Vice President, Clinical Research — Karkinos Healthcare
From protocol to patient —
building the machinery
behind cancer research.
Eighteen years leading transformation across 11 countries, in healthcare, banking, telecom, and government. Now I direct global oncology trials, biobanking, and the digital health infrastructure connecting hospitals across India.
Experience
18 years across 11 countries — healthcare, banking, telecom & government
Focus
Global oncology trials, biobanking & digital health infrastructure for India
Currently
Part-time PhD, Computational Biology, IIIT Delhi — alongside the VP role
Active right now
Five studies underway, guided by collaborators at Harvard Medical School, the Broad Institute, and MGH — all working toward faster, more precise cancer care in India.
01
First-in-human Phase I/II dose-escalation
Safety, tolerability, and antitumor activity of a humanized monoclonal antibody in adult patients with advanced solid malignancies.
02
PROSPECT — UK Cancer Grand Challenges
NCI/CRUK-funded study comparing risk-guided vs. universal FIT testing for early-onset colorectal cancer, with MGH and Washington University.
03
Phase II radioligand diagnostic trial
Experimental radioligand tracer for small cell lung cancer, guided by Harvard Medical School and Broad Institute collaborators.
04
Characterizing the Indian genome
ctDNA as a biomarker for molecular evidence of disease, with guidance from Dr. Eric Lander, Dr. Keith Flaherty, Dr. David Ting, and Dr. Aparna Parikh.
Areas of expertise
Two disciplines,
one practice.
Clinical research and organizational transformation aren't separate careers here — one built the capability for the other.
Clinical Trials & Implementation Research
Protocol development through patient recruitment, data analysis, and regulatory delivery — across Phase I to Phase III oncology studies.
Digital Transformation
Linking hospital networks and health records into unified, interoperable infrastructure — including 30,000+ records into India's Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
Organization Change Management
Leading large-scale change across banks, telecoms, and government bodies in 11 countries, including a $1B digital transformation program.
Program Management & Board Reporting
Running strategic operations and chairing key business meetings at executive level, from clinical planning through delivery.
Systems Organization & Process Engineering
Building the operating model behind decentralized, hub-and-spoke cancer care delivery across 80+ hospitals.
Gamification & Blended Learning
Designing training programs adopted across UK Government departments, police forces, and Fortune 500 clients.
Career
From module leader
to Vice President.
2008–13 · TCS
Module Leader → Consultant
Built mobile security algorithms, enterprise apps, and a multilingual voice IVR for low-literacy rural users in India.
2013–21 · TCS
Business Change Manager
Led transformation programs across 11+ countries — Singapore, Hong Kong, UK Government, Australia, Netherlands, Malaysia, Middle East, Canada.
2021–24 · Karkinos
Transformation Manager → AVP
Built India's distributed cancer care model; linked 30,000+ health records into the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
2024–Present · Karkinos
Vice President, Clinical Research
Directing global Phase III oncology trials and India's first private accredited biobank.
Where AI meets clinical practice
Building AI into cancer care, not bolting it on — from clinical pathways to a PhD in computational biology.
01
AI-enabled clinical pathways
Led development of AI-enabled clinical pathways and an early-detection playbook for common cancers, plus the metrics used to run and monitor clinical operations end to end.
02
Clinical NLP
Built a natural language processing project to extract key clinical entities from a decade of unstructured hospital records — turning free-text notes into structured, usable data.
03
AI/ML product strategy
Initiated new revenue strategies spanning clinical trials, biobanking, and AI/ML digital products — part of a >$1M annual growth initiative at Karkinos.
04
Public voice on AI in biotech
Panel speaker, "How Artificial Intelligence and Big Data will drive future biotech innovations" — Global Bio-India Conference, 2023.
Research collaborators & institutions
Built alongside the world's
leading cancer research institutions.
Global oncology trials rarely succeed alone. Every active study runs in partnership with research groups that bring complementary expertise — from photodynamic therapy to genomics.
Research interests
Where clinical practice
meets computation.
