Executive Profiles

Reshema Kemps-Polanco, executive VP and chief commercial officer, Novartis US, and the 2025 Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Woman of the Year, uses the lessons she learned from her family to bring out the best in her teams.

Milan Kalawadia, CEO, North America, at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, goes inside the company’s new growth initiatives—and stretching the boundaries in healthcare exploration.

Immunotherapy pioneer Mark Frohlich, MD, CEO of Indapta Therapeutics, discusses the promise of harnessing natural killer cells to reshape treatment for cancer and autoimmune disease.

CEO Richard Francis reflects on Teva’s return to growth during his tenure, and what’s next for the drugmaker in its quest to recapture the heights of old.

Margaret Keegan, the new CEO of Precision Medicine Group, is eager to elevate the profile of the expert-rich service provider and build it into an industry leader in next-gen drug development and commercialization support.

The non-profit’s new CEO discusses her role and how she plans to steer the organization towards the future.

A look at one biotech’s mission to map the immune system using artificial intelligence—and how its growth as a Big Pharma partner could help unlock the potential of next-generation cancer treatments.

The Jazz Pharmaceutical president and COO discusses her approach to the role and how it plays into the company’s overall goals.

Rafaat Rahmani, president and founder of Lifescience Dynamics, grew up in abject poverty, but such hardships—and a later violent brush with racism—would ultimately end up fueling a determined and entrepreneurial path in the life sciences.

Dr. Wagner discusses her work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute.

The Calliditas Therapeutics CEO discusses her transition from a banker/investor to CEO of a pharma company.

Jan van de Winkel, PhD, president and CEO of Genmab, the longtime innovation engine in antibody drug development, discusses its vision for adding a new business identity: commercial driver.

The Merck executive discusses how a personal tragedy has shaped her career and approach to promoting healthy choices.

Ken Keller, CEO of Daiichi Sankyo’s US business, reflects on the trials, triumphs, and lessons learned in steering the transformation of a legacy cardiovascular company into a global leader in oncology—advancing a vision for a reimagined future in cancer treatment.

Craig Tooman, CEO of Silence Therapeutics, on steering through the rough biotech funding and investment waters post-pandemic—and how a retooled organizational approach has the company in a stronger position today in the growing field of gene silencing through siRNA drugs.

From Big Pharma to biotech—and a globe-spanning journey along the way—Yvonne Greenstreet, this year’s Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Woman of the Year, is right where she wants to be: leading efforts to advance “bold ideas” in RNAi therapeutics into life-changing gains for patients.

Damien Bailly, president of established markets at Astellas, discusses why partnerships and collaborations are a critical organizational—and wider ecosystem—imperative in ensuring that patients have access to the medicines they need.

Paige Bingham has focused her career on improving clinical research operations and logistics, and not just ways to ease the burden for investigators and teams running the trials—but also for the patients involved in them.

Harpreet Gill, vice president of real-world solutions - project management at ICON, discussesthe progress and challenges in advancing data-driven tools and approaches in decentralized clinical trials, where ongoing education remains paramount.

Lisa Conte, founder, president, and CEO of Jaguar Health, discusses how a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro would vault her to her true career calling—and spark a decades-long quest to accelerate breakthroughs in plant-based pharmaceuticals and supportive care.

Morton discusses his transition from working as a urologist to the C-suite.

Stephen Rivera, vice president, global technical accounting advisory services and policy, Johnson & Johnson, capitalizes on his lively personality—and a courageous career journey—to bring people together to shape the future of biopharma.

Lisa LeCointe-Cephas, SVP, chief ethics and compliance officer and office of general counsel, human health, Merck, uses her unique style of leadership—stop, drop, and roll—while elevating voices that need to be heard.

From public defender to spearheading the adoption of innovative drugs, Wendy Short Bartie, senior VP and general manager for the hematology and cell therapy division at Bristol Myers Squibb, has remained a steadfast patient advocate—working to fulfill unmet medical needs and bring treatments to as many people as possible.

COMPASS Pathways’ CEO, Kabir Nath, has a clear vision for psychedelics—and is leading the way with the company’s focus on psilocybin and efforts to separate the science from the hype.

Jag Dosanjh, president of US neuroscience and eye care for AbbVie and HBA’s 2023 honorable mentor of the year, shares what leadership qualities are most important in today’s “people industry”—and the impact more voices can make in stakeholder communication and messaging.

Ahead of ASCO and BIO, Michael Bailey CEO of AVEO Oncology, discusses the company becoming an LG Chem subsidiary and the future for drug development in the combined entity.

How the pivot to corporate development became a natural fit for the once-destined scientist. (The story of Natasha A. Hernday, chief business officer of Seagen and a 2023 Emerging Pharma Leader.)

Driving commercial growth and patient access and empowerment in women’s health. (The story of Simon Holland, vice president, women's health commercial lead, for Organon and a 2023 Emerging Pharma Leader.)

The recipe for cross-functional collaboration in drug development. (The story of Justin To, chief operating officer, skeletal dysplasias and gene therapy, for Bridge Bio and a 2023 Emerging Pharma Leader.)