Rajesh Chopra | Vice President of Translational Development
Celgene Corporation

Raj Chopra trained in medicine at University College London.  He then completed his training in general medicine at major teaching hospitals in London, gaining a Membership of the Royal College of Physicians.  He undertook a Ph.D. in cell signaling and growth receptors followed by a post doctoral fellowship at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia.  There he worked for Professor D. Metcalf who was the first to culture human hematopoietic stem cells and discover both G- and GM-CSF.  He then worked with Professor M. Dexter (latterly Director of the Wellcome Trust) setting up his own research group on Stem Cell Biology. 
 
At the same time he was appointed Director of Hematological Oncology, leading one of the largest bone marrow transplant and leukemia programs in Europe at The Christie Hospital in Manchester.
 
From 2004 to 2009, Raj was part of the leadership team for the largest oncology team in AstraZeneca and established Translational Medicine for AZ in Boston, MA.  He was involved in taking 6 small molecules and 2 antibodies into clinical trials from discovery.
 
He is currently a member of a number of Academic Boards including the clinical advisory board for the California Institute in Regenerative Medicine, CRC (UK), Accelerating Cancer Cures Advisory Committee.  Previously, he has served on the MRC (UK) Molecular and Cell Biology Panels as well as, the MRC(UK) Stem Cell Committee.  Raj has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in the UK.
 
Raj has been a member of the R&D team leading Translational Development at Celgene for the last 5 years, has lead a team of scientists and clinicians involved in taking molecules from discovery to proof-of-concept trials in oncology, immune/inflammatory diseases, and stem cell therapies.  More recently, Raj leads a team maintaining the external partnership programs at Celgene.
 
Raj received his M.D. at the University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, London and his Ph.D. from the University of London.