Meet Andreas Lysandropoulos, Parexel's Global Therapeutic Area Head of Neuroscience

Introduce yourself and your role at Parexel.

I'm heading the Neuroscience franchise as the Global Therapeutic Area Head. I'm a Medical Doctor and Neurologist by training, did clinical practice and spent some years in the Pharmaceutical industry before joining Parexel.  My responsibilities at Parexel include leading the Neuroscience team, meeting with customers, developing innovative solutions for clinical trials, overseeing programs, and driving strategic initiatives to make Parexel more efficient and competitive in Neuroscience.

Can you tell us about the Neuroscience team at Parexel?

We have Medical Directors all around the world, with different experiences in academia, clinical practice, and industry. They are experts in different neurology and psychiatry indications and clinical development, but when you work at Parexel you work on all indications. They work closely with our early-phase units and functional leaders in Feasibility, Biostatistics, CRAs, and Project Management. It's a true cross-functional effort to set up and execute clinical trials. It is a great place to learn and to help others.

What drew you to focus on Neuroscience specifically?

My father is a Neurologist and Psychiatrist, so I grew up around Neuroscience. "Brain is the King," he used to tell me. There's so much in Neuroscience that we don't know, and I find this very attractive. Yet, this is an area where we've had a revolution in the last 30 years, in terms of knowledge and treatments. There are still huge unmet needs for patients, especially the aging population with cognitive challenges, for example.

Share a moment when you felt particularly proud to be part of Parexel.

The best moments are when a therapy is approved for a disease with a high unmet need, and you were a Medical Director on the clinical trial. You really feel the impact of your work on people's lives.

This happens quite often since we work across all indications in Neuroscience and other therapeutic areas. We take a moment to celebrate these approvals. It reminds us of the link between academia, clinical practice, the pharmaceutical industry, CROs, and regulatory agencies - all stakeholders working together to bring new therapies to patients.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to grow as a Medical Director?

For me, the most important and efficient way to learn and grow is to be curious and open and to try to work alongside people who do things differently than you do. This includes people within your own department and from other departments.

By exposing yourself to different situations, being curious, and being willing to take on diverse projects, you learn through experience.

What I find fascinating about large, diverse multinational organizations like Parexel is that every time you enter a meeting room or participate in a new project, you learn something new. You sit next to someone you may not have worked with before, who brings different knowledge and experiences. When you leave that room, you've grown in terms of specific skills and knowledge. In this way, you're always developing professionally.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

As a Greek, I love gatherings with good food and loud conversations. I also enjoy movies, reading and traveling, especially to peaceful places in nature. Also, I'm a social media guy, which feeds my curiosity.

What are you passionate about?

I'm a dad to a toddler with my husband, who is also Greek. My daughter is discovering the world and this is fun, but she is also driving change; my previous employer granted my request for three months of leave to care for her as a newborn — the first time the organization had granted such a leave to a male employee and this helped me tremendously to be a better father.

Having experienced the impact of helping an organization understand the diverse needs of its employees, I am keen to support diversity and inclusion efforts at Parexel.