Dr Vasan Sambandamurthy to be the new CEO of DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance

New Delhi: Dr Vasan Sambandamurthy is all set to take over as the next Chief Executive Officer of DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance (India Alliance) on 1st October 2020. He will succeed the well-known scientist, Dr Shahid Jameel who served as the head of India’s leading science funding charity for 7 years.

Dr Sambandamurthy joins the India Alliance with over 20 years of experience in vaccine and drug discovery. He has previously held leadership positions at Novartis, AstraZeneca, Syngene and most recently at Biocon Limited where he has worked as Chief Scientific Manager and General Manager over the past 6 years. Read his full bio here.

Dr. Sambandamurthy said “I am honoured and excited to join the prestigious DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance, a foundation that is at the forefront of transforming biomedical research in India. I look forward to building impactful global partnerships and strengthening the research ecosystem in India, at this critical juncture when the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic.”

India Alliance thanks Dr Shahid Jameel for his contributions and leadership of India Alliance since April 2013. In this time Dr Jameel has led the organisation’s expansion, cultivated new partnerships, secured significant investments, and built a strong team. He leaves an internationally respected organisation that has created an important niche in India’s biomedical research ecosystem. We wish him all the best in the future.

Dr Mohd. Aslam, one of the Trustees of India Alliance and Advisor (Scientist G) in the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, said: “India Alliance, under the able leadership of Dr Shahid Jameel, significantly expanded its area of work, reached new heights and was successful in achieving its mandate. While we will surely miss him and his proactive vision for India Alliance, we wish him the best in his future endeavours. I would also like to offer a warm welcome to the incoming CEO, Dr Vasan Sambandamurthy. The Board is confident that his vast industry experience, track record and deep interest in contributing towards building country’s research and innovation ecosystem will further expand and accelerate India Alliance’s work and mission.”

Dr. Simon Kay, one of the Trustees of India Alliance and Head of International Operations at Wellcome said: “It has been a great pleasure to work with Dr Shahid Jameel over these past 7 years. Under his tenure, India Alliance has matured in reputation as a funder and influencer.  We will miss his humour and friendship, while looking forward to continuing to learn from him as he takes forward new initiatives. We are delighted that Dr Vasan Sambandamurthy is joining the India Alliance as the new CEO and look forward to working with him as he shapes the vision and brings on board new partners. India Alliance continues to be one of our proudest partnerships from which we learn just as much as we contribute.”

Dr Shahid Jameel commented, “It has been a privilege serving India Alliance for over 7 years and working with our funding partners – DBT and Wellcome. I will look back on my time at India Alliance with great pleasure for the friendships I manged to build across the staff, Fellows, committee members and Trustees, and hope that many of these will become even more informal now. I also leave with a sense of fulfilment and with the comfort that India Alliance continues to be served by bright, hardworking and fun people, who will have a capable leader guiding them into the future. I welcome Dr Vasan Sambandamurthy and wish him well.”

(Source: Welcome Trust/DBT Alliance)