Alira Health Appoints Annabel de Maria Chief Patient Officer, Leading Global Patient Partnerships

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – January 19, 2023 – Alira Health, a global healthcare advisory, clinical research and technology company, is pleased to announce today the appointment of Annabel de Maria as Chief Patient Officer. In this leadership capacity, she will spearhead the central role of patient engagement across Alira Health’s continuum of healthcare innovation services. Annabel brings an extensive background and noteworthy experience with over twenty years in the healthcare industry, both as an in-house executive and freelance consultant, focusing on the patient-engagement sector. She originally joined Alira Health as Vice President of Patient Engagement in October 2020, and is based out of the firm’s Barcelona, Spain office.

“At Alira Health, we truly believe that patients should be at the center of everything we do.” said Gabriele Brambilla, CEO and Co-Founder of Alira Health. “I am proud to have Annabel leading in this critically important position as our Chief Patient Officer, in collaboration with all of our teams and services across Alira Health. Her guidance and leadership enables us to partner with patients throughout the whole lifecycle management of a drug or medical device. We work with clinical teams in co-developing clinical trial protocols with patients. We research diseases with patients from around the globe in order to understand the patient journey and apply the insights to trial protocols, regulatory submissions, Health Technology Assessments (HTAs), and commercialization. We help companies set up patient-centric strategies and build patient support programs. Alira Health is focused on co-creating healthcare solutions with patients for our clients. Annabel will play a critical role as we build the future of healthcare on patient engagement.”

“I am honored to bring the voice of the patient, in collaboration with teams across Alira Health, our clients, and our global partnerships, in this central role as Chief Patient Officer,” Annabel de Maria said. “For over twenty-five years, I have focused my professional experience in pharma and MedTech on patient engagement, working to understand the patient journey throughout many important diseases and to implement groundbreaking plans to support and advocate for patients.”

In her earlier role as Vice President of Patient Engagement, Annabel led Alira Health’s Patient Engagement practice, where she helped clients introduce patient-centric activities into their organizations in a meaningful way. The practice is dedicated to helping organizations harness the power of patient insights, using them to make better decisions, impact outcomes, and enhance the patient experience. The practice’s services include the development of patient-centric strategies, a patient knowledge center, advisory boards, and mobilization programs to facilitate true and fruitful interactions that serve stakeholders across the ecosystem and benefit patients.

Annabel assumes her role as Chief Patient Officer effective immediately. Prior to joining Alira Health, Annabel was Head of Corporate Communications at Almirall and Head of Media Relations Europe at Nestlé Purina. As a consultant, her work focused on global strategy for Champix, Lucentis, and Pradaxa. Annabel’s early career included the Spanish launches of Celebrex, Detrusitol, and Xalatan, with later positions at Pfizer, Bayer, and Novartis Spain. In addition to her role at Alira Health, Annabel teaches patient engagement at the University of Bocconi, and she is the patient representative for the EULAR working group on autoinflammatory diseases.

About Alira Health

Alira Health is a global advisory and clinical research firm whose mission is to humanize healthcare and life sciences, in partnership with patients, through innovative technologies and expert guidance. From development to medical care, Alira Health complements the expertise of its Pharma, Biotech, and MedTech clients with a full spectrum of services across their entire solutions lifecycle.