Affiliation:
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Eli Lilly and Company

Educational Background:
PhD, Applied Statistics, University of California, Riverside
BS and MS, Statistics and Mathematics, India

About Aarti
With almost 25 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Aarti Shah has worked across all phases of drug development—in addition to serving as a board member, trustee, and advisory council member for nonprofit organizations and humanitarian groups. As senior vice president and chief information officer at Eli Lilly, a global health care leader and Fortune 500 pharmaceuticals corporation, Aarti has led various cross-functional and global teams from vision development to strategy creation and execution with significant impact on business and people. She is a member of Lilly’s executive committee.

In her current role, Aarti leads an enterprise-wide global organization with responsibilities for information technology (IT), information security (IS), advanced analytics and data sciences (AADS), and digital health strategy. She is accountable for setting strategic direction to deliver on Lilly’s mission to make medicines that help people live longer, healthier, and more active lives. Under Aarti’s leadership and governance, the organization develops and leverages data, analytics, and technology solutions to power business transformations across the entire drug development value chain, from discovery to commercial endeavors.

Aarti began her tenure at Lilly in 1994 as a senior statistician and was promoted to research scientist in 1999. She became vice president for global statistical sciences and advanced analytics in November 2009. In 2012, she assumed additional responsibilities as vice president for biometrics (statistics, data management, and scientific communications). In 2013, she was named global brand development leader in Lilly’s Biomedicines Business Unit, where she led a team through global regulatory submissions, approvals, and launches for an immunology molecule. She was promoted to senior vice president and chief information officer in 2016 and appointed to her current role in January of 2018. Over her tenure, she has held both functional and business leadership roles in the US and across the world.

Aarti serves as a director on the boards of the Indianapolis Public Library Foundation and the Center of Interfaith Cooperation. She serves as a trustee for Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care (SRLC-USA), a nonprofit organization that focuses on educational, medical, and humanitarian care. She recently joined the Elanco board as a non-independent director. She has served on the executive advisory council for the Indiana Chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA). In 2011, Aarti received the Rising Star Award from HBA. In 2016, she was honored as a “Woman of Influence” by the Indianapolis Business Journal and was named one of the “Fierce Women in Biopharma” by Fierce Pharma.

On a personal note, Aarti is married and has two sons. In her free time, she enjoys meditation, spiritual learning, community service, and traveling. She grew up in Gujarat, India, and it was there her interest in statistics blossomed after an undergraduate professor piqued her interest in the world of statistics and its applications. She considers her greatest achievement to be emigrating from India 30 years ago and successfully completing her higher education in the United States.