Medtronic has announced that Laura Mauri has been appointed as the company’s chief scientific, medical and regulatory officer. This appointment adds to Mauri’s prior responsibilities as chief clinical and regulatory officer, aligning and integrating the company’s scientific, medical, clinical research and regulatory affairs under her leadership, according to a Medtronic press release.
It also intends to leverage her deep expertise and understanding of the interaction between patients and medical technology to accelerate innovation that puts patients first, the release states. Mauri will continue to serve as a member of the Medtronic Executive Committee as well.
“With this appointment, we are enabling a patient-centred approach to healthcare technology innovation at every stage of the product lifecycle,” said Geoff Martha, chairman and CEO, Medtronic. “Dr Mauri’s expertise and leadership connects medical and scientific intelligence, ensuring we have a clear appraisal of the medical and scientific landscape as we make investment decisions, and helping to deliver effective and reliable innovations for patients and healthcare providers.”
The release adds that priorities for Mauri include delivering a transformative approach to both patient safety and patient engagement. She recently hired Olaf Hedrich—a patient safety, risk and analytics industry expert—to serve as the company’s chief medical safety officer, responsible for leading an independent medical safety organisation that will provide expert input to assure patients safety and quality across Medtronic products.
Mauri will also lead the integration of robust and independent medical expertise into the company’s business processes, including investment decisions, business development, exploration of therapeutic areas, and development of novel technologies.
“Medtronic is fortunate to have world-leading experts across diverse scientific and medical fields who provide unique insights and breakthrough discoveries,” said Mauri. “I am excited to integrate this expertise across our company, to connect technology innovation with better health outcomes for patients. A strong scientific and patient-centred mindset across all stages of device development will enable innovation that saves and improves lives.”
Prior to joining Medtronic, Mauri was a practising interventional cardiologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA for 15 years, and an internationally renowned investigator and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She succeeds Richard Kuntz as chief medical and scientific officer, who previously announced his retirement, effective 29 April.
