Affordable and Equitable Access to Multidisciplinary Treatments: Vision or Illusion?

Antonella Cardone is the Director of the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), which is the... Antonella Cardone is the Director of the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), which is the largest cancer patient umbrella organization in Europe with over 450 members from 50 countries. She has 25 years of experience working for non-profits in health, social and employment sectors. Prior to ECPC, Antonella was the Executive Director of the Fit for Work Global Alliance, a multi-stakeholder coalition championing change in health and work policy. She has previously served as the Director of the Global Smoke-free Partnership of the American Cancer Society, leading a movement of over 100 members to coordinate the development of smoke-free laws in 40 countries. She holds a Master’s in Science and one in Business Administration. She currently represents ECPC on the Board of Pancreatic Cancer Europe, on which she is vice-chair, and she is also Board Member of All.Can. Read more Show less

European Cancer Organisation Health Systems and Treatment Optimisation Network Co-Chair

Emer Cooke is as of 16 November 2020 the new Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency,... Emer Cooke is as of 16 November 2020 the new Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency, based in Amsterdam. She also takes the role of Chair of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) for a term of 2 years. She was the Director responsible for all medical product-related regulatory activities at the World Health Organization in Geneva between November 2016 and November 2020. In this role, Ms Cooke was responsible for leading WHO's global work on regulation of health technologies (medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, vector control products and devices), coordinating the regulatory teams (Prequalification, Regulatory Systems Strengthening, and Safety), and working with member states and international partners to assure the quality, safety and efficacy of appropriate health technologies. Ms. Cooke is a pharmacist with Masters degrees in Science and Business Administration from Trinity College Dublin. She has over 30 years’ experience in international regulatory affairs and spent 14 years (2002 to 2016) in management positions at the European Medicines Agency as Head of Inspections and Head of International Affairs respectively. From September 1998 to July 2002, she worked in the Pharmaceuticals unit of the European Commission. Read more Show less

Gavin Lewis is Amgen’s VP Global Value and Access based at the company’s European Hub in... Gavin Lewis is Amgen’s VP Global Value and Access based at the company’s European Hub in Switzerland. Founded in California in 1980, Amgen is a global leader in biotechnology. Gavin originally was an undergraduate in Economics and Politics, before working for the Scottish Government as an Economist in the Health Department. After obtaining an MSc in Health Economics from York University, he joined the Pharmaceutical industry for Roche in the UK where he worked for over 10 years developing and leading their Health Economics and Pricing department. He has experience in leading over 50 Health Technology appraisals and contributed to the development of the NICE Guide to Methods for Technology Appraisal. In 2012 Gavin transferred to Basel to start a new role for Roche as Head of Pricing and Market Access for Region Europe, where he has developed a new team with responsibilities for strategic pricing, payer marketing and real world evidence for Europe. Gavin was then Global Head of Market Access for Oncology at AstraZeneca from 2015-17, before joining Amgen. Read more Show less

Josep M Borras, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Autonomous University of... Josep M Borras, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), is a graduate of UAB in Medicine (1981), holds a PhD in Epidemiology (UAB,1989) and a Master in Methodology of Health Sciences (UAB, 1988). From 1997 to 2006, he served as director of the Catalan Institute of Oncology playing a key role in its re-organization and since 2006, he directs the Catalonian Cancer Strategy for the Catalan Department of Health. In 2008 he became the Scientific Coordinator of the Spanish Cancer Strategy for the Spanish Health Ministry. His investigative activity focuses on health services research, specifically in the determinants of utilization of cancer services, and in the application of epidemiology to cancer services planning and evaluation. He has authored or co-authored more than 225 peer-reviewed papers and serves in the editorial boards of the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, Journal of Cancer Policy and Radiotherapy and Oncology. He has been particularly active in initiating and developing the Health Economics in Radiation Oncology (HERO) project within ESTRO. He has also played leading roles in several European Joint Actions, concerning cancer plans (EPAAC), innovation in cancer (i-PAAC) and rare cancers (JARC). He has chaired the Pharmaco-therapeutics Committee of the Catalan Health Service (2010-2014) and he is leading the Precision Oncology Medicine effort in Catalonia. Read more Show less

Dr Milka Sokolović holds a degree in Biology from the University of Belgrade, and a PhD in... Dr Milka Sokolović holds a degree in Biology from the University of Belgrade, and a PhD in Medicine from the University of Amsterdam. She started her career in Belgrade’s IMGGE, in the field of human molecular genetics. The majority of her 15 academic years, however, took place at the University of Amsterdam, where she studied intermediary metabolism of starvation and obesity, and taught curses like medical biochemistry, DNA technology, metabolism, and genomics to (under)graduate medical students. The road then took her to Brussels, to EUFIC, where for eight years she led the Department of Food & Health Science, translating the complexity of science into “human” language, to help people make sense and use of it. Currently, Milka acts as a Director General of EPHA, the European Public Health Alliance, supporting their relentless work to improve public health, and strengthen people’s voices in the policy debates. Read more Show less

Richard Sullivan is Editor-in-chief, Journal of Cancer Policy Director, Institute of Cancer... Richard Sullivan is Editor-in-chief, Journal of Cancer Policy Director, Institute of Cancer Policy, King's College London & Professor of Cancer and Global Health at King’s College London, and Director of the King’s Institute of Cancer Policy and co-Director of the Conflict and Health Research Group (kcl.ac.uk/research/conflict-health-research-group). His research interests extend from global cancer to conflict & health. Richard has worked on a number of Lancet and Lancet Oncology commissions, currently the Lancet Commission on Global Diagnostics (diagnosticscommission.org) and the Lancet Oncology European Cancer Research Commission. Richard’s research teams have major programs in capacity building in conflict and health, and humanitarian medicine, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa (r4hc-mena.org), as well as programmes in women’s health and cancer, digital innovation (virtual-reality enhanced surgery) and a wide range of global health security projects including on the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening health systems in NW and NE Syria. His global cancer research programs cover cancer systems strengthening, affordability, value particularly and political economy, global radiotherapy, social welfare and cancer care in conflict. Professor Sullivan qualified in medicine and trained in surgery (urology) gaining his PhD in Biochemistry from University College London. Richard was Clinical Director of Cancer Research UK between 1999 and 2008. He has also worked for many years on biosecurity and counterproliferation issues, including Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and DR Congo. Richard is an NCD advisor to the WHO, a member of the National Cancer Grid of India and advisor (civil-military) to Save the Children. Read more Show less

European Cancer Organisation Health Systems and Treatment Optimisation Network Co-Chair