Health Innovation Summit – reimagining health systems: green, agile and citizen-centred

Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat is a medical doctor, who specialises in public health. Before joining the WHO, she served as the president of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA), in which role she was actively involved in health advocacy at the European level. Azzopardi-Muscat has previously held various senior positions at the Ministry of Health in Malta and worked in various areas in the country’s health sector, including primary care. She is also a resident academic at the University of Malta and has authored several publications on public health and European health policy.

Jane Barratt is the Secretary General of the International Federation on Ageing (IFA). Population ageing and disability across the life course have been Jane’s passion and interest across an adventurous career that traverses public and private sectors and many disciplines.

During the 1980s and 90s Barratt honed her technical and orating skills through an academic career in population ageing and disability at the Universities in the United Kingdom and Australia with attention to improved understanding of population-based planning models and service provision.

Representing over 75 million older people through the membership of the IFA, Barratt has direct responsibility for the corporation’s operational performance, quality and strategic implementation, and business development. This includes leadership at the United Nations Economic and Social Council in New York, Geneva and Vienna and the WHO.
Barratt is a Winston Churchill Fellow and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in Canada in recognition of her commitment and passion to enhance the understanding of issues relating to ageing and engaging in dialogue with governments and the private sector to improve the quality of life of older people.

Among her many current positions Barratt is a Member of Vision Academy, Director, Baycrest Health Sciences and Chair of the Education Advisory Committee, Associate Scientist, Sinai Health System, Member, Global Committee for the DR Barometer Program, and Member of the International Council for Adult Immunisation. Formerly she is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Ageing and until recently Chair, Standing Selection Committee Chair for the Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada.

A Dutch machine learning scientist turned entrepreneur, Loubna Bouarfa is the Founder and CEO of OKRA Technologies, a leading artificial intelligence analytics company in the life sciences sector. The start-up aims to revolutionise traditional healthcare systems by abandoning the one-size-fits-all model and building a future of personalised medicine. OKRA uses explainable AI to empower healthcare professionals to make decisions that will support the delivery of the right drug to the right patient at speed. In recognition of Bouarfa’s leadership, OKRA received the StartUp Europe Award for Best Female-Led Startup. The same year, Bouarfa also accepted the CEO of the Year Award at the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards. As a former member of the European Union High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence, she supported the implementation of the Union’s strategy on AI within the digital single market.

Sir Ciarán Devane is the Director of the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University. He also chairs the Irish health service and serves as a Trustee of the British-Irish Association. A chemical engineer by training, Devane held a 20-year career in industry and management consulting before becoming chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support and subsequently chief executive of the British Council. Notably knighted for services to cancer patients he has served on the boards of NHS England and Social Finance Limited.

Elina Drakvik works on Sitra’s Health Data 2030 project and is part of the coordination team of Towards European Health Data Space Joint Action (TEHDAS). Her job involves promoting the secondary use of health data in Finland and Europe, and collaborating with international health ecosystems and organisations. Drakvik has over ten years of experience in European collaborations in the field of health research. She has worked as a project manager and work package leader in various EU-funded research projects in Finland and Sweden, and she has experience in research funding and international co-operation. Drakvik’s professional interests include societal impact, participation and agency, and systemic change towards sustainable development, where health and well-being are understood in a broad sense. In addition to her position at Sitra, Elina is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki.

Maciej Gajewski leads the government affairs and policy function for the international region at Alexion-AstraZeneca Rare Disease. He is a senior leader with more than 20 years of experience in corporate affairs, stakeholder advocacy and pharmaceutical policy. Throughout his professional career, Gajewski has worked across diverse organisations at the local, regional and global level to support their strategic business and reputational objectives. He is passionate about patient centricity as a core value that should inspire all stakeholders across healthcare systems. Gajewski has helped build several successful multi-stakeholders partnerships, most recently in the area of rare diseases, including the European Expert Group on Orphan Drug Incentives, Rare Conversations and Together4RareDiseases.

Joost Korte is the Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission. Previously, Korte served as Deputy Director-General in the European Commission’s Trade Department, in the Agriculture and Rural Development Department as well as in the Enlargement Department. Furthermore, Mr. Korte spent several years in the Commission’s Secretariat General as Director responsible for the relations with the Council of Ministers and gained extensive experience in the Private offices of Sir Leon Brittan, Chris Patten and Danuta Hübner. These professional experiences within the European institutions allowed him to develop a profound understanding of EU decision-making. A lawyer by training, Joost Korte joined the Commission in 1991, following eight years of academic work on European law at the Universities of Utrecht and Edinburgh.

