Steven B. Whittaker was named Chief Operating Officer/Sr. Director of Operations and Project Management for the Cardiovascular/Acute Care Platform Team in September 2004.  He was accountable for leadership and delivery of all phase III and IV Cardiovascular/Acute Care development portfolio projects.

Whittaker received his bachelor degree in chemistry from Purdue University in 1979 and began his career with Mead Johnson Pharmaceuticals developing analytical methods for compound identification and to evaluate in vivo drug metabolism within the area of Discovery Research. 

In 1981, Whittaker joined Eli Lilly and Company within Analytical Development, focusing on analytical assay development for API, drug product, and stability testing.  He transitioned into Endocrine Clinical Research as a Clinical Research Associate in 1986, coordinating global clinical trials for diabetes and growth disorders. 

Whittaker began his roles in R&D management in 1991, holding several leadership positions within Lilly Research Laboratories (LRL) in the areas of Regulatory Affairs (Product Registration), Discovery Research, Clinical Research, and Project Management. 

Beginning in1997, Whittaker served as Global Clinical Research Sourcing Manager focusing on the development of strategic CRO partnerships.  This included the selection and initial implementation of a preferred partner approach for global, full-service CRO capabilities. 

Whittaker then was named Director of Clinical Project Management in 1999.  In this role, he had responsibility for the project team based clinical project management staff, as well as for the central office coordinating LRL’s utilization of prospective project management techniques to lead clinical projects through their critical path milestones.  He was named Director of Project Management Excellence for LRL in 2003.  Responsibilities included the operational aspects of LRL’s project management systems, project tracking tools, project level metrics, development and training of project management processes, and the dissemination of project management best practices.