ICPerMed & EP PerMed Joint Conference

Affiliation: DLR PT / EP PerMed

• Since 2023; Coordinator of the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine (EP PerMed) and the related Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda SRIA 2023
• 2015-2023; Coordinator of the ERA-Net Cofund action dedicated to cardiovascular diseases
• since 2000: Project management and policy advise for health topics and related funding on the European level and nationally primarily on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
• 1997 – 2000: Researcher (Postdoc), Medical Research Council (MRC), Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (LMBC) at the University College in London (UCL)

Co-author of several strategic and policy-oriented publications in different areas of health research, such as the STARS Common Strategy: Regulatory Support and Ad

Affiliation: President of the European Society of Human Genetics

Martina Cornel, M.D, Ph.D. is professor of community genetics and public health genomics at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers, department Human Genetics. She is a physician and epidemiologist. She works on the responsible implementation of genetic testing in health care practice.

She is President of the European Society of Human Genetics.

She was chair of the Public and Professional Policy Committee  of the European Society of Human Genetics for >10 years.

She is a member of the Netherlands Health Council and two of  its standing Committees (Population Screening and Advisory Council).

She is board member of the Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde.

She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Community Genetics.

She is chair of the Netherlands Program Committee Neonatal Heelprick Screening.

She published these articles.

Affiliation: French National Research Agency (ANR)

As International Coordinator for the French National Research Agency, Dr Monika Frenzel represents ANR, in the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine, EP PerMed and the International Consortium for Personalised Medicine, ICPerMed.

In the EP PerMed, she is coordinating the activities of WP2 on “Personalised Medicine Research-related Funding and Support”.

She is also leading the international strategic working group of the ICPerMed.

In the former ERA-Net ERA PerMed, Monika Frenzel has acted as chair of the funders consortium and managed two Joint Translational Calls as Joint Call Secretariat.

Affiliation: Patient Advocate

Jillian Hastings Ward MBE is a patient advocate, based in the UK. She has presented rare disease patient perspectives around the world, as a conference speaker, facilitator, writer and co-author of a book of poetry about parenting someone with a genetic rare disorder (‘Helix of Love’, 2023).

Jillian was a founding member of the Participant Panel at Genomics England (2016) and its Chair from 2017 until her term concluded in summer 2024, when her service was recognised with an honour (MBE) from King Charles III. During this period she also helped to design and establish the NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS) ‘People and Communities Forum’, which brings together patient voices and the senior leaders of the GMS in England.

Jillian is currently the Lead Educator for an international online course, ‘The Power of Patient Advocacy in Genomics’, with Wellcome Connecting Science. She sits on NHS England’s Rare Diseases Advisory Group (RDAG), the Patient Involvement Advisory Group for the Scottish Strategic Network for Genomic Medicine (SSNGM), and is the Chair of the judges for Rare Disease Research UK’s Early Career Researcher PPIE Award.

Jillian’s son is profoundly disabled and was the first patient to be diagnosed in the UK with a GRIN1 genetic disorder. Jillian subsequently helped to set up the CureGRIN Foundation, and is now a founding Board member of charity GRI-UK. She was previously a civil servant and chartered town planner.

Affiliation: The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra

Markus Kalliola is a director in Future well-being solutions programme in The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. He is the coordinator of Joint Action Towards The European Health Data Space 2 (TEHDAS 2) and Value from Nordic health data (VALO) projects. Both projects aim for the successful implementation of the European Health Data Space regulation.

Prior to Sitra Mr. Kalliola worked in the European Commission’s DG Sante where he was responsible for the cross-border healthcare IT projects.

Mr. Kalliola holds a position of trust in

• European Medicine Agency (EMA) joint network data steering group
• Steering group for the secondary use of health data in Finland
• HealthHub Finland EDIH advisory board
• Genomic Data Infrastructure (GDI) Infrastructure advisory board
• AIDAVA external advisory group
• ONCOVALUE advisory group
• Quantum advisory board
• EDAH advisory board

Affiliation: University of Tartu, Institute of Genomics

Prof. Andres Metspalu (MD 1976, PhD 1979), Institute of Genomics and Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, has main scientific interests in human genetics, genomics of complex diseases and population-based biobanks, with special emphasis on the application of the precision medicine in health care. In 2010 he was elected to the Estonian Academy of Sciences. A. Metspalu is the past (2005-2007) president of the European Society of Human Genetics and has been serving in several national and international committees (board member of Mission for Cancer in Horizon Europe (until Dec 2021), member of the coordination group and lead/co-lead of WG10 and WG12 in EU 1+Million Genomes Initiative, etc). In 2024 he was elected to Academia Europaea as a full member.

Affiliation: Independent

Ejner Moltzen is a medicinal chemist by training and has for almost 30 years been working within R&D at H. Lundbeck A/S in different managerial as well as strategic positions.

In 2016 he became independent and founded Somami Consulting ApS, which is a consulting company focusing on providing support within R&D projects, alliance management, strategy and policy initiatives, collaboration contracts, and project evaluations.

He supports public agencies and private enterprises, nationally as well as internationally. He was for eight years involved with Innovation Fund Denmark as this agency’s lead representative on international activities relating to personalised medicine, including being the elected Chair for four years of the International Consortium for Personalised Medicine (ICPermed), an EU Member State driven initiative to promote implementation of personalised medicine. In that capacity, he was heavily involved in developing the concept of the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine, EP PerMed, an EC- and Member State funded initiative under the Horizon Europe umbrella.

