R&D in the Age of AI: Strategic Priorities & Collaboration Opportunities at Johnson & Johnson

Eka Kortkhonjia, Ph.D., M.S., is a Senior Director of Transactions at Johnson & Johnson, where she leads strategic partnering efforts aimed at advancing transformative innovation across the company’s priority therapeutic areas. In her role, she is responsible for evaluating external scientific opportunities and structuring strategic transactions that support the company’s long-term R&D and portfolio objectives.

Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Eka spent more than 13 years at Genentech/Roche in roles of increasing responsibility across Pharma Partnering, Biomarker Development, and Investor Relations. Her experience spans end-to-end partnering strategy, biomarker and translational program leadership, and communication of scientific and business priorities to investors and external stakeholders. Throughout her career, Eka has built a strong track record of integrating science, strategy, and cross-functional collaboration to support innovation from discovery to development.

Before transitioning into industry leadership roles, Eka completed postdoctoral training at both the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Genentech. During this time, she conducted research at the intersection of biophysics, structural biology, and translational science, contributing to a deeper understanding of complex biological systems.

Eka holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology and an M.S. in Biophysics.

Yeva Shan, Ph.D. is Director of External Innovation in R&D Data, Data Science & AI at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. She leads efforts to identify and advance emerging AI- and data-driven innovations across biotech, academia, and the broader technology ecosystem. Her work focuses on predictive biology, generative AI–enabled science, and strategic partnerships that translate cutting-edge research into impactful applications for drug discovery and development.

Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Shan advised life sciences organizations on AI strategy and partnerships. She began her career as a molecular biologist, bringing a strong scientific foundation to her work at the intersection of data, technology, and innovation.

Sarah Lively, PhD, Senior Director, External Innovation, Discovery, Product Development & Supply (DPDS), is located at the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center in South San Francisco, California. In this role, she has overall strategic and operational responsibility for the scouting and evaluation of external opportunities for DPDS in Western North America, Australia, and New Zealand across all synthetic drug modalities. She provides transactional support from a scientific and strategic perspective for DPDS-driven deals and assists the Therapeutic Area Innovation Leads with her scientific and technological expertise. Sarah also partners with the JLABS organization to identify and foster start-up companies that are aligned with DPDS strategy.

Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Sarah was VP of Innovation and New Technology at ChemPartner, a global discovery CRO organization for which she set up and managed US lab operations and led initiatives to broker partnerships with academic institutes for early-stage therapeutic discovery. She also introduced novel versions of B-cell cloning and DNA-encoded library (DEL) technologies to ChemPartner. Sarah has more than 20 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries and has taken the lead in various small molecule discovery programs across a range of therapeutic areas, most notably at Tularik and Amgen.

Lesley Stolz, PhD, is Head West North America, External Scientific Innovation at Johnson & Johnson. In this role, she leads identification, incubation, due diligence, negotiation, execution and on-boarding for high-impact partnerships and collaborations in. Lesley also oversees the region’s partnership portfolio and scientific engagements across West North America. She is also a member of the Immunology therapeutic area leadership team. Lesley’s career includes over 25 years of corporate development, deal structuring and negotiation, and organizational leadership in small and large companies in the biopharma industry. She has a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Rochester and did her post-doctoral research in biochemistry at Harvard Medical School.