Rupa is the Sr. Director and Global Head of Strategic Alliances and Field Scientists for Cell Therapy at Catalent where she is responsible for accelerating cell therapy business through innovative partnerships. Rupa has over 17 years of cell therapy expertise in GMP manufacturing operations, process development, training, infrastructure buildout and business development activities. Most recently, Rupa worked at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where she held several key leadership roles and worked closely with BioPharma, Biotech and Healthcare customers to advance cell-based therapies from discovery and development to clinical manufacturing. She built and directed the Program for Advanced Cell Therapy at UW Hospitals and Clinics. At Ligand Pharmaceuticals, she and her team designed novel hematopoietic screening assays in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline that led to development of Promacta®.

Rupa holds a master’s degree in biology from Loyola University and a doctorate from Harvard University with focus on Immunology and Hematology.