Karla Childers
Full Name
Mrs. Karla Childers
Job Title
Head, Bioethics-based Science & Technology Policy
Company
Johnson & Johnson
Speaker Bio

Karla G. Childers, BA, MSJ, MS Head, Bioethics-based Science & Technology Policy, Office of the Chief Medical Officer Johnson & Johnson Karla Childers joined Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in October 2013 in the Office of the Chief Medical Officer where her primary responsibility has been leading and coordinating various ethics-based, science and technology policy projects. Her longest running responsibility has been the support and coordination of Johnson & Johnson’s Clinical Trial Data Transparency Initiative, including the management of the Yale University Open Data Access (YODA) Project data sharing collaboration. Ms. Childers is the Chair of the J&J Bioethics Committee, which serves as an internal forum providing advice on bioethical questions within J&J. She is responsible for the management and conduct of that committee and relevant bioethics consultations. She serves as a bioethics subject matter expert for various internal and external science and technology policy work and coordinates the internal bioethics educational program sponsored by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer. Ms. Childers has also been actively engaged in the R&D ecosystem outside J&J. She has volunteered in the Drug Information Association (DIA) in various roles for the past decade, including the Annual Meeting Program Committee, Annual Meeting Steering Committee, and most recently co-founded the DIA Bioethics Community. She served three years on the Public Responsibility in Medicine & Research (PRIM&R) planning committee for the Advancing Ethical Research (AER) conference and continues to be an active speaker and member for PRIM&R. Most recently, Ms. Childers has shared her passion for bioethics with others through teaching. She is an adjunct faculty member in the Temple University School of Pharmacy Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance graduate program. She has also served as a teaching assistant in the Columbia University Master of Bioethics Program and is a current lecturer for the program. Before joining J&J, she was an Associate Director in Global Project Management (GPM) in Merck Research Laboratories (MRL), where she managed cross functional drug development teams in various therapeutic areas and stages of development. Prior to joining GPM, Ms. Childers began her career in industry as a bench chemist in MRL’s Process Chemistry group. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Chemistry from Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis and a Master of Science in Jurisprudence with a concentration in Health Law from Seton Hall Law School. She is also a graduate of Columbia University with a Master of Science in Bioethics.