Elena Diez Cecilia

Senior Director External Innovation DPDS at Johnson & Johnson

Speaker

Elena is a Senior Director of External Innovation within Discovery, Product Development & Supply (DPDS) at Johnson & Johnson R&D and part of the J&J Innovation East North America team, based at the Boston Innovation Center. She is responsible for the sourcing, evaluation, and negotiation of strategic external‑innovation partnerships to expand J&J’s R&D pipeline, with a focus on enabling platform technologies, synthetic drug modalities across therapeutic areas (Oncology, Immunology and Neuroscience), and AI/ML companies throughout East North America. Elena also collaborates closely with JLABS to identify and support start‑up companies aligned with DPDS strategy.

Prior to joining J&J, Elena served as Director of Business Development and R&D Strategy at A2A Pharmaceuticals, consulted for multiple pharmaceutical organizations, and acted as a venture advisor to two West Coast VC firms, conducting due diligence on biotech therapeutic and platform companies. She has also served as an expert evaluator for European Commission grant programs. Additionally, she is the co‑founder of DealMak(HER)s, an organization dedicated to empowering women in deal‑making roles across the Boston life sciences ecosystem.

Elena earned her Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from Trinity College Dublin, followed by research positions at the University of Toronto and San Francisco State University focused on oncology and neurodegenerative disease drug discovery. She also holds an Executive MBA from University of Barcelona/EAE Business School.