Jana Hlaváčová

is a patient advocate, co-founder of a patient involvement agenda at the Ministry of Health, as well as a civil servant, devoted to democratic principles and innovation in public policies. As a law-graduate, starting her professional career in the Association for International Affairs, she took several positions in the human rights sector. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, aged 24, she became active in patient advocacy, volunteering for patient organizations on national and international level. In 2016 she joined the Ministry of Health, Czechia, to establish a patient involvement agenda. With a team, she co-founded a new unit and a complex system of patient participation and support of patient organizations, to make sure patients take part in shaping healthcare policies. During the covid-19 pandemics, among volunteers within the ministry, she was a part of emergency response teams, most importantly on strategy of vaccination against covid-19. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she was coordinating the establishment of a system providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine in medicinal products. Currently she works as an interim CEO of European Multiple Sclerosis Platform in Brussels, gaining more experience in supporting patient empowerment as well as the potential of using real world data and patient reported outcomes for better healthcare systems.