Willemijn is the Executive Director Europe in the WorldWide Patient Safety Organisation in Bristol Myers Squibb. She is responsible for Patient Safety in the European region, including the Balkans, Baltics and distributor markets. Prior to this role she was responsible for the European markets, PV Intelligence & International Operations including the PSMF as well as Training and Outsourcing activities. Willemijn holds a Nursing Degree from the Netherlands, a BA (Hons) in Sociology from Goldsmiths college, University of London, UK and an MSc in Pharmacovigilance from the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Willemijn is co-chair of the EFPIA Pharmacovigilance Expert Working Group and Chair of the EFPIA International Pharmacovigilance Group.

Angela has almost 20 years experience in PV with 15 years of functioning as a (deputy) QPPV. She provides customized pharmacovigilance support, including QPPV provision & responsibility for the clients pharmacovigilance systems. After her PhD in 2005, she started her career in pharmacovigilance & in 2008, she joined Organon to gain experience in PV during the different mergers taking place at that time. In 2010, she joined DADA Consultancy to start up a department of PV consultants to take on global and local responsibilities from clients in need of PV support. Her personal interests lie with Compliance management and auditing, as well as Risk Management and Medication Errors, & she recently obtained a MSc in Clinical Epidemiology.

Shahinaz, a pharmacist with over 20 years in pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry, is a Pharmacovigilance Consultant and Lead Auditor across the EMEA region. She began as a clinical pharmacist at Cairo University Medical School and advanced to an internal auditor role. Transitioning to the pharmaceutical industry, she worked in Regulatory Affairs before specializing in Pharmacovigilance as a regional QPPV and later as a PVQA Lead Auditor. Shahinaz is active in the ISOP Special Interest Group, contributing to global pharmacovigilance certifications, and frequently speaks at international conferences on patient and drug safety

Vicki, a qualified pharmacist, began her career in hospital pharmacy and later specialized in Drug Information Services, setting up Kuwait's first National Drug Information Centre. After returning to the UK and spending four years in community pharmacy, she transitioned to pharmacovigilance, joining Abbott as EU QPPV in 2005. She stepped down as AbbVie EU QPPV in 2018 due to Brexit. Now, as Head of PV Excellence and International QPPV, Vicki oversees the QPPV Office, Global Safety Compliance, and Risk Management. She is passionate about pharmacovigilance and developing teams.

Gemma Jiménez Sesé currently holds the position of Deputy EU and UKQPPV at Astrazeneca, based in Barcelona, Spain. Previously, she served as the EUQPPV at Almirall. With over 20 years of experience in pharmacovigilance, she has taken on roles with increasing responsibility. In pharmacovigilance, she has been involved in a broad scope of activities, encompassing safety in clinical development and support for marketed medicinal products, including small molecules and biologics. Beyond safety, she has led projects in late-phase development and product life-cycle management. Additionally, she is a member of the Program Committee for the DIA QPPV Forum

Maarten Lagendijk is the deputy QPPV at MSD since 2019 and is based in the Netherlands. Maarten has over 20 years of experience in pharmacovigilance. He has previously worked for the Medicines Evaluation Board in different pharmacovigilance related roles as well as a national expert at the European Medicines Agency.  Maarten has been involved with DIA for many years and is part of the programme committee for the Global QPPV Forum since 2020. 

Elspeth McIntosh began her career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1993, initially working in clinical research, before moving into Pharmacovigilance. She has extensive experience of all aspects of pharmacovigilance and has been a small company QPPV since 1999, dealing with innovative, generic and biotech/biological products. Elspeth set up Castle Pharmacovigilance in 2009 and post Brexit she is a UK QPPV and UK National Contact Person for several small pharma companies and provides general PV support to a wide range of pharma companies.

Katarzyna qualified as a pharmacist and joined GlaxoSmithKline in 2017 as the Safety Evaluation Risk Management Scientist in a central team supporting established products. She is responsible for a broad range of pharmacovigilance activities, such as the global signal detection, preparation of periodic safety reports, RMPs and safety input to queries from regulatory agencies. Katarzyna has been extensively involved in associative work throughout her whole pharmacy studies, up to the European level when she was the President of the European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (EPSA), representing 160 000 European pharmacy students and young professionals.

Kiernan joined Roche as a Principal Quality Lead focussing on pharmacovigilance quality assurance strategies. Previously, she worked as a GPvP Inspector at the MHRA for 1O years, with her most recent role being Expert GPvP Inspector. She contributed to the development of the EU GVP, had a role in the training of GPvP Inspectors in other EU Member States and contributed significantly to the MHRA’s preparedness work in relation to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Before joining the MHRA, Kiernan worked as a certified Quality Assurance auditor for a central laboratory that provided services for Phase I-III pharmaceutical clinical trials. Kiernan has a Master of Biomedical Sciences degree from the University of Southampton.

