Ulrika Edvardsson, PhD

Ulrika’s journey at AstraZeneca began in 1989 in preclinical research. She has held various roles in early drug discovery, leading teams such as Expression Profiling and in the Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism area. Ulrika earned her PhD in Physiology in 2005 from the University of Gothenburg, specializing in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and hepatic lipid metabolism. In 2014, she transitioned to Business Development, establishing agreements with global academic partners. As an Alliance Manager from 2017, she managed partnerships with academia and biotech firms. In 2021, Ulrika joined the AstraZeneca BioVentureHub—a pioneering open innovation initiative that enables smaller life science companies and academic groups to collaborate closely with the expertise and resources of big pharma. In her role as BioVentureHub Science Director, she focused on recruiting companies and driving value extraction for both scale-up companies and AstraZeneca. In January 2024, Ulrika was appointed as Senior Director & Managing Director of the AstraZeneca BioVentureHub.