Speaker Biographies

Event Moderator

Speakers

Carrie Grant

British Television Presenter

Carrie Grant is best known as a UK leadership and vocal coach, having been a judge and coach on BBC 1's "Fame Academy", ITV's "Pop Idol" "Comic Relief Does Fame Academy” and most recently “Glee Club". She has the top-selling vocal coaching book in the world having coached or worked with Gwyneth Paltrow, The Spice Girls, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

As a leadership coach she has worked with The Foreign Office, The Home Office, Shell, Orange, Skanska, Pfizer, BBC Worldwide and Skandia.

Carrie regularly reports for BBC’s The One Show, The Culture Show and she is one of the UK’s leading motivational speakers.

In 2013/14 she will release 6 children’s books in the UK and USA, published by Egmont.

Carrie was awarded a MOBO award in 1998 and a BASCA in 2008 for her services to the music industry.

Roberto Bertollini

Chief Scientist and WHO Representative to the European Union

Since 2011, Roberto Bertollini, MD, M.P.H. is the WHO Representative to the EU in Brussels and Chief Scientist of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. From 2007 to 2010 he was coordinator of the Evidence and Policy for Environment and Health unit of the WHO Department of Public Health and Environment in Geneva, where he developed the WHO’s global policy and response to the health impacts of global climate change. Prior to this he was Director of the Division for Technical Support, “Health Determinants” at the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen. He has also served as Director of the WHO EURO Special Programme on Health and Environment.

Before joining WHO he worked at the Epidemiology Unit of the Lazio Region, Italy. Throughout his career he has carried out missions throughout Europe and Africa, supporting the implementation of health cooperation projects.

Dr Bertollini holds a degree in medicine and a postgraduate degree in paediatrics, as well as a Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. His main professional interests concern the environmental influences on health, and in particular the effects of climate change, lifestyle and socio-economic determinants, including tobacco, alcohol and nutrition. He also focuses on the use of epidemiology for public health policy development and the evaluation of public health programmes and practices.

Dr Bertollini has written many scientific articles and book chapters, and is regular interviewed on television and radio for his expertise in Public Health issues.

Pascale Richetta

Vice-President AbbVie, Western Europe & Canada

Pascale Richetta is Vice-President, Western Europe & Canada Operations, AbbVie Pharmaceuticals, a new global, research-based biopharmaceutical company which separated from Abbott Laboratories on January 1st 2013.

She joined Abbott in 2004 as General Manager, Abbott Belgium, before being appointed Divisional Vice President, Europe North (including Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway) in 2006. She was appointed Vice President of Abbott in 2009.

Prior to joining Abbott, Pascale held the position of Vice President Operations France in charge of Central Nervous System (CNS), Urology, Vaccines and Customer Services for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK); she held various positions working in Neuro-Psychiatry, Gastrointestinal and Cardio Pulmonary therapy areas, both in France and at the European level in GSK and prior to that at Ipsen Beaufour and Servier.

Pascale earned her Doctorate of Medicine in France (Poitiers University).

She is a member of the EFPIA Executive Committee, and belongs to the EFPIA Greece & Spain Task Forces. She is also an active member of EBE (European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises) and EuropaBio (The European Associations for Bioindustries).

Sarah Neville

Public Policy Editor, Financial Times

Sarah Neville spent her early career on regional newspapers and a specialist health magazine before joining the Financial Times in 2001. Since then she has held a number of senior editing positions, including Analysis Editor and UK News Editor. She was appointed Public Policy Editor in October, 2011. Sarah was the 1995 winner of the Laurence Stern Fellowship on the Washington Post.

Heinz Becker

MEP, European Parliament

Born in Baden, Austria, Heinz began his professional life in Berlin in 1970, joining the Marubeni Corporation, a Japanese trading company. In 1974 he embarked on a long and varied career in marketing and advertising, working in several Austrian advertising agencies as well as in the marketing division of Phillips Austria. After acquiring more than 20 years’ experience in the advertising industry and completing an International Marketing Degree, he founded BECKER, a full service advertising agency, in 1992. To accommodate his growing political and public commitments, he handed over full leadership of BECKER to his wife, Anna in 2002.

