Leading Healthcare Innovation from Francesca Maria Occhionero’s Lens

In today’s dynamic business world, it is rare to find leaders like Francesca Maria Occhionero, who brings unmatched expertise across healthcare, private equity, and finance. With over two decades of experience, she has been bridging academia, industry, and healthcare innovation across the GCC.

Alongside her strong academic foundation, including a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Rome La Sapienza, Francesca has even earned multiple Microsoft certifications in AI and Power BI. As a published researcher, her articles on AI in healthcare and value-based health are well known in the field.  

As the Managing Director of Elliptic FZ in Abu Dhabi, Francesca leads strategy and operations for the firm which turns university research and spin-offs into fundable ventures. From driving multi-stakeholder collaborations to offering expert advice, she has played a major role in shaping the company’s position. Parallel to this, she serves on the Advisory Board of Khalifa University’s Department of Chemistry and the Scientific Committee of OPM at the University of Salerno.

Across every role that Francesca has led over the years, her belief has always been the same: transforming ideas into impactful results. Be it training high-performing teams at Italian pharmaceutical companies, or securing $1M in high-profit deals with global stakeholders at international investment banks, Francesca’s global vision is reflected across every sector she works in. 

Honored among the Top 100 Women Leaders in the Middle East 2026, her innovation-driven leadership makes her stand apart from the rest. As she continues to actively shape healthcare and AI transformation fields with excellence and innovation, Francesca Maria Occhionero is reimagining what visionary leadership in healthcare should look like.