Szczepan Baran, VMD, MS is the Head of Emerging Technologies at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. In this position, he leads global strategic initiatives focused on digital and non-digital efforts.

Digital initiative is focused on digital efforts to uncover new scientific insights, generate scientific breakthroughs and collect more physiologically and clinically relevant data & digital endpoints to optimize reproducibility and clinical translation. This effort includes guiding the strategy in seeking out high impact scientific problems and collaborators, internal and external, where these emerging and disruptive technologies can uniquely aid the scientific research.

Non-digital initiatives include integration of comparative cancer models and microphysiological systems technologies (organ-on-chip) into the drug development process.

He has held multiple faculty and  startup positions and has served on multiple boards. Currently he is serving as Board Member of North America 3Rs Collaborative and is a Chair of the 3Rs Working Group International Consortium for Innovation & Quality in Pharmaceutical Development. Witin the IQ he leads Digital Vivarium Scoping and Animal Studies Modernization Working Groups.

Dr. Baran is a graduate of the University of Delaware and the University Of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. He completed a residency in Laboratory Animal Medicine and a Masters of Science in Comparative Medicine at the University Of Washington School Of Medicine.