Richard Barnard, PhD

Richard Barnard, PhD, is currently serving as Executive Director of the Early Development Vaccines Group at Merck. He previously held the position of Senior Director, where he led the Molecular and Exploratory Vaccine Development teams, significantly enhancing vaccine clinical development through innovative assay development and automation. His career at Merck began in 2005, progressing from Senior Research Virologist to various leadership roles in antiviral research including establishing a regulated sequencing assay to generate and report data to the clinical database. He has also worked in regulatory affairs, working on oncology and antiviral programs. Dr. Barnard has a strong academic background, earning his PhD in Physiology from the University of Liverpool and a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Edinburgh. He has authored numerous publications and received multiple Special Achievement Awards at Merck, reflecting his contributions to vaccine and antiviral research, regulatory strategy, and team development.