Sir Harpal Singh Kumar (born 1965) is a British medical researcher of Indian descent who had served as the chief executive officer of Cancer Research UK[1][2][3] from April 2008 until June 2018,[4] when he became Senior Vice President and Head of Innovation EMEA at Johnson & Johnson.

Later they moved to England from India, where his father was employed sweeping factory floors, before eventually starting his own grocery store.

[7][8] Kumar attended Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith before taking up a place to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge.

[11] In 1997 he founded Nexan Group, a venture capital-backed medical devices company.

He is also chairman of the Cancer Outcomes Strategy Advisory Group in England and co-chair of the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative,[10] the senior Senior Independent Director of Innovate UK and a board member of UK Research and Innovation.