Joseph Romanelli is president, Human Health International for Merck. He has P&L responsibility for Merck’s 75-plus markets outside of the U.S. and leads a team of 14,000 colleagues.  

From 2021 to mid-2022, Joseph served as chief executive officer of JiXing Pharmaceuticals, a China-based biopharmaceutical company.

Prior to JiXing, Joseph served in a variety of strategic and operational roles with increasing responsibility at Merck and Schering-Plough for 25 years. He led Merck’s business in China from 2016 through 2021. During his tenure in China, Merck became the second largest multi-national pharmaceutical company by revenue in the market, as well as the second largest subsidiary for the company globally. Joseph’s previous roles at Merck include serving as chief of staff to the president of Human Health and managing the Human Health business for multiple markets in Asia Pacific. In addition, he led the Investor Relations team at Merck.

Joseph received his undergraduate degree from the University of Delaware and his master’s in Business Administration from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Management.

Chirfi Guindo is executive vice president, Strategic Access, Policy & Communications, and a member of the company’s executive team. In this role, Chirfi is responsible for the company’s global policy, pricing and access strategies, ensuring strong alignment and integration between strategy and execution, and delivery of impact for our stakeholders and our company in the U.S. and globally. 

Chirfi previously led the development and implementation of the company’s strategy for the Human Health portfolio as senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Human Health. He brings deep experience across commercial disciplines, international policy and global patient access to his current role and is recognized for developing strong talent and forging innovative public-private partnerships that expand access to Merck medicines and innovations—ultimately elevating Merck’s profile as a patient-focused company. 

From 2017 to 2022, Chirfi was executive vice president and head of global product strategy and commercialization at Biogen and before this, spent more than 25 years with Merck. During this tenure, Chirfi held positions of increasing responsibility in finance, commercial, marketing strategy and P&L. Notably, he led global marketing for Merck’s HIV portfolio, as well as the company’s Human Health businesses in Canada, the Netherlands and South Africa. 

In 2024 he was elected to the board of Beam Therapeutics, a biotech company pioneering the development of base editing to address genetic diseases. 

Chirfi is a graduate of Ecole Centrale de Paris (France) with a degree in engineering and has a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University’s Stern School of Business. 

Experience

Mr. Baker has wide-ranging expertise in corporate governance and general and organizational management, including a deep understanding of global marketing, sales and operations of public companies. Mr. Baker is a Founding Partner of E2SG Partners, a company that invests in environmentally sustainable technologies. Previously, Mr. Baker was Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Ecolab Inc., a provider of water and hygiene services and technologies for the food, hospitality, industrial and energy markets. Mr. Baker is also a Trustee of Mayo Clinic as well as a member of the Board of Target Corporation, serving as Target Corporation’s Lead Independent Director from 2015 to 2021. This directorship along with his experience at Ecolab and his previous directorship at U.S. Bancorp provide him with deep experience on governance issues facing large public companies.

Career highlights

E2SG Partners

• Founding Partner (2022-Present)

Ecolab Inc.

• Executive Chairman (2021-2022)
• Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (2006-2020)
• Chief Executive Officer (2004-2006)

Jannie Oosthuizen leads Merck’s global oncology business and holds P&L responsibility for U.S. Oncology and Merck’s 75-plus markets outside of the U.S., driving the company’s continued leadership in oncology and overseeing commercial execution at the market level across the full human health portfolio. He has extensive global marketing expertise and proven commercial results in oncology markets in the U.S. and around the world. Jannie most recently served as president, Merck Human Health U.S. where he oversaw P&L, strategy and commercialization for Merck’s broad portfolio in the U.S.  

Jannie joined the company in 2014 to lead the Human Health oncology business in Asia Pacific and Latin America, then led Merck’s business in Japan from 2016 to 2020, and then led Global Marketing for Oncology. In each of these roles, Jannie successfully created and implemented new strategies and innovative commercial models that delivered strong, leveraged growth and established Merck as a leading business in those markets and therapeutic areas. 

Jannie has deep experience in a broad range of global markets and therapeutic areas, and in building and leading high-performing teams. Prior to Merck, Jannie spent 21 years at Eli Lilly in a wide range of commercial and marketing roles with increasing responsibility. He began his career with Eli Lilly in 1993 in his home country of South Africa. Jannie is a pharmacist by training and graduated from North-West University in South Africa. He has lived and worked in six countries spanning five continents with his wife and three children. 

Caroline Litchfield is executive vice president and chief financial officer for Merck, responsible for the company’s finance, procurement and real estate operations. 

Prior to this role, Caroline served as the company’s treasurer, a position that included responsibility for treasury, tax and investor relations. From 2014 to 2018, Caroline led finance for Human Health, the company’s largest business, overseeing financial operations and reporting in approximately 100 markets.

Previously, Caroline was the vice president and finance lead for the company’s Emerging Markets region when it was established in 2009 following the merger of Merck and Schering-Plough and was instrumental in integrating the two companies. She joined Merck in 1990 in its U.K. business and has held a wide range of positions of increasing responsibility in the company’s country, regional and global finance functions.

In June 2024, Caroline was elected to the board of directors for Verizon, the world’s second-largest telecommunications company by revenue.

Caroline received her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Leicester and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Dean Li serves as executive vice president and president of Merck Research Laboratories. He leads the company’s worldwide human vaccines and therapeutics research and development organization.

Since joining Merck in 2017, Li has held leadership roles in the translational medicine and discovery functions and was appointed to president, Merck Research Laboratories in January 2021.

Prior to joining Merck, Li held positions of increasing responsibility in translational medical research at the University of Utah. Most recently he served as the H.A. & Edna Benning Professor of Medicine and Cardiology, chief scientific officer, associate vice president and vice dean at the University of Utah Health System. From 2015 to 2016, he also served as interim CEO of Associated Regional University Pathologists, one of the United States’ largest clinical reference laboratories. During his tenure at the University of Utah, he co-founded several biotechnology companies based upon research conducted in his laboratory, including Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Hydra Biosciences and Navigen Pharmaceuticals.    

Li received his Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago and his graduate and clinical training at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Li is a cardiologist, a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.