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ELC Appoints New Chief Research & Innovation Officer

Lammers will lead product and clinical innovation, scientific affairs, regulatory strategy, and advance ELC’s high-touch innovation model.

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By: Rachel Klemovitch

Assistant Editor

The Estée Lauder Companies appointed René Lammers, Ph.D., as Executive Vice President, Chief Research & Innovation Officer, effective October 1, 2025. Lammers will report directly to Stéphane de La Faverie, President and CEO, and will join the company’s Executive Team.

In this position, Lammers will lead the evolution of The Estée Lauder Companies’ global Research & Innovation capabilities, including product and clinical innovation, scientific affairs, regulatory strategy, and upstream technologies across the company’s brand portfolio.

de La Faverie commented,

“René is an exceptional and innovative leader whose deep scientific expertise, global perspective, and passion for cutting-edge product development will be instrumental as we transform our approach to research and innovation to more fully align with our focus on consumer centricity.”

Lammers will oversee the company’s Research and Innovation Centers worldwide and place a focus on delivering fast-to-market, on-trend innovation across in-demand subcategories, benefits, and occasions. 

He will also advance collaborations with leading global scientific and academic institutions, and drive further external innovation with strategic partners, particularly in critical areas like biotechnology and longevity science.

de La Faverie added, 

 “Creating transformative innovation is integral to our strategic vision of Beauty Reimagined, and with René’s leadership, we are elevating our capabilities to deliver even more breakthrough new products as well as on-trend innovation more quickly across prestige price tiers.”

With nearly 30 years of experience, Lammers brings a blend of deep scientific expertise with a passion for serving consumers, making him an ideal leader to Create Transformative Innovation, which is one of the action plan priorities of Beauty Reimagined. 

His consumer-first mindset and proven ability to develop and scale global innovations will help unlock new growth across categories and channels while reinforcing its legacy of scientific excellence and consumer trust.

Lammers joins ELC from PepsiCo, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer. 

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