The Value of Immunisation: Policy & Economics - Policy Panel: Inequalities and Implementation in the EU

Nationality: Italian

Position: Research Director, CNR Ageing Branch, Neuroscience Institute, Padova (Italy)

Research Fields: Clinical epidemiology and geriatrics. Main focus on lifelong approach to healthy ageing

ESWI member since 2022

Dr. Stefania Maggi received her degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Padua, Italy in 1983. She also attended the Graduate School of Geriatrics and Gerontology from the same University until 1987 and in 1988 she received her Master in Public Health from John Hopkins University in Baltimore (USA). Dr. Maggi also holds a PhD in Clinical Pathophysiology from the University of Padua, which she received in 2000.

Dr. Maggi has a specific interest in the epidemiology of ageing and in the analysis of factors promoting health ageing in a lifelong approach. From 1983-1985, Dr. Maggi worked as an attending physician at the Internal Medicine Department for the University Hospital in Padua before she spent the years of 1988-1989 as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), for the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland (USA). From 1989-1993, she worked as the Coordinator for the WHO Program on Ageing, before she moved on to work as a researcher in the Ageing branch at the Institute of Neuroscience, Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (CNR), Padua. Dr. Maggi worked as a researcher from 1993-2007 before becoming Research Director for the same branch and institute, in 2007, a position she currently holds. In this position, she coordinates several national and international research projects on nutrition, vaccines and lifestyle as key factors for promoting healthy ageing. Dr. Maggi is also an Adjunct Professor in the Graduate Schools of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Padua, which she has been since 2000.

Moreover, Dr. Maggi is the Editor in Chief of “Ageing Clinical and Experimental Research” (Springer) and has more than 800 publications, both in peer-reviewed journals and many book chapters.

Alba Vilajeliu is a public health physician with extensive experience in vaccine research and immunization programmes across Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. She currently serves as a Technical Officer in the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals at WHO Headquarters, where she works on evidence-informed policy guidance for life-course immunization and contributes to the development and implementation of vaccine-preventable disease guidance for outbreak and emergency response. Previously, she worked at the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, D.C., the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in Geneva. Earlier in her career, she worked as a clinician and researcher at the Manhiça Health Research Centre in Mozambique and at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. Dr. Vilajeliu holds an MD, an MPH, and a PhD in maternal immunization from the University of Barcelona and has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications on vaccines, immunization, and public health.

Nationality: Czech

Position: Professor of Epidemiology, Charles University, Prague; and Chair, School of Public Health, Postgraduate Medical School, Prague 

Research fields: Preventive medicine, clinical development of new vaccines (pneumococcus; rotavirus; measles, mumps, rubella (MMR); and human papillomavirus)

ESWI member since 2013

Professor Roman Prymula holds the position of Professor of Epidemiology at the Charles University in Prague, School of Medicine Hradec Kralove, Department of Preventive Medicine and Chair of the School of Public Health, Postgraduate Medical School Prague at the same time.

He received his medical degree from Charles University, Prague in 1988 and his PhD from Purkyne Military Medical Academy, Hradec Kralove in 1999. Prof. Prymula also studied at the University of Birmingham, UK, where he completed an International Certificate in Hospital management in 1995. In 1996 he became associate professor of epidemiology.

He has been involved in various research activities in preventive medicine, including clinical development of new vaccines, such as those for pneumococcus; rotavirus; measles, mumps, rubella (MMR); and human papillomavirus. In addition to his active research and teaching activities, he has served as a member of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) management board, Chairman of the Central European Vaccination Awareness Group, and Chairman of the Czech Vaccinological Society JEP.

Prof. Prymula is on the editorial board of several scientific journals and serves as a consultant for several national and international organisations. He is the former Minister of Health in the Czech Republic.

Nationality: Finnish

Position: Clinical Lecturer and Adjunct Professor, Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University of Turku

Research Fields: respiratory tract infections, especially acute otitis media

ESWI member since 2022

Dr. Tähtinen received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Turku in 2004. After graduating, she worked as a GP and resident in paediatrics in Central Finland and then as a PhD student at the University of Turku. In 2012, she successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Treatment of acute otitis media”. The same year, she received the ESPID Young Investigator Award and was selected as a Researcher of the Year by the National Graduate School of Clinical Investigation. After obtaining her PhD degree, Dr. Tähtinen continued her specialisation in paediatrics at the Turku University Hospital, Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

In 2013-2015 and in 2017 Dr. Tähtinen moved to the United States to work as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. During her time in Boston, Dr. Tähtinen also studied at the Harvard Medical School Global Clinical Scholars Research Training Program in which she graduated in 2015.

Currently, Paula Tähtinen is an Adjunct Professor and Clinical Lecturer at the University of Turku, Finland. She is also working as a paediatrician at Turku University Hospital. She is leading her own research group with the main focus on prevention and treatment of respiratory tract infections. Dr. Tähtinen has been actively involved in the development of scientific and professional education at the University of Turku. She has also served as a Young ESPID (European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases) country representative and a committee member at the ESPID Research Networking Committee. In 2022, Dr. Tähtinen received the Helena and Niilo Hallman Prize for the best young researcher in the field of paediatrics.

Lotte Steuten is a health economist by training and primarily interested in health technology assessment and decision analytic modelling of health innovations. 

Alongside her position at OHE, Lotte is a Visiting Honorary Professor at City University of London, a member of the ISPOR Board of Directors and associate editor at Value in Health. She has published >100 peer-reviewed papers. 

Lotte’s current research interests include applied health economics, health policy and market access. She specializes in quantitative methods for estimating and comparing the expected health and economic benefits of new interventions across their lifecycle, and novel approaches to efficiently building the evidence for these.

Iacopo Del Panta is a Milan-based healthcare professional currently working as a Consultant in the Healthcare Area at The European House - Ambrosetti (TEHA Group) in Italy. He specializes in healthcare strategy, policy analysis, and strategic consulting for the healthcare sector