Robrecht Thoonen

Robrecht Thoonen is a Senior Director of External Innovation at Eli Lilly & Company, specializing in diabetes, obesity, and cardiometabolic diseases. With extensive experience in preclinical drug discovery and in vivo pharmacology, they have held leadership roles in target validation and translational program development across academic and industry settings. Robrecht has previously served as a Principal Scientist at KalVista Pharmaceuticals, Director at LG Chem Life Sciences Innovation Center, and has contributed as an instructor at both Harvard Medical School and Emerson College. Robrecht earned a PhD in Biotechnology from Ghent University and has a proven track record in project and strategic partnership management.