Programme Committee

Meet the Programme Committee working hard behind the scenes to create the programme for this year’s Better Medicines for Children’s Conference.

Angelika Joos

EFGCP

Bio

With her recent role as Executive Director, Science & Regulatory Policy at MSD and a pharmacist by training, Angelika has >25 years of experience in international regulatory and scientific policy. She has been actively involved in paediatric regulatory development since the early implementation of the EU Paediatric Regulation and contributes to MSD’s paediatric strategy through its internal Pediatric Development Committee. She has held long standing leadership and expert roles within EFGCP, EFPIA, and international paediatric research initiatives.

Angeliki Siapkara

AstraZeneca

Bio

Dr Siapkara is a Senior Regulatory Affairs Director and the global regulatory lead for AstraZeneca’s Paediatric Oncology Development Team. She has been working in paediatric drug development and relative policy activities for over 18 years. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Athens, and completed her postgraduate qualification in Orthopaedic Surgery with a special interest in Paediatrics at hospitals in Athens, Glasgow and at Great Ormond Street Hospital. In 2010 she obtained a MSc in International Child Health from University College London. Between 2008 and 2023 Dr Siapkara led the MHRA Paediatric Unit which delivered the implementation of regulatory activities for innovating paediatric medicines including PIPs, paediatric clinical trials and marketing authorisations and paediatric pharmacovigilance. During that time, Dr Siapkara was the UK delegate at EMA’s Paediatric Committee (PDCO) and member of the CMDh/EMA Working Party on Paediatric Regulation.

Begonya Nafria Escalera (Co-Chair)

Barcelona Children’s Hospital, eYPAGnet & EFGCP

Bio

She is the Head of Patient Engagement in Research at Sant Joan de Déu Chidren’s Hospital (Spain). She has long experience in the field of the involvement of patients and families in research initiatives. She has also a personal story as a cancer patient, and as a caregiver and patient advocate because is the sister of a young adult with cerebral palsy.
Her areas of expertise are focused on paediatric patients involvement in research and specifically in the field of clinical trials and in health innovation. She is currently a PhD student in the patient involvement in paediatrics field, specifically in a thesis project about the rights of children and young people participating in clinical trials.
Other relevant background of her profile is: Fellow of EUPATI (first cohort) and member of its Academic Cluster, Coordinator and Founder Member of eYPAGnet (European Young Patients Advisory Group Network – www.eypagnet.eu), Coordinator of Kids Barcelona (YPAG of Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital- www.kidsbarcelona.org), Co-chair of Children’s Medicines Working Party of EFPGCP, volunteer member of the Editorial Board of Center for Information & Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP), member of the Patients and Families working group and Chair of the Cross-Border Access to Paedaitric Clinical Trials of EnprEMA (European Network of Paediatric Research of EMA).
The main aim of all the activities led or participated by Begonya is to achieve a better quality of life for the paediatric patients thanks to research and new therapies, and ensuring their active involvement to perform patient-centric clinical research and innovation.

Claudio Fracasso

Hippocrates Research Srl

Bio

Claudio Fracasso is currently Medical Director at Hippocrates Research—the longest-standing Italian CRO, within the Hippocrates Group. Previously, he served as Global Pediatric Medical Director in the Pediatric Center of Excellence, and before that as Regional Clinical Development Director, South-Western Europe at Pfizer; earlier he was Director of Clinical Development at Wyeth, totaling 24 years in the pharmaceutical industry. A physician with 10+ years of clinical practice (though not a pediatrician), he has long championed children’s health, collaborating with advocacy groups such as ICAN and eYPAGnet, and networks including for example c4c, where he also contributed at inception. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Children Medicine Working Party at EFGCP.

Donato Bonifazi

TEDD – European Network of Excellence for Paediatric research

Bio

Donato Bonifazi is an Economist and the Chair of TEDDY – European Network of Excellence for Paediatric Clinical Research, and Strategy Leader of CVBF – Clinical Validation from Biopharmaceutical Findings, a non-profit research consortium with 25 years’ experience in health and pharmaceutical research, as a Sponsor or a Partner/CRO in clinical research.
He is also Member of: the Coordinating Group at Enpr-EMA, the ACT EU multi-stakeholder platform Advisory Group, the international Children Advisory Network (iCAN) Advisory Board, the AICRO Board of Directors, the EUCROF Paediatric WG, the EFGCP Paediatric Medicines WG, the IRDiRC patient engagement WG, and Chair of the TEDDY Young Patient Engagement WG.
He is involved in several projects aimed at enhancing research for paediatric and rare diseases patients (i.e. OrphaDev4Kids aimed to foster the development of paediatric medical devices, ERDERA the EU Rare Disease Research Partnership, ERAMET and INVENTS, aimed at developing innovative trial methodologies for unmet needs) and is Coordinator of EPTRI (European Paediatric Translational Research Infrastructure) aimed to enhance technology-driven paediatric research in drug discovery and early development phases to be translated into clinical research and paediatric use of medicines, diagnostics and devices.
He has been Trial Leader of two EU-funded multinational paediatric clinical trials between 2011–2017 and project coordinator of the EU-funded project DEEP – DEferiprone Evaluation in Paediatrics (FP7 GA 241683), involving 32 clinical centers from European and Mediterranean countries.

