Speakers

Frances Abeton is the co-founder and CEO of WHYZE Health, a pioneering real-world evidence (RWE) company transforming how data is used to drive impact in clinical care and research. With over 20 years of leadership experience in healthcare, data science, and digital innovation, Frances is recognised for her strategic vision, cross-sector expertise, and commitment to patient-centred outcomes. She has a strong track record in scaling high-growth ventures, leading organisations from early-stage development to international commercialisation. At WHYZE Health, Frances has spearheaded partnerships with leading patient groups, healthcare systems and life sciences companies across the UK, EU, and U.S. markets. Her work has helped accelerate access to innovative treatments, unlock new revenue models, and position WHYZE Health as a trusted platform in the real-world data space.

Lorna Allen is the Senior Involvement Manager at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, the only UK charity representing people living with CF and their families.  Lorna leads the Community Involvement workstream ensuring the work of the Trust, scientific researchers, industry partners and external stakeholders are informed and influenced by the experience and expertise of people and families living with the condition.  Community insights accurately reflect the rapid evolution of change in CF of recent years, providing clarity to strategic priority setting, objectives and investment decisions.  Lorna is also mother to her 26 year old daughter with CF. 

Abby is the Regional Patient Engagement Lead EMEAC, Patient Innovation and Engagement, V&I Global Medical & Scientific Affairs at MSD. She is an experienced policy and strategy professional with a history of working in both government and the pharmaceutical industry. She has expertise in working with nonprofit organizations, strategic planning, government affairs, international relations and public policy. Abby earned a Masters Degree in Public Policy & Government from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Tega Naomi Ayerume is an early-career clinical research professional and MSc Clinical Trials graduate from University College London (UCL), where she earned a Distinction. She currently works within NHS oncology trial operations, focusing on site-level study delivery and feasibility. She has supported oncology clinical trials across two major London NHS hospital sites and has also worked with a sponsor organisation, giving her a well-rounded perspective of trial delivery from both site and sponsor viewpoints.  This summer, Tega will begin a PhD in Clinical Trial Methodology at Queen Mary University of London. Her research will explore pilot and feasibility studies for online clinical trials, with the goal of developing methodological guidance for trialists. Tega brings both academic insight and site-level operational experience to her work, with a particular interest in patient engagement, innovation in trial design, and inclusive research practices.

Xoli currently works as Executive Director, Drug Development Services at Parexel.  She has over 25 years in global clinical research experience in a range of roles including patient engagement, clinical operations, project leadership, learning and organizational development, change management, and corporate strategy.  Xoli established a multidisciplinary Patient Inclusion Working Group at Parexel in 2022. This group continues to ensure we work in ways that provide access for ALL patients.

Before joining Parexel,  Xoli worked in areas including CNS, oncology, and cardiology in pharmaceutical companies.  She worked as a family support worker at HIV charities in London in the late 90s and also has experience as a healthcare assistant in hospital and care homes.

Xoli holds an MSc in Neuroscience from Institute of Psychiatry, London and a BSc (Hon.) in Medical Biochemistry from Brunel University, London. She is a Doctoral Candidate in Organizational Change at Ashridge Executive Education (part of Hult) where she uses action research methodology to co-create change with others rather than for or to them.

Outside of work, Xoli enjoys cooking, hiking, a range of music and quality time with friends and family.  She also enjoys Nigerian movies, Avengers, and old musicals.  She cannot be trusted with pets or plants.

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Hayley Chapman brings over 25 years of expertise in healthcare to her role as Senior Program Director at Patient Focused Medicines Development (PFMD)/The Synergist. Based in Canada, she holds a Master of Health Science from the University of Toronto and has held leadership roles in the pharmaceutical industry and patient organizations, specializing in Marketing and Community Engagement. A recognized expert in building and evaluating strategic partnerships between biopharma companies and patient organizations, Ms Chapman is dedicated to embedding patient-centricity within healthcare innovation. Her work is deeply informed by her personal caregiving journey after her child's cancer diagnosis, which fuels her commitment to reshaping patient engagement practices across the industry. At PFMD, Ms Chapman spearheads critical initiatives focused on leveraging patient experience data (PED) and patient engagement intelligence to drive more effective, evidence-based healthcare decision-making. Additionally, she leads efforts to integrate patient-centered approaches into corporate ESG and sustainability strategies, aligning patient insights with investment and organizational decision-making. By overseeing operational efficiencies and methodology integration across PFMD projects, she ensures strategic alignment and meaningful patient impact across the healthcare ecosystem.

