About us
About EPAI
EPAI is determined to empower and strengthen the patient community by developing, leading and implementing methodologies, processes, and projects to strengthen patient advocacy, patient involvement and evidence generation in patient advocacy, research, health policy and healthcare services.
Meet the EPAI Team
These are the people working on projects driven by the European Patient Advocacy Institute
Jan Geissler 
Managing director
Jan Geissler is a cancer survivor and a long-standing patient advocate since 2001. Jan co-founded the patient organisations LeukaNET, CML Advocates Network, Leukemia Patient Advocates Foundation, WECAN and the Acute Leukemia Advocates Network. He was the Director of the European Patients Academy (EUPATI).
Jan represents patients on a number of institutions and committees on the European and global level. He is managing director of the European Patient Advocacy Institute in a volunteer capacity, and is CEO of the patient engagement think-tank Patvocates.
Sara-Dederichs
Team Lead
Sara draws from over 25 years of rich experience in leading, training as well as mentoring diverse and multicultural teams towards defined joint goals. With a background in social psychology and new leadership methodologies, Sara brings a unique perspective to her role as coordinator of the EPAI team and navigator of the EPAI project portfolio. Beyond her project management responsibilities, Sara serves as the driving force behind the WECAN Secretariat and is a member of the WECAN Coordination team. She leverages her expertise in leadership and understanding of team dynamics to ensure the optimal use of team resources and foster collaboration, leading to innovation and succesfull team outcomes. Sara is based in Germany, was raised in Spain and is fluent in German, English, Spanish and has a basic level of understanding Catalan, Portuguese and Italian. She has two adolescent daughters.
Mercè Cases Escuté
Senior Research Manager
Mercè brings extensive experience in evidence-generating projects for the community, drawn from her work on numerous projects over the past few years. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedicine and a Master’s in Neuroscience from the University of Barcelona.
Her career has primarily centered on conducting basic research across various laboratories in Europe, including Switzerland, Spain, and Germany. During her postdoctoral work, she chose to focus her professional career on patient engagement in research and patient-led research initiatives. Mercè is particularly interested in exploring aspects of quality of life. She is based in Barcelona and is fluent in English, Catalan, and Spanish. She is mainly dedicated to the European Atlas on Clinical Trials in Cancer and Hematology project run at WECAN.
Eglys González
Senior Research Manager
Eglys holds a PhD in Microbiology with research expertise in parasitology, tropical diseases (such as Chagas and Leishmaniasis), and breast cancer immunotherapy. She has extensive experience in research, scientific project coordination, and partnership management within the non-profit sector in Venezuela and the US, particularly with the Jacinto Convit Foundation and Jacinto Convit World Organisation. After relocating to Germany, she worked as a laboratory manager in integrative oncology while continuing to volunteer in the non-profit sector. In recent years, she has been dedicated to patient advocacy and project management, emphasising patient-centred research and involvement while working as a research manager on scientific projects.
Continuing her commitment to impactful, patient-focused initiatives, Eglys has now taken on a new role as Director within a collaborative project to develop an innovative patient involvement matchmaking platform. Originally from Venezuela and now based in Germany, she speaks Spanish, English, and German.
Ana Amariutei
Research Manager
Ana is a cancer survivor and after finishing her treatment, she decided to study biomedical science. She undertook her bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees at the University of Sheffield, and alongside her studies she acted as a patient advocate for 9 years.
After completing her PhD in July 2023 she joined the European Patient Advocacy Institute (EPAI), where she worked as a Research Manager and is assistng with the Evidence-Based Advocacy (EBA) programmes. Ana is originally from Romania and is now based in Germany. She speaks Romanian and English.
Paula Capparelli
Digital Innovation Lead
Paula is equipped with a background in Social Communication, an MBA, and specialized training in entrepreneurship, human-centered design, and digital transformation. At the young age of 23, she co-founded a company in Buenos Aires and two years later she fulfilled a lifelong dream by joining a European field hockey team, embracing the life of a professional athlete.
For over a decade, Paula has merged her enthusiasm for sports with her expertise in design, marketing, tech and innovation. She served as the head of MarComms for a non-profit entrepreneurship center for more than seven years and led an innovative health-tech project, leveraging Artificial Intelligence to transform oral pathologies diagnosis. Following a career pause due to health concerns, Paula has now joined EPAI as a Digital Innovation Lead.
Francisco Mena 
Senior Legal & Compliance Manager
Francisco holds a Master’s degree in Law (Universitat de Barcelona, 2009) and a LL.M in European Law (Université libre de Bruxelles, 2010). Between 2010 and 2015, he was a PhD researcher in human rights and European law at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Université libre de Bruxelles, where he was also a teaching assistant. Francisco was a Visiting Graduate Student at St. John’s College, University of Oxford, for the academic year 2013-14. He has published several peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as academic book chapters in the field of human rights law, European law and legal theory.
After a long professional break due to health issues, Francisco joined the team in February 2024. He is based in Brussels and speaks English, French, Spanish and Catalan.
Sara Rossi
Research Manager
Our mission
- Empowerment of patient advocates through education: Provide resources to educate and empower patients, ensuring that patient representatives have the knowledge and skills to advocate for the health and wellbeing of their community.
- Research collaboration: Foster collaboration in healthcare research, focusing on patient involvement to ensure that research is patient-centric and address patient needs.
- Policy: Influence health policies both at national and international levels to better represent patient interests and needs.
Our Goals & Values
- Nothing about us without us: Always ensure that the patients are involved early in projects, initiatives and decisions for their health.
- Collaboration: Work collaboratively with different stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, researchers, industry and policymakers to achieve our shared goals.
- Diversity and inclusivity: Ensuring all voices are heard and represented.
Statutes & Objectives
Development and implementation of educational measures in the field of medical research and development in various formats, in particular for medical laypersons such as patients, relatives, nursing staff and for local, regional, national and international patient organisations.
Clarification, education and the provision of practical knowledge in the field of medicine, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, making a contribution to constant and sustainable medical research and development, the best and informed use of public health services, as well as consumer advice and consumer protection