Also Head of Pharmacovigilance Working Group of EUCROF. Nicolas received his medical degree from the University of Würzburg, Germany, in 1985 and worked as a physician in Greece and Austria until 1989. In 1989, he joined Schering Plough Greece as Medical Director and Pharmacovigilance Manager. In 1995, he moved to Rhone Poulenc Rorer Greece, initially as Medical Director and Pharmacovigilance Manager and, following the merger with Hoechst in 1999, as Regional Medical Director of Aventis for the Balkan countries. Since 2005, he is the Scientific Director of Medwork Greece. Nicolas has extensive experience in pre-approval and post-marketing pharmacovigilance and is a contracted QPPV.

Anja van Haren holds a Master in Health Policy and Management from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Her career at the Medicines Evaluation Board (MEB) in the Netherlands started in 1998 as a Pharmacovigilance assessor. Since 2004 she has been responsible for technical and procedural aspects of expedited Adverse Drug Reaction reporting in pharmacovigilance. In her current position at the MEB as EudraVigilance Coordinator the focus of her work is on ADR reports, signal detection and signal management. Anja is co-chair of the EudraVigilance Expert Working Group, co-chair of the Pharmacovigilance Business Team and representative of the EU in the ICH E2B(R3) and ICH E2D(R1) Expert Working Groups.

Magnus Ysander is the EU and UK QPPV for the AstraZeneca group of companies since 2015. From 2022 he also has the same role for Alexion. Based in Gothenburg, Sweden he joined the company in 2002 and have had several specialist, oversight and line managerial roles within the global AstraZeneca pharmacovigilance organisation. Magnus is a MD and has previously worked as a certified Orthopedic Surgeon. He is a member of EFPIA Pharmacovigilance Expert Group and the Program Committee for the DIA QPPV Forum.

Aurel Ignat is an EU QPPV at ELC Group for selected MAH. He joined the company in 2019 after working as a Medical Advisor at Sun Pharma. As a background, Aurel is a Veterinary Physician and before starting his pharmacovigilance journey, he performed veterinary clinical, hematological, biochemical investigations in animals and worked for improving animals and humans welfare.

Elena is a pharmacist by training with a master in drug safety and pharmacovigilance. She joined Bayer as a Regulatory Policy & Intelligence Lead and provides direction and development of Regulatory Policy & Intelligence activities supporting Bayer’s pipeline and strategies, with a particular emphasis on the regulatory use and acceptance of RWD/RWE in drug development. Before joining Bayer, Elena was a Senior Manager, Scientific Programmes at Drug Information Association and engaged annually with over 500 stakeholders and volunteers from the entire healthcare ecosystem. In her free time, Elena is passionate about traveling, visiting art museums, painting and watching Formula 1 (#essereFerrari).

Sharmila Sabaratnam is a Senior Director at Veeva Systems responsible for EU SMB Vault Safety Strategy helping customers to transform their business through a unified safety platform. A physiologist by training with research experience within oncology and arthritis. She has 10+ years’ experience within safety, previously leading safety and regulatory advisory services for Top-25 and Top-100 companies within Ernst & Young and Navitas. Her experience includes operating model design and safety strategy, PV automation, benefit-risk management, and performance benchmarking. As a senior leader within the NHS,she led R&D clinical operations with a large oncology clinical trials portfolio, including the Biomedical Centre for Translational Research.

Katrien Solemé has over 22 years of experience in pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs, clinical development and quality assurance from medium to large pharmaceutical/biotech companies and CRO. She is passionate about improving Patient and Public health by driving sustainable impact through operational excellence, innovation and collaboration. Katrien has been a people manager over the past 16+ years and enjoys interacting with peers in industry.

Doris Stenver is the founder of Unique Advice and she is specialised in internal medicine and has a master degree in public administration. She is former Chief Medical Officer at the Danish Medicines Agency and former member of the EU Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC). Her regulatory experience comprises all aspects of pharmacovigilance, including scientific evaluation of drug safety issues, development of risk management strategies, policies and guidelines, provision of scientific advice to the pharmaceutical industry, and communication to health care professionals and the public.

ANNA-SHARI MELIN is a leader of the Global Life Sciences practice in Munich. She is focused on EU & German regulatory compliance, ESG, & private equity/M&A. Her clients span pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, food, cosmetics, and consumer goods. With extensive experience in product lifecycle regulatory matters, she advises on clinical trials, GMP compliance, PV supply chain management, marketing, and compliance issues, as well as due diligence for life sciences transactions. Representing clients before EU & German authorities, she has handled notable cases, including pay-for-delay appeals. She co-leads Sidley’s PV benchmarking group & the Life Sciences ESG Roundtable, fostering discussion on evolving EU ESG regulations.

