Vishal Patel

Vice President, Chief of Staff and Global Head of Strategy and Scientific Engagement, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research

Vishal Patel is currently Vice President, Chief of Staff and Global Head of Strategy and Scientific Engagement at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), the innovation engine of Novartis. Vishal oversees NIBR’s strategic planning, competitive and business insights, and scientific engagement functions. His team also leads Genesis Labs, a Novartis-wide innovation incubator for prosecuting high risk concepts with dedicated funding, space, and mentorship.

Previously, Vishal was Senior Director for Global Affairs at Merck KGaA. During the Obama Administration, Vishal served as adviser to the Under Secretary of State (then Robert D. Hormats) and in the Office of Intellectual Property Enforcement at the U.S. Department of State. He also served as health policy adviser to U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). In that role, Vishal was part of the team that drafted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.

Vishal is a drilling reserve officer in the U.S. Navy, currently supporting the Defense Innovation Unit. He is on the Board of Seeding Labs, an NGO that trains and equips scientists in developing countries. Vishal earned a BS in bioengineering from the University of Illinois, MBA from MIT, and PhD in biochemistry from Harvard as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow.