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
Clinical trial portfolio
Six studies spanning early discovery to Phase III, run in partnership with Harvard Medical School, the Broad Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Tata Memorial Hospital — 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
Phase II radioligand diagnostic trial
Experimental radioligand tracer for small cell lung cancer, run in partnership with Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute.
03
Characterizing the Indian genome
ctDNA as a biomarker for molecular evidence of disease, developed in partnership with Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.
04
Multicenter Phase 2 immunotherapy trial
Evaluating the efficacy and safety of low-dose immunotherapy for the treatment of metastatic MSI-H/dMMR tumors, run in partnership with Tata Memorial Hospital, India.
05
Nutraceutical repurposing study
Exploratory study evaluating the synergistic repurposing of combinatory nutraceuticals for head & neck and breast cancer patients.
06 · Completed
Global Phase III antibody-conjugate & photoimmunotherapy trial
Randomized clinical trial for advanced metastatic squamous cell carcinoma patients, combining an antibody conjugate with photoimmunotherapy.
07 · In development
India hospital research consortium
Building a consortium of hospitals across India to expand clinical trial capacity and standardize research infrastructure nationally.
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.
Biobanking & Functional Tissue Research
Set up of an ISO-certified biobank, with the ability to collect fresh tissue linked to longitudinal patient data — enabling functional testing for drug development, clinical research, and trials.
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, ISO-certified 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.
For investors & consulting firms
Cross-industry pattern recognition,
applied to healthcare bets.
Eighteen years spent building — not just advising on — transformation programs across banking, telecom, government, and now oncology give a rare vantage point: what actually scales, where operational and regulatory risk hides before it shows up in a term sheet, and how a clinical or digital-health operating model holds up under real-world constraints.
Healthcare & health-tech due diligence
Operational and clinical-research diligence for investors evaluating oncology, digital health, and biobanking ventures — informed by having built one from the ground up.
Scale-up & operating model design
Translating a $1B banking transformation and an 80+ hospital hub-and-spoke rollout into practical playbooks for scaling healthcare and health-tech operations.
Cross-border regulatory & digital strategy
Experience spanning 11 countries and sectors — banking, telecom, government, healthcare — for firms navigating regulatory complexity across markets.
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
Speaker, RespirEra
Nice, France
Speaker, TechBBQ
Copenhagen, Denmark
Common questions
What people ask
before reaching out.
What does Bharat Sarvepalli do at Karkinos Healthcare?
He is Vice President of Clinical Research at Karkinos Healthcare in Hyderabad, India, directing global oncology trials from protocol development through patient recruitment, biobanking, and data analysis, and helped set up India's first private, ISO-certified biobank.
What clinical trials is Bharat currently involved in?
Six studies spanning early discovery to Phase III, run in partnership with Harvard Medical School, the Broad Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Tata Memorial Hospital — including a first-in-human Phase I/II dose-escalation study, a Phase II radioligand diagnostic trial, and work characterizing the Indian genome via ctDNA biomarkers.
Does Bharat offer advisory services to investors or consulting firms?
Yes — healthcare and health-tech due diligence, scale-up and operating model design, and cross-border regulatory and digital strategy, informed by eighteen years building transformation programs across banking, telecom, government, and now oncology.
What is Bharat's academic background?
He is pursuing a part-time PhD in Computational Biology at IIIT Delhi (started August 2025), alongside the full-time VP role. He holds a dual-degree MBA in Strategy from the National University of Singapore and Korea University, and a B.Tech in Electronics & Communication Engineering from Anna University.
How can I contact Bharat for a speaking invitation or research collaboration?
Email Bharat@sarvepalli.com or connect via LinkedIn. He is open to clinical trial and research partnerships, speaking and panel invitations, academic and PhD collaboration, and advisory or board conversations.
What is Bharat's connection to AI in healthcare?
He has led development of AI-enabled clinical pathways and an early-detection playbook for common cancers, built a clinical NLP project extracting structured data from a decade of unstructured hospital records, and initiated AI/ML digital product strategy at Karkinos.
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