In 2001, Heinz took on the role of Secretary General of the Austrian Association for Senior Citizens, the largest organisation within the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), representing the interests of the elderly on both federal and regional levels. That same year he joined the ranks of another ÖVP-affiliated body, the Political Academy, a research and political education institution. Heinz further enhanced his portfolio on social policy by joining the Executive Committee of the European Senior Citizens’ Union in 2005 as well as becoming a full board member of the Austrian Federation of Social Security Providers in 2009. In 2011, Heinz took up a mandate as Member of the European Parliament.

Through his membership in the Parliamentary Committees on Employment and Social Affairs and Culture and Education and his role as Vice-Chair of parliamentary interest groups on Careers, Disability and Alzheimer’s, Heinz is pursuing his long-standing political commitments to the elderly and to intergenerational solidarity in a swiftly ageing society.

Nicola Bedlington

Executive Director, European Patients' Forum

Nicola Bedlington is British and was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. She studied business and human resource management in the UK. She recently moved to Vienna, after having spent ten years living in Brussels and twelve years in Geneva.

Nicola was the founding Director of the European Disability Forum, an umbrella organisation uniting over 70 European disability NGOs and National Councils of Disabled People to advocate for the human rights and inclusion of disabled citizens in Europe (1996 to 1999), and prior to this she headed the NGO unit within the HELIOS Programme, a European Commission Action Programme promoting equal opportunities for disabled people (1991-1996).

From 2004 to mid 2006, she was mandated to lead the Environment and Schools Initiatives Secretariat (ENSI), an international government-based network set up by OECD focussing on innovation, action research and policy development in the field of Education for Sustainable Development.

Whilst in Switzerland, she has also worked as an independent consultant/evaluator, specialising in European social and development policy and health advocacy.

She joined the European Patients’ Forum as its first Executive Director in June 2006.

Walter Ricciardi

President, European Public Health Association

Professor Ricciardi is Professor of Hygiene and Public Health (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome), Director of the Department of Public Health and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine «A. Gemelli», Rome.

In 1999 he was appointed Member with distinction of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom and, in 2002, Fellow of the same organisation. From 2004-2009, he was Chairman of the Italian Faculty of Public Health and Secretary General of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health between 2007-2008.

In 2009 he was appointed Member of the Board of the National Board of Medical Examiners of the United States of America and in 2010 was elected President of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA). In 2011 he was reelected President for a second term. In 2010 he was appointed Member of the External Advisory Board to the WHO European Regional Director for the development of the European Health Policy.

He is an external reviewer of research programmes for the French, Dutch and Norwegian National Research Council and since 2002 has been an External Examiner for the PhD programmes of the University of London. He manages several undergraduate and postgraduate teaching activities, among them a Master of Science programme and International Courses in Epidemiology. In Italy he sat on the Higher Health Council of the Ministry of Health from 2003-2006 and is currently member of the National Committee for the Evaluation of the Italian National Health Service and of the National Committee for Vaccinations.

He is Editor of the European Journal of Public Health, the Oxford Handbook of Public Health Practice and Founding Editor of the Italian Journal of Public Health.

His current research work is mainly in the field of Applied Epidemiology, Health Services Research, Health Services Management and Public Health Genomics. He has published more than 400 papers, mostly in peerreviewed scientific journals and 11 teaching books.

Jeroen Wals

Chief Technology Officer, Philips Home Healthcare Solutions

After a PhD in experimental physics at the University of Amsterdam in 1996, Jeroen Wals joined Philips Research, the global corporate research organization of Royal Philips Electronics, in Eindhoven. After initial work on optical design for optical storage applications, he transferred to the Philips Optical Storage business group at the end of 1999 to work on pre-development of innovative, first-of-a-kind optical storage devices and functionalities. For about 10 years he worked in various roles across Philips, including a role in the joint venture between Philips and the Taiwanese company Lite-On.
In 2008, he returned to Philips Research to work in the Healthcare domain, to establish and manage the global research program for Home Healthcare, as well as for Mother & Child Care and Ambient Healing Environments. In 2012, Jeroen Wals became Chief Technology Officer for Philips
Home Healthcare Solutions.

