Hyderabad: GVK Biosciences, a leading contract research organization, Tuesday announced the appointment of Tarun Khanna, a Harvard Business School (HBS) professor, to its board of directors.

Khanna is the Jorge Paulo Lemann professor at the HBS, where he has been a member of the strategy group since 1993, said a company statement here.

Serving on the advisory boards of several multinational and emerging market companies in the financial services, automotive, life sciences and agribusiness sectors, Khanna has experience in a wide variety of industries.

He was nominated a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2007.

"We are very excited that Tarun has joined our board of directors. His vast experience in global strategy and understanding of the emerging markets will facilitate GVK Bio to grow to the next level," said D.S.Brar, chairman of GVK Biosciences.

"I am pleased to join the GVK Biosciences board of directors at this exciting time of the company and industry and I look forward to this association," said Khanna.

GVK Biosciences delivers integrated research services to big pharma and biotech companies globally. The company has more than 1,300 employees in its facilities in Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Gurgaon.