Gesine Bejeuhr

Bayer

Bio

Dr. Gesine Bejeuhr is an experienced pharmacist and leader specializing in regulatory policy for pediatric and orphan medicines. Her career includes roles in both the industry and regulatory agencies. Since 2019, she has led Global Pediatric Regulatory Policy and EU Orphan Medicines Regulatory Policy at Bayer AG, coordinating internal working groups and advising global program teams on pediatric and orphan medicine development strategies. She currently chairs a Rare Disease Research & Development expert working group coordinated by EFPIA and she is a member in various pediatric and rare disease expert groups at EFPIA, BIO and PhRMA. She is a member of EFGCP’s Children medicine Working Party and coordinating the planning committee of the 2026 Better Medicines for Children conference.

Jasmine Kincaide

Bayer

Bio

Jasmine Kincaide is a registered midwife by training and brings over 26 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with a strong and enduring focus on pediatric clinical research. She has worked globally as a Study Manager and Clinical Project Manager and currently serves as Alliance and Operational Lead for Pediatrics at Bayer UK. During her 12 years at Bayer, she has supported multiple pediatric indications across development programs, with particular emphasis on operational excellence, study delivery, and effective cross functional collaboration.
Jasmine combines deep operational expertise with a passion for advancing high quality, feasible, and patient centered pediatric trials. She is committed to improving clinical trial execution through strong partnerships, efficient operational models, and early engagement with sites and networks. She also actively collaborates with young patient advocacy groups to ensure that the needs and perspectives of children and families are meaningfully integrated throughout the clinical trial lifecycle.
As the mother of a child with special needs, Jasmine also brings personal experience of navigating hospital care and treatment pathways, reinforcing her strong belief that families must be actively included in treatment planning, discussions, and decision making.

Mark Turner

conect4children Stichting

Bio

Professor Mark Turner is CEO of conect4children Stichting, a multinational paediatric clinical research network. Following more than 30 years’ experience in clinical practice and research he is Professor Emeritus of Neonatology and Research Delivery at the University of Liverpool. He has a passion for improving the medicines that are given to babies and children. This experience has led him to work with regulators, pharmaceutical and research networks in the UK, Europe and globally to improve the way we do research that involves children. Prof Turner drove the setup of the 20-country pan-European paediatric Clinical Trials Network funded by IMI2, conect4children (c4c) and is CEO of the Dutch non-profit that was spun out of the c4c project.

He chaired the European Network of Paediatric Research at the European Medicines Agency for six years. He has contributed to the development of three European research infrastructures and one in the USA. He is a European Co-Director of the International Neonatal Consortium, hosted by the Critical Path Institute. He was senior co-Editor of the landmark textbook “Essentials of Translational Pediatric Drug Development” (2024, Elsevier) and was President of the European Society for Developmental, Perinatal and Paediatric Pharmacology (2019 – 2022).

Martine Dehlinger-Kremer (Co-Chair)

UCB

Bio

Dr. Martine Dehlinger-Kremer brings over 30 years of experience in the research industry, with a distinguished focus on global regulatory affairs, medical affairs, maternal-fetal medicine, and pediatric leadership. She has been actively involved in advancing pediatric research and drug development, supporting innovative solutions, and contributing to global regulatory strategies.
In December 2025, Dr. Dehlinger-Kremer joined UCB Biosciences as Senior Development Strategy Lead Pediatrics within the Department of Special Patient Populations. In this role, she will lead the design and implementation of comprehensive, cross functional global strategies aimed at addressing unmet needs in special patient populations, with a particular focus on pediatrics.
Prior to this, Dr. Dehlinger-Kremer served as Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Pediatric Subject Matter Expert at ICON Plc, where she also co-chaired ICON’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine Unit. Earlier in her career, she held several executive leadership roles at global CROs and has extensive experience in global drug development across more than 40 countries.
Dr. Dehlinger-Kremer has held numerous leadership and advisory positions across the global clinical research and regulatory landscape. She served as President of the European CRO Federation (EUCROF) from 2016 and as Chair of the Pediatric Working Group since 2008, roles through which she helped shape collaborative approaches to clinical research and pediatric drug development. She has contributed as a member of the ACT EU Multistakeholder Platform (MSP) Ad Hoc Advisory Group and as a core member of the Trials@Home External Stakeholder Platform (ESP). In addition, she has served as observer member of the Coordinating Group of Enpr EMA at the European Medicines Agency from 2016 and remains actively engaged in Enpr EMA initiatives.
Alongside her role at UCB, Dr. Dehlinger Kremer serves as Co Chair of the European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP) Children’s Medicines Working Party and as a Board Member of the Association. She is also an Advisory Board Member of the International Children’s Advisory Network (iCAN), a member of the TOPRA Pediatric SPIN, and an active member of both the EFPIA Pediatric Working Group and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Pediatric Working Group.
Her achievements have received international recognition, including being named one of PharmaVOICE’s 100 Most Inspiring People in Life Sciences in 2015 and receiving the TOPRA Award for Regulatory Excellence in the Contribution category in 2025.
Dr. Dehlinger-Kremer earned a Doctorate in Sciences from J. W. Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, a Diploma of Advanced Study in Neurophysiology from University Louis-Pasteur in Strasbourg, France, and a Master of Sciences degree from University Moulin de la Housse in Reims, France.

