Our BioTherapeutics Leadership

SANJAYA SINGH, Ph.D.

GLOBAL HEAD
JANSSEN BIOTHERAPEUTICS (JBIO)

Sanjaya Singh, Ph.D., is the Global Head of Janssen BioTherapeutics, the biotherapeutics engine of Janssen Research & Development. He is responsible for leading an organization of more than 300 employees in Spring House, PA, La Jolla, CA and Beerse, Belgium who are exploring new and innovative biologics platforms and realizing the potential of biopharmaceuticals for patients in need.

JBIO is focused on the discovery and development of monoclonal and multi-specific antibody technology, alternative scaffolds, peptides, and convergent products that transform and improve patients' lives. In his role as head of JBIO, Sanjaya drives the strategy and overall vision to expand and apply this biotechnology expertise to a broad range of projects across Johnson & Johnson.

Sanjaya is an accomplished scientific and business leader with more than 25 years of industry and academic experience. Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, he spent nine years at Boehringer Ingelheim, most recently serving as Vice President, Biotherapeutics Discovery. During his tenure, Sanjaya led a global team responsible for building a competitive and productive pre-clinical and clinical biotherapeutics pipeline. He has successfully led the identification of therapeutic targets in the field of immunomodulation and has developed biologic molecules in the fields of immunology, oncology, ophthalmology, cardio-metabolic and infectious disease.

In the realm of academia, Sanjaya held a faculty position in the Department of Molecular Biology at the Institute of Life Sciences in India. An author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, Sanjaya also is co-author on more than 25 patents.

Sanjaya earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. He served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Molecular Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, and as a Research Associate in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, also at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.

CARRIE BRODMERKEL, Ph.D.

PORTFOLIO LEADER
JANSSEN BIOTHERAPEUTICS

Carrie Brodmerkel, Ph.D. is Portfolio Leader for the Janssen BioTherapeutics (JBIO), Janssen Research & Development organization. In this role, Carrie oversees the strategic direction of the company’s biotherapeutics science and portfolio, and leverages her significant scientific and leadership experience to mentor JBIO Team Leaders.

She serves on the JBIO Leadership Team and is based at the Janssen R&D Spring House, PA, research hub.

Previously, Carrie led the Biomarker team within the Immunology Therapeutic Area, Janssen R&D, where she was responsible for strategic and operational implementation of translational efforts in support of asset development for disease interception, early disease intervention and treatment of established disease across rheumatology, dermatology and gastroenterology.

Carrie joined Johnson & Johnson in 2005 and since then has contributed significantly to building the Immunology TA’s molecular disease expertise and computational capabilities. In 2010, she was awarded the Johnson Medal for her translational work in the development of STELARA® (ustekinumab) for moderate to severe psoriasis. In her early career, Carrie worked in pre-clinical drug discovery utilizing in vivo pharmacological modeling of immune diseases in her roles at Dupont Pharmaceuticals and Incyte Corporation.

Carrie earned her Ph.D. in Pathology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine studying chemokines and chemokine receptors and their role in the neuroinflammatory processes of multiple sclerosis and HIV encephalopathy. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, studying chemokine receptors and their role in HIV entry.

TAMAS ORAVECZ, Ph.D.

SENIOR DIRECTOR
HEAD OF EXPLORATORY BIOLOGY

Tamas Oravecz, Ph.D., is Senior Director and Head of Exploratory Biology within Janssen BioTherapeutics (JBIO), Janssen Research & Development. He is based at Spring House, PA. His team is responsible for scientifically maturing project proposals in the large molecule space and collaborating with the Janssen Therapeutic Areas (TAs) to support their concept building research, with the end goal to develop the best antibody and cell therapeutic candidates across TAs. Tamas’ organization also provides state-of-the-art immunohistochemistry support for toxicology profiling of programs.

Tamas’s scientific interests and experience cover autoimmunity, inflammation, tumor immunology and cancer. His work has focused on the identification and validation of targets in these therapeutic areas and the development of antibodies, protein and gene therapy approaches, and small molecule compounds against the validated targets.

Tamas previously was Executive Director of Biology and Pharmacology at Celgene, where he built an internal and external early drug pipeline of antibody and small molecule targets and oversaw the lifecycle of therapeutics in clinical phase. He also served in positions from Director to Vice President at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, initiating and managing numerous discovery projects that resulted in lead candidates and approved therapeutic modalities. He was also Program Head of HIV Cell and Gene Therapy at Novartis and Senior Scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

In his academic career, Tamas has been in the forefront of characterizing monoclonal antibodies analyzed by the International Workshops on Leukocyte Differentiation Antigens and has participated in the establishment of the Cluster of Differentiation (CD) nomenclature. He investigated the structure and function of leukocyte surface receptors and chemokines, and the signaling mechanisms responsible for immunological dysfunction after HIV-1 infection. He also contributed to grant reviews on the Innate Immunity and Inflammation Study Sections at the NIH and served as a scientific reviewer of Investigational New Drug Applications at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

To date, Tamas has co-authored 46 peer-reviewed publications, contributed to book chapters and is an inventor of numerous patents and patent applications. He graduated from the University of Szeged in Hungary, where he obtained his PhD degree in Immunology and Molecular Biology.

JUSTIN SCHEER, Ph.D.