Medical Doctor with substantial Industry experience in global Drug Safety & Pharmacovigilance. Values a lifecycle integrated benefit-risk management approach, transparency, diversity, building cross-functional relationships and putting patients first. After a career at UCB Pharma and GSK Vaccines, joined Janssen Pharmaceuticals in 2016 as a Medical Safety Officer before joining the Office of the QPPV in 2019. Currently the Janssen deputy EU QPPV and Head of the PV System Oversight team.

A nurse by training, Ruth has 21 years’ experience in clinical research across the UK national health service, academia and the pharmaceutical industry in all phases and covering GMP, GLP, GCP and GVP. Following 4 years working in Scientific Engagement and Medical Affairs QA Ruth joined the GSK Office of the EU QPPV as PSMF Coordinator. She is currently a Director in the Safety Governance team where she continues to support development and coordination of the PSMF, the EU QPPV in his oversight of the global PV system, and also the local QPPVs globally. She is a member of the PVnet PSMF working group.

Núria Semis-Costa is a biochemist (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) with a MSc in Pharmacovigilance (Universitat de Barcelona). After working in the industry in the field of blood products, she joined the EMA as a Risk Management Specialist in 2015, where she works in the areas of rheumatology, immunology and advanced therapies. Núria is also involved in initiatives related to risk management of biosimilars and medicines in pregnancy, the maintenance of the RMP template and the update of GVP XVI.

Dr. Simmons is currently Senior Medical Fellow (formally the EU QPPV) in Global Patient safety for Eli Lilly & Company Ltd. She is a registered physician from the University of London and, since joining the pharmaceutical industry in 1987, she has focused her career drug safety through senior management positions in Glaxo/Glaxo Welcome and Eli Lilly and Co. Val is also an active member of various expert working groups , including the EFPIA Pharmacovigilance Expert Working Group, ICH E2D, E2F, E2C (R2), CIOMS VII and IX and speaks extensively on pharmacovigilance and risk management

Phil is the Deputy Director of Patient Safety Monitoring within MHRA’s Safety & Surveillance function and has over twenty years of experience working in pharmacovigilance. Prior to his current role Phil spent fourteen years leading and developing the pharmacovigilance system, including technology, processes, and relevant aspects of Pharmacovigilance Legislation. He is now accountable for Patient Safety Monitoring across medicines, vaccines, devices, defects and blood products. Phil was responsible delivery of MHRA systems for COVID-19 vaccine surveillance and their integration into the healthcare system. For several years he has led international projects to develop and deliver tools for global pharmacovigilance.

Achint Kumar is the EU QPPV at Biogen. He is a physician by training and has been working in Pharmacovigilance since 2005. Currently, he is also an active member at EFPIA PV Expert Group.

Moonjung Kim is a registered pharmacist with experience in the clinical research and pharmacovigilance field in Korea. She has been working at Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management(KIDS) since 2014, mainly for the signal detection•evaluation and communication, development of drug utilization review criteria, study projects and pharmacovigilance training/education for experts (including QPPV) and students.

Michael Richardson has many years of global management experience in research based life Sciences companies. He has worked in major multinational companies’ across the globe both at a Regional management level and heading up Research and Development in Asia. Currently Head of Bristol Myers Squibb’s Pharmacovigilance Function. Prior to this role he headed BMS and Eli Lilly’s Development and Medical Organization across Asia Pacific. Before joining Lilly he worked in a joint venture in Japan, Fujisawa-Fisons setting up their development and quality control organisations and prior to that with Organon laboratories in the UK as Medical Director.

She is currently Vice President, Head of Pharmacovigilance and Patient Safety at AbbVie. Prior to joining AbbVie, Dr. Scarazzini served as Director of the Division of Pharmacovigilance in the Office of Pharmacovigilance and Epidemiology, CDER, FDA. She began her career in pharmacovigilance at Sanofi-Aventis, ultimately serving as Associate Vice President of Pharmacovigilance and Risk Management. In 2016, she was selected by her industry peers to serve as the BioPharma Representative on FDA Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee. Dr Scarazzini’s publications include the recently-released textbook “Pharmacovigilance: A Practical Approach,” as co-author and co-editor along with members of her AbbVie PV team

Dr. Sabine Straus has been with the Medicines Evaluation Board (MEB) in the Netherlands since 1997, where she started as an Assessor Pharmacovigilance. Prior to working at the MEB she held different positions in the pharmaceutical industry, her last job as Medical Director at Searle Monsanto in the Netherlands. She was the Dutch member in the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) from 2012 till 2018 and acted as PRAC chair from July 2018 till July 2024. She also holds a position as associate professor at the Erasmus Medical Center, department of Medical Informatics in Rotterdam. Her main research focus is on additional risk minimisation, pregnancy prevention programs, biologicals, signal detection and signal management.

