Announcing Magdalena Daccord as FH Europe new Chief Executive

We are pleased to announce that Magdalena Daccord has been appointed as our new Chief Executive. She officially started on Nov 1st 2019.

Chair of the Board of Trustees, Jules Payne commented:

“On behalf of myself and the Board of Trustees, we very much welcome Magdalena into the newly created role of Chief Executive. We have developed FH Europe and worked to support the European FH patient network and become one powerful voice in Europe on FH, together with EAS FHSC. Magdalena has the right experience to move FH Europe to the next level, to deliver our strategy and beyond.”

Magdalena brings a strong cross functional healthcare experience from the non-profit organizations in drug development, patient advocacy and pharmaceutical industry. In her most recent role with the Women’s Brain Project, a Swiss based non-profit organization advocating for new, personalized ways to develop and perform medical treatments for women’s brain and mental health, caregiving and prevention strategies together with novel technologies, considering of sex and gender differences, Magdalena’s focus was on managing a multi-stakeholders project – International Forum on Women’s Brain & Mental Health 2019. As Head of Partnership Development & Operations for Women’s Brain Project, she managed existing and established several multidisciplinary partnerships, incl. industry, academia, patient & carer organizations, regulators, policy makers. Magdalena also represented the WBP at the European Council for a Position Paper launch and at the World Health Organization at a mental health summit.

Daccord was previously the Associate Director, Head of Operations at DIA, Drug Information Association, a non-profit global and neutral association, dedicated to bringing healthcare product development stakeholders together in close collaboration with Regulators (FDA, EMA, & national), HTAs, Patient Organizations & the Industry/Associations. As a member of the EMEA Leadership team, she was leading a portfolio of over 70 educational & scientific projects across the region. She also collaborated with patient organizations incl. Eurordis, EUPATI, EPF & other.

Prior to that, Magdalena progressed in different EMEA roles with Alexion, a global biopharmaceutical company focused on serving patients and families affected by rare diseases. She initially worked in Commercial Operations, then moved into marketing where she was focused on educational events and collaborations with international scientific societies. A real breakthrough in her industry career was a secondment in Poland, when she had a chance to experience first-hand the challenges and pains of rare disease patients and their HCPs.

In her spare time Magdalena is very active volunteering in the space of women empowerment and personal development. Her inspiration comes from her family life, her supportive husband and their 3-year-old daughter.

Magdalena Daccord says: “I am delighted to be joining FH Europe as the Chief Executive. This European patient network has been very successful in raising awareness of FH in Europe, building strong collaborations with local patient organizations and other key stakeholders locally, internationally and globally. I look forward to consolidating and building on these partnerships as well as embracing the exciting opportunities made possible by new treatments being developed for patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia. In line with the organization’s mission, my aim is to work together to secure early identification and diagnosis of FH patients to improve and save their lives.”