#132 – Ankit Lodha, MBS ’13

In this summer speaker series, we hear from Ankit Lodha, MBS ’13, Director Data Science Portfolio Management, Janssen Research & Development.

Lodha executes various AI/ML models in supporting the execution of clinical trial portfolios. He worked on the COVID-19 vaccine program to build a data-driven COVID-19 Vaccine Development approach for Janssen and operationalizes across multiple high priority areas, for example, creating best-in-class R&D data science platforms and datasets by selecting the highest priority questions to pursue and systematically deploying Data Science capabilities, while being a key catalyst in forming strategic external partnerships to accelerate ongoing efforts.

Lodha has more than 10 years of global healthcare experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and business. Prior to joining Janssen, he was a Team Lead at Takeda, where he led and executed multiple strategic initiatives across research, CRO management, clinical development, mergers and acquisitions, and operations. Preceding this role, he worked at Amgen in clinical systems & analytics organization within R&D; areas of focus included portfolio governance and decision making, R&D operating model optimization (including both clinical development and operations), external innovation, and digital health.

Lodha received a Bachelor’s in Biotechnology Engineering from Dr. D.Y. Patil University, a Master of Business and Science from Keck Graduate Institute, and an MBA from the University of Redlands – School of Business. He is the recipient of EB-1A status – i.e., Alien of Extraordinary Ability (a.k.a. “Einstein visa”) – in the field of Clinical Trial Analytics from the US government (USCIS). This honor is awarded to less than one percent of professionals globally who have risen to the very top of their endeavor and brought major significance to their field at the national and international levels.