Judith has almost 10 years of experience in pharmacovigilance and is member of the EFPIA Pharmacovigilance Expert Group since 2012. After studying pharmacy and two years in the biomaterial development area, she started working for a contract research organization where she was responsible for safety reporting in the clinical development. Within vfa, the German association for researched-based pharmaceutical companies, Judith covers pharmacovigilance and the interface to regulatory affairs. Judith holds a MSc in Consumer Health Care.

Heather has over 18 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and held several roles in Regulatory, Medical Information and Pharmacovigilance department. Heather is a registered pharmacist in Korea and currently working in Bristol Myers Squibb in Singapore as a Head of Patient Safety, South East Asia. Heather was a member of PV sub-committee of the KRPIA and was a member of KSCD and contributed to the Korean PV industry. Additionally, she worked with MFDS as a member of various Working Groups and has contributed to Risk Management Guideline proposal and supporting the electronic reporting system for foreign cases. Heather holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and a Master of Clinical Pharmacy at Ewha Woman’s University.

Qualified MD 1980. Joined industry 1986 - experience in all phases of clinical development. Head Drug Safety (ICI/ Zeneca/AstraZeneca) 1992-2006; EU Qualified Person for PV in June 06. Chairs EFPIA PV ad hoc group; represented EFPIA on MedDRA Management Board, ICH E2E and ICH E2F EWGs.

Strategic and operational leader with over 20 years experience in pharmacovigilance in local, regional and global roles, including project and team management in pharma and biotech companies. Sophie developed a significant experience from France, first at the hospital (CRPV), then in Boehringer Ingelheim, and moved to Singapore as Head of Regional Centre Pharmacovigilance for Asia and Middle East North Africa (40 countries). She is now based in Australia part of the Global Clinical Safety and PV organization in CSL Behring, providing leadership for the Asia Pacific region. Sophie holds a Doctorate in Pharmacy, a Master of Biological and Medical Sciences, a Diploma in Statistics applied to Epidemiology and a University Degree in Health Law.

A doctor graduated from the University of Algiers, holding a Diploma of Advanced Studies from the Faculty of Medicine of Paris (France), a university degree in pharmacovigilance from the university Claude Bernard of Lyon and a doctoral thesis in clinical pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine of Besançon. She took part in the creation of the CNPM with its founder Professor A Helali in 1998. Since 2016, she has introduced the concept of Phytovigilance, Réactovigilance, Cosmetovigilance, in addition to the vigilance of the drug, the medical device and the vaccine already established. Teacher at the Faculty of Medicine of Algiers. Editor of the independent Medical journal "la Revue Prescrire" since 2007.

Stephanie is Head of the Immunology, Biocompatibility and Non-clinical team in the Safety and Surveillance group at the MHRA. Prior to her current role she held a variety of management and assessor positions in the Agency. She has a masters degree in Clinical Pharmacology and a PhD in Cell Biology. She joined the Agency following a career in academia and has now over 20 years experience in drug regulation with particular experience in post-authorisation procedures and pharmacovigilance.

PhD and master’s degree in clinical pharmacy. She trained and has a wide range of experience. She laid the establishment and the expansion of the Iraqi pharmacovigilance system. On the national level, she represents Iraq in the WHO international drug monitoring program, currently a member in many committees including Biologicals and Biosimilars registration, Iraqi clinical pharmacy advisory board, pharmaceutical ethical promotion, the central committee for containing antimicrobial resistance and many others. On the international level, she is an ISOP board member, FIP and ISOP Middle East chapter scientific committee member. She had authored more than 20 articles in different drug safety related subjects.

Ana Paula Gonçalves is a Pharmacist. She has been working for Bristol Myers Squibb since 2002, based in São Paulo, Brazil. She began her career in regulatory affairs before moving into Pharmacovigilance in 2003. She has a lot of experience in all aspects of pharmacovigilance. She is responsible for managing the Brazil local market pharmacovigilance function and ensures adherence to regulatory requirements, local legislation and to relevant global procedures.

Ermishina Olga is the Pharmacovigilance Country Head, EAEU Qualified Person for Pharmacovigilance in Bayer company. She graduated from Russian State Medical University, biophysics course. Olga is in pharmaceutical business since 1997, being involved in product promotion, medical support, non-interventional studies and interventional clinical trials. For the last 15 years she is in pharmacovigilance function. Olga is the chair of Russian AIPM Pharmacovigilance task force and the EFPIA CIS Pharmacovigilance team.