Rosa Castro | Public Affairs Director
EURORDIS

Rosa Castro joined EURORDIS in 2025 as Public Affairs Director. She supports the organisation’s public affairs strategy to advance policies that improve access to treatments for people living with rare diseases across Europe, working to address existing barriers and promote fairer, more coordinated access to therapies across EU Member States. She brings extensive experience in European health policy in academic research, teaching, advocacy and consultancy, where she has worked at the intersection of law, health, and innovation, with a focus on access to medicines. Rosa has a master’s and PhD in law and economics and an MA in Bioethics and Science. She was a postdoc fellow at the European University Institute in Florence and at Duke University in NC, USA.

Appearances:

Day 1 - Tuesday 28 October @ 09:10

Keynote panel: Looking ahead, what does the future hold for Europe’s Life Science Strategy and what does it mean for rare diseases?

-The global impact of U.S. changes – what opportunities could this mean for Europe and how can we make this an advantage for Europe?

-How will the pharmaceutical legislation and EU level changes affect rare disease investment, regulation, affordability and accessibility to patients?

-How can we ensure Europe’s R&D remains competitive, well-funded and sustainable?

-How should industry respond in order to keep innovating more therapies and to expedite the approval of new medicines?

-How can each multi-stakeholder contribute to a more sustainable ecosystem?

Fabienne Bartoli, Inspector General, French National Authority for Health

Christina Kyriakopoulou, Policy Officer, Health Research Programmes, European Commission