Medtronic Plc, a leading global health technology company that “boldly” tackles the most challenging health issues facing humanity, recently announced the appointment of Lidia Fonseca, Executive Vice President, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Pfizer, to its Board as independent director.

Fonseca, who is also part of the Compensation and Science and Technology committees, has more than 30 years of experience on innovation in health care. Through her current role, she is in charge of the development and implementation of Pfizer's digital strategy, and is responsible for Pfizer Learning and Development and Business Process Excellence.

"We are thrilled to welcome Lidia to Medtronic's Board of Directors. She has an impressive history of developing digital healthcare solutions that deliver powerful insights to improve patients' lives. Her extensive knowledge and expertise will provide the Board with an important dimension and a tremendously valuable perspective as we drive toward our bold ambition to become the global leader in healthcare technology,” said Geoff Martha, Medtronic chairman and chief executive officer.

Lidia Fonseca's Career

Fonseca has stood out for leading several innovative initiatives, among which the digitization of drug discovery and development, the optimization of health outcomes and patient experiences through the services provided, medicines, and digital diagnoses, stand out. Also, due to the programs she has implemented, progress in operational processes has been accelerated through automation and robotics, while providing better decision-making thanks to advanced artificial intelligence analytics.

Recently, Fonseca led Pfizer's critical efforts to accelerate the development of a COVID-19 vaccine in less than a year, including creating an advanced analytics platform that combines data and tools from the company and its external partners to model scientific and clinical decisions, patterns, and insights.

Prior to her current role, she served as Senior Vice President and CIO at Quest, the world's leading provider of diagnostic information services, where she was responsible for technology, informatics, and digital solutions. Prior to that, she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Labcorp.

Fonseca, who is a member of the US-Japan Business Council, is also on the Board of Directors of Tegna, Inc. She was previously a member of the Board of Directors of Gannet, Inc, and Q2 Solutions, a joint venture between Quest Diagnostics and IQVIA.

Acknowledgments

Among the distinctions that Fonseca has, the following stand out:

• Selection to the 2022 Forbes CIO Next List, which recognizes the top 50 technology leaders who are redefining the role of the CIO and driving breakthrough innovation.
• One of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas in 2020 and 2021 by the Association of Latino Professionals for America.
• 2020 Healthcare Influencer and 2019 Healthcare Transformer by Medical, Marketing & Media.
• She was on ALPFA's 2020 and 2021 list of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas.
• Forbes' 2017 CIO Innovation Award.

About Medtronic

Medtronic Plc, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is the world's leading health technology company uniting a global team of more than 95,000 people in 150 countries.

Its innovative technologies and therapies treat 70 health conditions and include cardiac devices, surgical robotics, insulin pumps, surgical tools, patient monitoring systems, and more.