Aida Habtezion

As Chief Medical Officer of Pfizer, Aida Habtezion leads Pfizer's Worldwide Medical & Safety organization responsible for ensuring that patients, physicians, and regulatory agencies are provided with information on the safe and appropriate use of Pfizer medications.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Habtezion was a practicing physician and scientist at Stanford University's School of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She is board certified in Gastroenterology in both Canada and the United States. She led a large translation research lab funded by multiple NIH, DOD, and foundation grants focused on understanding disease mechanisms and identifying potential immune-based therapeutic targets for pancreatic and intestinal inflammatory diseases and their long term complications such as cancer. Her research also included understanding the effect of environmental factors such as cigarette smoke and interaction of immune-enteric nervous system in GI motility disorders and authored over a hundred high impact publications in top peer-reviewed journals. She also served as an Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, a faculty member in Stanford's Immunology Ph.D. program, Neuroscience Institute, Cancer Institute, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute, interdisciplinary biosciences institute Bio-X, and faculty fellow at Stanford's ChEM-H (Chemistry, Engineering & Medicine for Human Health). Dr. Habtezion served in several national and international study sections, including six years in NIH study section, American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute Research Awards and AGA Research Policy Committee. Dr. Habtezion is the recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Award, Gastroenterology & Hepatology Teaching Award, the Immunology Faculty Mentor of the Year, and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation Synergy Award. She is a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association, an Allen Distinguished Investigator, elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and the Association of American Physicians (AAP). She currently serves in The New York Academy of Sciences Board of Governors, as Executive Board member for the International Science Reserve, and is the American Pancreas Association (APA) President.

Dr. Habtezion is a tenured and endowed Professor of Medicine, currently on a leave of absence from Stanford University.

Dr. Habtezion obtained her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Alberta and Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Guelph. She completed her medical degree from McMaster University. Dr. Habtezion completed her Internal Medicine residency from the University of Western Ontario and Gastroenterology & Hepatology clinical fellowship from the University of Toronto in Canada. Following her clinical fellowship training, she obtained postdoctoral research training in Immunology at Stanford University.