Leadership

Anita Kawatra is Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, at Inheris Biopharma, Inc., overseeing communications, scientific positioning, investor relations, and government and public affairs. Previously, she led global communications and stakeholder engagement at IAVI. As Executive Vice President at Edelman, she oversaw life sciences client portfolios, advising global health care firms on communications and public affairs. In her 12 years at Elan Pharmaceuticals and its spinoff, Prothena Biosciences, Ms. Kawatra headed scientific relations, public affairs, and corporate marketing and communications. She then served as head of external affairs and adviser to the CEO of Prothena. She led corporate and executive communications at Merck and media relations and crisis management at Merck-Medco.

Ms. Kawatra served in the administrations of New York City Mayor David Dinkins and New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and was Mayor Dinkins’ chief of staff following his tenure in office. She is a board member of New York City Health + Hospitals, the nation’s largest public health system, and of Sanctuary for Families and GrowNYC. She was a longtime adjunct professor at New York University. Ms. Kawatra holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.A. from Columbia University.