SPEAKERS 2023

Rossana Alessandrello is the Value Based Procurement Director of the Agència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries de Catalunya (AQuAS), coordinator of the Value Based Procurement Subcommittee of the Catalonian Department of Health Innovation and Transformation Commission, co-creator and Scientific Manager of iRaise, the very first Education Programme on high value care innovation adoption and semi-finalist of the European Innovation Procurement Leadership Award 2022 from the European Innovation Council, coordinator of its I3A (iRaise Institutional and Industry Innovation Alliance), co-creator of PiPPi, community of practice around public procurements of innovation aimed to improve health outcomes. She coordinated DECIPHER, the very first cross-border pre-commercial procurement in mHealth co-funded by the European Commission (EC) and, since then, she either coordinates or contributes to several EC co-funded pre-commercial procurements, public procurements of innovation and innovation actions, as EcoQUIP+ and as RITMOCORE PPI. RITMOCORE  PPI won the European Innovation Procurement Strategy Award 2022 from the European Innovation Council. She acted previously for DG CNECT and acts now for HADEA as innovation expert during the proposals evaluation and the actions monitoring. She is invited lecturer to different courses and masters including the Master of Advanced Public Procurement of the University of Barcelona. She is member of the VPH Institute Board of Director, the In Silico World Multi-stakeholder Advisory Board, the European DTx Policy Coalition Group and the EIT Health High Value Care (HVC) Educate Task Force.

Dr Michael Anderson, MD is a research fellow and a practicing general practitioner (GP) with an interest in health policy and public health. His published work has a broad focus, ranging from strengthening policy responses to antimicrobial resistance, workforce planning, promoting the economic benefits of primary care, and health technology assessment. He was also the research lead for the LSE-Lancet Commission titled ‘The Future of the NHS’.

He has previously worked as a consultant for the World Health Organisation. He is currently a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics, working towards a thesis focusing on measures of healthcare quality, having previously been awarded a distinction in a joint masters in Health Policy, Planning & Financing from the London School of Economics and the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Prof Dr Ronald Batenburg is trained as a Sociologist and obtained his Masters at Utrecht University and his PhD at Groningen University, the Netherlands. How job structures evolve within economies, sectors and organisations, and how these determine the quality of work of professionals are the central questions he worked on at different universities and research institutes. As of 2009, he is Program Leader at the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (Nivel) and specialised in the area of human resources for health. The main projects he leads concern the labour market, work and education in health. This includes how institutional reforms, organisational development, task delegation and substitution change job structures and the work of healthcare professionals. From a policy perspective, he evaluates how healthcare policy and management – in particular (strategic) health workforce planning – can improve the alignment between healthcare demands and the critical supply of human resources for health. Since 2017, Ronald is Endowed Professor in health workforce and organisation studies at Radboud University Nijmegen, Department of Sociology.

Professor Sergio Bernardini, (MD, PhD), is a full professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology at the Department of Internal Medicine of The University of Rome Tor Vergata, and the head physician of the Clinical Molecular Biology Unit at the Tor Vergata University Hospital.

He received his degree in Medicine in 1986 and the PhD in Paediatric Sciences in 1995. He has specialized in Paediatrics (1990) and in Clinical Chemistry and Biochemistry (1998).
As a professor he has several teaching responsibilities including a Bachelor’s course in diagnostic laboratory techniques in the medical field, degree courses in medicine, medical biotechnologies, movement sciences and postgraduate courses in Clinical Biochemistry, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Medical Genetics, Allergology and Immunology, and Paediatrics. Professor Bernardini’s research interests are diverse in nature and have included work in paediatric endocrinology with particular interest in growth hormone and insulin like growth factors and their binding proteins. He has also worked on apoptotic pathways in oncology, in particular neuroblastoma, as well as on glutathione transferases, a family of enzymes involved in cell detoxification and in the control of the programmed cell death. Also, he has collaborated in the application of molecular biology and proteomic methods and techniques in research applied to neurodegenerative diseases, oncology and pharmacogenetics. Since 2009 he has collaborated in the application of molecular biology and biochemical methods to monitoring of sport training and performance.

Prof Sandra C. Buttigieg is a Professor and Head of the Department of Health Services Management (HSM), Faculty of Health Sciences, UOM. She is a Consultant in Public Health Medicine, Head-Clinical Performance Unit, and Chair-Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Team, at Mater Dei Hospital. She is the outgoing Global-Representative-at-large of the American Academy of Management-HCM Division. She is President of the European Health Management Association and a member of the EHMA Scientific Advisory Committee. She lectures in HSM, Public Health, Family Medicine, Research Methodology and Evidence-based Health Research (EVBRES).

