Yolanda Nesbeth, PhD’10 Director of Strategy and Operations, Lead Worldwide Medical Oncology, Bristol Myers Squibb

Yolanda Nesbeth, PhD currently serves as Director of Strategy & Operations, Lead Worldwide Medical Oncology at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) where she coordinates critical cross-tumour and asset strategic initiatives to advance the pipeline and drive operational excellence across the Worldwide Medical Oncology franchise. Before joining BMS, Dr. Nesbeth served as Director and Site Head, Greater Washington DC area, at Celdara Medical, where she led strategic and operational functions to advance a portfolio of preclinical therapeutic programs across oncology, respiratory, cardiovascular, fibrotic and infectious diseases, and a clinical diagnostic service. While at Celdara Medical, Dr. Nesbeth built from academic concept to multi-million dollar business, brought to market, and managed the first and only diagnostic service providing molecular diagnostics for systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, clinicians and drug developers, including managing all strategic planning, operations, personnel and financials. Dr. Nesbeth was also instrumental in the advancement of a CAR T-cell therapy from academic program through acquisition by Celyad, including serving in a Quality Assurance capacity for the duration of the phase I clinical trial in hematologic cancers. Prior to Celdara Medical, Dr. Nesbeth served as an Associate Consultant with Clarion Healthcare providing advice to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, to inform corporate strategy within respiratory, infectious disease and various oncology markets.

Dr. Nesbeth received her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. Her thesis research focused on developing therapeutic cell-based and other immunotherapies for targeting the tumor microenvironment in ovarian cancer. She was the Ph.D. Class Marshal and Graduate Student Speaker at the 2010 Geisel School of Medicine Commencement, an Albert J. Ryan Fellow and recipient of the University of the West Indies Open Scholarship. For the past decade, Dr. Nesbeth has served as a Reviewer and Chair for multiple US Department of Defense (DoD) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) study sections. In her spare time, Dr. Nesbeth enjoys traveling, reading, playing tennis and volunteering with various organizations serving children and youth.