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Dr Rebecca Holmes is a Scientific Director at LifeArc, a not-for-profit medical research organisation based in the UK and focused on accelerating the path of medical innovations to patients. Rebecca has a PhD in Virology from King’s College London and worked for 16 years in academic research at the University of California San Francisco and the University of Edinburgh, specialising in RNA biology and bioengineering. Rebecca joined LifeArc in 2018 to develop in-house molecular diagnostic capabilities and currently oversees the diagnostic programme within the Chronic Respiratory Infection Translational Challenge. This portfolio of projects is focused on improving the lives of people living with chronic lung conditions. Rebecca has led several projects developing patient-centric Target Product Profiles (TPPs) aimed at addressing unmet clinical needs.

Wafae Iraqi joined Johnson & Johnson in 2012 as EMEA Medical Program Lead. In that function, she worked on evidence generation and early access programs initially in the field of Infectious Diseases before moving to Haematology in 2014. In 2017, she became a medical advisor for the Multiple Myeloma and AL-Amyloidosis EMEA team, before moving to her previous role of EMEA Patient Engagement Lead for the Janssen Multiple Myeloma Portfolio. She currently holds the role of Therapeutic Area Patient Engagement Lead in EMEA. In this role Wafae leads the implementation of the EMEA patient engagement strategy, develops patient-facing materials and partners with patient organisations. Wafae is passionate about the important role patients and patient groups play and is dedicated to ensuring that their voices are in every step of the development pathway. Wafae is a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm. D.) and has a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD.) in Pharmacology, she started her career in the academic/hospital field. Her personal interests are science, history, travels, and meeting people.

Dan's eldest daughter Amelie was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs in 2011 at 15 months of age and upon finding that there was no dedicated advocacy group providing support for families affected by this disease in the UK he set set-up the Cure & Action for Tay-Sachs (CATS) Foundation with his wife Patricia. Since the group was launched, they have been able to grow The CATS Foundation so that it now offers a variety of services to its family members and has been actively involved in the research investigating therapeutic treatments for Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease. In addition to this, Dan is the Chairman of the European Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff Charity Consortium (ETSCC), leads the Global GM1 and GM2 Alliance (GGGA) and is the Vice Chairman of the Global LSD Collaborative.  Dan completes his advocacy work alongside his profession in the med tech industry focussing on real-world data initiatives to support the drug development process.

Gisela started her career as an oncology and hematology nurse at the Dutch Oncology Institute (NKI) in the Netherlands, where she worked for almost 10 years, including 6 years as a bone marrow transplant coordinator and as a clinical trial research nurse. Her career in rare diseases started at Genzyme where she was responsible for setting up home Enzyme Replacement Therapy products for various Lysosomal Storage Diseases such as Pompe, Fabry and Gaucher disease. As Patientcare Manager she was involved in various projects to support and empower patients and their communities, and bolster awareness and knowledge of the patient experience, both in- and outside the company. In 2016, Gisela became Head of Patient Advocacy in Rare Diseases at Sanofi Genzyme for the EU, later expanding to Patient Advocacy Head for Global, EU and US regarding Pompe and ASMD. During her time there, she developed patient engagement strategies and built relationships with patients and patient organizations in the EU, US, and around the world. In 2022, Gisela brought to current position at Azafaros more than 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with a focus on genuine patient engagement in clinical development in all study stages. Her aim is to bolster the patient’s voice, experience and influence in the development of clinical studies and sustainable access to various treatments.

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Finn McCartney is the HTA4Patients Project Coordinator at EUPATI, a non-profit that provides educational and trainings to patients, patient organisations and other stakeholders in the healthcare space. The focus of his project has been the creation of training resources on the EU HTA regulation to prepare and build capacity in the patient community.

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Dr. Temi Olonisakin is a medical and aesthetic doctor who has been living with type one diabetes for 13 years. Since 2020, she has been producing educational content about diabetes and chronic conditions, motivated by the lack of representation online. As a British-Nigerian, she focuses on breaking down common stigmas within African communities. In addition to her educational efforts, Dr. Temi organises regular events for people with diabetes to connect and support each other. Through her work, Dr. Temi aspires to empower others and foster a more inclusive and supportive space for people living with chronic conditions.

Laura Renton is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in clinical operations, and digital process optimization. Currently serving as the Digital and Process Optimization Manager at GSK since June 2021, Laura plays a pivotal role in implementing Decentralized Clinical Trial (DCT) elements and process and digital solutions for clinical trial operations. Her responsibilities include ensuring the flawless execution of process improvements and optimization solutions to enhance patient satisfaction and clinical efficiency. 

Prior to her current role, Laura served as a Veeva Clinical Operations Vault Subject Matter Expert at GSK from 2020 to 2022, providing critical input on process, training, and implementation, and ensuring cross-functional coordination and alignment. Laura's journey at GSK began in March 2015 as a Senior Clinical Research Associate, managing various clinical trial activities. Prior to joining GSK, Laura worked at Novartis as a Senior CRA, and at a number of CROs in various clinical operations roles. She holds a BSc in Natural Sciences from The Open University.

Connie Takawira has been working at Medicines Discovery Catapult as a partnership manager for the CF AMR Syndicate since early 2022. She plays a key role in overseeing programme-level management, governance, and external engagement activities for the CF AMR Syndicate. Her current focus is on supporting delivery across multiple areas of the programme and progressing cross-collaborative medicines and diagnostics discovery efforts. Connie has a background in clinical pharmacy, working both in the UK and New Zealand where she specialised in respiratory medicine. She holds an MSc  in Global Health from Gothenburg University.