Executive Director
Pfizer Inc
Disclosure(s): Pfizer: Salaried employee, Stocks/Bonds (Public Company)
Iona Munjal, MD FAAP, is an Executive Director in Pfizer Vaccine Clinical Research and Development. A board certified pediatric infectious diseases physician and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, she is a graduate of Georgetown University and Rutgers Medical School. She did her residency and chief residency in pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital. She followed that with a fellowship in infectious diseases at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore where she was awarded the best scientific research abstract by the New York Infectious Diseases Society. Dr. Munjal worked in hospital administration in epidemiology and emerging infectious diseases, including the health system’s response to Ebola and Zika viruses. She founded and oversaw the hospital’s pediatric antimicrobial stewardship program which seeks to promote sensible use to improve patient outcomes, decrease adverse events, and prevent the emergence of resistant pathogens. As an assistant professor for pediatrics, she is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, and she served as a principal investigator in multiple anti-infective and vaccine clinical trials during her tenure in academia. At Pfizer, Iona has contributed to vaccine clinical trials in all stages of vaccine development from phase 0 to licensure. She has provided trial design and overall strategy to several large global assets for Pfizer, including Staphylococcus aureus, group B streptococcus, and COVID-19 pediatric vaccine programs. She currently leads Pfizer’s RSV vaccine programs, including the recently licensed Abryzvo vaccine.