2nd Patient Empowerment World Congress 2026 Europe
““Part of Patient Centricity & Collaboration Series”
“Connecting Patients, Clinicians, Industry and Policymakers to Transform Healthcare Through Partnership, Innovation and Empowerment.”
Holiday Inn London - Kensington High St. by IHG, London, United Kingdom
Day 2 - Thursday 15th October 2026
Robert Mitchell-Thain, Chief Executive Officer, PBC Foundation
Frida Forya, Senior Quality Solutions Leader – PDQ, Roche
HEALTH EQUITY, ACCESS & PATIENT ADVOCACY
- Examining the structures necessary to support and mandate patient involvement.
- Strategies for implementing and expanding these models across diverse healthcare systems.
- Exploring the vital role of partnerships between different stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem.
- Ensuring that patient engagement initiatives are accessible and representative of all populations.
Moderator:
Frida Forya, Senior QMS Process Engineer, Roche
Panelists:
Caroline Olshewsky, Chief Executive, Lupus UK
Dave Chuter, Chair, ICPV
Anjana Pindoria, Founder, I am Patient
Gabor Purman, Patient Advocacy Director, Kyowa Kirin
- Patient information leaflets (PILs) have long been a cornerstone of safe medicine use, yet their impact is increasingly limited in a digital-first world where patients turn to online and social sources for guidance. This presentation will share how the MHRA is working collaboratively with patients, healthcare professionals, charities, and industry to co
design a user-centred approach to medicine information. - Attendees will gain insight into emerging policy thinking in the UK and internationally, and how technological innovation aligned with patient voices, can support safer use of medicines, more informed decision-making and achieve greater accessibility.
Smita Robinson, Head, Product Information Quality Unit, MHRA
- Brief intro and background
– 20 years experience engaging as a patient representative
– About Patients for Patient Safety Ireland
Foundation – based on:
– WHO
– International Health Literacy Association
– European Patient Forum
– Institute of Health Equity
- The Patient Empowerment Programme
– Evolution of patient engagement in Ireland
– Vision and objectives
– Enabling Partnerships
– Making change happen
– Challenges
– Progress to date
– Next steps
Tiberius Pereira, Co-founder, Patient Safety Ireland (PFPSI)
- This session looks at what it really means to do patient engagement differently in ways that reach communities who are too often left out of health research.
- We will share practical, creative and culturally grounded approaches to gathering genuine insights, sharing outreach, and building trust with underrepresented communities and why these matters for making clinical trials and health research more inclusive and effective.
Sneha Mojumdar, Projects and Partnerships Manager, Egality Health
Alidor Gaspar, Patient advocate, Artist
- Exploring the engagement continuum, from consultation to co-strategising
- The principles that underpin true partnership for industry and patient advocates
- What good patient partnership looks like in practice
Stephen O’Farrell, Executive Director, Patient Engagement, Spectrum Science
Gunnar Schroefel, Sr Director & Head of Oncology Patient Advocacy, Daiichi Sankyo Europe & Canada
Steve Clark, Founder and Patient Advocate, Strive for Five
Hamda Munawar, Senior Patient Advocacy Manager, Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH
- Lived experience is expertise and patient organisations’ greatest asset.
- Meaningful engagement in policy, planning, implementation and accountability is essential to improving access: the case for social participation.
- Access is more than availability: the case for universal health coverage (UHC) and health for all.
- The role of patient organisations in advancing UHC, and the policy opportunity presented by the 2027 UN High-Level Meeting on UHC.
Dani Mothci, CEO, International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO)
PHARMA & LIFE SCIENCE DRIVING PATIENT-CENTRIC INNOVATION
- Establishing clear channels of information to foster long-term patient relationships.
- Implementing robust standards for compliant and patient-centric interaction.
- Developing proactive strategies to counteract inaccurate health information.
- Clearly articulating the tangible benefits of pharmaceutical innovation and care.
Steve Clark, Founder and Patient Advocate, Strive for Five
- What is happening with patient co-authorship
- Practical examples on how to meaningfully engage
- What does the future look like?
Sally-Anne Dews, Health Equity Publications SpecialistChief Medical Affairs Office, Pfizer
Trishna Bharadia, MFPM(hon), Patient Advocate, Patient Engagement Expert
- Patient empowerment often fails because healthcare still measures only a fraction of what drives real-world outcomes
- Digital health can make the “invisible” visible by capturing behaviour, context, and early signals between visits
- What needs to change for empowerment to translate into better access and outcomes at scale?
Richard Cassidy, SVP – Rx+ Business Accelerator, Astellas Pharma
- Opportunities for Servier to build meaningful partnerships with patients through a patient-centric operating model, including Global Patient Advisory Councils
- How patient insights and lived experiences can inform Servier’s strategic plans
Delphine Nicolas, Head Of Global Patient Affairs – Oncology, Servier
- Understand how to leverage digital tools and clinical data platforms to improve workflows, maximize trial efficiencies, and enhance outcomes.
- Discover strategies to align public and private efforts to fund sustainable innovation ecosystems and market access.
- Acquire techniques for developing user-centric portals and wearable integrations for direct health management and true centricity.
- Master the ability to establish shared accountability frameworks and metrics (PROMs/PREMs) to track systemic progress and demonstrate therapeutic value
Moderator:
Robert Mitchell-Thain, Chief Executive Officer, PBC Foundation
Panellists:
Joana Pina, Patient Advocate, President, CBP Portugal
Janet Messer, Director of Health Data and Digital Policy, ABPI
Atefeh Sadeghi, Founder & President, Women Cancer Europe
Robert Mitchell-Thain, Chief Executive Officer, PBC Foundation Frida Forya, Senior Quality Solutions Leader – PDQ, Roche
Gold Sponsor
Bronze Sponsor
