Our Story

Since its inception in 2015, Superior Medical Experts has grown exponentially to meet our clients needs. Our rapidly expanding, diverse team collaborates to provide our clients with the best product possible. Our remote business model enables collaboration with researchers across the globe, and our specialized professionals have expertise in all facets of clinical research and medical writing.

Our Vision

Superior Medical Experts believes that the medical research performed and novel technologies created by resource-constrained organizations  worldwide deserve to be a part of the medical space. We endeavor to provide avenues for the publication and funding of a greater body of medical work.

Meet Our Team

Jillienne Touchette,
Chief Executive Officer

Ashley Mooneyham,
President

Elias Drake,
Chief Operations Officer

Erin Sheffels,
Director of Research

Dylan White,
Director of Grants

Holly Pope,
Medical Writer

Sadi Mosko,
Senior Grants Manager

Jenna Osterlund Oltmanns,
Project Manager

John pederson,
Senior Biostatistician

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Sarah Lucander,
Administrative Lead

Superior Medical Experts was founded by Keith and Kevin Kallmes in the fall of 2015, and has been led by the current executive team since 2018. Superior Medical Experts was originally founded as a premium medical editing and writing service which connected investigators with true experts in the field. It quickly expanded into an all-encompassing research and publication consultation service, with the support and extensive experience of our physician advisors.

Founders and Board of Directors

Keith Kallmes,
Board Member

Kevin Kallmes,
Board Member

David Kallmes,
Board Observer

Listen to Our Story, as Told by the Founders

Rochester Rising – Episode 151

Medical Advisory Board

Waleed Brinjikji, M.D.

Giuseppe Lanzino, M.D.

Aymeric Rouchaud, M.D., Ph.D.

Jillienne Touchette, Chief Executive Officer

Jillienne earned a PhD in Pharmacological and Physiological Science from Saint Louis University followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She has over 12 years of scientific research and writing experience. Jillienne joined SME in April 2018 directing the manuscript writing team. She now oversees SME’s company-wide operations, including recruiting talent, consulting with clients, managing our team, and overseeing development.

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Ashley Mooneyham, President and Director of Grants

Ashley first joined Superior Medical Experts as a Medical Writer in 2018 and has since become the Director of Grants (2019) and President (2021) of the company. Ashley graduated suma cum laude from the University of Minnesota with a Ph.D. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology. She has over 8 years of scientific research experience resulting in 11 peer-reviewed publications spanning the topics of physical chemistry, cellular biology, and cancer chemoresistance. Ashley has a passion for helping small businesses secure non-dilutive funding for their health and technology innovations through the federal SBIR/STTR grant program by providing strategic consultation, project management, and comprehensive drafting support.

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Elias Drake, Chief Operations Officer

Elias graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota: Twin Cities with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology. He has performed in medical and technical research labs, has written more than a handful of scientific papers, and managed the back-end of Superior Medical Experts’ services since 2018. He oversees Superior Medical Experts’ various operational, financial, and HR systems.

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Erin Sheffels, Director of Research

Erin Sheffels joined SME as a medical writer in December 2020 and became Director of Research in June 2021. She received her B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Reed College in Portland, OR in 2014, where she researched telomerase regulation. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD in 2020, where her research focused on understanding and inhibiting oncogenic signaling through the RAS pathway. At SME, she has worked on dozens of systematic literature reviews and other manuscripts. As Director of Research, she focuses on designing and executing literature reviews to find the evidence clients need to move their goals forward.

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Dylan White, Grant Manager

Dylan began as a grant advisor with SME in 2021 and joined the Grants department full-time in 2022. He has contributed to grant submissions in stroke, heart disease, infectious disease, artificial intelligence, and disease diagnostics. Dylan has over 10 years of scientific research experience, completing his PhD in Microbiology at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and his postdoc in Immunology at Michigan State University. He brings this knowledge of host-microbial interactions to the SME team, along with extensive experience writing scientific manuscripts and grant applications. As a Grant Manager, Dylan uses his familiarity with the scientific process and experience as a writer to help clients present clear, well-crafted arguments that appeal to grant reviewers.

