Ajay Nirula

Dr. Nirula is Senior Vice President, Immunology, for Eli Lilly & Company Research Laboratories, based at the Eli Lilly & Company Biotechnology Center in San Diego. Dr. Nirula joined Eli Lilly & Company in 2015 and is responsible for the Company’s discovery, research, and early phase clinical development in immunology. He has also served as the medical leader for Eli Lilly & Company’s work during the COVID pandemic that led to emergency authorization for the Company’s multiple therapeutic neutralizing antibodies. Prior to joining Eli Lilly & Company, Dr. Nirula held leadership positions at Amgen, and at Biogen Idec, and was involved in several research programs and regulatory filings spanning diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, and vasculitis.

Dr. Nirula earned his undergraduate degree in molecular biology from UC Berkeley, his medical degree from UCLA School of Medicine, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He subsequently joined the faculty in the Division of Rheumatology at UCSF Medical Center. Dr. Nirula has published extensively in premier peer-reviewed medical journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and Nature Immunology.