Anne Klibanski

Anne Klibanski
Born1951 (age 74–75)
EducationBarnard College (BA)
New York University (MD)
AwardsClinical Investigator Award (Endocrine Society)
Clinical Endocrinology Trust Medal (Society for Endocrinology)
Scientific career
FieldsEndocrinology
Neuroendocrinology
WorkplacesHarvard Medical School
Mass General Brigham
Massachusetts General Hospital

Anne Klibanski (born 1951) is an American endocrinologist and the Laurie Carrol Guthart Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She has been president and CEO of Mass General Brigham since 2019, becoming the first woman to lead the health system, Massachusetts's largest private employer. Previously, she spent decades on the faculty of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where she conducted research on hypopituitarism, pituitary tumors, and metabolic bone disease. In 1997, she became the first woman from MGH's Department of Medicine to be named a professor of medicine at Harvard.

As CEO, Klibanski's multimillion-dollar compensation has repeatedly drawn press scrutiny and criticism amid broader debate over executive pay in nonprofit healthcare. Her pay became a point of contention during 2025–2026 labor disputes between the health system and its nurses and resident physicians, including a July 2026 strike by Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses described as the largest nursing walkout in Massachusetts history.

Early life and education

Klibanski studied literature at Barnard College before earning a medical degree in 1975 from the Grossman School of Medicine at New York University (NYU). She completed an internal medicine residency at New York University in 1978, and completed fellowships in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1981.

Career

Academic and research career

Klibanski became chief of the Neuroendocrine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, studying hormones and neuroendocrinology with a focus on hypopituitarism and pituitary tumors. Her clinical research has also examined the effects of hypothalamic and pituitary disorders on body composition and bone density, including bone loss associated with anorexia nervosa and growth hormone deficiency. In 1997, Klibanski became the first woman from Mass General's Department of Medicine to become a professor of medicine at Harvard.

She has authored more than 350 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and has received the Endocrine Society Clinical Investigator Award and the Clinical Endocrinology Trust Medal from the Society for Endocrinology. Klibanski has served on the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Board of Counselors and the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and is a past president of the Pituitary Society. She established the Center for Faculty Development at Massachusetts General Hospital and mentored more than fifty women, for which she received the Endocrine Society's Outstanding Mentor Award.

Leadership at Partners HealthCare and Mass General Brigham

In 2012, she became Chief Academic Officer at Partners HealthCare System, overseeing roughly $1.7 billion in annual research funding across the system. She led an initiative reported to save $10 million annually in radiology programs and helped establish funding for a large biobank. After being named interim president and chief executive officer in February 2019, she was appointed president and CEO in June 2019, becoming the first woman to lead Massachusetts's largest private employer.

Klibanski serves as Harvard's academic dean for Mass General Brigham and is an ex officio member of its board. She also serves on the executive committee of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and on the board of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership. In January 2026, Klibanski was elected Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA).

Controversies

Executive compensation

Klibanski's compensation as CEO of Mass General Brigham has repeatedly drawn press coverage and criticism as part of broader debate over executive pay in nonprofit healthcare. Reporting on filings released in August 2025 found that Klibanski received $8.4 million in total compensation, making her the highest-paid hospital executive in Massachusetts that year. MGB board chair Scott Sperling defended the package, citing what he called her "clear-eyed leadership" through disruptive federal policy actions affecting research funding and an inpatient capacity crisis.

According to tax filings, Klibanski's total compensation increased to $6 million in 2022 at a time when compensation fell for several peer hospital CEOs in Massachusetts. More than half of the total was a $3.37 million bonus, 41 percent above her base salary. By contrast, the CEO of Beth Israel Lahey Health saw his pay fall 47 percent to $2.8 million in 2022, and the CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute earned $2.33 million, down 41 percent.

In 2025, Klibanski received nearly $9.2 million in total compensation, an increase of about 9 percent as compensation rose for most major Massachusetts health system executives. Mass General Brigham said her compensation ranked in the bottom third among chief executives of comparable nonprofit health systems nationally. The Committee of Interns and Residents, the union representing MGB's resident physicians and fellows, noted that her annual pay is 193 times that of the system's lowest-paid employee.