Andy Collinson is a UK-based atopic dermatitis/visible difference patient advocate with a blog, podcast, and social media presence under the handle "Life with a difference."

Mr Collinson has lived with atopic dermatitis his whole life, something which he previously tried to downplay or ignore as much as possible. However, he recently stepped into advocacy and found this work inspiring and also liberating. He aims to spread awareness and create more empathy for atopic dermatitis, which can be so physically and mentally catastrophic, while also offering support to those living with this condition or other visible differences.

Catherine Coulouvrat, MD, is leading a Health Value Translation Unit, within Patient Informed Development and Health Value Translation at Sanofi, R&D. Dr Coulouvrat is physician, specialized in psychiatry and sleep medicine, with 20 years of extensive experience in clinical development, clinical operations, medical affairs, market access and translational research. Dr Coulouvrat has a successful track record in patient relevant outcomes, clinical development strategy for product launch. Passionate about patients' empowerment, education, understanding unmet needs and disease burden for better integration into the clinical development strategies, she thrives to build health outcomes and innovative care models aiming at improved patient quality of life and access to care.

Dr. Sarah Cross is the Vice President and Global Head of Medical Affairs at Premier Research. Dr. Cross received her PhD from UCLA and has previously served in leadership roles in medical affairs and clinical development at CRO, biotech/medtech, and pharmaceutical organizations.

She is responsible for oversight of medical strategy and execution for all phase of clinical trials, and is the external engagement lead responsible for partnerships with patient advocacy groups and professional societies implementing initiatives designed to remove patient barriers, improve diversity and inclusion in medical research, and elevate awareness of clinical trials.

Jade Dennis is a global clinical development leader with 25 years experience across Phase I-IV trials within Pharma/Biotech with a focus on co- designing clinical research with patients and HCPs, enabled via innovative approaches to trial design and AI/ML powered data insights.

A skilled researcher with more than 20 years ‘experience working in the pharmaceutical industry across many different areas. Dr. Dews believes that research should be accessible, understandable, and co-designed and she has a track record of working with patients and organisations to develop shared scientific priorities and outcomes that matter.

Victoria DiBiaso, MPH, BScN, has 20+ years of clinical research experience. She holds a Master of Public Health and is a nurse by training. She has been awarded the distinction as one of the Top 20 Industry Innovators for her efforts to integrate insights from patient communities and clinical trial institutions into R&D decision making. Her work has been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, various publications and keynote speeches.

More than a decade ago, she was one of the first industry leaders to establish a series of trial site & patient networks to provide advisory expertise to development staged clinical programs. These upfront partnerships have help transform the company’s development model whereby the therapies of tomorrow are not simply developed for patients but rather in partnership WITH patients and their stakeholders. This is reflected in the full end to end integration of patient experience and priorities across 100% of all indications, development programs and clinical trials at Sanofi; including prioritization decisions in the preclinical space.She recently established, and Chairs, the US based PALADIN Consortia bringing together advocacy and industry leaders to optimize collaborations that hold the potential to transform the pace of medicines development.

Ms DiBiaso is also an active research volunteer and advocate for the Parkinson’s Disease community. Aside from supporting clinical research education efforts, she has run 4 marathons and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro on behalf of Parkinson’s research and awareness.

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Sue Farrington is Chief Executive of Scleroderma & Raynaud’s UK (SRUK) and President of the Federation of European Scleroderma Associations (FESCA). Sue is Co-Chair of the Rare Auto-Immune Rheumatic Disease Alliance (RAIRDA), a partnership established in 2016 to improve the quality of life of people living with rare autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Since 2013, Sue has been Chair of the Patient Information Forum, an organisation for people working in consumer health information – championing the role that quality information plays in the delivery of positive health outcomes. She is a member of the Rare Disease Forum and chair of an Independent Advisory Group reporting into the DHSC on the development of Quality Standard for rare diseases.

Andrew Garvey leads GSK’s global work with patient organizations (excluding the US). He is responsible for leading the work to develop collaborations with patient organizations to bring patient insight into GSK, improve the management of diseases and to strengthen the capabilities of patient organizations. Mr Garvey has worked at GSK for 20 years in sales and marketing, public affairs and communications roles before leading on first GSK’s patient advocacy work in the UK, then across Europe and now globally.