Stelios Kympouropoulos is a Member of the European People’s Party Group and serves as the Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Disability Intergroup, in addition to his role as a Member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. He also sits on the European Parliament Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future. A psychiatrist by training, Kympouropoulos previously worked as head of the Sexual Functions Clinic at the University General Hospital Attikon in Greece. Additionally, Kympouropoulos is a social activist and the Co-Founder I-living, the first organisation that promotes independent living in Greece.

A Founder of EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe, Yann Le Cam has served as the organisation’s CEO for over two decades. He also initiated the global alliance of persons living with a rare disease, Rare Diseases International (RDI), where he sits on the RDI Council and chairs the RDI Advocacy Committee. Notably, Le Cam is a Founding Member and Vice-Chair of the NGO Committee for Rare Diseases. He also serves as the Co-Chair of the Global Commission to End the Diagnostic Odyssey for Children with a Rare Disease and as a Member of the World Economic Forum’s Health Stewards Board and Global Precision Medicine Council.

Sean Lybrand leads Amgen’s Access to Healthcare unit, which focuses on access in low- and middle-income countries. A health policy leader, he has over 20 years of experience in health, having started his research and health outcomes-focused career in academia. Lybrand has considerable experience in developing multistakeholder collaborations and has established a range of important partnerships in health, most notably the development and initiation of the first public-private partnership for HPV vaccination in the developing world. He is also an Adjunct Fellow at the Centre for the Health Economy at Macquarie University and a Health Executive in Residence at University College London’s Global Business School for Health.

A member of the regional executive leadership team at Edwards Lifesciences, Andrea Rappagliosi leads the company’s government affairs, market access, communication and patients advocacy engagement. He previously worked at Sanofi as the vice-president of European public affairs, prior to which he held positions in the public affairs and market access policy area at Baxter Healthcare, Serono International and GSK. A founding member of the Global Policy Forum at HTAi, the scientific and professional society for those who produce or use health technology assessment (HTA), Rappagliosi currently chairs the MedTech Europe HTA Committee and serves on the Board of the European Patient Safety Foundation (EUPSF).

Marina Romanello is the Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown, and climate change and health researcher at UCL. She trained as a clinical biochemist in the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, and holds a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Cambridge, UK. Romanello’s research background spans from toxicology through to environmental health and climate change, and she has previously carried out her research in the Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires, the University of Cambridge, and the Francis Crick Institute. Working as a consultant for the NHS, Romanello led a team of researchers in developing its Net Zero commitments, and is a member of the working group on health co-benefits in climate change mitigation policies of Italy’s Superior Health Council.

Sonia Roschnik manages the Geneva Sustainability Centre, which supports hospital and healthcare leadership contribute towards a healthy and sustainable future for all. A trained clinician and occupational therapist, Roschnik maintains over 30 years of experience in health and social care, specifically senior hospital management and sustainability. As the former international climate policy director at Health Care Without Harm, Roschnik notably worked on the ‘Global Roadmap for Healthcare Decarbonisation’, ‘Race to Zero’ and the ‘COP26 Health Programme’ initiatives. During her tenure as the director of the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) at the National Health Service (NHS) in England, she launched the ‘Greener NHS’ programme, which positioned the NHS as the first national health system in the world to commit to reaching net-zero climate emissions.

Andrzej Rys has held several key positions in local and national health institutions, notably serving as the Director of the Health Department of the City of Kraków, President of the Polish Public Health Foundation and Polish Deputy Minister for Health, a role which put him on the negotiation team for Poland’s accession to the EU. He later founded and led the School of Public Health and the Centre for Innovation Technology Transfer at Jagiellonian University. In 2006, Rys joined the European Commission as the Director for Public Health and Risk Assessment and was later appointed Director for Health Systems, Medical Products and Innovation at the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, where he works on improving EU healthcare systems for citizens.

Stecy Yghemonos is the Executive Director of Eurocarers, the European network working with and for informal, family or unpaid carers. Bringing together 75 organisations from 25 countries, the Eurocarers network aims to ensure that the growing care needs of the European population are addressed in a universal, equitable way and that the vital contribution of carers is valued, recognised and supported. A journalist by trade, Yghemonos is an EU policy and communication specialist. Throughout his career, he has actively contributed to the implementation and reinforcement of EU policies in the areas of human rights, health and social equity, and access to good-quality care.