Priyata Kalra

Dr Priyata Kalra is a Senior Scientist in the Simulation Technologies R&D team for the PBPK business unit at Simulations Plus. She leads the Read-Across PBPK project for chemicals and the FDA project for building the IVIVE approach to predict the mucosal permeability of oral cavity drug products alongside supporting software development. Priyata also serves as an Expert Modeller on the European ECETOC Staged Assessment Taskforce and on the European Commission Designathon (both Brussels, Belgium). Prior to joining Simulations Plus, she worked for 3 years at Bayer and BASF (Leverkusen and Ludwigshafen, Germany) on PBPK and quantitative systems pharmacology, for both small molecules and biologics, and IVIVE approaches in drug efficacy and toxicology. She earned her PhD from the University of Heidelberg (Germany) where she worked with Bayer Pharmaceuticals, focusing on quantitative systems pharmacology models of biologics.

A passionate innovator at the intersection of machine learning, mathematics and biomedicine, Priyata aspires to bridge gaps between these disciplines. She leverages her multidisciplinary expertise to integrate ML/AI approaches with PBPK modeling as new approach methodologies for reducing animal studies. Her interests span data science, systems pharmacology, machine learning, design, crop science, blockchain and entrepreneurship.

What three things would you take if you were stranded on a desert island?
A solar-powered multi-tool knife, an aluminium bottle and Starlink.

If you weren’t a bioanalyst, what would you be?
I would be Chief Imagination Architect for building real-world wonderlands for children and challenge the status quo of education systems.

What is your favorite city?
Varanasi, a city that always brings me eye to eye with impermanence and death.

Why have you decided to become a Zone Leader?

My first contact with Bioanalysis Zone happened at AAPS 2024. I have a strong inclination towards community, it fuels progress— especially when ideas are shared and challenged. Nothing beats the energy of give-and-take in learning and in science. The contributions at this forum have helped me steer my insights and apply them in my everyday science. Naturally, I would be more than happy to give back.