Affiliation: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

Michèle Ramsay (PhD) is director of the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB), Professor in Human Genetics and South African Research Chair in Genomics and Bioinformatics of African Populations at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg. She is deeply committed to promoting research excellence in Africa and contributing to research that accurately represents African populations in global science, while actively promoting capacity strengthening in the fields of genomics and precision medicine. Michèle is a founding member of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa consortium, co-chair of the International Health Cohorts Consortium (IHCC) and served as chair of the Academy of Science of South Africa’s POPIA Committee to draft a national framework for the protection of personal information in the context of research. As a member of the WHO Technical Advisory Group for Genomics (TAG-G) she contributes LMIC perspectives to global genomics, promoting ethical, equitable and fair principles and practices.

Affiliation: ICPermed/Genome Canada

Dr. Étienne Richer has a postdoctoral background in the genetics of infectious diseases, complemented by consultancy experience across various healthcare domains. His commitment to advancing the genomics community began in 2011 when he joined the CIHR Institute of Genetics (IG) as Assistant Director, later becoming Associate Scientific Director.

Over 14 years, Étienne played a key role in shaping and implementing the institute’s strategic vision. He also strengthened ties with the national research community and forged numerous international partnerships, expanding opportunities for the Canadian genomics sector.

His expertise and collaborative leadership have been widely recognized, notably through his election as Chair of the Health Economics Working Group of ICPerMed, followed by his appointment as Chair of ICPerMed.

Building on this experience, Étienne is now continuing to help building a thriving Canadian genomic ecosystem as Director, Genomics Programs, at Genome Canada, bringing his passion and vision to further drive innovation in genomics.

Fluently bilingual, Étienne has a Ph.D. from INRS Institut Armand-Frappier, a B.SC. in Biological Sciences from University of Montréal, and a graduate degree in Project Management from UQAM’s School of Management.

Affiliation: World Health Organization

Anna Laura Ross PhD is the Head of Emerging Technologies, Research Prioritization and Support, in the Research for Health department of the World Health Organization Science Division.

In this role, Anna Laura oversees activities related to the use of new and emerging technologies to maximize the benefits for global health, and anticipate and mitigate biorisks. Anna Laura also leads activities to facilitate, support and optimize steps in research and development for health products. Originally from Italy, Dr. Ross has over twenty years of experience in global health. Her areas of interest are in the field of HIV biomedical research, scientific programme management, implementation research, and global health policy.

Prior to joining the World Health Organization, Anna Laura Ross served as Head of International Affairs and Scientific Relations at the Agence nationale de recherche sur le sida et les hépatites (ANRS) in Paris, France. Previously, Dr Ross carried out biomedical research at the UK Medical Research Council, London, England and at the Institut Pasteur network. In the latter role she worked in France, Cameroon, and Cambodia on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Dr. Ross is particularly interested in facilitating and accelerating equitable access to science and research products for the benefit of global health. She holds a PhD in biomedical research from the University of Cambridge and a post-graduate qualification in Global Health Policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Affiliation: Erasmus MC – University Medical Center Rotterdam

Prof. Dr. Ron H.N. van Schaik (PhD/FACB) is a European Specialist Laboratory Medicine and Full Professor Pharmacogenetics (2013) and Clinical Chemistry (2023). He is head of the Dept. Clinical Chemistry at Erasmus MC – University Medical Center Rotterdam and Director of the International (IFCC) Expert-Center for Pharmacogenetics. Main interest is implementation of pharmacogenetics in clinical practice. He published >400 peer reviewed articles (h-index 89; Google Scholar). Specific research topics include pharmacogenetics in oncology, cardiology, psychiatry and pain medication, as well as ctDNA/liquid biopsy analyses and DNA analyses for predicting opioid use disorder. Prof. van Schaik participates in national (DPWG, CMBD) and international groups and commitees (ESPT, PGRN, CPIC, PharmVar, AMP, IUPHAR, EMA) on pharmacogenetics. He is founder and pastpresident of the European Society for Pharmacogenomics and Personalised Therapy and chairs the Dutch Network Clinical Pharmacogenetics and recipient of the Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Award for Outstanding Research (2001), the AACC Outstanding Speaker Award (2009) and the AACC/Mol Pathology Award for Outstanding Scientific Research (2010).

EP PerMed will organise an in-situ visit at the Center for Precision Medicine of the University Hospital Brno (Czech Republic), on 27 and 28 November 2025.

EP PerMed WP5 is coordinating the organisation of the visit, with the support of the Czech Health Research Council as local host. Participation is by invitation only. A delegation composed by EP PerMed, ICPerMed and European Commission members will have the opportunity to visit the facilities of the Center, and exchange with Czech experts in the field of personalised medicine. Experts of the previous in-situ visit in Stockholm will take part as well, to facilitate a fruitful exchange of best practices.

The Center, founded in May 2024, predominately focuses on paediatric and adult precision oncology, and rare disease programmes. Its mission is to coordinate and develop research in precision medicine using a multidisciplinary approach with multi-stakeholder committees. The Center has two Molecular Tumour Boards (paediatric patients, adults), utilises liquid biopsy, and developed a tool for the assessment of cancer genome variants of unknown significance.