William N. Hait is Global Head, Johnson & Johnson External Innovation, a unit that comprises Johnson & Johnson Innovation (Innovation Centers, J-Labs and the Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation), Johnson and Johnson Lung Cancer Initiative, and the World Without Disease Accelerator. In this role, he leads the mission to source innovation from wherever it originates, accelerate the filling of R&D pipelines in all of the J&J sectors, drive the creation of cross-sector R&D programs with a focus on prevention, interception and cures, and ensure the future by getting out ahead of potentially disruptive technologies.
Hait joined Johnson & Johnson in 2007 and was the Global Therapeutic Area Head, Oncology, from 2009 to 2011. He served as Global Head, Janssen R&D from 2011 through 2017.
Before joining J&J, he was the founding Director of The (Rutgers) Cancer Institute of New Jersey, which he led to receive the National Cancer Institute’s highest designation of Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2002. From 1993 to 2007 he was Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology and Associate Dean for Oncology Programs at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey — Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
After earning his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, Hait received his MD and PhD (Pharmacology) cum laude from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He joined the Yale University School of Medicine faculty in 1984 and became Associate Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology, Associate Director of the Yale University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Director of the Breast Cancer Unit and Co-Director of the Lung Cancer Unit. Hait is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology.
Hait devoted his time to numerous advisory and editorial boards. He was Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Cancer Research and Associate Editor of Cancer Research, served as President of the American Association for Cancer Research from 2007 – 2008 and currently serves as Treasurer. He has served on various committees for the American Association of Cancer Research (Chair, Clinical Cancer Research Committee), the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Association of American Cancer Institutes (Board of Directors), the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors and was founding Chairman of the Executive Management Committee of Stand Up to Cancer. He currently is a member of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Director’s Advisory Board, Board of External Advisors for the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, the Stand Up to Cancer Scientific Advisory Board, The Board of Directors of Research America! and the Vanderbilt University Biomedical Science Advisory Board.