Annie Gilbert is the Global Patient and Site Engagement Lead at Boehringer Ingelheim responsible for shaping, developing, and implementing patient and site journey strategies during clinical development, to create customer value across all countries and regions. Previously Global Patient Advocacy Relations Manager at Boehringer Ingelheim and Patient Research Manager at Merck, Ms Gilbert is an established and well published patient advocate and researcher with 30+ years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry including more than 20 years in Patient Engagement. Other roles include Global Market Access Manager with Lundbeck A/S in Copenhagen and Public Affairs Director with Cello Communications, UK. She has managed numerous advocacy and patient access projects on behalf of healthcare organizations including measuring patient experience in Ovarian Cancer and studying access to treatments and services for people with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis. Specialties include developing and managing patient access strategies through stakeholder engagement, identifying the barriers and enablers to better service delivery, and providing the evidence needed to advocate effectively for change. 

Emily Goldsher-Diamond is a leader in ZS’s R&D practice and a founding member of ZS’s Site and Patient Engagement and Recruitment team. She brings nearly a decade of experience applying human-centered design to help life sciences companies embed patient and site perspectives into clinical trials and broader organizational strategies. Trained as a medical anthropologist, she is especially focused on how cultural and structural dynamics shape trial execution in the real world. Her expertise in qualitative research, co-design, and ethnography has informed trial design and engagement strategies across 25+ countries, helping sponsors build more inclusive and effective trials.

Dr Oleksandr Gorbenko is a global expert in patient science, medical affairs, public health, and community engagement with overall 25 years’ experience in biopharma industry. He graduated as a medical doctor (general practice) in O.Bogomolets’ National Medical University and Shupyk National Healthcare University of Ukraine and later worked on his PhD dissertation in the Ukrainian Institute of Public Health MOH. His experience across pharma includes several medical and commercial roles in affiliates of big biopharma companies (Nycomed/Takeda, Richter Gedeon, GSK) as well as senior global medical roles at GSK and ViiV Healthcare headquarters in the UK. He has an additional experience with UN/UNFPA on community engagement, women empowerment and combating gender-based violence. Since 2019 Dr Gorbenko has a role of Global Patient Affairs Director at Ipsen with the focus on patient experience mapping, developing necessary capacities/capabilities cross-functionally, advice-seeking and insights gathering with patient experts throughout the Medicines Development Continuum, partnership with several patient organisations, substantiation and inclusion of the specific PRO/PCO measurements as endpoints, defining the patient value attributes within the Target Value Profiles (TVP) for new medicines, and other programmes. Board Certified Medical Affairs Professional (ACMA, 2020) and member of MAPS Focus Area Working Group on Patient Centricity.

Dr. Amber Hill founded Research Grid (R.grid) to automate clinical trials to cut costs, reduce delays, and increase patient engagement and retention. Her expertise is in end-to-end medical research, patient engagement, and smart software systems. Prior to R.grid, her career in biomedical neuroscience, AI and clinical trials (UCL, Harvard, MIT) spans across 15 years in world-leading research institutions where she has built neurological deficit-scoring tech and previously founded a global non-profit supporting patient involvement in research. She’s also been an expert feature for top publications like the Wall Street Journal, Tech Crunch, and Essence Magazine. Dr. Hill has also received several honors such as the Royal Academy of Engineering fellowships and listed as one of The Financial Times: 100 Most Influential Women in Engineering. Research Grid has subsequently been backed and recognised by leading institutions from the likes of Google, Morgan Stanley, the Royal Academy of Engineering, The London Stock Exchange, Atomico, Plug and Play Health, and several others in the U.S. and Europe.

Sarah Holiday has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 27 years in a variety of roles that have included sales, training, health and value, marketing (customer, brand and digital) and social media comms. In 2021, Sarah founded and developed Pfizer's behavioral science capability within the Customer Experience & Engagement team, providing Pfizer with a consistent and validated way of integrating behavioral science into problem solving to improve health outcomes. In this role Sarah has supported numerous teams in Pfizer to design, test and implement solutions to colleague, patient and HCP behavioral challenges.

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.

Christina drives strategic growth and operational excellence with a global perspective.

With over 25 years of operational and management experience leading cross-functional teams at a range of clinically focused companies across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, Christina brings a unique ability to unify diverse groups under a cohesive vision.

Throughout her career, she has empowered healthcare companies to refine strategy, optimize structure, and accelerate growth. Christina’s leadership has been instrumental in navigating complex acquisitions and integrating multinational teams, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.

She holds a BS in biology from Yale University and an MBA from The Wharton School. Christina has co-authored five scientific publications and has been recognized as a PharmaVoice 100 winner.