Drug development & biomarkers
Identifying and validating biomarkers to guide therapy selection in oncology, from discovery through clinical application.
Bioinformatics & cancer genomics
Characterizing the Indian genome and using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as molecular evidence of disease.
Health policy & implementation research
Translating research into decentralized care models that reach rural and underserved communities across India.
Started a part-time PhD in Computational Biology at IIIT Delhi in August 2025 — pursued alongside full-time VP responsibilities, bridging clinical operations and quantitative research.
Approach
Pragmatic professional with solid experience in transformative leadership roles — across healthcare, banking, insurance, manufacturing, telecom, government, education, and public sectors, in 11 countries.
Across every sector, the same discipline.
Adept at leading key business areas, advancing research, implementing strategic business plans, and driving large-scale initiatives — well-versed in interfacing on business processes to drive results based on sound overall business judgment.
Selected publications
Ramachandran, V., Pradhan, A., Kumar, A., Sarvepalli, B.K., Rao, S., Oswal, K. et al. (2022). A Distributed Cancer Care Model with a Technology-Driven Hub-and-Spoke and Further Spoke Hierarchy: Findings from a Pilot Implementation Programme in Kerala, India. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 23(9), 3133–3139.
doi.org/10.31557/APJCP.2022.23.9.3133
Peer-reviewed journal
Oswal, K., Chhabra, M., Sarvepalli, B.K., Rao, S., Kuriakose, M.A. & Venkataramanan, R. (2023). Community-based oral cancer screening for women of remote & rural blocks of the Chikkaballapur district, Karnataka, India. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health, 21, 101284.
Peer-reviewed journal
Tiwari, M., Sarvepalli, B.K., Viswanath, M.N., Das, A., Patel, V.V., Helode, R. & Kuriakose, M.A. (2025). Understanding Burnout among Head-and-Neck Cancer Surgeons: A Pan-India Survey and Literature Review. Journal of Head & Neck Physicians and Surgeons, 13(1), 114–119.
Peer-reviewed journal
Ramachandran, V. (2022). Using large-scale dataset to identify opportunity for implementing technology based intervention to improve cancer care in India. Doctoral dissertation, University of Warwick — contribution acknowledged.
Academic contribution
Ushering the Era of Decentralized Oncology Clinical Trials in India →
About
Eighteen years of transformation,
now spent on cancer research.
I'm Bharat Kumar Sarvepalli, Vice President of Clinical Research at Karkinos Healthcare in Hyderabad, India. I lead global oncology trials — from protocol development through patient recruitment, biobanking, and data analysis — and helped set up India's first private accredited biobank.
Before healthcare, I spent eight years as a Business Change Manager at Tata Consultancy Services, leading digital transformation and organizational change programs for banks, telecoms, and governments across 11 countries — including a $1B digital transformation for a Singapore/Hong Kong investment bank and a training program for the UK Home Office spanning local police forces nationwide.
In August 2025 I began a part-time PhD in Computational Biology at IIIT Delhi, returning to the technical foundations — bioinformatics, biomarker discovery, drug development — that now sit alongside the leadership work.
View full LinkedIn profile →Credentials & affiliations
Education & speaking
Formal training,
invited conversations.
Education
PhD, Computational Biology
Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (part-time)
Aug 2025 — Present
Dual Degree MBA — Strategy
National University of Singapore & Korea University
Dec 2012
B.Tech, Electronics & Communication Engineering
Anna University, Chennai
Sept 2008
Invited talks
How Artificial Intelligence and Big Data will drive future biotech innovations
Panel speaker, Global Bio-India Conference — 2023
Harnessing precision medicine in cancer research
Cancer Next Conference — 2024
Enhancing biobank data quality to advance cancer research
Hyderabad Central University — 2024
Get in touch
Open to research collaboration
and speaking invitations.
Whether it's a clinical trial partnership, a speaking invitation, or an academic collaboration — reach out directly.
- Clinical trial & research partnerships
- Speaking & panel invitations
- Academic & PhD collaboration
- Advisory & board conversations