Meet the EUCROF26 Speakers

Experts coming together to share critical insights

EUCROF26 brings together leading industry experts to deliver an extensive array of presentations, expert panel discussions, and breakout sessions. Speakers will share their vast knowledge and experiences on the multifaceted nature of clinical research, covering essential topics such as regulatory changes, clinical trial technologies, quality assurance, data management, and patient-centric approaches.

Keynote Speaker

Emer Cooke

Executive Director
European Medicines Agency

Emer Cooke has been the Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency, based in Amsterdam, since November 2020. She also holds the role of Chair of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA). Between November 2016 and November 2020, she was the Director responsible for all medical product related regulatory activities at the World Health Organisation in Geneva.

Ms. Cooke is a pharmacist with Master’s degrees in Science and Business Administration from Trinity College Dublin. She has over 30 years’ experience in international regulatory affairs and held management positions at the EMA as Head of Inspections and Head of International Affairs respectively from 2002 until 2016.

Learn more about Emer

She has also worked in the Pharmaceuticals unit of the European Commission, where intra-alia, she was responsible for international collaboration, EU enlargement and the orphan medicines regulation for the European Pharmaceutical Industry Association (EFPIA) and in various industry and regulatory positions in Ireland.

In 2021 she received the Muckross (her alma mater) Woman of the Year award. In 2022 she received European Movement Ireland’s “European of the Year” award. In 2023 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) University of Medicines and Health Sciences. Most recently, in 2025, Ms Cooke was inducted as a Fellow of DIA and was awarded DIA’s highest honour – the ‘2025 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Health’.

Plenary Session Speakers

Zoltán Magyarics

Vice President, Research and Development
AOP Health

Learn more about Zoltán

Zoltán Magyarics has obtained his MD degree and completed his PhD in dendritic cell biology at the University of Debrece, Hungary. After a brief academic tenure at the same university, he subsequently started his preclinical discovery and development career at Intercell (currently Valneva) in Vienna, working on multiple antibacterial vaccines across various phases of development. He was later a founding member of the scientific team at Arsanis, a start-up biotechnology company located in Vienna, Austria and Boston, MA, focusing on developing monoclonal antibody therapies against bacterial and viral infections. Following preclinical discovery and development, he moved to clinical development in 2014 with Arsanis and worked both on the sponsor side as medical director for multiple European and US-based biotechs, as well as, in a global clinical trial feasibility and medical advis ory role at PSI CRO. After his latest role as Vice President of Development at Leyden Laboratories, he is currently the Vice President of Research and Development at AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals, a Vienna-based global rare disease and specialty care pharma company.

Jens Peters

Head of Clinical Research
BPI German Pharmaceutical Industry Association

Learn more about Jens

Prof. Dr. Jens Peters studied veterinary medicine and pharmacy, has been active in clinical research for 20 years, and has been with the BPI German Pharmaceutical Industry Association since 2012. He heads the Clinical Research and Veterinary Pharmaceuticals business units and is also active in the research and pediatric pharmaceuticals care sectors. He holds a professorship for clinical research at the Medical School Hamburg (MSH) and is also a lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin in the master’s program in Clinical Trial Management.

Claire Skentelbery

Director General
EuropaBio

Learn more about Claire

Claire holds a PhD in biochemistry and has led organisations that champion and advocate for commercial delivery of science for 25 years, starting within the Cambridge UK biotechnology cluster. She started her work to support biotechnology across sectors through the Council of European BioRegions and the European Biotechnology Network, before moving to the Nanotechnology Industries Association. She joined EuropaBio in 2020 and in addition to her current role as Director General, she is also the Chair of the International Council of Biotechnology Associations (ICBA) and a Governing Board Member for the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI).

Bart Scheerder

Chairman
Dutch Clinical Research Foundation

Learn more about Bart

Bart Scheerder is Program Manager AI Ecosystem at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and Chairman of the Dutch Clinical Research Foundation (DCRF). At UMCG he leads the strategic development of an AI-ready hospital, driving initiatives such as the AI Factory Groningen and other national initiatives to accelerate the safe and large-scale adoption of generative AI in healthcare. Through the DCRF he unites industry, academia, regulators, and patient organizations to strengthen the clinical research landscape in the Netherlands and Europe. His work focuses on translating emerging AI capabilities into clinical practice and ensuring robust governance, compliance, and public-private collaboration to bring innovative therapies to patients faster.

Peter Arlett

Head of Data Analytics and Methods Taskforce
European Medicines Agency

Learn more about Peter

Peter Arlett is Head of the Data Analytics and Methods Taskforce at the European Medicines Agency. In this role he leads on operations and transformation on clinical evidence at the EMA including clinical trials, real world evidence, safety reporting and data science including AI. He is Chair of the EMA Data Board, Co-Chair of the HMA-EMA Network Data Steering Group, Co-chair of the EMA AI Coordination Group, Co-chair of the Vaccine Monitoring Platform Steering Group, and Member of the ACT EU Steering Group. Prior to taking up this role in 2020, he held leadership roles within the EMA in the areas of pharmacovigilance, epidemiology, and risk management.

Prior to starting at EMA in 2008, Peter worked on new legislation and international collaboration for the European Commission, was the UK delegate to the European Committee for Human Medicinal Products, and was an assessor and manager at the UK’s MHRA. He has a medical degree from University College London, and began his career as a hospital physician in Oxford and London.

In addition to his role at EMA, Peter is Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicines of London.

Breakout Session Speakers

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Jazmin Aguado-Sierra

Elem Biotech