Rita Lemming

Bio:

Rita Lemming is a Director of Clinical Operations at Fulcrum Therapeutics, where she leads global clinical trials in rare disease, currently focusing on Sickle Cell Disease. She has more than a decade of experience leading trials across oncology, rare disease, and CNS, from early phase studies through large-scale Phase 3 development.

Her career in clinical research began at an independent research site where she managed patients across more than 40 Phase II–IV psychiatric and neurological trials. Early experience working directly with patients shaped a career-long conviction that quality and integrity in clinical operations are not compliance obligations, they are the way to honor the people who trust you with their health.

She has since led clinical trials at companies including Pharmacyclics, Loxo Oncology at Lilly, Summit Therapeutics, Mersana Therapeutics, and Fulcrum Therapeutics, spanning Phase I-III across more than 30 countries. She has built inspection-ready programs and quality-first cultures across lean teams with direct experience in FDA BIMO preparation, mock inspections, regulatory authority interactions, clinical supply strategy, and the full lifecycle of outsourced trial execution across global programs.

She is a passionate advocate for patient-centered clinical operations, not as a value statement but as a practical leadership model that makes programs run better, teams work smarter, and data speak more clearly.

Her work has been published and presented at ASCO, ASH, and the Global Congress on Sickle Cell Disease.