Dawn Watson

Dawn Watson Merck & Co., Inc. Executive Director, Micro Quality & Sterility Assurance

Dawn is an Executive Director at Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA. She is responsible for the global Microbial Quality & Sterility Assurance team that leads and executes global initiatives targeted to proactively address quality and compliance risks in sterile, low bioburden and non-sterile manufacturing while driving continuous improvement. Additionally, her team provides microbial contamination control and sterile manufacturing expertise to resolve critical production issues, develop innovative solutions, and ensure network alignment with industry and regulatory expectations. She is an active member in the Parenteral Drug Association and BioPhorum Operations Group. She has 29 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, specifically focused on sterile and low bioburden products including vaccines, therapeutic proteins and small molecules. She is trained and certified in Six Sigma and Change Management. She has held positions in validation, manufacturing, technical operations and research and development throughout her career with Merck.