Prithwiraj Maitra, Ph.D., is currently executive director, R&D, at Allergan Aesthetics/AbbVie. Previously, he was executive director of R&D for SkinMedica/Allergan; and director and research fellow, head of upstream innovation in skin care, skin biology and biodelivery platforms, at J&J Research and Development. There, Maitra was responsible for delivering a balanced innovation portfolio with a focus on key strategic priorities and consumer unmet needs in areas including: anti-aging, acne, fairness and tone, sun and body benefit areas. In addition, he worked to develop a robust innovation pipeline for J&J's global beauty brands: Neutrogena, Aveeno, RoC, Clean & Clear and Neostrata.
Maitra's expertise includes driving innovation through external collaborations, material science, the structure-function relationship of ingredients and formulations, and optical science, color and appearance of personal care products. Notably, he was the recipient of Avon’s Global R&D Achievement Award in 2007 and 2009, and recipient of the Most Innovative Scientist Award for Neutrogena Cosmetics in 2010.