Johnson & Johnson Innovation announced the appointment of Rachel Rath, MBA, MPH, as the Head of JLABS @ Washington, DC, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS. Rachel assumes this role as a natural progression from her position as Director of the BARDA Alliance for Johnson & Johnson Innovation where she successfully led the management and operational oversight of BLUE KNIGHT™, Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s joint initiative with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Rachel has been based at JLABS @ Washington, DC since the site opening in 2021.
In this leadership role, Rachel will set the strategic direction and oversee all operational activities for JLABS @ Washington, DC, while working closely with Children’s National Hospital, Virginia Tech, and other key collaborations. She’s eager to continue building the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus (CNRIC) community and connections between partners. In addition to managing the business of JLABS, Rachel is responsible for the process of evaluating, selecting and accelerating a strong portfolio of innovators in JLABS @ Washington, DC that are aligned with Johnson & Johnson’s R&D strategy.
Since joining Johnson & Johnson as Director of the BARDA Alliance in 2019, Rachel led the strategic development of BLUE KNIGHT™ and its launch in 2020. Rachel has grown the offering from supporting seven companies to a global initiative with 47 early-stage companies and more than $1 billion raised in funding1. Rachel led the initiative through several strategic pivots, including the development of the BLUE KNIGHT™ Resident Quickfire Challenges. These Challenges have provided significant support through award funding to promising companies to help them reach critical inflection points. Rachel’s alliance management responsibilities spanned all operational activities related to the collaboration with BARDA, including managing the sourcing and selection of high-potential companies for JLABS locations, developing global programming including the annual BLUE KNIGHT™ Symposium, and all strategic activities.
Rachel has lived in the Washington, DC area for nearly 20 years and received her MBA from Georgetown University and MPH in global health policy from George Washington University.
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