InnoCentive, an e-business venture of Eli Lilly and Company has formed an India Advisory Board to expand its association with leading Indian scientific organizations. The four member advisory board is to consult with InnoCentive's senior management team to enhance global research and development (R&D) initiatives in India.

The advisory board consists of Professor M.M. Sharma, Fellow of The Royal Society, United Kingdom, Dr. S. Sivaram, Director, National Chemical Laboratory, Dr. A.V. Rama Rao, Chairman and Managing Director of AVRA Laboratories and Dr. S. Ranganathan, emeritus scientist, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology.

"The creation of the India Advisory Board underscores InnoCentive's commitment to India as an integral component of our worldwide scientific community," said Darren Carroll, president and CEO, InnoCentive. "The members of our Advisory Board are well recognized leaders in corporate, academic and government R&D laboratories. These advisors will play key roles as InnoCentive continues to grow the world's largest virtual laboratory where scientists, regardless of their location, nationality or title, are rewarded for their scientific ingenuity," stated a press release.

"One year ago, InnoCentive announced its relationship with CSIR in New Delhi enabling scientists from India's largest R&D organization to work on InnoCentive Challenges," said Ali Hussein, vice president, Marketing, InnoCentive. "It is through relationships with leading institutions like CSIR and universities around the globe that InnoCentive is establishing itself as a destination where top minds can compete for both intellectual and financial reward."

Launched in 2001, InnoCentive is an unbiased knowledge broker between major global companies and the worldwide scientific community, enabling them to collaborate and solve difficult R&D problems. To date, more than 25,000 scientists and researchers in 125 countries make up the InnoCentive community of registered "Solvers" who deliver solutions that best meet challenge requirements. Global leaders such as BASF, The Dow Chemical Company, Procter & Gamble and Syngenta are members of InnoCentive's Seeker Community. Award amounts for solved challenges range from USD $5,000-$100,000.

InnoCentive is the first online forum that allows world-class scientists and science-based companies to collaborate in a global scientific community to achieve innovative solutions to complex challenges.