As Chief Scientific Officer, President, Pfizer Research & Development, Mikael Dolsten focuses on advancing Pfizer’s scientific breakthrough leadership in small-molecule medicines, biotherapeutics, gene therapies, and vaccines. He is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and the company’s Portfolio Management Team, which governs major pipeline investments and strategic end-to-end R&D priorities. 

Mikael leads Pfizer Research & Development, focused on discovery and early- and late-stage clinical development for Vaccines, Inflammation and Immunology, Internal Medicine, and Infectious Diseases, as well as Non-Malignant Hematology and Rare Neuromuscular Diseases. Mikael also oversees medical, safety, and regulatory support for the entire pipeline and all commercially available medicines and vaccines, pharmaceutical sciences, and external science and innovation. 

Prior to joining Pfizer in 2009, Mikael was President of Wyeth Research, where he led scientists involved in all R&D/Medical activities across the US, Europe, and Asia. Before that, Mikael served as Executive Vice President and Head of Worldwide Research for Boehringer Ingelheim from 2003-2008.

Mikael earned his PhD in tumor immunology and MD from the University of Lund in Sweden, where he was Adjunct Professor in Tumor Immunology and is a Visiting Professor to advise on science and technology strategies. He is a member of the boards of Agilent Technologies, Research!America, and Vimian. Additionally, Mikael is a member of the Board of Overseers for the Scripps Research Institute and a Foreign Member of The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. Since 2014, Mikael has co-chaired the Accelerating Medicines Partnership with National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director, Francis S. Collins, and now with Principal Deputy Director, Lawrence Tabak. Mikael advised the Obama Administration on regulatory and drug development issues, as well as then Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative to accelerate cancer research. Mikael serves on the PhRMA Research & Development Leadership Forum and, until late 2022, served on the PhRMA Foundation Board of Directors. Through 2019, Mikael was a council member of the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable. 

Mikael is a named inventor on several patents and has published approximately 150 articles in international journals, with contributions in molecular cell biology, immunology, and oncology.