Speaker Bio: Girish Aakalu, Ph.D.

Girish Aakalu serves as Vice President and Head of Global Scientific Affairs & Scientific Intelligence for Ipsen. Prior to joining Ipsen, Girish served as Executive Director and Head of Strategy, Innovation and Operations for Pfizer’s External R&D Innovation (ERDI) team. In this role, Girish led several strategic initiatives including establishing R&D Innovate, Pfizer R&D's strategic investment vehicle, and the spinout of Labrys Biologics. Girish also played a key leadership role in the Pfizer-Wyeth integration process. Prior to joining Pfizer, Girish was part of Genentech's BioOncology Pipeline Market Planning group where he was responsible for guiding the clinical and commercial strategy for late pre-clinical and early development programs including Kadcyla, Perjeta, and Erivedge. Girish was also part of Genentech's Business Development team. Girish started his career at L.E.K. Consulting. Girish earned his PhD in Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA.