Kalpana Merchant, PhD

Adjunct Professor of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Founder President and CSO, TransThera Consulting Co.

Kalpana Merchant, PhD, is a neurobiologist and translational neuroscientist who has led and contributed to the discovery and development of drugs for neurological and psychiatric disorders for over 30 years. She retired from Eli Lilly from the position of Chief Scientific Officer for Tailored Therapeutics-Neuroscience, where she led a team accountable for precision therapies and associated biomarkers for the neuroscience portfolio. Kalpana had joined Eli Lilly after 10 years of neuroscience drug discovery research at the Upjohn Co./Pharmacia Corp. Since retiring from Lilly, she has held Chief Executive/Chief Scientific Officer roles at start-up biopharmaceutical companies, serves on Boards of Directors as well as Scientific Advisory Boards. She is an Adjunct Professor of Neurology at Northwestern University, an advisor to the Michael J Fox Foundation, member of the Executive Steering Committee for PPMI, appointed to the Oregon Innovation Council and has served on advisory boards/council at the National Institutes of Health. Kalpana received her PhD in neuropharmacology from the University of Utah. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at University of Washington she remained at the institute as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, later transitioning to pharmaceutical industry.