About Us

eapm_ about us

The European Alliance for Personalised Medicine was launched in March 2012, with the aim of improving patient care by accelerating the development, delivery and uptake of personalised medicine and earlier diagnostics, through consensus

Who We Are

Alliance began life as a response to the need for a wider understanding of priorities in personalised medicine and a more integrated approach among distinct lay and professional stakeholders.

continues to fulfil that role, not least through regular major events and non-stop media interaction, the publication of Special Issues and more.

Numerous publications, reports and studies have helped to create a large body of reference work that has the knowledge and opinions of Europe’s leading experts as its main contributors.

Not only that, but by conducting interviews across stakeholder groups – to include patients, clinicians, industry leaders, politicians, academics and more – EAPM has published dozens of articles and opinion pieces across Brussels-based, pan-European and even broader media.

Down the years, it has many times succeeded in influencing policy not least through the many amendments it has suggested to Commission proposals on such matters a Big Data, IVDs, clinical trials and HTA, and through constant engagement with Presidencies of the EU.

It has also worked hard to bring about stakeholder alignment, both at institutional and organisational levels.

EAPM’s stakeholders focus not just on the delivery of the right treatment for the right patient at the right time, but also on the right preventative measures to ensure reliable and sustainable healthcare.

The mix of Alliance members and its broader stakeholder outreach provides extensive scientific, clinical, caring and training expertise in personalised medicine and diagnostics, across patient groups, academia, health professionals and industry.

Its STEPs campaign, conferences, roundtables, Working Groups, plus a Regulatory Affairs Group have not only raised awareness of the immense possibilities of PM but have also greatly helped to set the agenda – making EAPM the go-to organisation in this rapidly emerging field.

The Alliance’s diverse membership, which takes in all stakeholders, its energy and its constant engagement with new and long-standing MEPs have ensured that EAPM has quickly become a major influence in implementing personalised medicine now, and will continue to do so into the future.

Relevant departments of the European Commission have observer status, as does the EMA, and our engagement with Member State health ministries and Members of the European Parliament and in key policy areas is a crucial part of our ongoing work.

In fact, for several years, EAPM has organised a STEPs Interest Group of MEPs made up of deputies that it regularly works with and who have an interest in healthcare in general and personalised medicine in particular.

STEPs stands for Specialised Treatment for Europe’s Patients which, in the context of personalised medicine, is our ultimate goal.

What We Do

The multi-stakeholder nature of the Alliance allows it to act as a one- shop for stakeholders in personalised medicine and personalised healthcare.

This is not just through the under-one-roof aspect of our (so far) seven Annual Presidency Conferences and three major Congresses (Belfast, Milan and Brussels), but through the many roundtable meetings we hold with experts on various ongoing topics, our presentations at other conferences and congresses plus our newsletters, video interviews, press interaction and so much more.

Every year, our conference and Congress is attended by large numbers of industry professionals, government regulators, patients, academia, researchers, healthcare journalists and more into driving insights into action.

The one-stop-shop aspect comes into play even outside these large forums, given the mix of EAPM members, which provides extensive scientific, clinical, caring and training expertise in personalised medicine and diagnostics, across patient groups, academia, health professionals and industry.

The Alliance brings all members together every 2-3 months to review activity and to direct political strategy. Our Working Groups develop positions on key topics and regularly make proposals and recommendations to policy- and lawmakers.

Essentially, In the relatively short time since it was formed, EAPM has been in the vanguard of raising the profile and explaining the possibilities of personalised medicine in Europe, and none of this could have been achieved without its broad church of stakeholders who work hard to understand each other’s issues and break down silo walls.

Despite the proven efficacy of personalised medicine in certain areas and vast potential in others, it remains a struggle to embed such innovative preventative methods and treatments into the EU’s healthcare systems. This cannot be done without coordination between all stakeholders.

This is not helped by the fact that healthcare is a Member State competence under the treaties, so the European Parliament and Commission can only do so much.

Essentially, and demonstrably, Europe has been slow in taking account of new technologies. So EAPM believes that there is a clear need to build better healthcare systems for our citizens and, if we build it, they will come.

In a nutshell, EAPM’s plan is to create a better healthcare future for all Europeans through shared decision making and cooperation.

Board and Staff

Team

Our team is the greatest value of our organisation. United by different skills, expertise and experiences, we share a common vision and mission to create a better healthcare future for all the Europeans through shared decision making and cooperation.

Prof. Denis Horgan, a former Director of the European Cancer Patient Coalition, who was also a policy advisor in the European Parliament and worked with various international NGOs on health development projects. In addition, he has published over fifty academic articles related to the area of personalised medicine. Today, Denis is the Editor in Chief of the journal entitled Public Health Genomics and he is the Executive Director from the European Alliance of Personalised Medicine (EAPM).

Jaya Singh is a Biotechnology graduate currently working as a Researcher at European Alliance for Personalised Medicine with past experience in education field as a Science Subject Matter Expertise for an NGO. She is a trekking enthusiast and basketball player who is passionate about scientific exploration and making a positive impact. Jaya’s academic excellence, research skills, and love for adventure define her multifaceted personality, inspiring others to pursue their passions.

Andela is a fifth-year pharmacy student at the University of Split, School of Medicine. Presently completing a six-month internship at a community pharmacy in Split, Croatia. Andela is a former assistant and a graduate of the Erasmus+ PROMISE project, which was a short-term online study program about P4 medicine (personalized, participatory, predictive, preventive). She volunteered as a local public health officer in 2021 and a student exchange officer in 2022 for the Croatian Pharmacy Students’Association. She was both a member of CPSA and the IPSF (International Federation), where she served on the training committee and provided social skills trainings. She is currently working for EAPM as a Junior Communication Officer.

