Melissa Heidelberg, BS, MSBE

Melissa (Missy) Heidelberg, BS, MSBE is a Director of Bioethics at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. She received her Master’s in Bioethics from Columbia University. Missy has over 20 years of experience in life sciences and drug development and currently leads the strategy, evaluation, and integration of bioethics into policies, positions, processes, initiatives, and consultations. She chairs the Takeda Ethics Advisory Council, which brings together external ethics experts and internal senior leaders to develop ethical guidance for priority topics in bioethics, technology ethics, and responsible innovation. She represents Takeda in multiple industry and professional associations (e.g., Harvard MRCT, Bioethics International, IFPMA, and Innovative Health Initiative (IHI)) that promote bioethics and ethical behavior in life sciences. She is a mission-based, socially conscious bioethicist and change manager with a passion for evolving and implementing ethical frameworks to address emerging tensions at the intersection of bioethics, data ethics, digital/technology ethics, and policy in clinical research and drug development to benefit patients and society.