Dessislava Veltcheva

Real-world evidence and epidemiology professional with experience across the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology and academia. Leads and supports non-interventional research from evidence question and data-source assessment through protocol, statistical analysis plan, analysis oversight and dissemination.

Experience includes Japanese claims and secondary-care data, UK Biobank, prospective studies and affiliate-led evidence programmes across Europe, Canada, Japan, Türkiye, Israel and the Middle East. PhD in molecular epidemiology, with R and Python skills and native-level Japanese.

Senior Manager, Real-World Data Analytics - Markets at Bristol Myers Squibb (2026-01 – 2026-07)

• Led BMS participation in IHI SYNTHIA, a €22.4 million European public-private consortium involving 32 partners across 16 countries. Coordinated contributions across five work packages, increased internal participation from 4 to 12 contributors, established a regular governance cadence and represented BMS in steering and cross-industry discussions on synthetic data and digital twins.
• Provided RWE consultancy for two non-interventional studies in Germany and Japan across dermatology, respiratory disease and cardiology. Reviewed study objectives, protocols and analysis plans; advised on data-source feasibility, cohort and endpoint definitions, and reproducibility; and coordinated local Medical, HEOR, Market Access, global teams and external analytics partners.
• Oversaw affiliate-led observational research across Spain, Portugal, Canada, Italy, Israel, the Middle East and Türkiye. Reviewed protocols and SAPs, data-source options, medical code lists, quality checks and scientific outputs, while aligning study plans with local evidence needs and asset priorities.
• Built relationships with country Medical, HEOR and Market Access teams to understand market strategy, local data availability and reimbursement context, using this context to shape locally relevant evidence questions and feasible study options.

Senior Associate, Observational Research at Amgen (2025-01 – 2026-01)

• Led the Japanese Medical Dictionary programme for Japan National Database research, integrating MEDIS, MHLW/Kubun and JAPIC disease, drug and procedure vocabularies into a governed, version-controlled resource. Developed bilingual documentation and training to support consistent use across study teams.
• Expanded mapped coverage by 3% for disease receipts, 31% for medical procedures, 1.35% for medicines and 220% for dental procedures, contributing to a 10.7% increase in internal analytical capability.
• Designed and supported pharmacoepidemiology and safety analyses using Japan NDB, DeSC and MDV data, alongside work involving Germany and UK Biobank. Wrote and reviewed SAPs, cohort definitions and medical code lists; guided programmers; and checked outputs for consistency, traceability and scientific interpretation.
• Supported PMDA-related non-interventional safety work and assessment of RWD sources for regulatory and label-expansion evidence. Worked with external data vendors and global stakeholders, contributed to abstracts and manuscripts, and presented the dictionary programme in Japanese and English at the Japanese Society for Pharmacoepidemiology conference in Tokyo in 2025.

Japanese Technical Translator and Liaison at Oxford Nanopore Technologies (2023-04 – 2024-12)

• Acted as the liaison between the Japan team and global headquarters, translating regional technical and customer requirements and coordinating input across product, R&D, quality, marketing and technical support teams.
• Authored a software manual for a regulated sequencing device, testing workflows with programmers and quality colleagues and resolving technical and documentation issues before release.
• Represented the company at three scientific conferences in Japan, connected new opportunities to relevant internal teams and contributed more than 200 leads to Salesforce; also provided bilingual technical translation and interpretation for customer and internal meetings.

Data Science Fellow at Science to Data Science (S2DS) (2023-01 – 2023-12)

• Delivered an industry data science project using Python for data cleaning, integration, feature engineering and predictive modelling, working to a fixed delivery timetable with a multidisciplinary team.

Visiting Researcher - Data Science at NATO NCI Agency (2022-01 – 2023-12)

• Applied Python, natural language processing and KNIME to large datasets, converting unstructured information into reproducible analytical workflows and structured outputs for an international governmental organisation.

DPhil (PhD) in Molecular Epidemiology – University of Oxford (2018-01 – 2024-12)

MSc in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology – University of Manchester (2017-01 – 2018-12)

BSc in Bioarchaeology – University of York (2014-01 – 2017-12)