Last week, ECPO’s Operations Director, Susie Birney, attended the European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI) Expert Training Programme in Madrid — a leading European initiative that equips attendees with in-depth knowledge of medicines research and development.
The programme, run by EUPATI, brings together patient advocates, carers, and health professionals from across Europe to strengthen the role of patients in medical innovation and policy. This year, just over 100 participants completed the training and received their certificates after months of study and an intensive final session in Madrid.
The comprehensive training provided not only technical knowledge about how medicines are developed and approved, but also the opportunity for participants to discuss how this learning applies within their own national contexts.
Reflecting on the experience, Susie shared,
“Being able to ask the specific questions that I needed to understand on a national level helped put some of the previous learnings from the modules into context,”. She also praised the EUPATI faculty, noting how “they were so giving of their time, not only on stage but at breakfast, lunch, and breaktimes too.”
For Susie, who lives with obesity and advocates for the rights and recognition of people affected by the disease, this training was especially meaningful. It provided the chance to connect knowledge of therapeutic innovation directly to the lived experience of people with chronic conditions like obesity, helping to ensure that their voices are included in every stage of healthcare research and decision-making.
“It was a pleasure to make so many new connections and reconnect with others,” Susie said. “The shared commitment to patient engagement across so many different disease areas was inspiring.”
By completing the EUPATI Expert Training, Susie brings enhanced insight and expertise back to ECPO. This achievement strengthens ECPO’s ongoing mission to ensure that people living with obesity are represented not only in healthcare systems but also in research, policy, and innovation across Europe.
For more about the EUPATI programme, visit www.eupati.eu.
