Bayer – Addressing Disparities in Access to Quality Cancer Care in Underserved Communities

Dr. Chitkala Kalidas, PhD, Vice President and Global Head, Oncology Regulatory Affairs and Oncology Sustainability at Bayer discusses the Oncology Sustainability Initiative launched in 2021 with the goal of reducing disparities in access to quality cancer care and improving outcomes for patients. This initiative aims to reach 300 million people in underserved communities worldwide by 2030. She talks about the public-private partnerships that she and her team at Bayer have initiated in Egypt, India and Ghana to create equitable models of cancer care.

Dr. Chitkala Kalidas, PhD, Vice President and Global Head, Bayer Oncology Regulatory Affairs and Oncology Sustainability at Bayer discusses the Oncology Sustainability Initiative launched in 2021 with the goal of reducing disparities in access to quality cancer care and outcomes. This initiative aims to reach 300 million people in underserved communities worldwide by 2030. She talks about the success they have already had in Egypt, India, and Ghana.———————–BioChitkala Kalidas, PhD, is the Global Head of Oncology Regulatory Affairs and Oncology Sustainability at Bayer. Dr. Kalidas and her team of global regulatory affairs professionals are responsible for developing global regulatory strategies for programs in all stages of drug development and for the registration of drugs as well as in vitro diagnostics. Dr. Kalidas also leads the Oncology Sustainability initiative at Bayer. This initiative is focused on Global Health Equity in underserved communities around the globe.    This initiative reflects Bayer’s commitment to enable underserved communities find sustainable solutions to remedy disparities in access to quality cancer care and bring to life Bayer’s vision of Health for All.   Through public-private partnerships in India, Egypt and Ghana, Dr. Kalidas and her team are leading capacity building projects to connect primary and secondary health care centers in rural/underserved communities to tertiary centers in order to create more equitable models of cancer care. Dr. Kalidas is active in the area of multistakeholder collaboration to enhance access to cancer clinical trials and regulatory harmonization to expedite availability of innovative cancer therapies to patients. She represents Bayer at several multi-stakeholder forums to enable greater access to cancer clinical trials and improve cancer care equity in underserved communities.

Dr. Kalidas has over 20 years of experience in drug development. Prior to joining Bayer, Dr. Kalidas was at Merck & Co. Inc. where she worked on drug development across multiple therapeutic areas and geographic regions. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, she was a Management Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. Dr. Kalidas has a PhD in Microbiology from Cornell University.