Fernando Bognar has excelled as a medical professional, holding various positions within the biopharmaceutical industry. In 2020, he joined Gilead Sciences as Vice President, Global Medical Affairs HIV. This followed his tenure as the Global Medical Affairs Director lead for HIV at Merck & Co, where he played a pivotal role in product launches, medical affairs planning, early-access programmes, data generation and publications. Fernando’s contributions at Merck extended to diverse areas, including serving as the viral hepatitis Regional Director Medical Affairs for the Asia Pacific/China region and the US Medical Affairs Strategy Lead for antibiotics and antifungals.
In his current role, Fernando leads Gilead’s HIV Global Medical Affairs team with a focus on HIV treatment, prevention and cure. His responsibilities include strategic planning, Phase 4 research, medical education and advancing partnerships with external stakeholders with the objective of improving outcomes for communities most impacted by HIV. Fernando also led Gilead’s Global Medical Affairs team for COVID-19 during the crucial pandemic years of 2021-2022.
Fernando obtained his medical degree from the Universidad del Salvador and completed his residency training and infectious diseases fellowship at esteemed institutions in Miami and Chicago. Throughout his career, Fernando has demonstrated versatility and a collaborative approach to addressing some of the world’s most challenging viruses by working across non-governmental organizations, community medical centres, and both the public and private sectors. Notably, earlier in his career, Fernando served as the Medical Director at the American Refugee Committee/UNHCR Hospital in Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, contributed to HIV public health programmes in Hong Kong, and collaborated with the Hong Kong Scientific Committee on AIDS and STI to enhance HIV care in the region.