Philips Home Healthcare Solutions (HHS) strongly believes that home healthcare will play a critical role in the evolution of our global healthcare system. HHS is focusing on three key areas: helping those with chronic conditions to live their best lives; supporting ageing with grace, dignity and independence; and closing the loop by enabling care, treatment and healing from hospital to the comfort of home. The Philips Home Healthcare Solutions business makes an impact across the globe in the areas of sleep, home respiratory care, respiratory drug delivery and home monitoring.

Ana Xavier

Policy Co-ordinator and Economist, Sustainability of Public Finances Unit, European Commission

Ana Xavier received her first degree (1995) in Economics from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal ; her M.Sc. (1996) in Health Economics and her Ph.D. (2000) in Economics from the University of York, UK.

She worked as a researcher at the Centre for Health Economics, University of York. She then moved to Belgium where she worked as a senior researcher (2000-2004) at LICOS, Centre for Transition Economics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Since 2004 she has been working at the European Commission. First, she worked in DG Employment and Social Affairs in the unit dealing with social protection (pensions, healthcare and long-term care), where she worked with the EU Open Method of Coordination. Then she moved to DG Economic and Financial Affairs to the unit dealing with the sustainability of public finances. She analyses EU Member States’ strategies in the fields of health care and long-term care and looks at long-term expenditure projections. Within this role, Ana actively contributed to the 2012 Ageing Report, the 2010 Joint report on Health Systems and various Joint Reports on Social Protection and Social Inclusion prepared by the European Commission and the Economic Policy Committee.

She also participates in the analysis of Portugal and Greece under their respective Economic Adjustment Programmes.

John Pritchard

Philips

A graduate in physics from Birmingham University, John joined the UK Atomic Energy Authority in 1977, leading research into the deposition and clearance of particles in the respiratory tract. During this time he gained a PhD from the University of Essex on research into the lung deposition of tar from cigarette smoking.

John joined Glaxo in 1991. Amongst other roles, he led a formulation team responsible for the development through to regulatory approval of novel powder inhalers, coordinated research into the development of novel delivery systems and spent time as a commercial product manager before becoming an International Project Leader. He moved to 3M Drug Delivery Systems as Global Laboratory Manager for Inhalation Drug Development. In this role, he was responsible for leading a department working to develop new inhaled products on behalf of pharmaceutical industry partners. In 2006, he joined AstraZeneca as Global Strategic Technology Director then Director of Respiratory Project Management for Pharmaceutical Development in AstraZeneca, with responsibility for the identification and implementation of novel ways of working, together with overseeing the CMC aspects of a portfolio of respiratory projects. Since January 2011, John has been Chief Technology Officer for Philips Respironics Drug Delivery, with global accountability for the development of advanced delivery systems for the monitoring and treatment of respiratory diseases.

John has published widely in the respiratory drug delivery field, been editor to several journals, as well as having served as President of The Aerosol Society, Board Member for the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine and on the UK Government Committee on the Medical Effects of Airborne Pollutants. He is currently a member of the United Nations Medical Technical Options Committee, which makes recommendations on the essential use of CFC propellants, is an editor for Pharmaceutical Technology Europe and sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of Prosonix.

Galit Kaufman

Maccabi Health Services

Unfortunately, Galit Kaufman's picture and biography are not available.

Hadas Lewy

Maccabi Institute for Health Services Research

Unfortunately, Dr. Hadas Lewy's picture and biography are not available.

Gaye Cunnane

St. James Hospital

Professor Gaye Cunnane is a Clinical Professor of Rheumatology and Consultant Rheumatologist at Trinity College / St James’s Hospital, Dublin. She received her medical degree from Trinity College and her subsequent PhD from University College Dublin. Her Fellowship training took place at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, after which she joined the University of Leeds, UK as Senior Lecturer in Rheumatology before taking up her current post in Dublin.

In addition to her clinical duties, Professor Cunnane is the Intern Tutor and Director of Post-graduate Education at St James’s Hospital/Trinity College where she also runs a research programme which focuses on cardiovascular risk factors in inflammatory arthritis. She has held a number of recent national roles in Irish Rheumatology, including National Specialty Director for Rheumatology Training (2005 – 2012). She is the immediate past President of the Irish Society for Rheumatology.

