Deven Dandekar

ESTP Congress
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Deven Dandekar, Ph.D., DABT, is Senior Director of Toxicology in Eli Lilly's ExploR&D organization, part of Catalyze360—Lilly's external innovation and partnership platform. In this role, he leads nonclinical safety strategy for early-stage therapeutic programs developed with external partners and biotech companies. Over the past 20+ years, he's worked across academic research, contract research organizations, and pharmaceutical development, gaining hands-on experience with small molecules, biologics (mAbs, ADCs), oligonucleotides, peptides, and emerging modalities like cell and gene therapies.
His technical background covers IND and NDA enabling toxicology programs and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). He's currently leading an ExploR&D-funded initiative developing multi-organ systems that combine 3D liver spheroids with human immune cells to assess drug-induced liver injury—work that addresses translational gaps traditional animal models can't quite capture. In the broader toxicology community, Deven has organized and chaired four continuing education courses at American College of Toxicology annual meetings. He also serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology and International Journal of Toxicology, and previously sat on an NIH Drug Discovery and Development Study Section. He earned his Ph.D. in Reproductive Endocrinology from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India, then did a postdoc at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine working on prostate cancer—specifically COX-2 regulation and combination therapies in xenograft models.
Outside the lab, Deven is into aviation. Not just as a passenger, he actually enjoys flying single engine aircrafts as a sports pilot. The precision and systems-thinking required in aviation appeal to the same part of his brain that tackles toxicology problems. He lives in Indianapolis with his family and stays active in Indiana's translational science community.