Marta Kozaric has a master’s degree in Molecular Biotechnology from the University of Zagreb, Croatia. She is working as a policy officer for the European Alliance for Personalised Medicine and has participated in various meetings and roundtables attended by numerous high-level European Organisations (medical societies, research groups, pharmaceuticals companies, policy officials, and advocacy groups). She has also been responsible for a branch of the Organisation’s policy activities, editing several EAPM publications and supporting the organization of the EAPM Presidency Conference. She sees great importance in a personalized approach to medicine and the need for better education and regulation.

Andreja Filipasic holds a master’s degree in fashion design and possesses a boundless passion for design in all its forms. With a strong foundation in fashion, Andreja’s creative interests extend beyond the runway, encompassing various design disciplines. An enthusiast of the cutting-edge, Andreja seamlessly integrates artificial intelligence into her design process, infusing innovation and efficiency into her work. In this ever-evolving creative landscape, Andreja embraces the fusion of art and technology, craving a unique path in the world of design.

Board Members

David Byrne served as the first EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection from 1999 to 2004. He became a Senior Counsel in 1985 and was appointed Attorney General of Ireland in 1997. In 1998 he was one of the negotiators of the Good Friday Agreement. During his period in office as commissioner he sponsored the first EU laws on tobacco control and signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on behalf of the European Union in May 2003. Currently, he is co-chair of the Brussels based European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) and is a member of the Scientific and Ethics board of BBMRI-ERIC, the pan-European research infrastructure of biobanks and biomolecular resources. He also serves as a member of the Council of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland where he was conferred with an honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health.

Zorana Maravic is a molecular biologist passionate about science, research and health education. Since the start of 2021, she has been leading Digestive Cancers Europe, an umbrella organisation of more than 30 national member organisations across WHO Europe. After a decade of working in the pharmaceutical industry in marketing and sales, Zorana started a new professional journey in 2012 in patient advocacy. She was of the conviction that more should be done to erase health inequalities, to better patient survival rates and to improve the quality of life of people living through the challenging realities of receiving a cancer diagnosis and subsequently undergoing treatment. A data enthusiast, she led a Survey on the Unmet Needs of Patients Living with mCRC (metastatic Colorectal Cancer), helping recruit more than 800 patients across Europe.

Gabriella Pravettoni is Professor of Cognitive and Decision Making Psychology at the University of Milan, where for several years she has been working on a new dimension of the doctor-patient relationship. She is the Director of the Psycho-Oncology Division at the European Institute of Oncology, where she is a supervisor of clinical cases and formulates and assesses psychological treatments on cancer patients, translating into clinical practice the results obtained from several international research projects in which she is involved. These are the themes upon which Professor Pravettoni‘s team is focused and they are also the subject-matter of the international research projects in which the team is involved in a multidisciplinary collaboration with other European centres of excellence.

James N’Dow is Director of the Academic Urology Unit since its establishment in 2001. His research activity spans across evidence synthesis, trials, guideline development, implementation science and the use of big data to complement traditional trial data. He has consistently secured significant funding for research totalling over £43 million over the past 20 years; including being the Coordinator of two large EU IMI funded big data for better outcomes projects. He is Coordinator of the €12M EU IMI funded 5 year project on prostate cancer big data (https://prostate-pioneer.eu/), a large European Multidisciplinary Consortium of 35 partners from 9 countries to harness the power of Big data to inform clinical practice recommendations. He recently successfully coordinated a second €21.3M EU IMI funded large consortium of 36 partners called OPTIMA researching three solid cancers (Prostate, Breast and Lung cancers).

Professor Servaas A. Morré, PhD is working on Chlamydia trachomatis for more then 17 years and has over 135 publications, from which most are on Chlamydia trachomatis: lifetime number 1 published in The Netherlands, number 2 in Europe and number 10 worldwide. He graduated at the VU University, The Netherlands, in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1994 and currently working as Head of the Laboratory of Immunogenetics, VU University medical center, Amsterdam and Director of the Institute of Public Health Genomics, University of Maastricht. From the 1st of June 2011 he is Head of the Institute of Public Health Genomics (IPHG), Department Genetics of Cell Biology, University of Maastricht. Within this Institute they aim to systematically translate genome-based knowledge and technologies into health research (assessment), health policies (policy development) and healthcare (assurance) on the regional, national, European and international level.

Dr. Jasmina Koeva graduated Medicine in Medical University Varna Magna cum Laude. From 1986 till 1992 she was a research associate in the Clinic of Endocrinology of “St. Marina” University Hospital. She has accomplished postgraduate studies in Institut für Diabetes »Gerhardt Katsch«, Germany and WHO Collaboration Center, Clinic of Endocrinology and Metabolism, „Royal Victoria Infirmary“, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Dr. Jasmina Koeva is a MD in Healthcare Management, Medical University Sofia, and has qualifications in strategic business and marketing planning, forecasting in pharmaceutical industry, leadership, organizational development etc. From 1992 till 2002 she has worked at various positions in different pharmaceutical companies, such as „Ciba-Geigy Swiss“, „Eli Lilly Swiss“, „CSC Pharmaceuticals“, „Balkanpharma“. From 2002 till 2005 she was Director Strategic Marketing in „Actavis“ HQ.