Susan Learned, M.D., Pharm.D., Ph.D.

Susan Learned, M.D., Pharm.D., Ph.D., joined the MCV Foundation board in 2025.

Dr. Learned is the president and founder of Learned Consulting Group, which provides strategic support to pharmaceutical companies in research and development (R&D), clinical pharmacology and medicines development strategy. She currently is chief scientific officer and head of research and development for two biotechnology companies and provides overarching clinical pharmacology strategic guidance for a third. She supports other clients as a scientific advisory board member, data safety and monitoring board member or as a scientific advisor to the board of directors or managing equity organization(s). 

From 2015-2021, she served as senior vice president of global medicines development at Indivior, a global pharmaceutical company based in Richmond. Dr. Learned brings more than 25 years of experience and expertise in the pharmaceutical industry, spanning all phases of drug discovery and development. She has managed large, global multidisciplinary drug discovery and development organizations, leading the design of innovative clinical trials to make efficient business decisions, implementing biomarkers and translational medicine tools across therapeutic areas, leading business development strategies and operations, developing high performing teams, and providing mentorship for globally diverse team members in leadership roles.

Before joining Indivior, Dr. Learned held leadership roles at GSK and its dermatology company Stiefel, where she oversaw R&D and commercial strategy for dermatology and neuroscience assets from early development through life cycle management. Her work has contributed to numerous regulatory approvals for treatments in psychiatry, oncology, dermatology, and addiction medicine.

Dr. Learned earned her B.S. in pharmacy and medical degree from Union University’s Albany College of Pharmacy and Albany Medical College. She completed her internal medicine residency training at Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, N.Y. At VCU, she earned a Pharm.D. from the VCU School of Pharmacy and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from the VCU School of Medicine. She has served on numerous boards, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Medications Development Advisory Board, the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Board of Trustees, and on several advisory councils for both the VCU schools of Pharmacy and Medicine. She has also been a visiting professor in the FDA’s neurosciences division on the use of neuroimaging in drug development.