Ariel Rhea, BS, MS, is the director of operations for CHAMPS Group Purchasing. In this role, she is responsible for cultivating and maintaining business partner relationships; developing and implementing strategies to improve and measure growth; as well as optimizing GPO member benefits by providing them with the best service, quality and solutions.

Rhea comes to CHAMPS with more than five years of clinical operations’ experience including the implementation of mid-sized projects involving biorepository registry, clinical trials and process improvement. She has a deep understanding of science and business acumen, in particular how the association of business and technical aspects impact an organization. These skills have allowed her to apply awareness in an innovative way to solve problems and cultivate efficient solutions.

She earned her Master of Management from Indiana Wesleyan University, a Bachelor of Science in Biology from John Carroll University and a Lean Sigma Six Yellow Belt certification through University Hospitals.

An experienced writer and speaker, Rhea has spoken on numerous topics including:

• Procurement, evaluation, process and transplantation of ocular tissue for the Eversight Cleveland Eyebank at Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute.
• Pediatric clinical trial for the Safety of Furosemide in Premature Infants at Risk of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) at MetroHealth Medical Center.
• Project status on biorepository registry for hematologic malignancies at University Hospitals of Cleveland.

As part of a team, she has also contributed to writing the following:

• Determination of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Coreceptor Tropism.
• Novel method for simultaneous quantification of phenotypic resistance to maturation, protease, reverse transcriptase and integrase HIV inhibitors based on 3'Gag(p2/p7/p1/p6)/PR/RT/INT-recombinant viruses: a useful tool in the multi-target era of antiretroviral therapy.
• Current tests to evaluate HIV-1 coreceptor tropism.

Rhea’s areas of expertise include:

• Clinical and Business Operations
• Coaching, Developing and Training Individuals
• Partner and Member Engagement
• Problem Solving
• Process Improvement
• Project Management

For more information or to contact Ariel Rhea, please call 877.476.1777 or contact us.