Headlands Research Appoints Ann Mao as Chief Operating Officer

Seasoned healthcare and legal executive brings deep operational and strategic expertise to support continued growth

West Palm Beach, FL, April 8, 2026 - Headlands Research, a leading multinational network of clinical trial sites, today announced the appointment of Ann Mao as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Mao has served as General Counsel for Headlands Research since 2022 and brings extensive leadership experience across healthcare, logistics, and corporate strategy.

"Ann has been an integral part of Headlands' leadership team over the past several years," said Kyle Burtnett, Chief Executive Officer of Headlands Research. "Her understanding of our organization, combined with her experience leading complex operations and strategic initiatives, makes her well-suited to step into this role. As we grow, Ann's knowledge will be essential to maintaining the high level of quality and consistency that our partners expect."

As COO, Mao will oversee operations across Headlands' site network, with responsibility for site performance, strategic initiatives and execution of the organization's growth strategy. She will work closely with the executive team to further strengthen Headlands' ability to deliver efficiently and at scale as the network expands.

"It's been a privilege to work alongside this team," said Mao. "I've seen firsthand what Headlands is capable of, and I'm excited to focus on the operational side of what we're building to make sure our sites have what they need to enroll faster, perform better, and deliver stronger results for sponsors and participants alike."

Prior to joining Headlands, Mao served as Chief Legal Officer of Cargomatic, Inc., a logistics services company, where she led legal, compliance, and regulatory functions and was a member of the executive team. From 2008 to 2017, she held multiple leadership roles at McKesson Corporation, most recently serving as Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Business Development. In that role, she led acquisitions, divestitures, equity investments, and joint ventures across the organization, working on transactions that deployed more than $15 billion in capital.

Mao began her legal career in private practice at Shearman & Sterling. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Wellesley College and a JD from Fordham University School of Law.

About Headlands Research

Headlands Research is a multinational integrated clinical trial site organization with a mission to improve lives by advancing innovative medical therapies. Its group of exceptional sites focuses on large-volume recruitment of diverse and specialty patient populations while delivering the highest quality data. Headlands Research's principal investigators are proven industry leaders in their fields with expertise in a wide variety of indications. Utilizing expert recruitment strategies and access to diverse patients through its site databases and physician partnerships, Headlands Research has successfully completed more than 5,000 clinical trials. Additional information about the company is available at www.headlandsresearch.com.