Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Commission
Biography
Ursula von der Leyen was elected as President of the European Commission in 2019. As the head of the European executive, she has defined six headline ambitions for Europe for her mandate: a European Green Deal, a Europe fit for the digital age, an economy that works for people, a stronger Europe in the world, promoting our European way of life, and a new push for European democracy. Before 2019, Ursula von der Leyen was Minister at federal level in Germany for more than 14 years and responsible for family, then labour and social affairs, and later defence.
Speaker session
Session 2: “Research and innovation for better preparedness” organised with DG Research and Innovation
Introductory remarks by Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
- Anna Chioti, Head of Division Pharmacy and Medicines, Health Directorate Luxembourg
- Ewan Birney, Deputy Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
- Magda Chlebus, Executive Director of Science Policy & Regulatory Affairs of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
- Saul Walker, Director of Public Partnerships of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)
- Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Director of ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases Agency and Aviesan/Inserm Institute
Moderated by Irene Norstedt, Director “People”, DG RTD
Saul Walker
Director of Public Partnerships
United Kingdom
Biography
Saul Walker OBE
Saul Walker is Director of Public Partnerships at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Saul leads CEPI's strategic engagement with global and regional partners (such as WHO, GAVI, Unicef, Africa CDC, European Commission) that are essential to the development of and equitable access to vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats. Prior to joining CEPI, he worked at the UK Department for International Development (latterly Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) for 16 years, including roles as Deputy Director for COVID19 Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics (2020 - 23), Deputy Director for Ebola Response in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (2019 - 2020), Chief of Staff for the Asia, Caribbean and Overseas Territories Region and Senior Policy Advisor on Access to Medicines. He was seconded to the World Bank Mozambique Country Office for three years as a Senior Health Specialist and Task Team Leader. Prior to joining the UK Government, Saul held positions as Executive Director for Public Policy at the International Partnership for Microbicides, Senior Policy Advisor at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Senior Policy Advisor at the UK National AIDS Trust. He has been a Trustee director at both the Terrence Higgins Trust and NAM Publication, both UK HIV NGOs. He was awarded an OBE for services to international development in 2020. He holds Masters degrees from the University of Cambridge and University of Warwick.
Organisation
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation
International organisation
CEPI is a innovative global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organisations. We're working together to accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases and to enable equitable access for those who need these vaccines for people during epidemics and pandemics.
Speaker session
Session 2: “Research and innovation for better preparedness” organised with DG Research and Innovation
Introductory remarks by Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
- Anna Chioti, Head of Division Pharmacy and Medicines, Health Directorate Luxembourg
- Ewan Birney, Deputy Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
- Magda Chlebus, Executive Director of Science Policy & Regulatory Affairs of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
- Saul Walker, Director of Public Partnerships of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)
- Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Director of ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases Agency and Aviesan/Inserm Institute
Moderated by Irene Norstedt, Director “People”, DG RTD
Yazdan Yazdanpanah
Director
France
Biography
Yazdan Yazdanpanah is the Director of ANRS emerging infectious diseases Agency, Director of the Aviesan/Inserm Institute I3M, Head of the Infectious Disease department at Bichat Hospital and Professor of Infectious Disease at Paris Cité University. Master of Science degree in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health and a Ph.D degree in public health from the Bordeaux School of Public Health. His research interests include the clinical epidemiology of HIV, viral hepatitis, emerging infectious diseases and the pharmaco-economics of antimicrobial agents.
Organisation
Emerging Infectious Diseases Agency and Aviesan/Inserm Institute (ANRS,MIE)
zOther
Speaker session
Session 2: “Research and innovation for better preparedness” organised with DG Research and Innovation
Introductory remarks by Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
- Anna Chioti, Head of Division Pharmacy and Medicines, Health Directorate Luxembourg
- Ewan Birney, Deputy Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
- Magda Chlebus, Executive Director of Science Policy & Regulatory Affairs of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
- Saul Walker, Director of Public Partnerships of the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)
- Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Director of ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases Agency and Aviesan/Inserm Institute
Moderated by Irene Norstedt, Director “People”, DG RTD