Professor Maria Belvisi FERS

Professor Maria Belvisi is Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Early Development, Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmune (RIA), BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca and is responsible for the basic science from initiation of projects to Phase 3 clinical trials. Maria joined AZ from Imperial College London (ICL) in late 2017 and retains her professorial status. Her research has focused on respiratory disease. She was a Wellcome Trust (WT) Career Development Fellow and now holds a Joint WT Investigator award which supports her academic studies at Imperial. Working for Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi) and in collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, earlier in her career, she was instrumental in the development of marketed drugs ciclesonide (ALVESCO) for treating asthma and tiotropium (SPIRIVA) for COPD. Maria has >220 publications and has been on the editorial board of many journals. She has been recognised for her strong advocacy for women with the following prizes (Women in Inflammation Science, 2009; AstraZeneca Women in Pharmacology Prize, 2011). She is an elected Fellow of the European Respiratory Society and the Academy of Medical Science.