Emilio A. Emini, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Vaccine Research at Pfizer Inc., a position into which he transitioned subsequent to Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in late 2009. Dr. Emini joined Wyeth as Executive Vice President of Vaccine Research and Development in November 2005. At Wyeth, he led the R&D efforts that resulted in licensure of our second-generation vaccine for the prevention of pneumococcal disease.
Dr. Emini joined the pharmaceutical industry in 1983 at the Merck Research Laboratories where he led the biological research that resulted in the development of one of the first highly active antiretroviral therapies for the treatment of HIV infection. As head of vaccine research at Merck, he participated in a number of vaccine development programs, including those that resulted in the licensure of the human papillomavirus and human rotavirus vaccines. Prior to joining Wyeth, Dr. Emini also served as Senior Vice President of Vaccine Development at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.
Dr. Emini is also an Adjunct Professor of Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In 2006, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Trustee of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. Dr. Emini received his Ph.D. in Microbiology, Genetics and Biochemistry from Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences and his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Manhattan College both in New York.
