Aptel Research runs marketing research project management and strategic consulting for the life sciences industry, based in Somerville, Massachusetts. The firm works with healthcare companies that need to reconcile clinical science with how patients and physicians actually experience treatment, translating that gap into insights meant to hold up against the complexity of the healthcare market rather than generic consumer research assumptions.
Work spans quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews, competitive and category analysis, brand tracking, and customer journey research, applied specifically to pharmaceutical and healthcare decision-making. Clients engage the firm for project management experience built over decades in the pharmaceutical research space, both domestic and international, rather than for research services alone.
The consulting team reflects that pharma-specific depth. Founder Michele Derai brings more than 20 years in U.S. and international pharmaceutical research, holding an MBA from H.E.C. in France and an M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences from Hebrew University in Israel. Senior consultant Doreen A. Amatelli specializes in qualitative marketing research and holds a certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Daqing Hartwell, senior consultant and Managing Director Europe, earned a Ph.D. in Pathology from Boston University School of Medicine. Sylvie Levy contributes more than 20 years of pharmaceutical market research experience concentrated in Europe, drawing on a pharmacy degree from Hebrew University in Israel. Together this group anchors the firm's focus on the patient and physician perspective as a counterpart to scientific data, rather than treating research as a separate function bolted onto clinical or commercial teams.