ANKA G. EHRHARDT, Director, Cell-Based Assays / Analytical Research & Development, Merck

Dr. Ehrhardt is a biophysicist with a Ph.D. in human physiology. Throughout her career, she focused on driving biomedical research through efficient application of innovative technology strategies. She built and led successful teams in industry.  At Merck, she headed a laboratory providing leading technologies for cell-based research from early discovery through manufacturing. At BMS, Dr. Ehrhardt led and grew an international clinical assay team to robustly cover large scale registrational and translational clinical analysis generating clinical decision-driving data and mechanistic insights for studies across disease areas.

Recently, Dr. Ehrhardt fulfilled one of her scientific aspirations at CHDI Foundation, designing and implementing successful clinical biomarker strategies for Huntington’s disease. Currently, at Merck, Dr. Ehrhardt is providing strategic and technical leadership for the development and implementation of industry-leading and QC-friendly cell-based assays and models for potency determination that reflect the unique mechanisms of biologics products in clinical studies and beyond.