usual titles of the top people seat (Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief People Officer and their variants), and count each appointment and departure once, in the quarter it was first filed. A company appears twice when a departure and a successor are filed together.
Read the counts as what companies disclosed in these filings. Many changes in the top people seat are announced only in a press release, or never filed: a company must report a departing named executive officer, and chooses whether to report a new people leader. A filing that gives the seat an unusual title, or reports the move under another item, can also be missed. So the list holds more departures than appointments, and fewer moves than the market. Sectors follow each company’s SEC industry code. The full method, every quarter and the data as a CSV are on People Leader Moves.
Source: SEC EDGAR, Form 8-K Item 5.02 filings, July 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026. Compiled by Next Horizon Leadership.
Executive Search
NHL leads CHRO, Chief People Officer and senior HR and talent searches, and stays engaged from the first conversation through the leader’s start.
Spotted a move we missed, or a detail to correct? Write to info@nexthorizonleadership.com.