She authored/co-authored several articles in peer-reviewed international journals, and widely participated in international conferences, and congresses. She is on the Editorial Boards of PloS One, Health Services Management Research, International Journal of Human Resources Management, Journal of Health Organization and Management, and Frontiers Public Health. She is Frontiers Topic Editor: “Network for Evaluation of One Health (NEOH) Case Studies”; “Patient Safety: Delivering Cost-Contained, High Quality, Person-Centered, and Safe Healthcare” and “Health Service Management and Leadership: COVID-Style”.

She is a Fellow of two programmes of the Salzburg Global Seminar, related to health care, which were led by amongst others, past presidents of the Institute of Medicine, namely, Donald Berwick and Harvey Fineberg.

Professor Buttigieg has been visiting scholar in the US (JMU -Harrisonburg, VA), UK -University of Birmingham and Aston University, Birmingham, and Kuwait (Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University).

Chiara Cadeddu is Assistant Professor of Hygiene and Public Health at the Department of Life Sciences and Public Health at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy. She serves as Scientific Coordinator of the Italian Institute for Planetary Health (IIPH). Her main areas of experience include vaccines, planetary health, healthcare education and training. She held the position of Researcher at the Scientific Secretariat of the Presidency of the Italian National Institutes of Health until December 2018, then at the National Centre for Health Technology Assessment.

She holds a PhD in Basic biomedical sciences and public health from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

Dr Andrea Cambieri graduated in Medicine at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Rome and specialised in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine and in Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy. In 1984 he joined the Health Department of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, of which since 1999 he has been Medical Director of the Presidium and since 2007 Corporate Health Director.

He is Adjunct Professor in the Course ‘Medicine in English’ and in the interfaculty course in Economics and Management of Companies and Health Services and in various masters and specialisation courses at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. He is author or co-author of about 200 monographs, publications and technical-scientific reports in the field of health organisation and hygiene and hospital technology.

He has specific professional interest in hospital construction, a field in which he is directly active as a hygiene consultant in the design of hospital structures of national importance; in the organisation of the operating blocks; in the development of clinical governance and clinical risk management; in the optimisation of patient logistic paths and materials.

Dr Paola Capellini is Medical Director at ASST S. Pietro e Carlo with a speciality in clinical pharmacology and toxicology. Prior she was Medical Director at SerT 2 Milano, SerT Ponte San Pietro, SerT Scandicci. She received her degree in Medicine from the University of Milan.

Dr Fabrizio Carinci is Executive Analyst and the Coordinator of the Italian National Portal for the Transparency of Health Services at the National Agency for Regional Health Services (AGENAS). He is a statistical and economical sciences graduate from the University of Bologna with over 25 years of international experience using biostatistics for health research and policy. He worked extensively throughout Europe, US, UK and Australia.

In 1997, he was consultant of Centre for Biostatistics in AIDS Research (CBAR), Harvard School of Public Health, for the development of specialised regression tree software for the analysis of AIDS clinical trial. Between 2000-2003, he was Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Health Systems Research at the Monash Institute for Health Services Research led by Chris Silagy, inaugural Director of the Australasian Cochrane Centre, Monash University, Australia. Between 2015-2017 he has worked as a Full Professor and Lead for International at the School of Health Sciences, University of Surrey, UK. In this position, he has been an associated partner of the EU Bridge-Health project and an international expert for the Department of Health Policy and Planning of the Italian Ministry of Health, which he has supported in OECD data collections to produce various reports, including Health at a Glance 2015. He joined the University of Bologna as an Adjunct Professor in February 2017.

Dr Carriazo is currently Senior Advisor at the Regional Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs of Andalusia since 2008 in charge of International relationships particularly with European Union and its institutions. She participates in different European and International networks, being member of the Executive Board of the Active and Healthy Ageing Reference Sites Collaborative Network (since 2017) and EIT Health Spain; as well as in EU projects, (JADECARE, ADVANTAGE Joint Action, CHRODIS Plus JA, VIGOUR, or PALANTE project among others).

Before, she worked at the Andalusian Health Service for more than 19 years (health information systems, e-health, healthcare basket of services among others).She got her Degree in Medicine (1986) and her PhD in Public Health (1997) at the University of Seville, and epidemiology training at University of Michigan (1986-87). She also holds a Degree in Statistics of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2001). She is specialist in Preventive Medicine and Public Health (2003).