Amelia Hursey joined the Parkinson’s Europe team in Jan 2022 as Research Manager, progressing to Strategic Director from Jan 2025. She has delivered the Parkinson’s Europe’s Research Strategy, embedded a volunteer Steering Groups into the organisation and helped to increase Parkinson’s Europe research reputation. She has also brought new initiatives to the table, such as the Parkinson’s Europe’s Engagement Network, which connects the Parkinson’s community across Europe. Parkinson’s Europe is now a partner member of EUPATI, the Non–Profit coalition to support advancements of Disease Modifying Treatments for Parkinson’s and the Critical Path for Parkinson’s. She co- developed Parkinson’s Europe's new 2025-2028 strategy and is leading its delivery.

She has been working in the field of Neurodegenerative research since 2009, is a Patient Organisations board member with EUPATI and a member of EAN’s Guidance Production Group and is co-author on a number of publications about Parkinson’s and patient engagement.

She worked for NIHR’s DeNDRoN delivering clinical trials 2009-2015 and then at Parkinson’s UK as Research Participation Lead 2015-2022. She was responsible for initiatives to increase research participation for people affected by Parkinson’s, HCP’s and researchers, and created the innovative Parkinson’s UK Take Part Hub and co-produced the Staying Connected toolkit.

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.

Paul has deep experience in all phases of clinical research across a wide range of indications. He is an expert in the development of site and patient recruitment and retention programs that consider study design and objectives in creating engagement and outreach plans.

At Parexel, he is responsible for developing and executing recruitment and retention strategies across clinical programs. He provides leadership to the execution team as a representative of the patient voice, collaborating with patient advocacy groups and study feasibility teams to drive enrollment and craft innovative and insightful messaging

Beyza Klein is an accomplished Global Patient Engagement Director with a focus on Insights and Measurements, responsible for the design and implementation of methodologies to drive patient Insights and impact measurement of PE. Her remit includes innovation and developing new tools and platforms to ensure sustainability of new approaches. Patient insight-driven decision-making in health care has been the sole focus of her career. From an educational perspective, she is a sociologist with a postgraduate degree from the University of Sydney. She lives in Basel, Switzerland, working out of Novartis’s HQ campus and in partnership with all divisions, countries, regions and patient organizations across all disease areas where Novartis has efforts to reimagine medicine. Being a sociologist, she has conducted research using a wide variety of methodologies and published research in peer reviewed journals. It is Ms Klein's passion and purpose to elevate the patient voice, through evidence, to all health-care stakeholders.

All medicines development should have but one goal: To make treatments that matter accessible to patients. This has been – and continues to be – the guiding principle of Anders Lassen’s professional focus. With a background in public health and law, he has worked with the patient voice in various settings, including healthcare systems research, medicines regulation and the pharmaceutical industry. Today, he is heading the Patient Insights group at Lundbeck, striving to make the patient voice actionable in brain disease and enable a strong patient focus in the company’s research and development activities.

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.

Tom co-founded Clerkenwell Health in 2021. Tom's background is in the biopharmaceutical sector and includes 18 months at IQVIA. A graduate of the University of Bath, Tom serves as CEO of Clerkenwell.

Angela joined the MRC Clinical Trials Unit in December 1999 as a Clinical Trial Manager for the unit’s first multi-arm trial, FOCUS. She worked on a number of colorectal cancer clinical trials, before becoming a Project Lead in 2007. Angela has since led a prison-based trial investigating the use of take-home naloxone (n-ALIVE) as well as a number of international oncology trials.

Angela is currently responsible for leading the international RAMPART trial in kidney cancer and co-leads the large Add-Aspirin trial in four tumour cohorts (breast, colorectal, gastro-oesophageal and prostate cancer). 

Angela is the Director of Education at the Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology (ICTM), responsible for the department's postgraduate and undergraduate taught programmes / modules.  Angela developed the institute's first postgraduate taught programme in 2015.

Angela has a PhD from the University of Ulster and an MSc in Clinical Trials from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Accomplished professional with over 20 years of experience in clinical research in various roles (Clinical Operations, GCP Compliance, Transparency and Disclosure and Digital Innovation). Ms Minetti is currently working at Chiesi Farmaceutici in the R&D Global Clinical Development department, where she most recently started in her new position as Patient Research Partner, responsible for building and integrating a more patient-informed approach in clinical development

Kate Moss joined Baringa as a partner in 2019 to lead our Pharmaceuticals and Lifesciences practice. She brings with her over 30 years of industry experience and a strong mix of advisory and delivery skills. She is deeply influenced by her first decade in industry which underpins her focus on what really matters, her desire to improve performance and collaboration to deliver growth.

