Barcelona, September 12, 2023. The Governing Board of EIT Health Spain has appointed Izabel Alfany as the new General Director of EIT Health Spain, the Co-Location center (regional hub) of EIT Health, which is part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
Alfany, who joined the Spanish node of EIT Health in November 2021 as Director of Operations and Business Development, had been carrying out the functions of deputy general management since 2022, the year in which the previous director, Cristina Bescós, was appointed Director EIT Health Innovation Council for Europe.
"It is with great satisfaction that we announce the appointment of Dr. Izabel Alfany as General Director of EIT Health Spain, to whom we entrust the executive and management leadership of the organization to continue developing the objective of promoting innovation in the field of health and continue the process of consolidating our alliance to operate as a relevant, reference and influential entity in the health system both at the state and European level", comments Francesc Iglesias, President of the Governing Board of EIT Health Spain and Director of the Office of Innovation and Deputy Director of the Catalan Institute of Health. “We are convinced that Izabel, with her experience and knowledge of the needs of the partnership, will not only maintain the achievements of EIT Health, but will also reinforce them, leading the evolution of our organization in the new stage that now begins with the new EIT Health governance model and the challenges that lie ahead,” adds Iglesias.
Transforming the health system, through streamlining the adoption of digital health applications in Spain and promoting the secondary use of health data, will be one of Alfany's priorities in its new stage in the Spanish hub. Another priority, aligned with EIT Health's strategic areas at the European level, will be to promote new healthcare models in Spain, with a particular focus on value-based health.
“Spain is at a key moment of transformation of its health system. At EIT Health we have the mission of putting all the agents involved in contact so that innovation, public-private collaboration and digitalization become the priority axes of this change,” explains Izabel Alfany, General Director of EIT Health Spain.
These priorities join another fundamental objective of the new director general: promoting the role of women in innovation and technology, promoting their leadership, a pending issue within the European Union. According to data from the European Startup Monitor 2020/21, only 36% of startup founders are women, either in mixed teams (29%) or in exclusively female teams (7%) (1). The situation is even more complex in our country. According to data from the South Summit Entrepreneurship Map 2022, only 20% of Spanish entrepreneurs are women (2) and only 6% of startups are led exclusively by women.
“In Europe and in our country, women represent enormous and untapped entrepreneurial and leadership potential. Promoting female entrepreneurship is a priority so that the entire society is represented in the design and technological development of innovation. An environment of health innovation with greater diversity leads to the creation of better quality products and services, and greater benefits for both patients and society as a whole,” says Alfany.
Izabel Alfany is a biologist and doctor in Physiology from the University of Barcelona, Master in Business Innovation from the UPC and has completed the PROMOCIONA executive program of Women in Senior Management (CEOE
Alfany succeeds Cristina Bescós, current Director of Innovation at EIT Health, who has led EIT Health Spain for four years, positioning the organization in a prominent place within the Spanish ecosystem, with a very strong and successful partnership in terms of attracting funds. EIT Health European Union.
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About EIT Health
EIT Health is a network of leading health innovators, with approximately 130 partners, and is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. We collaborate between countries to offer new solutions that allow European citizens to live longer and better.
As Europeans, we face the challenge of chronic diseases and multimorbidity, and we are aware of the opportunities that technology offers us to advance beyond conventional approaches, prevention and healthy living. This requires innovative opinion leaders and efficient pathways to bring innovative health solutions to market.
EIT Health addresses these needs. We connect all relevant health actors across Europe, ensuring the inclusion of all three sides of the “knowledge triangle”, so that innovation occurs at the intersection of research, education and business, for the benefit of citizenship.
EIT Health: Together for healthy lives in Europe.
For more information, visit: www.eithealth.eu
Media Contact:
Mara Belluco | Communication Manager | EIT Health Spain
mara.belluco@eithealth.eu | 34 934020800 | 34 627089665
Manuel Recio, manuelrecio@europapress.es | 34 600 90 55 93
Rubén Marcos, rubenmarcos@europapress.es | 34 600 90 50 74