Dr Zoltan Cserhati is Executive Trainer at the Semmelweis University Health Services Management Training Centre in Budapest. He served as Deputy Director General at the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition, Directorate General of Food and Nutrition Science. He worked as Advisor at the National Institute for Health Development in Hungary. Between 2012 and 2015, he worked as the Head of Department for Health sector Human Resources Strategy in the Ministry of Human Capacities with responsibilities for health workforce strategy, monitoring and planning, regulations on health care employment, education and training. He has contributed to various national and European projects in health care, including the EU Joint Action on Health Workforce Planning and Forecasting. Former lecturer at the Institute of Behavioural Sciences of Semmelweis University in the field of doctor-patient communication, contribution to the establishment of the University Career Center. Dr Zoltan Cserhati is a Medical doctor with specialisation in Family Medicine and has a MA in Economics.

Prof Fausto Di Vincenzo is Associate Professor of Business Organisation at the University ‘G. d’Annunzio’. He obtained a PhD in Economics and management of health organisation from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore with the thesis ‘Toward a relational approach to measure hospital competition: Some evidences from the Italian medical arms race’. His research interests focus on social capital, innovation, project-based organising and learning, network ties and patterns of competition in the healthcare markets.

Dr Katalin Dózsa is a family physician, diabetologist, and GP-cluster Head-GP. She is Senior research fellow at Semmelweis University – Healthcare Management Training Centre, Board Member of the Primary Care Working Group of the Hungarian Diabetes Association, and Member of the Hungarian Research Organisation of Family Physicians.

Between 2012-2014 she worked as political advisor of the Minister of State for Health on the HR management and monitoring system, coordinating the salary negotiations of the healthcare sector in 2012. She elaborated the strategic development plan of the primary healthcare system in 2014, and contributed to the elaboration of earmarking taxation of unhealthy food products and tobacco products in Hungary.

From 2015 until 2017 she worked as the operative coordinator of the health political evaluation of the (SH 8/1) Swiss-Hungarian Primary Health Care Development Programme at Semmelweis University, between 2018 and 2020 she was a senior expert, then the responsible professional leader of the EFOP 1.8.0. subprogram B of the Methodological Development Programme of Primary Health Care System of Hungary, which coordinated the preventive services of 51 GP clusters and elaborated the primary care standards of 18 chronic diseases in cooperation with several member organisations of the Association of Hungarian Medical Societies.

Dr Michelle Falkenbach is a Technical Officer at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.  Her work focuses on health policy, health politics, governance, the health workforce, intersectoral action and the Sustainable Development Goals. She supports the Observatory’s analytical pillar on governance and contributes to knowledge-brokering through a range of activities including reports, policy briefs and webinars.

Michelle holds a PhD in public health with an emphasis on health politics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Michelle is an honorary research fellow at Cornell University in the department of Public and Ecosystem health where she was a post doctoral associate.

Dr Gillie Gabay is a systems science expert. She is a senior lecturer at the Achva Academic College in Israel and serves as a visiting professor in the department of health economics at Cattolica University, Rome. She obtained her PhD at Portland State University, USA.

Dr Gabay specialises in multi-disciplinary research. She studies psychological, behavioural, human capital and managerial processes in simple and complex systems, in various organisations and industries such as healthcare, including very large hospitals. She focuses on both the person to person level and the organisational level.

Dr Gabay has applied the science of Mind-Genomics, mapping communication messaging by mindsets to promote strategy implementation in healthcare, social capital, and patient-doctor relationships. Her research appeared in a good variety of Q1 rated academic journals focusing on the macro-level, the meso-level and the micro-level. She has also published three books on the experiences of individuals from various levels of organizations such as patients, doctors, and hospital directors.

Her current international research examines processes that top executives manage, as they look ahead towards the complex future in healthcare, such as assuring the resilience of human capital, optimising strategy effectiveness, designing organisational structures, and creating value for all stakeholders, and integrating innovation into the delivery of healthcare. Dr Gabay is an experienced consultant who led managements through systemic changes to implement strategies, including strategies of patient-centred care.

Dr Irene Gabutti is Adjunct Professor in Organisational theory and Human Resource Management at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome and is a Senior Researcher at ALTEMS.  She is the Coordinator of ALTEMS’ International Master in Management of healthcare and life science organisations. Her research interests include hospital organizational models, management of healthcare competencies and career ladders in the healthcare industry.

Prof Paul Gemmel is Full Professor of Service and Healthcare Management at the Faculty of Economics and Business administration of the Ghent University and the Incoming Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University from 1 October 2023. From 2018 till 2022, he was Head of the department Marketing, Innovation and Organisation of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the Ghent University.

