Patient-Driven Mission

Dr. John E. Croghan earned his medical degree from Rush Medical College and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Loyola University Medical Center. He completed his first fellowship in Geriatric Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a second fellowship in Rheumatology at George Washington University Medical Center. Dr. Croghan is triple board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Geriatric Medicine.

In 1995, Dr. Croghan Co-founded Extended Care Information Network and helped improve the discharging process in more than 400 hospitals and nearly 5,000 post-acute care facilities. Building off this experience, Dr. Croghan formed a team with the mission to help patients with life altering conditions find the best treatment available, this became Third Opinion.

Dr. Philip H. Sheridan Jr. earned his medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine where he also completed his residency in Internal Medicine. He completed an internship at Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center and later, returned to Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine to complete a fellowship in Pulmonary and Respiratory Disease. Dr. Sheridan is board certified in Critical Care Medicine, Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Disease.

Alongside Dr. Croghan, Dr. Sheridan co-founded the Extended Care Information Network innovating the discharging process. Continuing this partnership, Dr. Sheridan spearheaded the founding of Third Opinion after seeing the difficulties many patients had in finding meaningful treatments for debilitating diseases.

Patrick McCauley is an influential Global C-Suite executive leader and commercial strategist in the Life Sciences industry with positions at Astellas Pharma US, MannKind, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Dupont Pharmaceuticals. He is passionate about building and scaling organizations that create rapid growth and are founded in a culture of high trust, strong engagement, and consistent performance.

Patrick was instrumental in commercializing Astellas Pharma US from pre-NDA to a successful $4B+ organization, including launching three $1B+ products to market leadership positions. He understands the urgency and challenges of accelerating clinical trial research to bring innovative products to market that provide the best treatment options for patients.

Ben Ayd is a biomedical engineer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a passion for healthcare innovation. As a former integration engineer at Epic Systems, Ben saw first-hand the information needed to fix the clinical trial navigation difficulties experienced by Dr. Croghan and Dr. Sheridan's patients.

After Epic, Ben worked in medical sales helping patients and clinics get access to oxygen and respiratory equipment. He also started his own company Back Muscle Solutions to help people relieve back pain at home.

Jeffrey (Jeff) Sherman, MD, FACP, brings more than 35 years of pharmaceutical experience, specializing in regulatory and clinical strategy, and therapeutic development for rare diseases. He served as Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Horizon Therapeutics, from 2009 till 2023, a global biotechnology company focused on medicines for rare, autoimmune, and severe inflammatory diseases until the acquisition of Horizon by Amgen. Dr. Sherman joined Horizon Therapeutics from IDM Pharma where he served as Senior Vice President of Research and Development (R&D) and CMO. Prior to IDM Pharma, Dr. Sherman was Vice President of Clinical Science at Takeda Global R&D Center, Inc., a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. Dr. Sherman was also CMO and Executive Vice President at NeoPharm, Inc., held numerous clinical R&D and medical affairs roles at Searle/Pharmacia now part of Pfizer, and clinical pharmacology and clinical R&D roles at Squibb/Bristol-Myers Squibb.

He is a member of a number of professional societies, a board member of the Center for Healthcare Innovation (CHI), a former member of the board of advisors of the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP), a former steering committee member of the FDA sponsored Clinical Trial Transformation Initiative (CTTI), a former board chairperson and now inaugural fellow of the Drug Information Association (DIA), a former member of the Global Genes Medical and Scientific Advisory Board, and involved with the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and the European Organization for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS). He has served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and is a member of the executive committee of the alumni board, an advisory board member of the Stanford University School of Medicine Master of Science in Translational Research and Applied Medicine (MTRAM) program, and a diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Sherman also serves on the board of directors of Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc., Larimar Therapeutics, and Sorriso Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Dr. Sherman received his medical degree from the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science and completed an internal medicine internship, residency, and chief medical residency at Northwestern University. His fellowship training was at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was also a research associate at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Rick Poulton is an independent consultant and advisor to both executives and investors primarily in the healthcare industry. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Veradigm, Inc. (formerly Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, NASDAQ: MDRX), a health care information technology company that provides a full suite of clinical and revenue cycle software services to independent physician practices, as well as data services to payer and life sciences companies. Rick was promoted to this role in May 2022 after serving as the Company’s President since 2015, and Chief Financial Officer since 2012.

Prior to joining Allscripts, Rick served as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) an aerospace and defense services company. He joined AAR in 2006 and served as Vice President of Acquisitions for a short time prior to becoming CFO and Treasurer.

Prior to his tenure with AAR, Rick spent more than ten years at UAL Corporation, parent of United Airlines, (NYSE: UAL) in a variety of financial and business development roles  including Senior Vice President of Business Development as well as President and CFO of the company's client- focused Loyalty Services subsidiary. Rick left United for a brief period in 1999 to experience a more entrepreneurial environment, serving as Vice President of Finance for privately held online retailer Ourhouse.com but returned to UAL the following year.

Rick began his career in public accounting in the audit practice of Arthur Andersen & Co., LLP, where he held multiple positions of increasing responsibility up through the manager level.

Rick is a board member at Acute Medical Management, an operator of high-acuity urgent care  facilities in partnership with large health systems. He is also a board member at Columbia College and the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and has served as a board member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for 18 years, including serving as the Illinois Chapter President for two years. He has also served as a board member of Netsmart Technologies, Inc., Alliant Credit Union, and served on the boards of several strategic joint ventures while at United Airlines.

Rick received his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting, with honors, from Marquette University. He also holds a Master of Business Administration with concentrations in strategy and finance, from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School.