Lena Karkar

Lena Karkar serves as the Director of Global Product Security Architecture & Engineering at Baxter International Inc. since August 2025. Previously, Lena held various leadership positions at Medtronic from January 2015 to August 2025, including Director of Product Cybersecurity and Privacy within the Cardiac Rhythm Management division, where oversight of security engineering teams and product lifecycle activities was a key focus. Additionally, Lena managed teams in roles specific to SecDevOps and development tools, product security and data privacy, as well as post-market quality reliability, contributing to significant product launches such as Medtronic's first closed-loop spinal cord stimulator. Lena's professional journey also includes an ORISE Fellowship at the FDA, experience as a consulting engineer, and a foundational role as a junior application developer. Lena holds a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.