Reshema Kemps-Polanco is Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Novartis US, responsible for the expansion of medicines across oncology, immunology, neurology, and cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases. She is pursuing a transformational growth strategy to help Novartis sustain a leading position in the world’s largest healthcare market.
A purpose-driven leader, Reshema galvanizes teams to demonstrate uncommon courage and redefine what’s possible to help more patients live longer, better lives. She is committed to increasing access to quality healthcare and developing the next generation of healthcare leaders who represent the broad spectrum of communities Novartis serves.
Reshema has worked in healthcare for over 25 years. She returned to Novartis in 2021 as EVP, US Head of Oncology after spending seven years at Johnson and Johnson where she served in a variety of leadership roles including President of Janssen’s US Cardiovascular & Metabolism Unit and as President, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Puerto Rico. Before joining Johnson and Johnson, Reshema spent 15 years at Novartis where she led multiple commercial teams across oncology and specialty business units.
Reshema serves on the Board of Directors for Charles Rivers Laboratories International as well as the Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC). She’s also a member of the Executive Leadership Council, the Healthcare Businesswomen Association (HBA) Global Advisory Board and the CEO Roundtable on Cancer. The HBA named Reshema as the HBA Woman of the Year for 2025 in recognition of her transformative leadership and patient focus in commercializing innovative medicines for some of the most serious diseases and her far-reaching impact in developing women across the industry to the executive level.
She holds a Master of Business Administration from Rutgers University, a Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Behavior from Louisiana Tech University, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. She also proudly served her country as a member of the US Army.
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