Author: [AUTHOR] Published on 8/1/2023 12:00:00 AM

Neeraj Gupta, PhD, Senior Director, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
I lead a highly talented group of scientists who are developing drugs with an aspiration to cure cancer. In this role, I have an opportunity to directly and indirectly contribute to many currently approved anticancer drugs and biologics.

What is the most important leadership lesson you have learned the hard way?
Building trust is a critical leadership competency that is foundational to successful teamwork.

What is your favorite Society memory?
At the ASCPT 2017 Annual Meeting, I had the opportunity to present, on behalf of my team, five posters based on clinical pharmacology and model-informed drug development approaches that were used in the development of ixazomib (NINLARO). I have warm memories of various scientific conversations I had with meeting attendees, and I am very proud of the work done to help make this medicine available to patients.

How do you keep focused and motivated?
There is a significant unmet medical need in oncology. Patients are waiting for drugs that can either save their lives or delay progression of disease.

What was your childhood dream job?
Not a childhood dream job, but I have been fascinated by behavioral economics – which combines psychology with economics to understand how and why people behave in certain ways.

What's one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I can be a thrill-seeker and have gone skydiving!

Dr. Gupta has been a member of ASCPT since 2010.