Shiva Malek, PhD, is the Global Disease Area Head of Oncology for Novartis Biomedical Research, spanning all aspects of oncology including solid tumors, hematology, immuno-oncology, cellular therapies and radioligand therapies. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from UCSD studying structure and function of NF-KB/IKB complexes. Dr. Malek has a long-standing track record of oncology research and drug discovery having worked on 2 FDA approved drugs, Vemurafenib and Cobimetinib. Dr. Malek started her career in drug discovery at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and moved to Exelxis Pharmaceutical leading multiple oncology drug discovery programs. She has spent the bulk of her career (over 15 years) at Genentech taking on roles of increasing responsibility, initially leading the oncology small molecule drug discovery programs and later serving as Vice President of Discovery Oncology. In this capacity, Dr. Malek served on the Genentech Oncology Leadership Team and the Genentech Research Review Committee. She oversaw a broad portfolio of oncology programs spanning early-stage research to late-stage clinical programs including: Belvarafenib (pan-RAFi, Phase 1), Divarasib (KRAS G12Ci, Phase 2/3), Inavolisib (Approved PI3Ki), and Giredestrant (SERD, Phase 3). Dr. Malek is a world leading expert in RAS/MAPK biology having discovered that BRAF-V600E inhibitors induce paradoxical activation of MAPK signaling in BRAF WT and KRAS mutant tumors. This work was selected by Nature as one of the most highly cited cancer research articles published in 2010. She has co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed manuscripts and is a co-inventor on multiple patents. Dr. Malek received the 2025 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research, for her groundbreaking scientific contributions in cancer research and therapeutic innovation. Dr. Malek holds numerous leadership roles including Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at UCSF School of Medicine, Editorial Committee Member for Annual Reviews of Cancer Biology, Board Member for Cancer Molecular Therapeutics Research Association, and Chair of AACR Women in Cancer Research (2024-2025).