Chetana Rao, Ph.D

CHETANA RAO, Ph.D. is the head of site strategy and operations for Bristol Myers Squibb’s Redwood City and San Francisco sites, where she manages operations in multiple cross-functional business areas including finance, accounting, and administration. She also leads diversity & inclusion initiatives for these two Bay Area sites, where she is focused on building a diverse workforce and fostering an inclusive culture. Rao holds a seat on Bristol Myers Squibb’s STEM Council, which guides the company’s approach to supporting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. She has also been instrumental in launching the company’s STEM program in the Bay Area. Rao joined Bristol Myers Squibb in 2009 and has more than 20 years of experience in the world of drug discovery, in antibody drug conjugation, antibody discovery, protein chemistry, and biotechnology. She has a well-established scientific record, with more than 20 papers published in peer-reviewed journals and more than 25 global patents.