Robert Hilkert

Therapeutic Area Lead - Cardiovascular, Global Medical Affairs, Merck

Bob has a lifelong passion for raising awareness and treating cardiovascular diseases. He received his MD from the University of Toledo, trained in Clinical Cardiology at Boston University, and completed a Research Fellowship in molecular cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. After nearly 10 years on the faculty at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, his first industry position was at Pfizer, where he served as a Regional Medical Research Specialist and US Medical Director supporting torcetrapib, Lipitor, and Norvasc.

He joined Novartis in 2007 as a Medical Director in the US Clinical Development and Medical Affairs division, focusing on hypertension and atherosclerosis. Bob held multiple roles of increasing responsibility, including Vice President of US Medical Affairs for the Cardiovascular and Respiratory Franchise, where he oversaw the launch of Entrestro and served on the Worldwide Franchise Leadership Team. He also pioneered the launch of the Cardiovascular Local Program Team to provide pre-launch medical affairs plans for Phase II and III products. In 2016, he moved to a Global Clinical Development role as the Global Program Medical Director for the Phase III Canakinumab Anti-inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study (CANTOS), a 10,000-patient event-driven trial. Bob provided medical oversight to interdepartmental teams, investigator sites, and vendors, and authored the clinical components of regulatory dossiers and submissions for worldwide regulatory registrations and follow-up activities.

In May 2019, Bob joined Merck & Co. as the Therapeutic Area Lead, Cardiovascular for Global Medical Affairs based in Rahway, New Jersey. In this role, he leads a team focused on supporting the cardiovascular portfolio, including heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, thrombosis, and lipid disorders. Bob remains a volunteer faculty member for Robert Wood Johnson, Rutgers Medical School, and continues to support numerous non-profit agencies within Northern and Central New Jersey. He recently stepped down from serving as the Chairman of the American Heart Association Northern New Jersey Regional Board of Directors.