Katja Lerner, Ph.D.

Katja Lerner, Ph.D. has an extensive work experience spanning from 1998 to 2021. Katja began their career at Johnson & Johnson in 1998, where they held five different roles, including Worldwide Director Research & Development for the NEUTROGENA Corp., Director Product Development for Adult & Baby Wipes, Associate Director Global Business Processes & Portfolio Management for the NEUTROGENA Corp., Group Manager Product Development for Feminine Care, and Project Leader for Baby Care. In 2012, they joined Kimberly-Clark as Vice President RD&E and Innovation for the Consumer Tissue Business Unit, where they led the organization in USA and Canada, overseeing 250+ professionals with a budget responsibility of $50M+. In addition, they oversaw the Product & Consumer Sciences team that executed all research testing for Kimberly-Clark's North America business with net sales of $8B. In 2019, they co-founded InnoSquare65 LLC, a Research & Development and Innovation advisory firm. In 2020, they co-founded Small Wonder, an early start-up on a mission to reduce waste in the Personal Care products space. Currently, they are the Chief Product Officer at DYPER and an Advisory Board Member at Reel.

Katja Lerner, Ph.D. received their Doctor rer. nat. (Ph.D.) in Chemistry from Universität des Saarlandes in 1998. Prior to this, they completed Practical Training in Organic Chemistry at University of Strasbourg in 1995. Katja received their Diploma (Master's Degree) in Chemistry from Universität des Saarlandes in 1989. Additionally, they attended Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management.