VICE PRESIDENT
GENE THERAPY AND GENE DELIVERY PLATFORMS

Justin Scheer, Ph.D. is Vice President of Gene Therapy and Gene Delivery Platforms for Janssen BioTherapeutics (JBIO), the biotherapeutics engine of Janssen Research & Development. He is responsible for establishing and leading a group that is dedicated to Gene Therapy and Gene Delivery platform development for Ophthalmological, Neurosciences and Infectious Disease. Justin and his team deliver fit-for-purpose, differentiated lead molecules, packaged in the appropriate vector, to achieve the desired expression levels in appropriate tissues or organs. Justin is also responsible for developing a competitive strategy and maintaining state-of-the-art expertise and capabilities in the field of Gene Therapy/Delivery.

Justin reports to Sanjaya Singh, Global Head, JBIO, and serves on the JBIO Leadership Team. He is based in South San Francisco, California. 

Justin has broad scientific background in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry and is a recognized leader in ophthalmology delivery technology. He has a record of accomplishment advancing biotherapeutic molecular candidates and new platform technologies from early stage research into development at both Boehringer Ingelheim and Genentech. Prior to his role with Janssen, Justin was Executive Director of Biotherapeutics Engineering and Computational Biochemistry and Bioinformatics and Co-chair of the Early Stage Portfolio Committee at Boehringer Ingelheim.

Justin earned a B.A. in Biology from Carroll College, Helena, Montana, as well as a Ph.D. in Biophysics and Biochemistry from Washington State University and the Institute of Biologics Chemistry. He completed an NIH Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, and is an inventor on 17 issued and more than 35 pending patents, and an author on more than 35 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. 

GOPI SHANKAR, M.B.A., PH.D.

VICE PRESIDENT HEAD
BIOLOGICS DEVELOPMENT SCIENCES

Gopi Shankar, M.S., Ph.D., MBA, FAAPS, is Vice President and Head of Biologics Development Sciences (BDS) within Janssen BioTherapeutics (JBIO), Janssen Research & Development (JRD). He leads a global team of scientists who contribute to scientific and operational deliverables across the areas of biophysics, translational pharmacology and model-guided drug design, and bioanalytical sciences. He is based in Spring House, PA. 

Gopi earned an M.S. in Molecular Biology from Oklahoma State University, a Ph.D. in Immunology from University of Kentucky, a Certificate in Biomedical Regulatory Affairs from the University of Washington, and an MBA in Leadership and General Management from Drexel University. Following a post-doctoral tenure, he managed Quality Control & Immune Monitoring at Northwest Biotherapeutics (Seattle, WA) from 1999 to 2002. He then joined Centocor as a Senior Research Scientist overseeing clinical immunogenicity. Subsequently he assumed progressively greater responsibilities for immunogenicity and the bioanalytical laboratory, supporting biologics development at JRD – from preclinical through post-market studies.

A world-renowned expert in the field of immunogenicity, Gopi has published in the areas of basic immunological research and technical, strategic and regulatory best practices. He has led or contributed to several highly cited articles on immunogenicity, including 6 industry whitepapers and a chapter in the United States Pharmacopeia.

During his career, Gopi has focused on the development of fit-for-purpose solutions to scientific problems. He has also built consensus for and harmonized scientific practices within drug development, many of which have been adopted by regulatory agencies in their public scientific guidance documents. These approaches include anti-drug antibody detection methods development and validation, resolution of assay interferences to improve accuracy, quality control of bioanalytical reagents, and the establishment of terminology and analytical approaches for clinical immunogenicity. His research, consensus-building efforts and best-practice publications, both independently and via AAPS, have transformed the thinking and tactical processes related to immunogenicity around the globe.

For his contributions to pharmaceutical science, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) conferred Fellow status to him in 2015. In 2019, he was elected as a Member-at-Large to serve on the AAPS Board of Directors

BETH ANN THOMAS

DIRECTOR, BUSINESS OPERATIONS
JANSSEN BIOTHERAPEUTICS

Beth Ann Thomas is Director of Business Operations for Janssen BioTherapeutics (JBIO), the biotherapeutics engine of Janssen Research & Development. She is responsible for ensuring effective and streamlined business operations activities across JBIO including managing capacity and budget, outsourced contract activities, external alliances, and communications – with a focus on leveraging learnings, establishing best practices and driving consistency.

Beth Ann reports to Sanjaya Singh, PhD, Global Head, Janssen BioTherapeutics and serves on the JBIO Leadership Team. She is based at the Janssen R&D Spring House, PA, research hub.

In 2005, Beth Ann joined Johnson & Johnson as Senior Research Associate in the Immunology Therapeutic Area, Janssen R&D. In 2009, she transitioned to a business role as Research Manager in a newly formed Strategy and Business Planning group within Immunology Research and held several positions of increasing responsibility. Beth Ann played a pivotal role in the development of the S&BP function by building robust alliance management capabilities, and establishing several quality systems and processes to drive scientific and financial discipline. In 2013, Beth Ann joined the Scientific Partnership group in the Oncology TA. There she broadened her knowledge and experience across discovery and early development. She also expanded her role beyond alliance management by partnering with Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centers and Janssen Business Development on new opportunities.

Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Beth Ann spent several years in academia at the Wistar Institute, followed by several years working at Cephalon, Inc. he holds a BS in Biology from the University of Scranton.