He is also associated member of the department of Public Health and Primary Care of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, where he is the program director of the Master of Science in Management and Policy of Healthcare. He is Research Fellow at the Vlerick Business School, and Co-founder of the Center of Service Intelligence (CSI) and the Curama Health Care Management Research Center, both of the Ghent University, and of the MINOZ research center for Hospital Management at the Vlerick Business School. He is Member of the daily board and the steering committee of Steunpunt Welzijn, Volksgezondheid en Gezin since 2016.

Dr Mara Gorli is Associate Professor of Work and organisational psychology and Director of the Master in Patient Advocacy Management at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. She holds a PhD in Social and Developmental Psychology obtained in 2005 from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan.

She had research experience at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London from 2001 and 2003, and she was Research Fellow at the Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan in 2007-2008. From 2008 to 2015 she was a Researcher at the Faculty of Education Sciences and from 2015 to 2019 at the Faculty of Economics of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan. Since 2015 she is also a Collaborator of the Center for Research and Studies in Healthcare Management (CERISMAS) – Leadership and Organizational Culture .

Prof Dr Damien Gruson, Pharm. Biol., Eur. Specialist in Laboratory Medicine, worked from 2008 as a specialist in Laboratory Medicine at Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, an academic hospital in Brussels, Belgium. He is currently the Chief of the Department of Laboratory Medicine of the Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc and a member of the research unit on Endocrinology Diabetes and Nutrition of the Catholic University of Louvain. He has published numerous articles in several international peer-reviewed journals. He is a member of the executive committee of the division on Emerging Technology of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. Prof. Gruson is also a member of the working group on cardiac markers of the European Federation of Laboratory Medicine. Pr. D. Gruson is also actively participating in the activities of the European Society of Cardiology as a fellow, and of the Belgian Thyroid Club, as a board member.

Ms Yhasmine Hamu is an European Project Manager at Kronikgune. With experience in Health & Pharma Consultancy she holds a degree in Business Administration with an Executive Development Program in Deusto Business School (2018) and a partial Medicine Degree at the University of the Basque Country (2014). In 2020, she obtained the Course of Good clinical Practices of the Autonomous University of Madrid. She has experience in the implementation of health services in national and European project context. Since 2018 she works as Project Manager at Kronikgune, where she has been involved in various EU funded projects. Actually, she is in charge of JADECARE Join Action, coordinated at European level by Kronikgune.

Prof Dr Marija Jevtic is a full professor at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, specialist in Hygiene (Public Health) at the Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina with sub specialisation in medical ecology; research collaborator at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Research Centre on Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health; associate member of the Academy of Medical Sciences Serbian Medical Society; group analytic therapist and System Psychodynamic Organizational Consultant; EU Climate Pact Ambassador.

She has 25 years of experience in the research and education process and advocacy in public health and environment and health. Field of interest and work: public health, environment and health, SDGs, climate change, disaster and health, migration, mental health, school health, food safety, nutrition, health management, reproductive and sexual health, group psychotherapy, organizational consulting. As a university professor, she has been involved in different curricula development in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Novi Sad in the field of Public Health, Nursing, Disaster medicine, Nutrition, Medical ecology, and Hygiene. She is also a professor at the Faculty of Technical Sciences University of Novi Sad (undergraduate and postgraduate studies) in the field of disaster and vulnerability, public health and emergencies, mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies).

She has been Director of the Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina; Head of the Department of Hygiene at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad; Assistant minister Ministry of Health RS.

Prof Niek Klazinga is Coordinator of the Healthcare Quality Indicator program at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a position he has held since 2006. Alongside his work at OECD, he is a Professor of Social Medicine at the Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam. He also teaches at the Corvinus University in Budapest and the University of Toronto. In addition, he serves as an advisor to the World Health Organization/Euro and to the Canadian Institute for Health Informatics. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Isala Clinics (Zwolle, a large teaching hospital in The Netherlands) and Arkin (Amsterdam, one of the largest mental health care institutes in The Netherlands). Prof Klazinga has been involved over the past 30 years in numerous health services research projects and policy debates on quality of care, and has published widely on the subject. To date, Prof Klazinga has (co)authored around 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and completed the supervision of 36 PhD trajectories.

Dr Ellen Kuhlmann is the President of the EUPHA section on Health Workforce Research, and Senior Researcher at the Hannover Medical School in Germany.

