On November 16th, Professor Guido Rasi began his position as Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). On 8 June 2011, the Management board of the Agency nominated Rasi as Executive Director with a renewable five year mandate. This was confirmed on 13 July 2011, after a hearing before the European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
As the Agency is preparing to implement new legislation over the next years, such as falsified medicines, information to patients, veterinary medications, as well as pharmacovigilance, it seems like a challenging time for Rasi to join. Furthermore, as the Agency faces budget restrictions together with a growing mandate and an increasing workload, the EMA together with its national counterpart agencies will have to depend even more on the European network.
As Rasi took up his mandate, he explained:
“Building on the successes of the past 16 years, I see the next phase of the Agency’s development to be focused on re-thinking how medicines contribute more broadly to public health, how access to medicines can be assured in a world of increasing scarcity, and a growing focus on safety.
It is precisely in these areas that, as a scientist and physician, I believe I can contribute most to EMA, its partners and stakeholders and above all to the health of European citizens. I would like to recognize the leadership of Andreas Pott, who has been Acting Executive Director since January 2011, and the work of the Agency’s staff of professionals. I look forward to working alongside them in the years ahead.”
Professor Guido Rasi
- Before joining the Agency, Prof. Rasi was Director-General of the Italian Medicines Agency between 2008 to 2011. In this time he also served as a member of the EMA’s Management Board.
- Rasi worked as a physician in hospital, research and private practice between the years 1978 to 1990.
- From 1990 to 2008 he worked in research at the Institute for Experimental Medicine of the National Research Council in Rome, where he directed the molecular medicine section between 2002 to 2005 as well as the Tor Vegata section from 2005 to 2008.
- In 2008 Rasi was made full professor of microbiology at the University of Rome (Tor Vegata). Prof. Rasi is the EMA’s third Executive Director.
- His predecessors were Fernand Sauer (1994-2000) and Thomas Lönngren (2001-2010).
Rasi attended the University of Rome and holds a degree in surgery and medicine, with specialization in allergology, clinical immunology and internal medicine.
Written by Grace Rattue