CARE Summit Brussels 2025

Principal Scientific and Policy Advisor | EHMA | Belgium

Zach is a former paramedic who has become a specialist in public health policy and research through his work with a variety of European and international organisations and as the author of several publications in public health and health policy.

As EHMA’s Principal Scientific and Policy Advisor, Zach manages a portfolio of projects with an emphasis on scientific research and building stronger connections between health professionals across Europe. He also provides the EHMA team with strategic and technical guidance on project implementation and public-facing initiatives. Zach is known for his ability to present a variety of health topics effectively to different audiences, adapting his messaging and effectively translating technical and political concepts in ways that are easily understood.

Zach holds a B.A. in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, and an M.Sc in European Health Economics and Management from Erasmus University Rotterdam and Management Center Innsbruck.

Zach believes strongly in the power of stacking ‘small wins’ in health policy, creating incremental environmental and behavioural changes that add up over time to improve population health outcomes.

President | European Public Health Association (EUPHA) | Slovenia

Ph.D. in Health Services Research at the University of Amsterdam, Head of the Centre for Health Care at the National Institute of Public Health of Slovenia, Senior Researcher in the field of health services research, health policy, and health systems research, and member of the Scientific Committee of EUPHA.

He served as President of the Slovenian Preventive Medicine Society between 2016 and 2022, and he is currently President of the European Public Health Association for the term 2024–2026. His research and policy work has predominantly been on national and EU health system policies, and health services research in health workforce, patient mobility, cancer control, and cancer care (the latter two since 2006).

He was the scientific coordinator of four EU cancer policy projects, Joint Actions. He is Assistant Professor of Public Health at both Slovenian medical faculties, as well as at the Faculties of Health Sciences in Maribor and Jesenice. He has more than 50 scientific publications in PubMed, and an h-index in WoS and Scopus of 12.

Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament | Lithuania

Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis is a Lithuanian physician and politician of the Social Democratic Party serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2024.

A heart surgeon by profession, he previously served as European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety in the Juncker Commission from 2014 to 2019. Andriukaitis was a co-signatory to the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania

Executive Director for Strategy and Healthcare System | EFPIA | Belgium

Before joining EFPIA, Thomas was Health Counsellor for Sweden to the European Union, responsible for Council negotiations on public health, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and has a background in the Swedish Ministry of Health and the Swedish Parliament.

Director | EUREGHA – European regional and local health authorities | Belgium

On Monday 16 May, Michele Calabro’ officially joined the EUREGHA Secretariat as Director. Michele  joins us with 7 years of experience in EU health policy, projects, communication and a strong European network in the field.

With an academic background in public administration and EU studies, he has previously worked on policy, projects, and communication for the European Health Management Association (EHMA), European Patients’ Forum (EPF), and DIGITALEUROPE. While working in these positions, he has had the pleasure of collaborating with EUREGHA several times and therefore keenly recognizes the importance of our network in the field of EU health policies and politics.

Technical Officer | European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies | Belgium

Dr Falkenbachs’ work focuses on health policy, health politics, governance, the health workforce, intersectoral action and the Sustainable Development Goals.

She supports the Observatory’s analytical pillar on governance and contributes to knowledge-brokering through a range of activities including reports, policy briefs and webinars.

Michelle holds a PhD in public health with an emphasis on health politics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Michelle is an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan.

Health Director | City of Lyon | France

Director of Health Research, Innovation and Evaluation at the Basque Government’s Ministry of Health | Spain

Dr Iñaki Gutiérrez‑Ibarluzeais holds a PhD in Neurosciences and advanced degrees in Bioethics and Clinical Epidemiology. In his current role, he oversees strategic planning, R&D policy, and the coordination of the Basque Health Research Institutes via BIOEF, the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation & Research.

Previously, he served as Director of Organisational Innovation and Management at BIOEF and led knowledge management and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) at the Basque HTA Office (OSTEBA). From 2019 to 2021, he was President of Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) and remains active in global HTA networks, including EuroScan.

An expert in HTA, regulatory science, value-based healthcare, horizon scanning, and evidence-based policymaking, he has authored over 200 publications in biostatistics, public health, genetics, and ethics, and contributes regularly to EU-funded innovation projects and WHO initiatives.