Ryan Quigley

AbbVie Ireland

Unfortunately, Ryan Quigley's picture and biography are not available.

Tyna Taskila

Senior Researcher, The Work Foundation, part of Lancaster University

Dr Tyna Taskila (PhD, MSc) is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Workforce Effectiveness in the Work Foundation in London. Tyna is an internationally recognised expert in her research on return to work and employment of people with chronic conditions, especially cancer. She has worked as a researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki and Coronel Institute of Occupational Health in Amsterdam in several studies on return to work of people with chronic conditions. Before joining the Work Foundation, she worked as a Research Fellow in the Department of Primary Care Clinical Sciences at the University of Birmingham. During her career Tyna has conducted research in both community and clinical settings. She has been a guest speaker on labour market issues of people with chronic conditions in several conferences and seminars in Europe and USA.

Alberto Colzi

Vice-President Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa Operations, AbbVie

Alberto Colzi earned his Engineering degree from Pisa University in Italy, and his post-graduate degree in Business Administration from Durham University, United Kingdom.

Alberto Colzi joined Abbott Italy in 1991. Until 1998, he held various positions in the Marketing and Service organization. In 1998, Mr. Colzi was promoted to Commercial Director, Latin America and in 1999 was named General Manager, Abbott Chile. In 2004, he was promoted to Regional Director, Southern Europe and in 2006, he was named General Manager, Abbott Italy.

In 2010, Mr. Colzi was appointed Vice President, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and in 2013, he became responsible for Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa Operations for AbbVie, shortly following the separation of Abbott into two publicly traded companies: Abbott and AbbVie.

Dimitris Florinis

Greek Counsellor for Health Affairs

Dimitris Florinis received his first degree (2000) in Social Policy and Administration from the Democritus University of Thrace, Greece; his M.Sc. (2002) in Health, Population and Society from the London School of Economics, UK; and his PhD (2012) in the field of Health Policy to South Eastern Europe from the University of Macedonia, Greece. He has also attended summer courses at Georgetown University, USA (1999); in International Health Policy at the University College of London, UK (2008); and in Social Inequalities in Health at the European School of Epidemiology, Italy (2008).

Dimitris initially worked in the private sector in the Food industry area in Greece and as a special associate to a Member of the Hellenic Parliament. He also worked as an intern at Papageorgiou General Hospital, Greece, and at Klinikum Offembach, Germany.

Since 2004 he has worked for the Greek Ministry of Health. At first, he worked in the Regional Health Authority of Macedonia and Thrace, mainly in the Research & Development Department where he was in charge of the special fund for R&D activities in the region. Meanwhile, he actively participated in projects in the field of CVD Prevention and in research of Regional Mortality trends, focusing on Avoidable Mortality, Social Determinants and Health Inequalities.

In 2009 he was appointed as a Health Counsellor to the Greek Permanent Representation and moved to Brussels. Since then, Dimitris has been representing the interests of the Greek Ministry of Health in the EU institutions in Brussels. He participates regularly in the Council Working Groups on Public Health, on Pharmaceutical and medical devices, and the Horizontal Drugs Group. Within his duties and in the area of his competence, he actively follows EU legislative work, the “commitology” meetings and the Commission’s expert groups, he coordinates with the Members of the European Parliament, he participates in the formal and informal meetings of the EU Ministers of Health and the meetings of the EU Ambassadors (COREPER I).

Currently, Dimitris is one of the two members of the ‘health team’ in the Permanent Representation preparing the upcoming EU Presidency of Greece in 2014, in coordination with the Greek Ministry of Health.

Antonio Gaudioso

President of Cittadinanzattiva

Antonio Gaudioso graduated in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Macerata. He is currently General Secretary of Cittadinanzattiva, an active citizenship network and previously held the position of Deputy Secretary.

He is regularly invited to take the floor as speaker in national and international conferences and seminars on the themes of citizens’ rights, welfare systems and corporate social responsibility.

In the health field, he participated in the preliminary works of the Committee and regularly takes part in the meetings / auditions with the National Drugs Committee (Commissione Unica del Farmaco / AIFA) where the access to drugs related to chronic illnesses is discussed.

