Gabriela Cora, M.D., M.B.A.

I became a medical doctor at the age of twenty-four. What’s the big deal of graduating young? None at all, except for the fact that I graduated with honors while I was also a mother of two: I had a two-year-old daughter and a nine-month-old son. Years later, I pursued a master’s in business administration, striving to integrate health, wealth, and well-being. While many say you have to choose between having a career or a family, I have been blessed about having both: thirty years of professional success and a wonderful family composed of a husband, two adult children, their children, and our beloved pets.

While many struggle whether or not they can do everything I firmly believe you can, but need to choose to do one thing at a time. As a business leader, advisor, and strategist, I have guided C-level executives while they are leading under pressure. I have advised presidents and CEOs of family-owned multimillion dollar enterprises (Blue Bunny, Home Financing Center, Universal Group); I have worked with companies during critical incidents working with all business groups while finding common goals during hard times (The Coca-Cola Company); and I have assessed and helped design a plan of action to improve the number one issue of employee dissatisfaction in the workplace and fear of retaliation, creating an integrative plan that would benefit everyone across the company, across cultures, and around the world (World Bank). I have been the keynoter in a train-the-trainer national initiative across states for Vida Sana/Healthy Life campaign (Pfizer Pharmaceuticals); I have co-hosted a television show (Let’s Talk About Health); and I have been a Clinical Director of a 200 hospital bed and a start-up 100 hospital, supervising medical, psychiatry, forensic, and program directors, serving as a medical and systems expert to improve processes and procedures, integrated systems, performance improvement, effective budgeting, and leadership training (Geo Group). I have been a speaker at national and international conferences for Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Massachusetts Conference for Women, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, New York Life, and others. My background is as diverse as the advising roles I’ve undertaken: I am a medical doctor and board certified psychiatrist with a master’s in business administration, a wellness coach, published author, international speaker, and a regular expert guest on printed media, radio, and national television shows. I have been interviewed by The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Chicago Tribune, FOX News, CNN, and Lifetime Television in English media, as well as Telemundo and Univision in Spanish media.

I was born in Brooklyn and my parents moved to Argentina when I was a child. I was raised in the British Community, attending Barker College from age four graduating at seventeen as class valedictorian in English and salutatorian in Spanish. I obtained O and A levels granted by Cambridge, receiving a baccalaureate degree. I learned French with my best French friend’s family, in school, and at the Alliance Française. Excelling in academics and loving the arts and sports, I went on to pursue a medical doctorate degree at Universidad de Buenos Aires, graduating at twenty-four with two young children and with honors in 1989. After graduating as physicians, my husband and I - plus our two little ones-  came back to the States and pursued our professional careers. We first moved to Maryland, where I became a clinical research fellow at the prestigious National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (1991), followed by residency training in Psychiatry at Saint Elizabeths’ Hospital and George Washington University in Washington DC (1992-1995), followed by another fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health, where I focused on mood and anxiety disorders (1995-1999). I served both as a civilian as well as a Lieutenant Commander in the US Public Health Service while at the NIH. My research training paid off: the combination of learning from world-renowned researchers and integrating diagnostic strategies; the ability to analyze situations and decide the best course of action; the demand to give presentations in national conferences, teach and train medical students and residents; and the opportunity to design research protocols and interpret the conclusions resulting in peer reviewed articles, book chapters, and publications contributed to the foundation of my future career.

We moved to Florida in 1999 and my career took an exciting turn when I joined the pharmaceutical industry at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. This opportunity served as a practical MBA: almost intuitively, it became obvious to strategically integrate medical needs and knowledge with business opportunities that would serve the public at large. I was selected as regional coordinator after just a few months and was often invited by my team and other teams to create and facilitate leadership and teamwork workshops internally. This was a turning point to start my own business: my husband and I launched the Executive Health & Wealth Institute in 2003, having Pfizer and Coca-Cola as my first clients within weeks of leaving Pfizer. We then started the Florida Neuroscience Center in 2007. In the meantime, I first completed mediation certification training at the University of Miami School of Law followed by a joint Master’s in Business Administration and Master’s in Health Administration and Policy at the University of Miami School of Business Administration, graduating with honors. It was during this time that I focused on coaching C-level executives and entrepreneurs to maximize their productivity and performance while maximizing their health and well-being.

Current Positions:

• President & CEO: Dr. Gaby Cora

Previous Positions:

• Senior Director Team Leader: Pfizer, Inc. (2019 - 2024)
• Medical Director Behavioral Health: Aetna/CVS (2016 - 2019)
• Medical Director Behavioral Health: Magellan Complete Care (2014 - 2015)
• Chief Mental Health: Defense Centers of Excellence, DoD (2013 - 2014)
• President & CEO: Executive Health & Wealth Institute, Inc. (2004 - 2020)
• President & CEO: Executive Mental Health (2003 - 2020)
• Managing Partner: Florida Neuroscience Center (2007 - 2015)
• Chief Medical Officer: SFETC at GEO Care (2006 - 2007)
• Miami Chapter Chair: Women Presidents’ Organization (2009 - 2011)
• President Elect, President, Immediate Past President: Florida Speakers’ Association (2010-2013)
• Director, Board of Directors: American Psychiatric Foundation (2008 - 2010)
• MAJ US Air Force Reserves (2007 - 2014)
• LCDR US Public Health Service at the National Institutes of Health (1997 - 1999)

Degrees and Certifications

• General Management Program at Harvard Business School, Alumna, 2023
• Executive Coaching,
• Mediation Certification
• Master’s in Business Administration, 2005
• Master’s in Health Administration and Policy, 2005
• Board Certified Psychiatrist, 1998
• Pharmacology at National Institutes of Health, Alumna, 1996
• Medical Doctor, 1989 (current Florida & New York Medical License)
• Fluent in English, Spanish, and French