Medtronic plc has appointed Laura Mauri, MD, MSc, as its chief Scientific, Medical and Regulatory officer. The appointment adds to Dr. 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. It leverages her deep expertise and understanding of the interaction between patients and medical technology to accelerate innovation that puts patients first. Dr. Mauri will also continue to serve as a member of the Medtronic Executive Committee.

“With this appointment, we’re enabling a patient-centered 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.”

Priorities for Dr. Mauri include delivering a transformative approach to both patient safety and patient engagement. She recently hired Olaf Hedrich, MD, BCh, 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 organization that will provide expert input to assure patients safety and quality across Medtronic products. She 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. I’m excited to integrate this expertise across our company, to connect technology innovation with better health outcomes for patients,” said Dr. Mauri. “A strong scientific and patient-centered mindset across all stages of device development will enable innovation that saves and improves lives.”

Dr. Mauri joined Medtronic in September 2018 and became a member of the company’s Executive Committee in August 2020. In her time with the company, she has provided innovative leadership to trial design and data science, created new evidence pathways, provided medical and scientific input to investment decisions, delivered leadership to patient safety, and sponsored regulatory advances that have positively impacted patients worldwide. 

Prior to joining Medtronic, Dr. Mauri was a practicing interventional cardiologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital for 15 years and an internationally renowned investigator and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Mauri succeeds Richard Kuntz, MD, MSc, as Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, who previously announced his retirement, effective April 29.

Medtronic chief scientific officer