Having worked internationally with large global enterprises and start-up biotechs, she understands the opportunities and challenges which result. She’s keen to help her senior clients realise their ambitions or advise them through crises or transformation.

Ms Moss leads business strategy, performance improvement and cultural change projects across multiple departments or enterprise wide for pharmaceutical and life sciences companies. She’s well known for helping clients deliver challenging, complex, multi-year efforts, defining radically different operating models and breaking down siloes to create collaborative cultures. Ms Moss stays current by mentoring start-ups harnessing new technologies, data and innovation in their products. She uses the insights she gains from this to develop and implement new ways of working for her own clients.

The organisations that Ms Moss works with are complex, spanning multiple divisions, countries, and regulatory environments. Each company has unique requirements, for which Ms Moss tailors both strategic solutions and tactical delivery, helping to solve her clients’ problems while keeping the intricacies of their business front of mind. In her experience, listening to and truly understanding is the only way to create sustainable change.

Ishmam Nawar is a consultant working in the Patient Engagement and Policy Team at Oxford PharmaGenesis, specializing in patient experience mapping, patient centricity and bringing patient perspectives into medical research. Ms Nawar has broad and extensive publications and communications experience across the drug development continuum. She is trained in health literacy and co-creation and draws upon her previous experience of working in clinical trials to build trusted partnership with patients, caregivers and other stakeholders and ensure their insights are captured and implemented to shape decisions and outcomes in the pharmaceutical industry.

Daniel Newman is an award-winning diabetes advocate, host and producer of The Talking Type 1 Podcast. Mr Newman has been living with type 1 diabetes for over 27 years and has experienced both the highs and lows of living with the condition. Mr Newman served as the type 1 diabetes patient representative on the NICE guidelines update committee regarding access to glucose monitoring technology. In his advocacy work, Mr Newman has worked in a patient advocate capacity for several organisations including Diabetes UK, Kidney Research UK, NHS England, Boehringer Ingelheim and Roche.

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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.

Pascal Piedbois, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Medical Oncology and former Head of Oncology at Paris University. He held leadership roles at AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Boehringer-Ingelheim. Since June 2024, he serves as Chief Medical Officer at One2Treat, focusing on patient-centered clinical trial design and analysis.

Kara Prosser is a Director at consulting firm Baringa, where her team deliver end to end transformation through patient experience & process simplification. Kara is an Experience Designer by background, and deeply passionate about tackling society’s biggest health challenges through design & innovation. She’s spent the last 15 years working with start-ups, NFP’s, governments & corporates delivering initiatives that improve people’s lives. She’s worked in over 45 countries with some of the world’s biggest companies to eradicate malaria, transform mental health, & reimagine clinical trials.

Léa Proulx is a scientist by training and has been working at Roche for 10+ years. She's currently working as the Patient Voice Partner within the early Research and Development group. Her role consists of working with Project Team in early clinical research to ensure Patient Communities are an active partner when teams are discussing early development & clinical strategy, taking into account a deeper understanding of patient and caregiver needs. The idea behind this early and systematic partnership is to co-creating innovations and solutions that matter to the Patient Community. She truly believes in having a trustful, long-term partnership and collaboration between patients, industry and other stakeholders where everyone has the opportunity to have their voice heard in order to improve outcomes for patient communities and support shaping the healthcare ecosystem of tomorrow.

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.

Currently, over 2.5 million people in the UK are living with cancer including Alfred. Just over nine years ago, a diagnosis of advanced metastatic prostate cancer stage 4 was handed down to him unexpectedly, untimely and unwontedly. For the voiceless Alfred Samuels is the voice that echoes hope, motivation and inspiration in the fight against the deadly disease of prostate cancer; a disease that disproportionately affects black men. 

Alfred is a Businessman, Entrepreneur, and Keynote/Public Speaker who is dedicated, ambitious, hardworking and passionate about life, business, success and the community. He thrives each day on seeking new opportunities and challenges with the desire to achieve. 

