Ajay Nirula, MD, PhD is Vice President, Immunology for Lilly Research Laboratories (LRL) based at the Lilly Biotechnology Center in San Diego. Dr. Nirula joined Lilly in 2015 and is responsible for discovery research and early phase clinical development in immunology. Prior to joining Lilly, Dr. Nirula held leadership positions at Amgen and Biogen Idec and was involved in several research programs and regulatory filings spanning diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, and vasculitis.

Dr. Nirula earned his undergraduate degree in molecular biology from UC Berkeley, his MD from UCLA School of Medicine, and his PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He subsequently joined the faculty in the Division of Rheumatology at UCSF Medical Center conducting research in T cell signal transduction. He has been a board member at the Vasculitis Foundation and continues to serve on the foundation’s research committee. He has published extensively in the scientific literature in journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Immunology, and Journal of Experimental Medicine.