She has many years of international experience, most recently in 2019 as guest professor at Aarhus University, Denmark. Dr Kuhlmann’s research focuses on four areas with a particular interest in international comparison and global health: (1) healthcare systems, policy and governance, (2) health workforce governance and professions, (3) organization and management, (4) gender and public health. Her research interests reflect her own professional background and education as a registered nurse specialised in intensive care/anaesthesiology, Master Public Health, and Ph.D. and post-doc qualification (Habilitation) in sociology.

Ruperta Lichtenecker PhD has been Head of Department of the Competence Center Climate and Health at Gesundheit Österreich GmbH since March 2022.

Ruperta Lichtenecker has more than 30 years of activity and experience as an economist, researcher, manager and supervisor in the fields of science, administration, economics and politics with a focus on: environmental economics and policy, climate change mitigation, research, innovation, public health, health economics, health promotion, technology assessment, foresight, digitalisation, energy economics and policy, economics, COVID-19 management and crisis management. She is lecturer at the Johannes Kepler University Linz and at the Federal Academy of Administration. She holds a master’s degree and PhD in macroeconomics from the Johannes Kepler University Linz.

Teresa Magalhães, PhD in Public Health from NOVA University of Lisbon (UNL), is a Professor at UNL’s National School of Public Health (NSPH). Her primary research interests lie in digital health, information management, and hospital resource efficiency. She has worked on various projects related to predictive models, telehealth, telepharmacy, teleconsultation, telerehabilitation, telemonitorisation, and evaluation of health information systems. She has also been involved in the development and implementation of a Digital Health course at NSPH. Additionally, she served as a hospital administrator in different capacities, including CEO of the Portuguese Red Cross Hospital and various roles at Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Norte (CHULN) and Centro Hospitalar de Setúbal (CHS). Prior to her work in the healthcare sector, she worked as a consultant at Accenture, specialising in information systems strategy.

Teresa Magalhães is actively engaged in various professional associations and research centers, including the Information Management Working Group at the Associacao Portuguesa de Administradores Hospitalares (APAH), Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC) at NOVA University of Lisbon, and the European Health Management Association (EHMA) Scientific Advisory Committee. Over the past five years, she has participated in numerous conferences as a speaker, moderator, and abstract presenter. She has published articles and edited a book on digital transformation in health.

Dr Pamela Mazzocato co-leads the Medical Management Centre of Karolinska Institutet.

She has a PhD in Medical Management from Karolinska Institutet. Her research focusses on how to design clinical processes and organisational structures that meet the needs of patients and healthcare professionals. Her expertise lies in the analysis of complex interventions rooted in operations management theory and the ability to isolate and display key components using a mixed methods approach and the use of statistical process control charts.

Since 2012, she is co-directing and running courses in Healthcare Management for master students in Health Economics, Policy and Management at Karolinska Institutet. Between 2013 and 2015 she was a visiting lecturer in the course Quality and Operations Management for the International Master of Healthcare Management, Economics and Policy (MIHMEP), and course director for the course Operations Management in Healthcare for the Master in Healthcare Management (MIMS), Bocconi University, Italy. Between 2011-12, she was lecturer and course director for the course Organization, Learning and Leadership for nursing students, Karolinska Institutet.

Ellen McCourt =is a British trade unionist and was a representative for junior doctors at the British Medical Association.

In 2006 Ellen McCourt gained a Bachelor of Science in medical science from the University of St Andrews. In 2009 she gained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Manchester. She has recently completed a Master of Science in global health with global surgery at King’s College London (KCL).

Sofía Moreno is from the South of Spain and she is engineer and MBA. Her professional career has always been related to technology and research from different perspectives, as a researcher, launching and managing a start-up, as consultant on patient experience or about social impact of technology. During the last decade her work has focused on innovative public procurement in healthcare as consultant. As director of VALDE Innova she has been procurement coordinator of 2 PPIs (STOPandGO and RITMOCORE) and three PCPs still in execution (ROSIA, TIQUE and CRANE).

Prof Bjørn Erik Mørk is Professor in Innovation at Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, BI Norwegian Business School, Norway, and Program Director for Healthcare Management. He is also Research Centre Leader for Healthcare Management. His research activities are part of several research projects funded by the Research Council of Norway where we study topics such as innovation, development and introduction of new technologies, learning, collaboration, boundary work, power and change within the healthcare sector.

Prof Mørk has a PhD in organisational sociology (UiO) with a thesis on challenges with changing practices in hospitals. He has been a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley twice (Fulbright Visiting Scholar in 2012, and visiting scholar in 2005), and with the IKON research centre at Warwick Business School (2014 and 2006). From 2012 he has been an Associate Fellow at WBS, and from September 2017 Honorary Associate Professor.
In addition to his academic roles, Prof Mørk has a part-time position as Associate Partner for EY (Ernst & Young), and is part of People Advisory Services.

