Mayo Clinic selects Dr. Matthew Callstrom as new president and CEO

Maya Giron / Post Bulletin file photo By Dené K. Dryden Today at 1:03 PM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? ROCHESTER — The Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees has selected Dr. Matthew Callstrom, a trustee and artificial intelligence leader, as Mayo Clinic's next president and CEO, the health system announced Friday, Nov. 13. "Dr. Callstrom is an accomplished physician-scientist and enterprise leader who brings nearly 25 years of experience at Mayo Clinic and a deep commitment to our values and mission,” said Richard Davis, chair of the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees, in a news release. "His leadership across patient care, research, strategy and innovation, combined with his ability to translate scientific discovery and emerging technology into meaningful advances for patients, prepares him exceptionally well to lead Mayo Clinic into its next chapter." ADVERTISEMENT Callstrom will succeed Dr. Gianrico Farrugia, who has led the globally renowned medical institution since January 2019. Callstrom will take up the mantle on Jan. 1, 2027. "I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to lead Mayo Clinic in this moment, serving alongside colleagues whose expertise, curiosity and commitment to our patients inspire me every day," Callstrom said in a statement. "Mayo Clinic has always been at its best when we bring the full power of our clinical expertise, science and innovation to the needs of the patient. Now, we have an opportunity to build on that foundation — accelerating the translation of discovery and emerging technologies into better care and extending Mayo Clinic’s impact to more patients, wherever they are." Who is Dr. Callstrom? Callstrom has served on Mayo Clinic’s staff since 2002. As a radiologist and researcher, Callstrom has contributed to “artificial intelligence and interventional tumor ablation and image-guided treatments of lung, liver, kidney, bone, and soft tissue neoplasms,” per his Board of Trustees biography. He is also the medical director of Mayo Clinic’s Generative Artificial Intelligence program. Maya Giron / Post Bulletin “We're building AI into the fabric of Mayo,” Callstrom said at the health system’s 2025 AI Summit. “The future of health care — and it's not very far away — we actually use technology in a different way. We push it into the background; we enable and empower our physicians and caregivers so that they actually have the information that they need in a way that is most effective.” Callstrom is an Albert Lea, Minnesota native. After completing a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a chemistry doctorate at the University of Minnesota, he accepted a postdoctoral position at Harvard University. After a few years working as a chemistry professor at The Ohio State University, Callstrom returned to Minnesota, completing medical school, residency and fellowship training at Mayo Clinic. He is a former chair of the Department of Radiology. In February, Callstrom was called to the witness stand in a civil trial between Mayo Clinic and Dr. Michael Joyner, who alleged retaliation from the health system. Callstrom led the 2020 internal investigation into Joyner’s behavior that resulted in reprimand. A judge ultimately ruled in Mayo Clinic’s favor. ADVERTISEMENT A new era of leadership At the end of 2026, Farrugia will have held Mayo Clinic’s top spot for eight years. During those years, Farrugia oversaw the health system's advances into artificial intelligence. The Mayo Clinic Platform, created early in Farrugia's tenure, uses de-identified medical records from Mayo Clinic and other large, global institutions to train and validate healthcare AI tools. Under Farrugia's leadership, Mayo Clinic also embarked on several expansion projects at its campuses, including the $5 million "Bold. Forward. Unbound. in Rochester" expansion. Several Mayo Clinic Health System clinics and hospitals in rural Minnesota, however, closed or cut back services during those eight years. Over more than 40 years at Mayo Clinic, Farrugia, a gastroenterologist, has coauthored more than 300 research papers, according to a PubMed search. Before serving as Mayo Clinic’s president and CEO, Farrugia spent four years as CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida. Prior to that, he directed Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine. A Malta native, Farrugia received his medical degree from the University of Malta Medical School, then immigrated to the U.S. to become an internal medicine resident at Mayo Clinic. Joe Ahlquist / Post Bulletin In 2024, Farrugia was paid a salary of $4.88 million, a 13% raise over the previous year. Since its founding, Mayo Clinic has only been led by physicians. The organization’s bylaws require that the top executive must be a medical doctor who has been a Voting Staff of Mayo Clinic member for at least five years. Prior to Dr. John Noseworthy, Farrugia’s predecessor, Mayo Clinic had separate chief executives for the Rochester campus and the global enterprise. Now, Mayo Clinic’s president and CEO heads the organization and the Rochester campus, while the Arizona and Florida CEOs oversee their respective campuses as vice presidents of the health system. ADVERTISEMENT Also read Mayo Clinic team helped a music legend back to his feet and on stage 4d ago Minnesota measles cases reach highest count since 1990 Oct 29 Rochester doc says October is 'peak' timing to get flu, COVID, RSV vaccines Oct 14 Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags PEOPLE HEALTH MAYO CLINIC BUSINESS By Dené K. Dryden Dené K. Dryden is the Post Bulletin's health reporter. Readers can reach Dené at 507-281-7488 and [email protected] . 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