Professor | University of Novi Sad | Serbia

Marija Jevtic MD PhD – Faculty of Medicine University of Novi Sad, Serbia Full professor at University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, specialist in Hygiene and medical ecology (Public Health) at the Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, primarius Research collaborator at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, School of Public Health, Research Centre on Environmental and Occupational Health. Full member of the Academy of Medical Sciences Serbian Medical Society. Group analyst (National and European Certificate) and System Psychodynamic Organizational Consultant.

She has almost 30 years of experience in the research and education process and advocacy in public health and environment and health. Field of interest and work: public health, one health, planetary health environment and health, SDGs, climate change and health, disaster and health, mental health, culture and health, food safety and nutrition, health management, group psychotherapy, organizational consulting. She has published more than 400 papers in international and national journals and chapters in textbooks and monographs, as well as conference papers. She participates in several scientific and professional projects. Member of Scientific Advisory Committee of EHMA, Chair of Special interest group on One Health (EHMA) BeWell Project – start in 2022 – member of Steering Committee https://bewell-project.eu/project/ Erasmus+ programme of the European Union Grant Agreement number 101056563.

Project Manager at Strategy & External Positioning | Sciensano | Belgium

Hein Imberechts holds a degree of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Ghent and obtained a PhD in 1992 at the Free University of Brussels.

From July 2001 until January 2015 Hein was the Head of Department of bacteriology at the Belgian reference laboratory for infectious animal diseases, now Sciensano. Since February 2015 he is project manager at the Strategy & External Positioning service at Sciensano. Hein is member of the CWG on Animal Health and Welfare Research, of which he became Chair in October 2019. Since January 2024 he is member of the management team of the European Partnership on Animal Health & Welfare, for which he leads the work package on the Partnership’s Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda. Between January 2018 and September 2023, Hein was scientific coordinator of the One Health European Joint Programme together with ANSES in France. Since October 2018, he is Vice-President of the MedVetNet Association, now European One Health Association.

Vice-President | Semmelweis University | Hungary

Dr Eszter Kovács first obtained an MSc degree in sociology at the University of Szeged in 2007. She started working as a lecturer in sociology of medicine at the Institute of Behavioural Sciences and as a statistician at the unit of Psychiatry of Children and Youth, Faculty of Medicine, University of Szeged. She obtained her PhD in Health Sciences at the Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University in 2012. Dr Kovacs works as Assistant Professor at the Health Services Management Training Centre, Faculty of Health and Public Services, Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary, where she acts as head of unit of the Health Workforce Planning Knowledge Centre.

She has participated in and played crucial roles in several international projects: FP7 projects e.g., Health Prometheus, European Cross-border Care Collaborations, Joint Actions on European Health Workforce Planning and Forecasting, the SEPEN Joint Tender on animating the European health workforce expert network, and JA ImpleMENTAL, and some EU-co-funded projects on health workforce reforms, e.g. TaSHI and OASES projects. Dr Kovacs also coordinates the activities of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Human Resources for Health Development since 2015. Due to this latter role, she had the opportunity to contribute to the design and creation of the WHO HRH Leadership and Management Prototype curricula.

Her areas of expertise are human resources management, HRH data and related policy issues, strategic health workforce planning,  health workforce education, health professionals’ mobility, cross-border health care, innovations in HRH management, digitalisation of the health workforce, mental health and wellbeing of health workers, and health/medical tourism.

Cybersecurity Expert | European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) | Belgium

Ms Karolina Kozłowska has a long experience in cybersecurity field. She is currently working in the EU Cybersecurity Agency as cybersecurity expert responsible for implementation of the ENISA Support Action and shaping of the EU Cybersecurity Reserve. Before, she was a policy officer in European Commission’s Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy Unit, where she was mainly responsible for revision of NIS1 Directive and works on NIS2 Directive, cybersecurity international relations, as well as EU policy for cyber defence.

Ms Kozłowska has background in national security, international relations and communication studies.