Simone Mortara is Head of Global Health of the Human Capital and Procurement Directorate of Eni, where his responsibilities include ensuring the definition of policies, standards and operating models with regard to preventative medicine public health; ensuring the definition of implementation models for global health initiatives; ensuring the consolidation and representation of programs and results of community health initiatives; carrying out studies and analysis guaranteeing the dissemination and updating of methodologies, know-how and best practices; encouraging the development of efficient methods of Impact Assessment and Impact Management.

He holds a Master’s in International Healthcare Management, Economics and Policies from CERGAS Bocconi Centre of Research on Health and Social Care Management, Italy.

He has edited publications on health impact assessment.

Zoi works as a Programme Manager at the European Health Management Association delivering a portfolio of policy, projects, and engagement activities that support excellent health management across Europe, primarily through the management of a range of EU-funded projects. She holds a BSc in international and European affairs from Panteion University of Social & Political Sciences and an MSc in translation from UMons. Zoi is a licensed mental health counsellor (member of HAC and EAC) and she studies to become a Psychologist at the Open University UK.

Denis Opresnik, MA in Cultural Anthropology, with experience in Joint Actions CARE4DIABETES and JADECARE, coleading work packages on sustainability and integration in policies, and in JA CHRODIS PLUS as the coordinator of Slovenian pilot action. He has been involved in several diabetes-related national projects, and in national projects addressing health inequalities and vulnerable groups by developing community approach involving social research and interventions.

Dr Dimitra Panteli joined the Senior Management Team of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies in October 2020. Prior she spent more than a decade at the Department of Health Care Management at Berlin University of Technology, where she was a Senior Research Fellow, the Department’s research coordinator (2017-2020) and a frequent contributor of the Observatory’s research.

Dimitra’s work focuses on evidence- based decision-making in healthcare, primarily health technology assessment, and health systems research, for example on pharmaceutical regulation and quality assurance. She regularly collaborates with diverse stakeholders, including Ministries of Health, regulatory institutions, insurers, national institutes for public health and quality assurance, health technology assessment agencies, and professional associations.

She received her doctorate in public health from Berlin University of Technology, her Master in Science – Public Health from the Charité Medical University in Berlin (as a scholar of the German Academic Exchange Service) and her Medical Degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece).

She spent the 2016–2017 academic year as a Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Washington, DC.

Prof Diego Ponte is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and Management, University of Trento (Italy). He has been Visiting Scholar at ERCIS, the European Research Center for Information Systems, University of Münster from 2012 to 2013.

Dr Martina Rimmele has been Senior Researcher at Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Health Services Research, Coordination Office E-Health since July 2020. From 2017 to June 2020 she was Project Coordinator of clinical trial “Improvement of transitional care from hospital to home for older patients – the TIGER study“ at the University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). Prior to that, she held the position of Senior Researcher Nutrition Medicine and Oncology at University Clinic Erlangen, Team Lead Medical Marketing at Bionorica SE, Head of Aptamer development at RiNA RNA Technologien GmbH in Berlin. Trained as Molecular Biologist with PhD in Microbiology, with a post-doctoral research residency at Harvard Medical School, Boston, and NYU Medical Center, NYC.
At Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority she is engaged in Health Services Research with a focus on E-Health. Currently she is also an active consortium member of JADECARE (Joint Action on implementation of Digitally Enabled integrated person-centred CARE), organising events, identifying and involving relevant stakeholders in Stakeholder Forums, disseminating JADECARE results on scientific conferences, as well as supporting knowledge building, exchange and transfer of the project.

Ms Anett Ruszanov is the Programme and Policy Director at EHMA. Anett is a committed professional with eighteen years’ work experience in Brussels. Her special expertise lies in project acquisition and management, stakeholder engagement, co-creation with stakeholders, event organisation, community management, moderation, and producing evidence-based policy recommendations. She has a proven track record in research and innovation policy, particularly in the healthcare field. Anett has extensive experience with member-based networks: designing and providing services to members and managing membership relations.

She has a background in European studies and project management. Before EHMA, Anett worked for the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), was managing projects at the European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) for 11 years, and was heading a regional office and worked for Business Hungary for 4 years.