Role in protests and strikes

In March 2025, resident physicians and attending physicians picketed outside Massachusetts General Hospital, citing understaffing following layoffs carried out as part of a system-wide restructuring at Mass General Brigham. Klibanski said the decision had been reached by clinical, academic and administrative leaders across the system, and that the changes were intended to improve efficiency and preserve resources for patient care and future investment.

In July 2026, approximately 4,000 Brigham and Women’s Hospital nurses went on strike amid a contract dispute with Mass General Brigham over pay, staffing, and health insurance costs, the largest nursing strike in Massachusetts history. Klibanski's compensation was among the grievances cited by the Massachusetts Nurses Association during the dispute, which pointed to her high executive pay as emblematic of the union's objections to hospital wage offers. Klibanski did not participate directly in bargaining sessions, which were instead handled by board representatives.

Books

References

  1. ↑ "Anne Klibanski, MD". World Medical Innovation Forum. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  2. ↑ Shipon, Jacob Allen (August 2001). A Life of Optimal Well-Being: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your World of Infinite Emotional and Physical Well-Being. Seven Locks Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-929765-98-3. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Anne Klibanski, President and Chief Executive Officer | Mass General Brigham". www.massgeneralbrigham.org. Mass General Brigham. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  4. ↑ Goldberg, Carey (June 26, 2019). "Dr. Anne Klibanski Is First Woman To Lead Partners HealthCare". WBUR. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "ANNE KLIBANSKI, MD ? ENDOCRINE SOCIETY OUTSTANDING MENTOR AWARD". MGH NEPTCC-Bulletin. Massachusetts General Hospital. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 Bartlett, Jessica (August 15, 2025). "Mass. hospitals pushed executive pay to new heights in 2023. Here's how much CEOs made. - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 Hart, Isabel (August 15, 2025). "Hospital CEO pay in Mass. soars, despite financial pressures across healthcare". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Lee, Thomas (August 16, 2024). "2022 was a down year for hospital CEO pay — except for Mass General Brigham - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Massachusetts nurses strike Mass General Brigham in largest healthcare walkout in state history". World Socialist Web Site. July 9, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Partners HealthCare Names Klibanski President and CEO". www.massgeneralbrigham.org. June 25, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Dr. Anne Klibanski, MD – Boston, MA | Endocrinology on Doximity". Doximity. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  12. ↑ Stern, Theodore A.; Fava, Maurizio; Wilens, Timothy E.; Rosenbaum, Jerrold F. (April 9, 2015). Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. XV. ISBN 978-0-323-29507-9. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  13. ↑ Matfin, Glenn; Tritos, Nicholas A.; Klibanski, Anne (May 7, 2018). Endocrine and Metabolic Medical Emergencies: A Clinician's Guide. John Wiley & Sons. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-119-37473-2. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  14. ↑ Stanbury, John Bruton (1991). A Constant Ferment: A History of the Thyroid Clinic and Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital, 1913-1990. Ipswich Press. pp. 176–177. ISBN 978-0-938864-14-1. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  15. ↑ Liu, Zhixiong; Kou, Zhifeng; Wu, Zhe Bao; Wu, Qun (August 8, 2022). Recent Advances in the Tumorigenic Mechanism and Clinical Management of Pituitary Tumors. Frontiers Media SA. p. 160. ISBN 978-2-88976-741-0. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  16. ↑ Bailey-Wells, Peter (June 26, 2019). "Five things to know about Dr. Anne Klibanski, Partners' new CEO - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  17. ↑ Klibanski, Anne (April 2010). "Prolactinomas". New England Journal of Medicine. 362 (13): 1219–1226. doi:10.1056/NEJMcp0912025.
