Shankar Parajuli, PhD, joined the Belfer Office for Dana-Farber Innovations in January 2025 as Business Development Director – Startups. With nearly a decade of experience in biopharma and healthcare consulting, he specializes in business development (BD) and corporate strategy, including within startup environments.
Before joining BODFI, Dr. Parajuli served as Director of BD & Strategy at Invivyd, leading search and evaluation, due diligence, and deal negotiations for commercial and R&D partnerships. Previously, Shankar held a similar role at a Series A startup where he was instrumental in driving pharma partnerships and launching its first precision therapeutics program. He also worked at Akebia Therapeutics, where he supported the BD teams and managed multiple U.S. and ex U.S. pharma alliances. Earlier in his career, Shankar worked as a Senior Consultant at a global healthcare consulting firm, Trinity, where he advised over 30 biopharma companies across a range of therapeutic areas including cancer. Dr. Parajuli holds a PhD in Biology and Biomedical Sciences from Washington University in Saint Louis and a BSc in Biochemistry from Brigham Young University in Utah.