As With the COVID19 pandemic, CMOs have been seen in a diverse range of sectors, from food production to hospitality to sports and entertainment. The CMO role has traditionally been associated with the healthcare organizations in public and private sectors as well as in pharma and biotech. However, the pandemic called on all companies from food production, hospitality and in sports to take responsibilities for employee health that went far beyond the traditional general oversight and wellness.

It doesn't come as a surprise that the pandemic forced companies to consider appointing Medical Officers to senior executive ranks. The majority of companies had to create a brand new role to lead the pandemic response and address the needs of organizations to manage

global healthcare risks and exposures. As per the workforce analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies, Chief Medical Officer postings rose from 1,776 in 2019 to 2,109 in 2020 and these hiring trends are only going to continue to expand to most organizations.

The pandemic has made it painfully clear that we are not only dependent on and beholden to our employees, customers, and shareholders, but also to the countries and communities we operate in. CMOs are increasingly charged with synthesizing a wide array of information and data sources to help guide organizational strategy, from phased reopening of offices to employee benefit and health and wellness offerings.

Many are also establishing and maintaining open channels of communication with local public health officials to ensure alignment and avoid surprises. Clearly, we have been reminded that we are each part of a larger social and biological organism, deeply connected and interdependent and managing our collective health through and beyond this crisis is now all of our jobs. Celebrating some of the Chief Medical Officers who have been a torchbearer of change, in the current edition of CEO Insights Magazine, we bring to you `Top 10 Chief Medical Officers - 2021'. We are proud to feature some of their success stories in our current edition; do read to know more about them.

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