DIA - Board of Directors

Junaid Bajwa

Chair of DIA Board

Chair of Executive Committee

Junaid is a Senior Partner at Flagship Pioneering, where he leads the UK, and serves as a Science Partner for Pioneering Intelligence globally. He is also a practising physician in the UK’s National Health Service. Previously, he was the Chief Medical Scientist at Microsoft Research, focusing on how trusted, reliable, and human-centered AI can transform the practice of medicine. In this role, he led a number of strategic partnerships with leading health and life sciences organizations and spearheaded Responsible AI initiatives in the sector. Academically, Junaid is a Clinical Associate Professor at University College London (UCL), a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Visiting Scientist at the NTU in Singapore.

Kihito Takahashi

Immediate Past Chair

Chair of Governance Committee

Kihito Takahashi, MD is currently VP, Head of R&D/Medical Affairs & CMO of Swedish Orphan Biovitrium (SOBI) Japan with over 30 years of experience in drug development and medical affairs in pharmaceutical industry. He served as VP, Merck Research Laboratories from 2003 to 2008. He joined LOTUS Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, in 2009, and served as a President & CEO before joining GSK, where he served as VP and Director of Japan Development until 2020. After stepping down from GSK, he served as Director and COO at BONAC Corporation until 2022. He has been involved in industry activities including DIA, IFAPP, and EFPIA since he joined pharmaceutical industry. He is a Councilor of Japanese Association of Pharmaceutical Medicine (JAPhMed).

Jason Monteleone

Secretary/Treasurer

Chair of Finance and Audit Committee

Jason joined Ancillare as President with over 25 years of experience in the healthcare, medical device, and life sciences industries. He most recently served as Chief Business and Strategy Officer at dMed-Clinipace, a global mid-sized Contract Research Organization (CRO), and Chief Executive Officer at Clinipace prior to its 2021 merger with dMed. In prior years, Jason founded Pivotal Financial Consulting, a consultancy where he advised investors and companies in the clinical research sector, focused on acquisitions, growth and innovation. Jason was also Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for Theorem Clinical Research, a global mid-sized Contract Research Organization acquired by Chiltern International in 2015.

Sahir Ali

Director

Sahir Ali is the founder of Modi Ventures, a venture capital firm at the forefront of investing in the convergence of biology and technology. With a focus on scientific superintelligence and the engineering of life, he has backed breakthrough companies advancing AI-driven drug discovery, diagnostics, and next-generation therapeutics. As a parallel entrepreneur, scientist, and innovator, Sahir has led transformative work across artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and precision medicine. Sahir is also the co-host of Membrane, a flagship gathering co-led with Sir Richard Branson that brings together global leaders in science, medicine, and technology.

Marwan Fathallah

President & Chief Executive Officer

Prior to joining DIA in 2023, Fathallah was the Operating Officer and EVP at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, accountable for Operations, Post Market Product Science and Engineering, Regulatory, Quality, Medical, Clinical, Scientific Affairs, and Process Excellence. Before joining Ortho, he held Executive and Senior Leadership roles in Research and Development, Operations, and Regulatory Medical and Clinical Affairs at Avantor, Danaher, Pfizer, Hospira, and Abbott Laboratories. Fathallah holds a Master’s and Bachelor of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Peter Honig

Director

Dr. Honig is former SVP and Head of Global Regulatory Affairs and Group Head of Development for China and Japan, overseeing regulatory effectiveness, quality control and compliance at Pfizer. Prior to joining Pfizer, he held senior leadership positions at AstraZeneca, Merck Research Laboratories and the FDA, which includes being the first Director of the Office of Drug Safety in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). In addition to his industry and FDA experience, Dr. Honig was the PhRMA representative to the ICH Steering Committee from 2002 to 2021 and is a past President of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT). Dr. Honig received his BA, MD, and MPH from Columbia University.

Raju Kucherlapati

Director

Since 2001 Dr. Kucherlapati is the Paul C. Cabot Professor of Genetics and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and was the first Scientific Director of the Harvard Medical School-Partners HealthCare Center for Genetics and Genomics (HPCGG). He was a co-founder of several biotechnology companies including Cell Genesys, Abgenix, Millennium and AVEO Oncology. He served on the Board of Directors of all these companies and is now the Chair of the Board of Directors of a public traded company, Puretech Health. Raju Kucherlapati received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana and did his post-doctoral work at Yale University.

Zili Li

Director

Zili oversees all R&D activities within Asia Pacific, leading over 1,400 science professionals dedicated to delivering transformational healthcare innovation across the region. Zili joined Janssen in June 2019 from the FDA where he served as Associate Director for Global Affairs at the Office of Generic Drugs. There he contributed significantly to the expansion of the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) to the field of generic drugs, playing a critical role in China’s National Medical Products Administration’s membership in ICH in 2017. Zili is a graduate of Peking Union Medical College and completed his residency training at Johns Hopkins in 2000.

David Mukanga

Director

Dr. David Mukanga is Deputy Director Africa Regulatory Systems at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he leads the foundation’s Africa regulatory systems optimization portfolio, and the linkage between regulatory systems and health care services. In this role, David supports the development of harmonized, transparent, and predictable regulatory systems covering the lifecycle of medical products in Africa across the national, regional, and continental levels of the ecosystem. His work also involves support for regulatory emergency preparedness. In this role he works side by side with partners on the African continent to facilitate development of new medical products, as well as patient access to quality essential medicines.

Chockalingam Palaniappan

Director

Member of the DIA Board of Directors and also serves as the Co-chair for the DIA Science Policy Advisory Committee. He is an accomplished global life sciences innovation executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience across three multinational corporations, GE Healthcare, Life Technologies, and Terumo BCT, delivering over $500M in career revenue. Palani has a considerable track record in breadth and depth from a medical product development standpoint, and has worked in the areas of drugs, devices, and diagnostics. Palani has a Ph.D. in the field of biological sciences from Northern Illinois University, followed on by a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Rochester in HIV biology.

Peter Ronco

Director

Peter is an accomplished drug developer and innovative senior pharmaceutical executive who advises boards, private equity investors, and leaders across the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. He has extensive global experience across a broad range of therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, neuroscience, vaccines, anti-infectives, cardiovascular and retinal gene therapy - from First in Human to Medical Affairs. Prior to joining Janssen in 2017, Peter was the SVP of Global Clinical Operations at BMS where he had spent 14 years holding positions of increasing leadership scope in Medical Affairs, Regulatory Operations and R&D Operations. He also served on the TransCelerate Biopharmaceutical Board of Directors.

Tadaaki Taniguchi

Director

Dr. Tadaaki Taniguchi, MD, Ph.D is Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Head of Development and Medical Affairs at Astellas, responsible for Global Development, Regulatory Affairs, Pharmacovigilance and Medical Affairs activities to bring innovative medicines to patients. He is an internationally trained surgeon in the field of oncology with extensive industry experience in developing and commercializing innovative medicines as a senior leader in multiple major global pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, BMS and Merck.