Career Spotlight – Maulik Navatany, PhD ’89, MBA
A thirst for knowledge has led Boston Scientific’s Neuromodulation Division President around the world and back again
Maulik Navatany, PhD ’89, MBA, describes himself as an “optimistic paranoid.”
Referencing Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove, one of the founding fathers of Intel, Navatany uses the descriptor to explain his philosophy behind his work.
“How do you continue to drive innovation? It’s OK to fail, but just make sure you fail fast and move onto what you want to do next.”
As president of Boston Scientific’s neuromodulation division, Navatany has the opportunity to pursue his quest as innovation leader in microelectronic implantable technologies.
“It is something that allows me to really make an impact in terms of creating products, creating therapies, and making a direct impact on patients,” he explains. “We
have the ability to shape the field, so to speak, and bring innovation to patients and physicians. It is exciting.”
Navatany, whose father and uncle had been chemical and mechanical engineers, chose to pursue studies in pharmacy because he was interested in its “crossdisciplinary path.”
“I liked the life-sciences part of it, and I liked the engineering side of it, the technical side, so I felt that it was a better path for me.”
Born in Switzerland and raised in India, Navatany came to UIC to earn his master’s degree. But, after fulfilling his course requirements and thesis work in nine months, he realized that his thirst for knowledge hadn’t been satisfied. He “didn't think he’d learned enough,” he recalls, so his advisor convinced him to go for his PhD. But he didn’t stop there. After earning his PhD, Navatany realized that he “just didn’t have the patience to wait for a number of years to make an impact, being on the research side.
“It didn’t suit the time horizon in which I wanted to make a difference.”
So, in his lifelong quest to uncover his life’s passion, Navatany joined Baxter International and “did everything,” he says. “I started out in regulatory, because that, to me, was in between science and business, understanding research and understanding business strategy.”
He went on to delve into clinical development and biologics, and after earning his MBA at the University of Chicago, he worked in business development on mergers and acquisitions. Navatany then relocated to head up operations for Baxter Japan before joining Boston Scientific in 2005 as its vice president for corporate strategy for Japan, where he led business transformation and increased operational efficiency.
By the time he joined Boston Scientific, Navatany had touched a variety of different aspects of pharmaceuticals, biologics, and drug delivery and had gained expertise in regulatory, business development, and operations.
“I allowed my curiosity and learning mindset to keep going,” he says. “A lot of times, when you move from field to field, though it’s exciting, you realize you don’t know much about this, so your back is against the wall and you’re afraid to fail. That’s when you learn the most.”
Navatany has since returned to the United States to work in the company’s Valencia, California, location. He admits that he was lured there, once again, by his desire to seek a new experience.
“[Neuromodulation] was one of the businesses I didn’t know anything about. I felt this may be the technology of the future, so that’s what interested me the most.”
Navatany describes neuromodulation as an industry where “you’re learning to dose with electricity instead of pharmaceuticals.” By modulating or stimulating the nervous system, the neuromodulation tech that he works on focuses on treating pain, thus replacing the need for medication and extending quality of life.
“The potential for the field is enormous,” he says.