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Holly Pope, Medical Writer

Holly earned her PhD in Pharmacological and Physiological Science from Saint Louis University. She has scientific research experience in areas including neuroscience, immunology, and molecular biology. Previously, she has worked in informal science education and outreach in underserved communities and has spent multiple years in higher education as a recruiter and an adjunct professor. Holly was inspired to come back to the field of research and joined SME in June 2021 as part of the manuscript writing team. At SME, Holly has experience with manuscripts, systematic literature reviews, conference posters, and regulatory documents including clinical study reports, state of the art and literature reviews for clinical evaluation reports, rationales, and deficiency response letters. She also serves as a project manager working with clients.​

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Sadi Mosko, Senior Grants Manager

Sadi joined the SME Grants department at its launch in 2017, contributing to nearly 100 grant submissions in stroke, vision, telemedicine, artificial intelligence, robotics, informatics, and behavioral, minority, and complementary health. As a Grant Manager, Sadi combines her background in scientific communications with her keen eye for detail to craft arguments that are clear and thorough. Using her deep understanding of grant systems and reviewer perspectives, she helps clients clarify their research direction and develop supporting materials.


Sadi graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University in the City of New York as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She is interested in scientific communications with a focus on improving how complicated information is communicated to audiences of varying levels of expertise. Alongside her work with SME, Sadi is a freelance dancer, choreographer, and blossoming filmmaker who is based between New York City and her hometown of Boise, ID. Much of her artistic work revolves around scientific themes, exploring how diversified mediums can be used to better communicate scientific concepts to non-expert audiences.

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Jenna Osterlund Oltmanns, Project Manager

Jenna Osterlund Oltmanns received her PhD from Northern Illinois University followed by a postdoc at the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities. Her research was dedicated to developing innovative behavioral detection methods and therapeutic assessments for neurological disorders, with a focus on stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. As a medical writer with SME, she is driven to convey complex scientific information into clinically impactful content. She loves adventures along Lake Superior with her husband and daughter, cooking, and knitting way too many baby blankets.​

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John Pederson, Senior Biostatistician

John Pederson joined SME in 2017 and currently oversees the biostatistics department. He received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Minnesota in 2018 and brings prior experience as an immuno-oncology researcher and teaching assistant for statistics and organic chemistry. During his time at SME, John has contributed to hundreds of clinical research projects and has co-authored 40+ articles, showcasing proficiency in a range of statistical and machine learning techniques. In his capacity at SME, John consults with clients, assists in study design and planning, conducts statistical analyses, and collaborates across departments to support statistical work. ​

Sarah Lucander, Administrative Lead

Sarah Lucander joined Superior Medical Experts as an intern in June 2019, and became the Administrative Lead in September 2020. She received her B.A in English and Health from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 2020. At SME, Sarah has expertise in grant and state tax registrations, employee onboarding, data and drive organization and HR ethics. She currently resides in Davidson, North Carolina, and enjoys spending her free time cooking, painting, and playing guitar. ​

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Keith Kallmes, Board Member

Keith is the Founder of Superior Medical Experts. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2016 with a B.S. in both Economics and History. As a member of the Board of Directors, he assists with and advises the recruiting new talent, managing our team, and interacting with our clients. He also directs the development of new products alongside as marketing and outreach.

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Kevin Kallmes, Board Member

Kevin is a founding Board Member of Superior Medical Experts, and has worked for three years as a medical writer and editor, grant consultant, and director of training, editing, and project management. He received his B.A. in History from the University of Minnesota and an M.A. in Classics from the University of North Carolina. He is currently attending Duke University Law School, after which he hopes to work in the legal industry helping medical technology entrepreneurs. As a member of the Board of Directors, he assists with and advises the management of projects, consultation with clients, the development of new services, and the training of Superior Medical Experts’ new editors.

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David Kallmes, Board Observer

Dr. David Kallmes has over 25 years of experience as a researcher and clinician in Interventional Neuroradiology. He has published extensively on a wide variety of topics including stroke, aneurysm, and vertebral compression fracture. He currently works as a consultant at the Mayo Clinic Department of Radiology in Rochester, MN.

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Waleed Brinjikji, M.D.

Dr. Waleed Brinjikji serves as an assistant professor of Radiology and Neurosurgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. His research is focused on neuroendovascular surgery, particularly ischemic stroke and aneurysm.

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Giuseppe Lanzino, M.D.

A Summa Cum Laude graduate from the University of Bologna Medical School, Dr. Lanzino specializes in the endovascular and surgical treatment of patients with cerebrovascular disorders. He completed his neurosurgical training at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. In addition, he has completed sub-specialized training in neuroendovascular surgery at the State University of Buffalo, New York and cerebrovascular and a skull-based surgery fellowship at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. He has authored or coauthored more than 500 peer review publications, and he is the author of three text books. He is currently Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, USA.

Aymeric Rouchaud, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor Rouchaud is specialized in endovascular treatment of brain and spine vascular diseases. He has a radiology background and has been trained by internationally renowned experts such as Professor Jacques Moret in Paris. He works with Professor Mounayer in Limoges (France) and is skilled in experimental research for aneurysm biology. He spent one year at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, USA in the lab of David Kallmes, M.D. for experimental research. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.

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