Alfred has written two books, “Invincibility in the Face of Prostate Cancer: Coming out the Other Side,” and “Motivated to Inspire,” with the intention to inspire, motivate, uplift and educate people about prostate cancer. Through his books, it is Alfred’s wish to influence people and make them realise the value of the information that he has recorded. Since being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 2012, Alfred has dedicated himself to raising awareness of the importance of research. To that end, he has thrown himself into patient involvement, becoming a media volunteer, a cancer campaigns ambassador, and a member of both CRUK’s Patient Involvement Network and the Research & Strategy Sounding Board. 

In July 2019 Alfred was named Ambassador of the Year at the Cancer Research UK Flame of Hope awards which pay tribute to the extraordinary achievements of volunteers across The UK. Alfred sees this as not only an award for him but also, all other ambassadors and volunteers that relentlessly give their time in a bid to help others regardless of race or creed. 

Eric Sandor is an inspirational leader with a track record of pioneering new businesses and delivering transformational change within the Health and Life Sciences sectors. He brings broad and deep experience gained over 30 years across strategy, operations, technology, organisational restructuring and operating models within the Life Sciences industry. He is passionate about innovating new products, creating AI-enabled services and value propositions, building high performing teams, and releasing the potential of people and companies.

Bert Santy studied Biomedical Sciences, Business Economics and Hospital and Healthcare Management at the University of Leuven. He has been working in Clinical Development and Operations for 19 years. 8 years on the CRO-side as CRA and project manager in trials with pharmaceuticals and with medical devices. And now for 11 years at Boehringer Ingelheim in local and regional functions in the Clinical Development and Operations and Patient Engagement teams. As of February 2022, he took on the role as global Trial Patient and Site Engagement Lead Oncology.

Angela Sermiento-Betancourt is the Medical Affairs Manager at myTomorrows. Her clinical background enables her to apply scientific rigor and clinical insight, to assist patients and healthcare practitioners in finding information and discovering preapproval treatments. Driven by kindness and empathy, she strives to make a change within the medical field by supporting patients and their families through their healthcare journey.

Advocacy has long been a part of Ms. Sheahan’s life. Her mother’s cancer diagnosis led to the formation of the Greater Washington Coalition for Cancer Survivors, where Ms. Sheahan began her advocacy journey as a teenager. Before joining the colorectal cancer advocacy arena in 2012, Ms. Sheahan led the corporate giving program and large-scale events for a non-profit organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

While at GCCA, Ms. Sheahan has spearheaded Know Your Biomarker, an awareness, education, and advocacy campaign promoting global access to colorectal cancer biomarker testing. Her commitment to reducing health disparities led to the creation of the CRC Health Equity Grants program, a global initiative that offers timely financial grants to help GCCA member organizations address immediate health equity needs in their communities. Ms. Sheahan has also developed GCCA’s Patient Advocacy Mentorship, a program providing support and expertise to colorectal cancer advocates and organizations around the world.

Ms. Sheahan is a member of the Global Cancer Coalitions Network, serves on the board of From Testing to Targeted Treatments (FT3), and volunteers for the World Patients Alliance. She is a frequent speaker on precision medicine, patient-centered policies, and clinical trials.

Amanda Simonds joined UCB in January 2021 as Patient Engagement and Policy Lead for Immunology across UK & Ireland, leading on policy and patient engagement across a range of conditions including psoriasis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondyloarthritis.

In October 2024, Ms Simonds took on her current role, collaborating with clinical development, medical and regulatory teams to bring the patient voice into the UCB pipeline. Her role at UCB has three principal dimensions - continuously exploring how to involve patients at all stages of the drug discovery lifecycle, generating insights to inform and shape trial design and recruitment and building long-term collaborations with patient organisations and the broader patient community..

For over fifteen years, her passion to champion patient advocacy has involved her working in a range of patient engagement, communications and public affairs roles at Amgen, Celgene and Novo Nordisk.

Su Smith is Head of Patient Strategy at Origins, the patient focused specialist agency. Origins transforms our client’s strategies and results through connecting them with the power of the patient. Our patient focused work delivers significant incremental value across medical, clinical development and regulatory approval and market access around the globe. We enable our clients to truly put the patient at the heart of everything they do and realize greater success as a result. Ms Smith works closely with our clients and patient experts to design programmes that create value and leverage the power of the patient. Ms Smith is known for her passion, strategic counsel and problem-solving prowess.

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.

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Anna Zorawski is the Vice President of Clinical Solutions. She brings more than 18 years of clinical research experience, and is driven by a passion for elevating the patient journey in clinical trials. With a degree in human biology and specialized training in Clinical Trials Management, she is committed to client satisfaction and prioritizes finding innovative solutions to enhance the trial process and improve patient outcomes.