  18. ↑ Klibanski, Anne; Adams-Campbell, Lucile; Bassford, Tamsen; Blair, Steven N.; Boden, Scott D.; Dickersin, Kay; Gifford, David R.; Glasse, Lou; Goldring, Steven R.; Hruska, Keith; Johnson, Susan R.; McCauley, Laurie K.; Russell, William E. (February 14, 2001). "Osteoporosis prevention, diagnosis, and therapy". Journal of the American Medical Association. 285 (6): 785–795. doi:10.1001/jama.285.6.785. ISSN 0098-7484. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  19. ↑ Grinspoon, Steven; Herzog, David; Klibanski, Anne (1997). "Mechanisms and Treatment Options for Bone Loss in Anorexia Nervosa". Psychopharmacology Bulletin. 33 (3): 399. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  20. ↑ Smith, Roy G.; Thorner, Michael O.; Baum, Howard B. A.; Klibanski, Anne (January 28, 2000). Human Growth Hormone: Research and Clinical Practice. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 233. ISBN 978-1-59259-015-5. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Anne Klibanski, Chief, Director, Professor". eMedEvents. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  22. ↑ Kumar, Pooja (November 7, 2022). "Beyond the numbers: Creating a more diverse future for health". McKinsey & Company. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  23. 1 2 "Anne Klibanski, Chief, Director, Professor". eMedEvents. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  24. ↑ Primer on the Metabolic Bone Diseases and Disorders of Mineral Metabolism (9 ed.). John Wiley & Sons. September 25, 2018. p. xvii. ISBN 978-1-119-26657-0. Retrieved August 19, 2026.
  25. ↑ "2019 Top 25 Women Leaders Dr. Anne Klibanski". Modern Healthcare. February 21, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Partners Names Klibanski As Interim President/CEO". WBUR. February 19, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  27. ↑ Goldberg, Carey (June 26, 2019). "Dr. Anne Klibanski Is First Woman To Lead Partners HealthCare". WBUR. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  28. ↑ "Partners names Dr. Anne Klibanski as its new CEO". The Boston Globe. June 25, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Anne Klibanski | Harvard Medical School". hms.harvard.edu. Harvard Medical School. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  30. ↑ "Board of Directors Boston Chamber | The Greater Boston Chamber Of Commerce". Boston Chamber. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  31. ↑ "About MACP: Board of Directors". Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP). Retrieved August 18, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. ↑ "MGB's Klibanski Elected Chair of MHA's Board". Mhalink.org. February 2, 2026. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  33. 1 2 Saltzman, Jonathan (August 17, 2026). "Mass. hospital CEOs' pay packages rose again in 2024". The Boston Globe. ISSN 0743-1791. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  34. ↑ "Mass General Brigham doctors and residents protest high CEO pay". The Boston Globe. March 20, 2025. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  35. ↑ Bartlett, Jessica (March 10, 2025). "Mass General Brigham layoffs: Second round announced this week". The Boston Globe. ISSN 0743-1791. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  36. ↑ "Massachusetts nurses strike Mass General Brigham in largest healthcare walkout in state history". World Socialist Web Site. July 9, 2026.
  37. ↑ Wolf, Marin (July 7, 2026). "Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses strike starts Wednesday: What to know". The Boston Globe. ISSN 0743-1791. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  38. ↑ hssweb-admin (July 8, 2026). "July 8 Strike of 4,500 MNA Nurses & Clinicians Begins Wednesday Morning After MGB Billionaires Refuse to Negotiate Fair Contracts for Safe Patient Care". Massachusetts Nurses Association. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  39. ↑ "Mass General Brigham battle pits $400K top nurse pay against $8.4M CEO". Boston Herald. July 13, 2026. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
  40. ↑ "$9.2 Million Mass General Brigham CEO Pay Sparks Outrage Among Nurses & Clinicians Seeking Fair Contracts to Protect Patient Care" (Press release). Massachusetts Nurses Association. August 18, 2026 – via PR Newswire.
  41. ↑ "The biggest nursing strike in Mass. history could begin Wednesday. Here's what to know". The Boston Globe. July 7, 2026.