Secretary General | European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL) | Belgium

Marc Lange has 30 experience in Project/Programme Management of international/European projects and close to 20 years in the digital health field.

His experience covers domains such as (1) facilitating sharing good practices in a multi-disciplinary environment, (2) advising implementers and policy makers on the digital transformation of health and care systems and (3) supporting international/European projects in reaching out a large and multi-stakeholder audience.

Senior Policy Officer on health and climate | Health and Environment Alliance – HEAL | Belgium

Claudio is HEAL’s Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer on Health and Climate, leading on HEAL’s climate advocacy at EU level. This includes monitoring EU climate policy developments, translating the latest science for policy, as well as building the capacity and engagement of HEAL’s members and health partners.

Before joining HEAL, Claudio worked as an academic and public affairs expert for over seven years. He holds a PhD in International Politics and his areas of expertise include EU and climate politics, climate diplomacy, environmental and health security, and social affairs.

Director General | Kela | Helsinki University Hospital Helsinki | Finland

Prof Dr Lasse Lehtonen is the Director of Diagnostic Services at the Helsinki University Hospital and Professor in Health Law at the Helsinki University. He leads a Diagnostic Center that provides services for about 2 million people in Southern Finland in some 170 locations both in hospitals and in primary care. He is a long-time member of the management board of the Helsinki University Hospital and served also in the boards of the different subsidiary companies of the hospital. He holds medical specialty in clinical pharmacology and drug therapy.

Prof Lehtonen’s research interests are currently in healthcare management, patient’s rights and patient safety, but he also has a long list of scientific publications on cardiovascular pharmacology and transplantation immunology. As one of the leading academics in healthcare legislation in Finland, he has regularly been used as an expert in the Finnish healthcare reform by both the Ministry of Welfare and Health as well as the Finnish parliament.

From 2013 to 2022 Prof Lehtonen was a member of the Expert Panel on Effective ways of Investing in Health for the European Commission.

Chief Executive and Director of Research | IFIC – International Foundation for Integrated Care | United Kingdom

Niamh is the Chief Executive of the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), a not-for-profit working to promote integrated care worldwide. IFIC delivers its vision through research, analysis and insight, education and training for policy makers, providers and community leaders, convening events, and through partnership with others.

Niamh has a background as a clinician, policy advisor and researcher, with a PhD in organisational behaviour from Imperial College London. She is a regular speaker atconferences, on panels, has authored peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on health system reform including Integrated care, led and contributed to health system reviews and integrated care evaluations globally.

Niamh is passionate about putting people and communities genuinely at the centre of care that is seamless from their point of view. She is an advocate of using evidence to inform decision-making that balances numbers and stories and builds on strengths and assets.

Executive Director | European Public Health Association (EUPHA) | The Netherlands

Charlotte Marchandise is Executive Director of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) and the European Public Health Conference.

An international expert and trainer in Health in All Policies, she focuses on global and urban health, participation, and governance to foster inclusive communities.

With over two decades of engagement in civil society, she has advanced capacity building and advocacy in Europe and beyond. From 2014 to 2020, she served as Deputy Mayor of Rennes for Health and chaired the French and European WHO Healthy Cities Networks.

She has also consulted for WHO on intersectoral collaboration, equity, and patient engagement.

Executive Director | EHMA | Belgium

Deputy Head HERA | European Commission DG HERA | Belgium

Laurent Muschel is Director of HERA (the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority) and joined HERA as Deputy Head in March 2023. From September 2018 to February 2023, Laurent Muschel was Director for Internal Security at DG HOME, European Commission. His directorate was responsible for police cooperation (including Europol), the fight against terrorism, organised crime, and cybercrime. He was also the Counter-Terrorism Coordinator for the European Commission.

From September 2013 to August 2018, he was Director for Migration and Protection, in charge of managing the migration crisis, borders, and the governance of the Schengen area. Previously, he served as Deputy Head of Cabinet of the Commissioner for Home Affairs, and before that, of the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security.

He began his career as an administrator at DG Transport, where he worked on the European aviation market, before becoming Assistant to the Director-General for Energy and Transport, and later Head of the Unit for “International Relations in the Field of Energy.” He joined the European Commission in 1994 after graduating from Sciences Po Paris and ESCP Business School, as well as completing a Master’s degree in Philosophy at the Sorbonne.