Dr Laura Sampietro-Colom is the Deputy Director of Innovation and Head of the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Unit at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, a high-tech hospital and a reference for health care, research and medical training in Spain. She is also a mentor in CaixaImpulse (a capital risk&foundation program from a bank) aimed to coach reserchers to bring their product to market. She is also co-founder of the start up Mangrana Ventures S.L.
Prior to this, Dr Sampietro-Colom was the General Director of Information Systems, Projects and Evaluation of the Catalan Health Institute, the leading provider of public health services in the Region of Catalonia (8 Hospitals and 238 Primary Care Centres) and the Director of the Strategic Planning Unit of Health Services within the Planning and Evaluation Directorate of the Ministry of Health of Catalonia.

Laura has over 25 years of experience in evaluative research, specifically in HTA and was one of the founders of the Catalan Agency for Health Technology Assessment. She was the Founding member of the International Society for Health Technology Assessment (HTAi), serving on its Board of Directors since its foundation, including three years as Secretary of the Executive Committee, two years as Vice-President and two years as President. Responsible for the development of one of the research lines of the first international project conducted by the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA). She is past-Chair of both the HTAi Global Policy Forum and Latam Policy Forum.

Laura is a trained Medical Doctor specialising in Preventive Medicine and Public Health (University of Barcelona) and holds a PhD in Medicine and Surgery by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and a Master of Science in Public Health by the Rolling School of Public Health (Emory University, Atlanta, USA). She also holds an Executive Master in Management of Science and Innovation by the University Pompeu Fabra

Prof Giuseppe Scaratti is Full Professor of Work and organisational psychology at the Department of Human and social sciences at the University of Bergamo, after a long experience at the Faculty of Economics at the Catholic University of Milan. He is also Coordinator of the Leadership and Organisational Cultures Area at CERISMAS – Centre for Research and Studies in Health Care Management, and a founding member of the TRAILab (Transformative Actions Interdisciplinary Laboratory).

Mr Bruno Serra is Head of Relations with the Confindustrial System at Eni. Prior to this role, he served as Head of National Industrial Relations within the same company, where over the years he worked as HR Management and Industrial Relations Manager Syndial, and in Sales & Marketing.

He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Naples Federico II, Italy.

During her university years, she started organizing health screenings in Transcarpathia, six of which were successfully implemented. A joint screening of the student government and Semmelweis University screened people living in poorer areas with foreign and Hungarian student volunteers. After graduating from Semmelweis University’s Faculty of Public Health, she began working on European projects at the Healthcare Management Training Center. As a senior project manager, she started to work at the National Healthcare Directorate for Hospitals in Hungary next to her master’s studies at Semmelweis University and has assisted in writing a number of applications and has been a project coordinator on several European projects. She also plays a part in project management education at the university and has participated in a comprehensive public health screening program as an organizer for 2 years.

Filippo Uberti served as Secretary General of the Eni Foundation. He is the chief medical officer at the Health Unit of Eni SpA. He has been on missions in Africa (Algeria, Libya, Angola, Congo, Mozambique, Egypt, Mali, Ghana, Uganda, Togo, Gabon, South Africa, Guinea Bissau), the Americas (Brazil, USA), Asia (Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Pakistan, Australia), and Europe.

He is a medical doctor, who specialised in infectious diseases at the University of Pavia, Italy.

Dr Marius Ungureanu is Chair of the Department of Public Health and Director of the Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy at Babeș-Bolyai University.

Dr. Ungureanu has been trained as a medical doctor and has completed a residency program in family medicine. Over time, he completed his education in public and healthcare management with a Master in Health Administration and a PhD in medicine/public health. Dr. Ungureanu’s work is focused on producing evidence for policymaking in health systems. In his academic work, he has studied the impact of health workforce policies on health professionals’ retention in Romania. Dr. Ungureanu’s work has been published in leading peer-review journals, such as The Lancet and Health Policy.

Apart from his academic work, Dr. Ungureanu has provided consulting services to the World Health Organization, International Labor Organization and OECD. Dr. Ungureanu is a member of the European Public Health Association’s (EUPHA) Governing Board and has served as a Deputy Health Minister.

Mr George Valiotis is the Executive Director of the European Health Management Association (EHMA).

He has worked in executive roles specialising in health policy, research, systems thinking, management, human rights, education, and training.

Before joining EHMA, he worked as Chief Executive Officer of HIV Scotland for seven years, managing multiple strategic policy and education collaborations with pharmaceutical companies, researchers, policymakers, insurers, health services, community members, and professional medical bodies. Earlier he was an education specialist for the International AIDS Society, developing global initiatives for pre and post-doctoral researchers in prevention, clinical and biomedical research. He also served on the Board of Diabetes Australia and as an Advisor on its Medical Education and Science Council. In these roles, he helped govern the National Diabetes Services Scheme which was a €65 million government contract to supply medical products, education, and services.

