Kristina Zakurdaeva, MD, PhD

Dr. Zakurdaeva is an accomplished biopharmaceutical professional with international interdisciplinary background in clinical studies and scientific research, as well as business development. She holds an M.D. degree in Internal Medicine & Hematology and a Ph.D. in the Genetics of Acute Leukemia. Upon completion of her training, Kristina worked as a Scientific Advisor for Oncology at Bristol-Myers Squibb and later headed Oncology and Immunology R&D projects in the Biomed Cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation where she successfully launched the Cancer Center of Excellence. Subsequently, as a Chief Medical Officer at Gero, a drug discovery company focused on oncology, neurology, and aging, Dr. Zakurdaeva developed and executed clinical strategy for the company’s pipeline. She currently serves as a Chief Executive Officer of Incuron (Buffalo, NY), a drug development company in oncology. Kristina’s main goal at Incuron is to accelerate the strategy and move the company’s assets through clinical trials. In addition to the post at Incuron, she currently serves as an external expert at Skolkovo and several companies and funds. Kristina was a speaker at BIO International Convention. Dr. Zakurdaeva is an ASCO mentor and a speaker at clinical trial workshops. She was a part of the task force to improve drug approval legislation and health technology assessment in Russia. Kristina has authored numerous, recent, peer-reviewed publications and co-authored a scientific discovery in genetics. Dr. Zakurdaeva continues her research activities in oncology and hematology via collaborations with academia.

In 2017, Kristina created the Foundation for Cancer Research Support in Russia which aims to back research projects in oncology. Currently, she serves as the Chair of the Foundation Board.