About Ruxandra Draghia-Akli

Dr Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, is Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Global Public Health R&D. In this role, Ruxandra and her team advance Global Public Health into the next era of innovation by leveraging discovery, development and regulatory capabilities. She provides alignment with the overall end-to-end strategy of J&J Global Public Health, collaborating with the Infectious Disease & Vaccines Therapeutic Area and other R&D Therapeutic Areas that have assets with application in global public health settings. She also collaborates with the J&J Innovation Centers and external partners to build important networks and identify new opportunities. Ruxandra’ expertise includes impactful work within industry, government and academia. She led Public Health and Scientific Affairs for vaccines at Merck, and previously, she worked for the European Commission, first as Director and later as Deputy Director General, overseeing programmatic, legislative, and research & innovation policy issues, and contributing to the Commission’s Health strategy for improving public health. Her career started as medical doctor and researcher in Romania, France and US. She holds a MD degree, and a Ph.D. in human genetics from the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences, undertook doctoral training at University Rene Descartes in Paris, France and a postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, with a focus on gene therapy and novel vaccines; Ruxandra has authored and co-authored more than 100 papers and holds over 100 patents.