He is married and the father of three children.

Cybersecurity Officer | European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) | Greece

Within ENISA’s Resilience of Critical Sectors unit, Maria is leading the activities relating to the health sector and focuses on incident reporting and finance as well.

International coordinator and program officer | Swedish eHealth Agency | Sweden

Michael Peolsson holds a PhD in Medical Social Sciences, an MSc in Biomedical Engineering, and a BSc in Nursing. He has worked in various academic and research roles, within an innovation cluster focusing on demographic change and ageing, and now serves at a governmental agency for digital health. At the Swedish eHealth Agency, he works as an international coordinator and programme officer.

He has led, and continues to lead, work in the Joint Actions Towards the European Health Data Space (TEHDAS1 and TEHDAS2), with a particular focus on the secondary use of health data. For several years, he has also carried out international benchmarking of national digital health strategies in practice.

He is a member of the core group for the “Policy Environment” and “Evaluation and Evidence” workstreams within the Global Digital Health Partnership and has previously contributed to the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s working group on the Regional Digital Health Action Plan for the WHO European Region 2023–2030. His main interests focus on best practices and lessons learned from implementing digital health at global, European, and national levels.

Head of Unit | SANTE C.1 Digital Health | European Commission

Ms Fulvia Raffaelli joined the Commission in 2002 and since then took up responsibilities in several highly complex regulatory and technical projects. After a few years dedicated to the economics of environmental policy, she worked on chemical legislation (REACH and CLP), first as policy advisor then as responsible for the implementation of the Authorisation and Restriction processes. Deputy Head of Unit since 2009, she moved to the Strategic Policy Unit in 2012 to be in charge of inter-institutional relations and the implementation of COSME (SMEs supporting programme). From 2015, she has lead the unit in charge of Circular Economy, Energy efficiency and Climate related policies in DG GROW. The implementation of the Ecodesign Directive, the implementation and revision of the Construction Products Regulation and the digital and green transition of the construction ecosystem were also part of her portfolio. Since September 2022, she joined DG SANTE to lead the Digital Health unit.

Born in 1969 in Italy, Fulvia Raffaelli has studied in Italy, Belgium and France and is graduated in Contemporary History, European Political Affairs and Political Science. She has three boys and loves sports and travels!

Director – Digital Transformation Policy | DIGITALEUROPE | Belgium

Vincenzo Renda is the Director for Digital Transformation at DIGITALEUROPE, leading the work on the green transition, healthcare, financial services, mobility. He joined the organisation in 2019. Vincenzo has over 10 years of experience in public affairs. Before joining DIGITALEUROPE, he led EU advocacy on 3D printing at CECIMO, the European association of manufacturing technologies. He also previously worked on SME global trade issues for a consultancy and at a Munich-based EU body responsible for deploying innovation funds in Germany. Vincenzo is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management

Institute (PMI) and a certified cloud solution architect. He earned an M.A. in European Public Policy and Administration from Maastricht University (Netherlands) and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Florence (Italy).

Senior Health Policy Officer | Head of Food, Health, and Chemicals Safety | The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) | Belgium

Ancel·la Santos is Head of Food, Health, and Chemicals Safety at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), which brings together 45 consumer organisations from 32 countries.

She follows closely EU pharmaceutical policy and defends consumer interests in this area. Before joining BEUC in May 2019, Ancel·la served as Senior Policy Advisor for Health Action International. She has over ten years’ experience representing the positions of non-profit umbrella organisations before the EU institutions and at the European Medicines Agency’s Patients’ and Consumers’ Working Party.

From 2011-2013 Ancel·la worked at the Siemens AG Representation Office in Brussels, in the healthcare sector. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences and Public Administration, a Master of Science in International and European Politics, and a Master in Journalism.

Director of Policy and Research | European Health Management Association (EHMA) | Belgium

Alexis Strader is a seasoned public health professional with over fourteen years of experience across the public and private sectors.

