Claire M. Wagner

As head of corporate strategy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, Claire M. Wagner, M.D., M.B.A., drives forward Gates MRI’s mission and vision, advising the CEO on enterprise-level strategy across a range of vantage points. Prior to her role as head of corporate strategy, Claire served as chief of staff.

Claire has led multi-country studies and consulted for industry and non-profit entities focused on enhancing global access to oncology products and services in low- and middle-income countries. Prior to joining Gates MRI, Claire worked in Mali and Tanzania between 2007 and 2009 and later served in Rwanda from 2010 to 2013 on a research team advancing large public sector health initiatives.

After returning to the United States, Claire coordinated a global effort led by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Union for International Cancer Control, resulting in the 16-drug expansion of the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines for cancer. As a research fellow of the Harvard-Dubai Center for Global Health Delivery in 2018-19, Claire was principal investigator on a study evaluating access to cancer diagnostics in the East African Community.

Claire is the recipient of The Commonwealth Institute’s 2021 Extraordinary Women Advancing Healthcare Award. She is an associate scientist in medicine in the Division of Global Health Equity at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is a co-author of more than 40 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, The Lancet, and The New England Journal of Medicine. Claire earned her M.D. from Harvard Medical School and her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where she was the Commencement Class Day Speaker.