Guadalupe Hayes-Mota is the director of the Bioethics Program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, where he leads the Health Care Ethics Internship and advances work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and health equity.
Hayes-Mota’s career has been shaped by his experience as a child diagnosed with a rare disease in his native Mexico, where he was unable to access life-saving medicine, leading him to move to the United States in search of healthcare.
He is the founder and former CEO of Healr Solutions, an AI-powered company that optimized global drug distribution and manufacturing. Under his leadership, the company scaled its impact across 43 countries before being successfully acquired by investors. Hayes-Mota previously held executive roles as chief supply chain officer at Biogen, Amgen, and GSK, overseeing complex global operations that ensured the delivery of life-saving medicines to billions of patients across 113 countries. Early in his career, he led the largest free health care system in the United States at UCLA Health.
In public policy, Hayes-Mota played a key role in shaping the Affordable Care Act as part of the Obama administration, working with the RAND Corporation. He currently serves on the NIH Cures Acceleration Network Review Board, appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and advises the European Commission, OpenAI, and the World Economic Forum on global biotech and health care policy.
An accomplished educator, Hayes-Mota was previously a senior lecturer and Practitioner-in-Residence at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he designed and taught The Ethics of Biopharmaceuticals, mentoring future leaders to navigate the ethical complexities of drug development and patient access.
He serves on the boards of Fenway Health, Save One Life, the MIT Alumni Association, the NIH, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His thought leadership has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, MIT Technology Review, Business Insider, STAT, and The Bridge (National Academy of Engineering).
Hayes-Mota has been recognized by Business Insider as one of six powerful LGBTQ+ executives to have on corporate boards and by PharmaVoice as one of the 100 Most Inspiring and Influential People in the life sciences industry.
He holds dual bachelor of science degrees in chemistry and literature, a master of science in AI engineering systems, and an MBA, all from MIT, as well as a master of public administration from Harvard University.
He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Engineering in AI and Machine Learning at George Washington University, with research focused on AI in drug development.