Currently, as Director of Policy and Research at the European Health Management Association (EHMA), she leads the policy and research team and serves on the senior leadership team, where she brings her passion for EU policy and research to the forefront. Known for her strategic vision, project management expertise, and consensus-building skills, Alexis drives impactful initiatives to address systemic public health challenges. Committed to collaboration and innovation, she is dedicated to tackling systemic challenges in public health management to drive better outcomes for communities.

She holds dual Master’s degrees in Business Administration and International Development from American University.

Fluent in English and French, with proficiency in Spanish, Alexis values work-life balance and recharges through yoga, hiking, and outdoor activities, which inspire her balanced approach to work. 

Head of Civil-Military Centre of Expertise for Trauma Care | Netherlands Ministry of Defence | The Netherlands

Colonel Henk van der Wal is a senior military leader and healthcare administrator who has served in the Dutch military healthcare for over 36 years.

He has been mostly active in the acute care environment, where he has served as Command Surgeon of the Royal Netherlands Air Force and as Commanding Officer, responsible for the operational surgical capabilities of the Dutch Armed Forces.

In 2021, Colonel van der Wal was deployed with the NATO Mission in Iraq as the lead strategic advisor on training systems and management to the Iraqi Deputy Chief of Staff for Training. His expertise extends beyond military healthcare leadership to include strategic advisory roles, change management and programme management.

He currently heads the Civil-Military Centre of Expertise for Trauma Care, a collaboration between the Dutch Ministry of Defence and the University Medical Center Utrecht. Colonel van der Wal is completing his PhD at the Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, entitled ‘Value-Based military Healthcare: Enhancing Health Outcomes for the Military Patient’, and he leads a NATO Research Task Group conducting research into the adoption of value-based healthcare across NATO military health systems.

Secretary-General of EUHA – European University Hospital Alliance | Belgium

Johan Van Eldere, MD, PhD, MHM, FESCMID is emeritus professor of microbiology at the Catholic University of Leuven and the University of Hasselt.

He is currently secretary-general of EUHA – European University Hospital Alliance. Johan Van Eldere did his medical studies and PhD research at the KULeuven and afterwards was a research fellow at Oxford University.

After his return to Leuven, he specialised in medical microbiology and hospital management. He was head of the department of Laboratory Medicine and the department of Pathology at the University Hospital Leuven.

In 2014 he became medical director and member of the governing board of the University Hospital Leuven. In 2018 he was appointed steering committee member for EUHA.

From November 2023 onwards, he is secretary-general of EUHA and president of the scientific advisory board of the Vall d’Hebron institute of Research in Barcelona.

He was and is chairman of national and international organisations in microbiology, reviewer for international journals and author of over 150 scientific papers.

Director | European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies | Belgium

Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare | European Commission | Hungary

As Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, Olivér Várhelyi’s task is to complete the European Health Union. He will do this by diversifying supply chains, improving access to the most advanced treatments, boosting the competitiveness, resilience and security of health systems and working on strategic inventories.

He is also tasked with building on the One Health approach, which recognises the connection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment.

Programme Manager | European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies | Belgium

Dr Matthias Wismar is a Programme Manager at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies based in Brussels. His work focuses on health policy, politics and governance, the health workforce, European integration and intersectoral action and the Sustainable Development Goals.

He is developing studies, policy briefs, rapid responses and face-to-face dissemination and knowledge brokering formats, including policy dialogues, evidence briefings and webinars. Dr Matthias Wismar holds a PhD in Political Science from Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany.

Head of Research | Migration Policy Group | Belgium

Dr Başak is MPG’s Head of Research. She is responsible for all of MPG’s research activities and research agenda development. She conducts comparative analyses of migration and integration statistics and policies at the national (see, the MIPEX and HumMingBird) and local level (see, REGIN and Whole-COMM).

Başak holds a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Political Science. She has conducted research at Michigan University’s Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research, New York University, Northwestern University’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, TOBB University of Economics & Technology in Turkey, and at the Hugo Observatory of the University of Liege.

Yavçan’s research focuses on comparative refugee integration policies, inter-group relations and public opinion, particularly regarding refugee integration immigrant acculturation attitudes and environmental drivers of migration.