John Baldoni

During his 42 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, John spent 29 years at GSK R&D, 11 years on its Executive Leadership Team as SVP of Platform Technology and Science, which comprised about 40% of R&D headcount.  This organization supported development of small molecules, biopharmaceuticals and cell and gene therapy modalities from discovery through commercialization.  John stepped away from that leadership role in 2017 to start the first AI-driven drug discovery unit at GSK.  After retiring from GSK in 2019 he spent a year as the Chief Technology Officer of a stealth AI-enabled drug discovery start up.  John serves as the CEO of the non-profit ATOM Research Alliance (ARA), an organization utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches to expedite drug discovery for public benefit.  In addition, John is an independent consultant, whose clients include emerging, cutting-edge drug and diagnostic healthcare companies and established companies seeking new strategic direction.  John has participated in the research and development of scores of commercial products.  He is a proponent of seeking, integrating and implementing innovative approaches to drug discovery and development.  He conceptualized the Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine (ATOM) consortium – an open membership, public/private partnership which evolved into ARA.  He was the first Chair of the Executive Committee of the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, an organization formed to foster improved healthcare by responsible investment, invention and innovation in artificial intelligence.  John received his PhD from Penn State University in biological chemistry in 1980.