Purdue and Elanco are partnering to unite human, animal and plant health

Two Indiana powerhouses partner to build the future of health — for all

This story highlights one of the many ways Purdue teams up with corporate partners to create solutions for complex global challenges. Learn how your organization can collaborate with us.

The air we breathe, the food we eat, the pets we love — all of it changes us.  

Purdue scientists, in partnership with Elanco Animal Health, are uncovering how these invisible connections form the ecosystems we carry within us and define true health — not just for humans, but for every living thing. 

This interconnected approach is called One Health: the idea that human, animal and plant health are deeply intertwined. In other words, the same forces shaping our own internal microbiomes are influencing livestock, crops and entire ecosystems across the world.

If you’ve ever wondered why seasonal allergies hit harder in one city than another or why growing up with pets affects your immune system, you’re already thinking like a One Health scientist. 

But no single person — or institution — can trace all the ways our environments shape our health. Making sense of those connections takes partners who see health from different vantage points. That’s where Purdue and Elanco come together.

A shared vision for One Health 

Through its One Health strategic initiative, Purdue is driving discovery and economic growth across four strengths: top-ranked academic programs, world-changing research, advanced facilities and powerful industry partnerships — including a transformative relationship with Elanco. 

That momentum now expands into Indianapolis, where Purdue and Elanco are developing the One Health Innovation District, anchored by Elanco’s new global headquarters on the White River and Purdue’s vast presence in the state’s capital. The One Health Innovation District is designed to be a unique ecosystem of support for innovators to catalyze and speed new ideas through development. It’s built on 4-pillars: 

• Research Institute: A shared-use facility will provide offices, wet labs and incubators that support collaborative research and rapid scientific translation across microbiome science, computational biology, comparative genomics and livestock sustainability, as examples.  
• Scale-Up Manufacturing: A dedicated scale-up studio will bridge research and commercial production, helping innovators overcome manufacturing barriers and bring new ideas to market.  
• OneHealth Venture Studio: The OneHealth Studio — launched by Alloy Partners and Elanco — will unite researchers, investors, corporate partners and entrepreneurs to create and scale new One Health startups in Indiana.  
• On-site Veterinary Clinic: An on-site veterinary clinic will offer real-world validation and application, serving as a flagship destination for One Health innovation. 

With leading biotech companies in animal, human and plant health already clustered downtown, Indianapolis offers a rare environment where public, private, government and academic partners can work in sync. 

“Indiana has a rich history in life sciences, manufacturing and innovation,” says Jeff Simmons, president and CEO of Elanco. “As home to life science leaders like Elanco, Eli Lilly and Company, Corteva Agriscience and Purdue to name a few, Indianapolis is ripe with talent and industry leaders, which is paving the way for the future economy of Indiana.” 

Simmons envisions a “One Health economy” taking shape downtown — a model where universities, industry and the state move together to accelerate discovery and opportunity. 

“Purdue has always been proud to partner with Elanco to advance our shared goals in health and innovation for our state,” says Purdue President Mung Chiang. “Working alongside companies such as Eli Lilly and Corteva Agriscience, our outstanding faculty and students advance One Health — the intersection of human, animal and plant health, especially in the One Health Innovation District in Indianapolis.” 

“What we’re creating sets Indiana apart: a global node for One Health convergence and collaborative research that has never been explored at this scale — until now,” Simmons says. 

Curiosity can’t drive every single innovation. Industry could not have done what they did without the knowledge we generated. Our knowledge could not have had an impact without industry.

Ramaswamy Subramanian

Professor of biological sciences and biomedical engineering, director of the Bindley Bioscience Center

Translating ideas into impact 

Breakthroughs in animal, plant and human health usually begin in the lab, but turning those breakthroughs into solutions requires a different brand of expertise. 

Pairing Purdue’s research excellence with Elanco’s real-world development expertise initiates innovation at a pace neither could muster on their own. Each partner strengthens the other — and breakthroughs reach the world faster because of it. 

“By combining Elanco’s market insight, commercialization expertise and infrastructure with Purdue’s cutting-edge research and talent pipeline, we create a partnership that accelerates innovation from concept to impact,” says Tim Bettington, Elanco’s executive vice president of corporate strategy and market development. 

Ramaswamy Subramanian, professor of biological sciences and biomedical engineering and director of the Bindley Bioscience Center, explains that innovation usually occurs through one of two distinct approaches.  

First is the traditional academic approach, focused primarily on the generation of knowledge, followed by attempts to apply that knowledge with real-world solutions.  

However, the second approach identifies a real-world problem, then works to develop innovations to solve it. This approach is what makes the Purdue-Elanco partnership so effective. 

“Curiosity can’t drive every single innovation,” Subramanian says. “Industry could not have done what they did without the knowledge we generated. Our knowledge could not have had an impact without industry.” 

The shared space in Indianapolis strengthens this feedback loop, helping ideas move from concept to clinical trials far more quickly. “Because of this, I would see the impact of my science in my lifetime,” Subramanian says. 

“Academic researchers often make fundamental discoveries whether about molecules, disease, etc.,” says Daniel Golden, Elanco’s vice president and global head of research, discovery and breakthrough innovation. “Corporate scientists, with their focus on application and commercialization, are adept at taking these basic discoveries and translating them into practical solutions, products or therapies.”  

Preparing tomorrow’s One Health leaders 

Purdue is already a leading source of One Health talent, and new degree programs are expanding that pipeline even further. The new biomolecular design and radiopharmaceutical manufacturing programs align with emerging workforce needs in Indianapolis and across the country. 

To continue pushing the field forward, Purdue is hiring a dozen new faculty in One Health clusters, with strengths spanning integrated health, pharmaceutical manufacturing, advanced chemistry, drug discovery, radiopharmaceuticals and AI-driven biomolecular design. 

Purdue has also launched GEM-AI, a new research area in genomics, multiomics and AI that unites researchers exploring how genes, molecules and systems interact to shape health and disease. The new research area analyzes massive biological datasets using AI to detect patterns and relationships that humans might otherwise miss.

Why One Health matters to you and me 

One Health reveals deep health-related connections across our families, our pets, the food we eat, the air we breathe and the environments we encounter every day. 

“We did not evolve independent of each other,” Subramanian says. “To assume that changes in plants or the agricultural ecosystem doesn’t affect us or vice versa is untrue.” 

Studying diseases across different species can reveal clues we’d never find by looking at humans alone. For example, many animals develop the same diseases humans do, but their genetic diversity compared to humans makes it easier to pinpoint the genes that make someone more likely to be diagnosed with a condition like breast cancer. These findings can lead to better treatments for both humans and animals. 

Our microbiome also links us to the world in which we live. Trillions of microorganisms live on and inside us, and our environments — from the region where we live to the people and pets surrounding us — shape the microbial communities that influence how we think, feel and behave. 

“This means human health can’t be studied in isolation,” Subramanian says. “It’s deeply tied to the animals, plants and environments around us. That’s the essence of the One Health approach Purdue and Elanco are advancing together.”

What we’re creating sets Indiana apart: a global node for One Health convergence and collaborative research that has never been explored at this scale — until now.”

Jeff Simmons
President and CEO of Elanco