Senior Program Manager — Translational Medicine, AI & Digital R&D

Delivering complex scientific and AI programs from strategy to regulatory impact.

Prasad Chaskar, PhD, PMP® — Lausanne region, Switzerland

I help pharmaceutical and biotech organizations deliver complex scientific, AI, and digital R&D programs that accelerate clinical development and regulatory success. Open to fractional, interim, and full-time program leadership roles.

Swiss C Permit PMP® certified English / French (C1)

Flagship program — Phase III nemolizumab, Galderma

Biomarker strategy

Multi-omics strategy integrated into the Phase III program plan

Cross-team alignment

4 cross-functional teams aligned across 3 sites

Delivery velocity

Reporting cycle time cut by 30%

Regulatory outcome

First-time FDA + EMA acceptance of the biomarker data package

About

Science-fluent, delivery-obsessed.

Portrait of Prasad Chaskar PC Portrait pending — add assets/prasad-chaskar.jpg
Lausanne region, Switzerland PhD · PMP®

I combine a PhD in Life Sciences with more than ten years of experience leading cross-functional scientific and digital initiatives across pharmaceutical R&D — most recently as Senior Translational Medicine Program Manager at Galderma (details under Track Record).

Recently completed PMP® certification and currently advancing expertise in AI program management (CPMAI). I'm now taking on freelance, fractional, interim, and full-time program leadership roles across pharma, biotech, and MedTech.

10+ Years

Delivering Complex R&D Programs

FDA + EMA

Regulatory submission experience

4 Teams

Cross-Functional Leadership

14+ Articles

Published Scientific Research

Focus areas

Where I add the most value

Four areas where scientific depth and program discipline compound into faster, cleaner delivery.

01

AI & digital R&D program leadership

Identifying and prioritizing AI/ML use cases across translational science and clinical development, and turning them into scoped, deliverable programs — backed by PMP® and CPMAI training.

02

Biomarker & translational program leadership

End-to-end delivery of biomarker and multi-omics programs — governance, milestone tracking, and cross-functional alignment across clinical, bioinformatics, and lab workstreams.

03

Regulatory submission delivery

Coordinating the data packages, timelines, and stakeholder alignment behind FDA and EMA submissions — built on direct experience taking a biomarker package through first-time acceptance.

04

Data & multi-omics governance

Setting up the pipelines, data governance, and sprint-based delivery frameworks that keep high-dimensional biomedical data programs auditable and on schedule.

  • PhD-level scientific credibility in translational medicine
  • PMP®-certified program management
  • First-time FDA/EMA regulatory submission experience
  • Cross-functional delivery across global, multi-site teams
  • AI program management training (CPMAI, in progress)
  • Hands-on multi-omics & biomarker data expertise

Testimonials

What collaborators say

I had the pleasure of working with Prasad on a high-stakes translational medicine project, contributing to official documentation for an FDA BLA submission. Prasad seamlessly coordinated the work of several data science consultants, showing resilience and adaptability in keeping diverse stakeholders aligned throughout the project. His technical skills in bioinformatics, Nextflow, and single-cell data analysis are exceptional — what truly sets him apart is his character: collaborative, smart, hard-working, humble, and genuinely kind.

Wout Van Delm Independent Consultant, Data Analytics & Bioinformatics · reported to Prasad directly

Prasad Chaskar led bioinformatics at Galderma, where he supervised my work as an external statistical consultant for three years. What stays with me is how he read an analysis: he went to the assumptions, not the conclusions, and asked the one question that showed he had actually read it. Nothing was waved through because it looked plausible. He was also curious well beyond his own field. I work with unsupervised factorization methods (NMF/NTF), which sit some distance from standard bioinformatics practice. He did not steer back to the familiar pipeline; he wanted to know what they assumed and what they would recover. He does not oversell himself, so I will do it for him: he is the person you want owning the science behind a decision. I would work with him again without hesitation.

Paul Fogel Statistics Consultant · external consultant supervised by Prasad at Galderma

Ce qui le distingue, c'est sa rigueur et son sens de l'organisation. Il pilote ses projets avec maîtrise méthodologique : périmètres cadrés, risques anticipés en amont, livrables tenus dans les délais, et parties prenantes alignées à chaque étape. Dans un environnement où la complexité est souvent la norme, cette capacité à tenir le cap sans improviser est un vrai atout stratégique. Je le recommande sans hésitation à toute organisation cherchant un profil fiable et structuré pour piloter des projets complexes.

Andreas Lang Valorisation de données au service public · worked with Prasad

Track record

Where this experience was built

Jan 2022 — Dec 2024

Senior Translational Medicine Program Manager

Galderma, Lausanne (CH)

Led a cross-functional program team across clinical, biomarker, bioinformatics, and regulatory workstreams for the Phase II/III nemolizumab program. Integrated a multi-omics biomarker strategy that aligned 4 teams across 3 sites and led to first-time FDA/EMA acceptance of the biomarker data package. Built a digital biomarker governance framework and sprint-based delivery workflow that cut reporting cycle time by 30%.

Oct 2018 — Jan 2022

Clinically Attached Bioinformatician / Project Coordinator

Geneva University Hospitals (HUG)

Managed precision medicine and translational research projects bridging biomarker discovery and clinical application. Developed a genomic alteration detection algorithm adopted into routine practice at HUG's Molecular Tumor Boards, and co-authored peer-reviewed oncology publications, including as first/senior author.

Feb 2017 — Sept 2018

Research Scientist / Translational Project Contributor

Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences

Ensured milestone delivery and data quality across the multi-institutional HUMAN Longevity consortium, coordinating biomarker discovery activities that identified biomarkers linked to diabetes treatment response.

Mar 2016 — Aug 2016

Data Scientist

Philip Morris International, Neuchâtel

Developed integrative analytics workflows for systems toxicology and product risk assessment, enabling evidence-based scientific decision-making.

2016

PhD, Life Sciences

University of Lausanne / SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

Thesis on a protein–ligand docking method integrated into Swiss drug design tools.

Core expertise

Tools & domains

AI & digital R&D strategy

  • AI/ML workflows
  • AI & data roadmaps
  • Digital transformation
  • Digital vision definition
  • Emerging tech scanning
  • CPMAI (in progress)

Program management

  • Milestone tracking
  • Risk management
  • Governance reporting
  • Agile & hybrid delivery
  • Sprint-based workflows
  • Jira · MS Project · ClickUp

Translational medicine

  • Biomarker development
  • Multi-omics
  • Transcriptomics
  • Pharmacogenomics
  • Precision medicine
  • FDA / EMA submissions

Data & analytics

  • R · Python · SQL
  • Nextflow · NGS pipelines
  • Single-cell analysis
  • Data governance
  • Git · Docker · Linux · Cloud
  • GxP-adjacent compliance

Technical work

From GitHub, live

Pulled directly from my public repositories — this list updates itself as new work goes up.

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Engagement models

Ways to work together

Professional fees: CHF 150–200 / hour for contract/advisory work, depending on scope and role. Also open to full-time positions across pharma, biotech, and MedTech.

Contact

Let's talk about your program.

Lausanne region, Switzerland
Swiss C Permit — no sponsorship required