More than 25 years of experience in pharma drug discovery & early clinical development. Successfully advancing projects from initial stages of drug-discovery to human studies. More than five drug candidates from my team progressed to human trials including drugs like Rilematovir (Phase IIb), and Bedaquiline, that has been used in >1 million patients. My PhD and early training was at Max Planck Institute in Germany in lab of ‘Lasker Award’ winner, Prof Axel Ullrich, who has discovered several oncology drugs including breast cancer drug, Herceptin. In Axel’s lab, I worked on kinases/phosphatases as Tx targets. At J&J, my focus as VP of discovery & partnerships has been on building cost-effective, innovation focused R&D programs. I am ex-member of Board of Directors of Janssen Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of J&J in Belgium, with fiduciary responsibilities. In that role, I helped build Belgium campus research and operations strategies in new areas like cell therapies etc. & promote sustainable research environment. I have experience across different therapeutic domains, including ID, and overseen programs in Neuroscience (e.g., Parkinson), Oncology etc. Expertise in small molecule discovery as well as large biologics including microbiomes-based & AI platforms. In last 25 years, I have led science-based organizations across multiple geographies, including Asia, Europe & US. Expertise in setting up novel public-private partnerships and in 2021, we successfully opened three J&J & external funded satellite discovery centers in Asia, Europe, and Africa. My experience is not limited to large pharma & biotech only, but I had a significant tenure at public research organizations. Between 2017-19, I was the director of the CSIR lab (Govt. of India), focused on biopharmaceuticals. I currently hold an additional role as Professor of Translation Discovery at LSHTM, London. I am credited with co-discovering & contributing to the clinical development of Bedaquiline; listed as an "essential medicine" by the WHO for drug-resistant TB. Used in more than 170 countries. In 2020, American Chemical Society awarded me for this discovery. My strength is in strategic thinking & I love to simplify complicated issues. My focus is on what is most important & critical. Published in leading journals, such as Nature/Science, and hold over 35 patents. I have always championed diversity & inclusion as fundamental innovation driver. I am passionate about mentoring next-gen scientists & drug hunters.