Mr Yves Verboven founded in 2021 EU4HealthSolutions. He operates as Sr. Advisor to MedTech Europe for strategic files and as external consultant to initiative fostering the accessibility of innovation and accelerate adoption through a value based approach, especially through Value Based Innovation procurement and accelerated coverage pathways for innovation.

In the past years Yves fostered a market access focus of MedTech Europe and its members towards a value based approach with a Value of Innovation and partnership access model as a basis for an innovation friendly ecosystem with timely access innovation and appropriate recognition and rewarding of the value created by Medical Technologies and Innovation Solution where medical technology is a key element . A primary flagschip has been given to advancing the business opportunities in the field of procurement by introducing “Value based procurement” through a partnership of the MedTech Industry with leading Procurement organization and BCG. A community of practice has been established and guidance papers published. Additional initiatives focused on European legislative and application in fields as value based (innovation) procurement, Health Technology Assessment, evidence generation and deploying MedTech initiatives to advance to a Value of innovation and Partnership access model. The operationalization of Value Based Health Care as an and the recognition of the Value of (diagnostic) information were also high on the agenda. The pathways (and their opportunities and limitation in Europe) for an accelerated coverage of Innovation were as well identified

Yves has an applied science and engineering degree with further education in Business administration and health economics. Yves has been holding over a period of 20 years multiple leaderships positions within industry in the field of first in human testing, clinical engineering, clinical outcomes and health economics outcomes and reimbursement in the field of cardiac rhythms and heart failure management and ophthalmology, these within Intermedics, Medtronic, Alcon(Novartis) and holds multiple patents and publication. He then joined MedTech Europe to address EU policy and national implementation of advance access through an Value of Innovation and partnership model and incorporation value in investment decision in healthcare.

Dr Ciro Verdoliva graduated in Civil Engineering construction section, University of Naples Federico II, followed by a specialisation in management training for general, health and administrative directors of the health system.

Prof Stefano Villa is Head of the Operations Management area and Full Professor of Business Administration at the Faculty of Economics of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. He is Coordinator of the Patient Logistics Laboratory, an inter-university initiative (Bocconi University, University of Florence and Catholic University) of study and benchmarking analysis of the management of patient flows in hospitals.

He is Coordinator of the degree course in Economics and Service Management. He is Director of the Master in Operations Management in Healthcare Companies. His research focuses on pharmaceutical care policies and management, quality and process management in healthcare, operations and logistics management in healthcare companies, institutional structures and health policies, process management in public administrations. He is the author of more than 30 publications and coordinator of several research projects.

Ms Emmi Weller is a Policy Officer at the European Health Management Association (EHMA). She coordinates EHMA’s involvement in policy networks and engagement with decision-makers and leads on producing EHMA’s publication ‘Reducing the environmental impact of medicines from procurement to disposal’, written from a health management perspective.

Emmi is a qualified health manager and graduate of the Erasmus Mundus Master’s degree in European Health Economics and Management taught jointly by the University of Oslo (Norway), the University of Bologna (Italy) and the Management Centre Innsbruck (Austria). Her first degree is in Global Public Health which she obtained at Leiden University College (The Netherlands).

Dr Matthias Wismar is a Programme Manager at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies based in Brussels. His work focuses on health policy, politics and governance, the health workforce, European integration and intersectoral action and the Sustainable Development Goals. He is developing studies, policy briefs, rapid responses and face-to-face dissemination and knowledge brokering formats, including policy dialogues, evidence briefings and webinars. Dr Matthias Wismar holds a PhD in Political Science from Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany.

Dr Alberto Zanutto coordinated the School of Social Care Professionals of Trento for four years (1994-1998) and headed the research sector of Istituto Regionale di Studi e Ricerca Sociale . Afterwards, he enrolled in a PhD program in Information Systems and Organization at the Faculty of Sociology of Trento, gaining a PhD in 2006. In 2006 he obtained a post-doctoral grant at the Department of Sociology and Social Research of Trento; after he held a grant (2008-2013) in a research program aimed at designing an electronic health record to be used by citizens.

He held courses in Business organisation and Sociology of organisations at several universities. Now he is teaching Sociology at the Medicine and Nursing Department at the University of Verona.
He is a member of the Research Unit on Communication Organisational Learning and Aesthetics based in the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento.