Leena Gandhi, M.D., Ph.D., to Lead Lilly Oncology Immuno-Oncology Medical Development
INDIANAPOLIS, April 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced that Leena Gandhi, M.D., Ph.D., a prestigious thoracic oncologist with a focus on immunotherapy and early drug development, will join Lilly Oncology on June 25, 2018 to lead immuno-oncology medical development.
Dr. Gandhi is currently the Director of Thoracic Medical Oncology and an associate professor of medicine at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine. After joining Lilly, she will lead a team of scientists that oversees the Lilly Oncology immunotherapy portfolio. She will report to Kimberly Blackwell, M.D., Vice President of Early Phase Development and Immuno-oncology.
"Dr. Gandhi is highly regarded for her experience in thoracic oncology and immunotherapy, having worked in early drug development at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and now leading the Thoracic Medical Oncology Program at NYU," said Blackwell. "We know that her expertise and innovative thinking will lead to significant progress for patients facing cancer through the use of immune therapies. We are thrilled to have Dr. Gandhi join us at Lilly."
About Leena Gandhi, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Gandhi graduated from the NYU School of Medicine and completed her fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). She worked in the Early Drug Development Center at DFCI and in the Thoracic Oncology Program as the Head of Clinical Trials until 2016, at which point she joined NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center as the Director of Thoracic Medical Oncology. She has worked on Phase 1, 2 and 3 trials of novel targeted therapies and immunotherapies in lung cancer, with a focus on evaluating potential biomarkers of response. She has been a lead investigator in clinical trials that helped define the use of PD-L1 as a biomarker of response to PD-1 inhibition in non-small cell lung cancer. Dr. Gandhi most recently served as the lead investigator on the KEYNOTE-189 study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 2018. This study demonstrated an improved survival rate with the addition of pembrolizumab to pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy for patients with recurrent lung cancer.
About Lilly Oncology
For more than 50 years, Lilly has been dedicated to delivering life-changing medicines and support to people living with cancer and those who care for them. Lilly is determined to build on this heritage and continue making life better for all those affected by cancer around the world. To learn more about Lilly's commitment to people with cancer, please visit www.LillyOncology.com.
About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at www.lilly.com and http://newsroom.lilly.com/social-channels. C-LLY
Refer to: Carole Copeland; Carole_Copeland@Lilly.com; 317-610-6196