Jiah Pearson-Leary

About Jiah Pearson-Leary

A biopharma strategy leader and neuroscientist with over 12 years of experience, currently serving as Head of Strategy Consulting at inThought Research. Specializing in new product planning, competitive intelligence, and opportunity assessments, the focus is on rare disease, CNS, immunology, and emerging therapeutic modalities. Recent work includes delivering over 40 opportunity assessments for assets in areas such as neuromuscular diseases, cardiometabolic conditions, and oncology, with outputs including TPPs, financial models, and go/no-go frameworks presented to C-suite executives. Known for a science-driven approach, leveraging expertise in biology and neuroscience to evaluate preclinical programs, target validity, and development assumptions. Committed to shaping data-driven decisions, the work spans across competitive intelligence programs and strategic consulting engagements, with a goal to empower biopharma organizations to address unmet medical needs with innovative solutions.

Experience

1. Head of Strategy Consulting and Business Development

   Inthought Research

   Sep 2024 — Present

   Built the strategy consulting division of an established CI advisory, directly selling and leading strategy engagements; serve as practice lead across competitive intelligence, new product planning, and opportunity assessments.Recent work includes:•Rare disease, CNS & immunology NPP: Delivered 40+ opportunity assessment engagements across rare neuromuscular diseases, neurological indications, cardiometabolic (obesity), immunology (immune reset, TCEs, autoimmune), and oncology. Deliverables include TPPs, indication prioritization matrices, financial models (incl. rNPVs), primary market research, and go/no-go frameworks presented to C-suite.•Global CI programs: Built and delivered end-to-end competitive intelligence landscapes spanning early-stage pipelines, launched products, and China-origin assets across multiple TAs. Facilitated in-person executive workshops translating CI into actionable portfolio decisions.•Platform strategy: Led opportunity assessments for multiple novel brain shuttle platforms (cargo-constrained CNS delivery) and IgG degrader indication sequencing. Both frameworks were adopted by client executive teams, reshaping clinical development plans, TPPs, and BD positioning.Speaker at PharmaCI and Fierce Pharma on indication prioritization, strategic CI, and RNA/CNS delivery landscapes.

Education

• University at Albany

  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Neuroscience

  2008 — 2013

• University at Albany

  Bachelor's degree, Biology and Psychology

  2006 — 2008

Skills

• Immunohistochemistry
• Research
• Biochemistry
• Animal Surgery
• Ingenuity Pathway Analysis
• Animal Behavior
• Laboratory Skills
• Neuropharmacology
• Pharmacology
• Biostatistics
• Microscopy
• Histology
• R
• Life Sciences
• Molecular Biology
• Protein Chemistry
• Neuroimaging
• Immunoassays
• Neuroscience
• Western Blotting
• Animal Models
• Science
• Statistics
• Protein Assays
• Genomics
• Data Analysis
• Spss
• Laboratory
• Rna Biology