In 2002 he contributed to the drafting of the European Charter of Patients’ Rights promoted by Active Citizenship Network, the European program of Cittadinanzattiva.

He started his collaboration with Cittadinanzattiva in 1996, taking up the responsibility of launching the first PIT Salute: a free daily service offering information, advice and assistance to all citizens in order to safeguard their rights in the field of welfare and health, for both public and private facilities.

Later, he became the director of this service that, to this day, deals with thousands of citizens’ complaints and requests for advice. A considerable share of these complaints involves access to drugs.

Following this experience, he started working on several themes connected with the protection of health rights. For instance, he participated in the drafting of the first Law on Pain in 2000; he participated in the “Quality Alliance” roundtable organised by Cittadinanzattiva and involving pharmacists, hospitals and GPs in the discussion of the quality of health services; and finally, he took part in several information campaigns related to the protection of rights, specifically the right to innovation on health services.

Currently he is senior consultant for CSR and sustainability at the World Bank, member of the Committee on biotechnology and bio safety of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and member of several commissions and working groups on health in Italy and Europe.

Maria Iglesia Gomez

Head of the Innovation for Health and Consumers Unit, European Commission

As Head of the Innovation for Health and Consumers Unit she leads the team responsible for developing strategies for Innovation for Health and Consumers and reports directly to the Director General of Health and Consumers.

Her team is responsible for developing and running the Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

Her team is also responsible for Economic Analysis for the legislative initiatives in Health, Consumers and Food Safety policies.

Since 1993 she has worked as an official in the European Commission.

She has a scientific background (Veterinary Sciences) and she also studied Political Science. She has a Masters in European Economic Affairs from ULB, Brussels and studied at the Diplomatic School of Madrid.

Before coming to Brussels she worked as a researcher in virology at the National Laboratory of Agricultural Research (INIA) and at the Public Health department of the Ministry of Health and Consumers in Madrid.

Josep M. Piqué

CEO, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

Josep M. Piqué’s main career has been as a physician and investigator in the field of digestive diseases. He has been Chief of the Gastroenterology Service at Hospital Clínic Barcelona for 10 years. He has published over 300 papers on the topics of gastrointestinal microcirculation, digestive inflamation and cancer. He has acted as member of the Research and Telemedicine Committee at the World Gastroenterology Organisation, and as president of the Spanish Gastroenterology Foundation.

Since 2005 he has been involved in healthcare management as Medical Director and Deputy Managing Director of the Hospital Clínic Barcelona before being appointed CEO in March 2011. From those positions he has been involved in a profound organisational transformation of the Hospital Clínic oriented to healthcare process management, research and innovation. Currently, he is the president of the MIHealth Forum of Fira
in Barcelona.

Richard Fosbury

Olympic gold medallist

When he was in high school, Dick Fosbury revolutionised the high jump when he developed a new technique that quickly became known as «the Fosbury Flop». The technique worked so well that Fosbury improved his performance by one foot in high school - 1.63 m to 1.97 m - after he first tried the «flop», which involved him going over the bar headfirst and backwards with his body horizontal to the ground.

Fosbury’s experiments in high jump technique began with him using the antiquated jump style called the «scissors», until his high school coach pressed him to use the «straddle», or «belly roll», which was then the high-jumping norm. Failing to master the straddle, Fosbury reverted to the scissors, then modified this by going over the bar backward. The «flop» was born.

At Oregon State University, Fosbury first cleared 7’ during the 1968 indoor season and became a surprise winner at the Mexico City Olympics by clearing 7’ 4 1/4”, setting new Olympic and American records.

He was ranked world number one following his 1968 victory and in 1969 won the NCAA title before placing second in the National AAU meet. He turned professional in 1973 and was elected to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1992. Although the flop was considered controversial at first, it became the standard jumping technique worldwide. Fosbury holds clinics for young athletes, in which he explains that the «flop» involves landing safely on one’s shoulders, not one’s neck, as was once commonly feared.

Records Held
Olympic Record: High Jump - 2.24 m
(October 20, 1968 )
American Record: High Jump - 2.24 m
(October 20, 1968 )

Championships
1968 Olympics: High Jump - 2.24 m (1st)
1969 AAU: High Jump (2nd)
1969 NCAA: High Jump (1st)