Mette Due Theilade Thomsen

PIP Adviser ApS

Bio

Mette is the founder of “PIP Adviser ApS” which provides expert regulatory advice on all aspects of paediatric drug development, in particular EU PIPs, US pediatric study plans and global paediatric drug development. In PIP Adviser ApS, Mette advises on a very high amount of PIPs – in particular within the advanced therapy space- for an optimal PDCO procedure.

Mette has a background from authorities and industry. In the Danish Medicines Agency (2000-2006), Mette was a nonclinical assessor of MAAs and of EU Scientific Advices. She was the Danish delegate in several CHMP working parties, e.g. Nonclinical Working Party and Gene Therapy Working party, and was rapporteur for several CHMP and ICH guidelines.

During her later role as Scientific Officer in the EMA (2007-2009), Mette handled PIP procedures with PDCO, was in the FDA-EMA paediatric cluster, and established and ran the PDCO Nonclinical Expert Group for support to the PDCO on nonclinical development in paediatric plans.

During her time in Novo Nordisk (2009-2016), Mette lead all PIP/PSP procedures within a large therapy area, was paediatric strategy advisor across the company, and was a member of the EFPIA paediatric group.

Mette also spent a year as Senior Director in Shionogi, London.

Roberto De Lisa

EMA

Bio

Roberto De Lisa, MD, is a specialist in Clinical Pharmacology and Neuroscience with extensive experience in medicines regulation and paediatric drug development. At the European Medicines Agency (EMA) since 2006, he began his career in medical information and pharmacovigilance before joining the Paediatric Medicines Office. He currently supports the Paediatric Committee (PDCO) in the assessment of paediatric development programmes, with a particular focus on modelling and simulation and real-world evidence as well as in specific therapeutic areas such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and systemic Lupus Erythematosus, areas in which he has recently published on EMA’s regulatory experience. Before joining EMA, he worked at San Giovanni di Dio University Hospital in Cagliari, contributing to clinical trials, the local Ethics Committee and the establishment of a Pharmacovigilance Centre.

Solange Corriol Rohou

EFGCP

Bio

Pulmonologist and immuno-allergist by training, Solange had to leave AstraZeneca R&D in May 2025, after 21 years, while being a Sr. Global Regulatory Affairs & Policy Director. Over the past 20 years, moving from the French Medicines Agency/European Medicines Agency and academia to the pharma industry, she gained strategic experience in respiratory, rheumatology, inflammation and oncology drug development.
Previously, in her role as the chair of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) Clinical Development Expert Group (CDEG) until 2022, Solange organized jointly with the EMA several workshops (e.g. Modelling & Simulation, Paediatric Extrapolation, Adaptive Design). She is still quite active within EFPIA, ICH, the ACCELERATE Paediatric oncology platform and EnprEMA. She is passionate about paediatric drug development and drug development optimisation for rare diseases.
She has also experience working in public-private partnership projects (e.g., IMI PROactive in COPD, ADAPT SMART, U-BIOPRED, Get Real, Trials@Home and MOBILISE-D). In 2022, on behalf of EFPIA, she proposed a project to IHI as part of the Rare Disease Moonshot Initiative: IHI RealiseD, for which she was initially the project lead. She is currently actively involved in ERDERA and some Horizon Europe rare disease projects, such as DREAMS and RESTORE VISION.
Solange is currently working as a consultant and collaborates with VOISIN Consulting.
As a board member of EFGCP, involved in the EFGCP Children Medicines Working Party, she is used to participate in the organisation of the EFGCP Annual Paediatric conference, has been actively involved in the drafting and the implementation of the Good Lay Summary Practice Guideline, and is currently involved in the EFGCP-EFPIA cross border initiative aimed at facilitating patients access to clinical trials in any other European countries.

Thomas Severin

Novartis Pharma AG

Bio

Dr. Thomas Severin is a physician and in his role as Global Program Head and member of the Immunology Development Unit Leadership Team focusing on development of new medicines at Novartis Pharma AG in Basel, Switzerland.

Prior to Clinical Program Head and Medical Director roles in global cardiovascular and immunology drug development, he held the position of Head Pediatrics in External Affairs at Novartis and was Chair of the Novartis Pediatric Advisory Group. Previously he worked as pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist at the University Hospital and University Heart Center in Freiburg, Germany.

Thomas Severin holds a doctorate degree in Medicine and specialized in Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine and in Pediatric Cardiology. He completed post-graduate programs in Pharmaceutical Medicine at the European Center for Pharmaceutical Medicine, University Basel, Switzerland, and in Health Economics at the European Business School University, Oestrich-Winkel, Germany. He is Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC), Global Fellow in Medicines Development (GFMD), member of the EFGCP Children’s Medicines Working Party, and several pediatric and scientific societies.