Maria Rivas, M.D.

Dr. Rivas currently serves as Global Chief Medical Affairs Officer and Head, Evidence Generation for Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE: PFE). Until September 2022, she served as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for the healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (which operates as EMD Serono in the US and Canada) where she led the Global Pharmacovigilance, Medical Affairs and Evidence and Value Development (HEOR) teams in over 90 countries. Dr. Rivas has extensive experience in driving growth and commercialization strategies, global operations, digital transformation, and crisis and risk management in highly regulated industries.

Prior to that, Dr. Rivas served as Senior Vice President of Global Medical Affairs at Merck & Co (MSD), as Vice President of Global Medical Affairs at Abbvie, as Vice President of Oncology, General Medicine and Diagnostic Imaging Medical Affairs at Bayer Healthcare, and in various roles at Eli Lilly including Head of US Women’s Health Medical Affairs. Before joining Eli Lilly, Dr. Rivas was in private practice as an endocrinologist in Puerto Rico. 

Dr. Rivas obtained a BA in Biochemistry from Brandeis University, Waltham, MA and an MD from Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Endocrinology at NY-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY. Dr. Rivas is board certified in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. 

Dr. Rivas served as a director for Medidata (NASDAQ: MDSO), a public, mid-cap health technology company, until its successful merger with Dassault Systèmes. She served as a member of the audit and compensation committees for Medidata.