Byrne, who will run the office out of Singapore, was recently made associate director at Kadence, which is a specialist in business research and analysis.
Byrne is fluent in Mandarin and has previously held healthcare research positions at Isis China, renamed Synovate Healthcare. She has managing qualitative and quantitative research into vaccinations, chronic diseases and oncology.
Piers Lee, managing director of Kadence Asia-Pacific, said: "We have undertaken many healthcare surveys in Asia in recent years and the addition of Katherine to our team greatly enhances our value proposition to clients."
Lee added that it had also strengthened its data collection services to its partner research firms in Europe and the US by opening the division.
Simon Everard, chief executive officer at Kadence, said: "The healthcare business is growing very well in Asia, yet there are relatively few firms able to offer the expertise and quality required by clients.
"Kadence is able to give clients better customisation and client servicing than other research providers, thanks to more senior-level involvement in projects."
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