From Goldman Sachs to Citigroup to a global CFO seat, and now to the corner office of Irvine’s structural heart pioneer. Doretta Mistras’s arrival at Edwards Lifesciences is a world-class win for Orange County, and a masterclass in career range.
When Edwards Lifesciences announced the appointment of Theodora (“Doretta”) Mistras as corporate vice president and chief financial officer, effective at the end of May 2026, the Irvine-based structural heart leader welcomed one of the most accomplished healthcare finance executives in the country. Mistras succeeds Scott Ullem, who served as CFO since 2014 and announced his planned transition last October, staying on as a strategic advisor to support the handoff.
Her resume is a study in building capability across every side of healthcare finance. Mistras joins Edwards from Viatris, where she served as CFO beginning in March 2024, leading the global finance organization and overseeing financial planning, reporting, and operational finance across a complex worldwide business. Before that she was a managing director in healthcare investment banking at Citigroup Global Markets, following senior healthcare banking leadership roles at Goldman Sachs. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School, and brings decades of experience advising boards and executive teams on corporate finance, strategy, and investor relations.
“We are very pleased to welcome Doretta to Edwards as our next CFO. Doretta’s broad experience will be instrumental as we execute our differentiated strategy. We look forward to her leadership as we continue to invest in innovation, and also deliver distinguished and durable financial results and long-term value to patients, customers, shareholders and the broader healthcare ecosystem.”
Bernard Zovighian, Chief Executive Officer, Edwards Lifesciences
Read the order of that final list: patients first. Edwards has built one of the most admired cultures in global medtech around exactly that sequencing, and it just recruited a Wall Street-trained, globally seasoned CFO who chose that mission for her next chapter. The banker-to-operator arc is one of the most exciting patterns in modern finance leadership, the very evolution we chart in why CFOs are the new CEOs, and Mistras has run it at the highest level: advise the industry, then run the numbers, then help lead the enterprise.
For Orange County, this is a magnet moment. When a global structural heart innovator headquartered in Irvine can attract a sitting Fortune-scale CFO from the East Coast ecosystem, it confirms what we keep documenting in the SoCal talent brief: Southern California’s life sciences corridor now competes for elite executive talent with any market in the world, and wins. Every finance leader in the region’s medtech bench just gained a new north star, and every board just saw fresh proof of what the OC platform can attract.
It is also worth celebrating the moment for representation at the very top of medtech finance. A woman now leads the balance sheet of one of the world’s most important medical technology companies, with a mandate spanning innovation investment and long-term value creation. For the next generation of women building careers in banking, FP&A, and corporate finance across Southern California, the seat just got easier to picture.
And a warm salute to Scott Ullem: eleven years of financial stewardship through Edwards’ extraordinary growth, closed with a thoughtful, generous transition. That is how legacies are handed forward.
To Doretta Mistras: congratulations, and welcome to Orange County. Wharton sharpened you, Wall Street tested you, and now Irvine gets the best of it. Patients everywhere are lucky you said yes.
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Sources & verification
Appointment & quotes: Edwards Lifesciences newsroom · Business Wire, May 4, 2026, effective end of May 2026
Cathy Trinh is the founder of Recruiter Hustle and has worked in executive search since 1998, advising companies and leaders across finance, accounting, operations, manufacturing, logistics, real estate, technology and professional services. Through Recruiter Hustle, she combines executive search, talent intelligence and market media to help companies and people make better decisions about work and leadership. HEART. HUMAN. HUSTLE.