World Obesity Day Europe 2022

9:30 Welcome and Introductions

• Pernille Weiss, MEP (EPP-DK) and Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience
• Susana Solís Pérez, MEP (Renew Europe Group – ES) and Vice Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience
• Sara Cerdas, MEP (S&D-PT) and Vice Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience

9:40 Launch of the Obesity Action Plans – EU added value Declaration

• Jacqueline Bowman-Busato, Policy Lead, European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)

9:55 PANEL DISCUSSION | One year on from the launch of the MEP Interest Group

• Jason Halford , President, European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)
• Pernille Weiss, MEP (EPP-DK) and Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience
• Susana Solís Pérez, MEP (Renew Europe Group – ES) and Vice Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience
• Mário Silva, President of Portuguese Association Against Childhood Obesity (APCOI)

10:15 OVER TO YOU | Your questions discussed

• All speakers 

10:25 PANEL DISCUSSION | “Healthier Together”: How can we support Member States to make a difference on obesity?

• Isabel De La Mata, Principal Adviser for Health and Crisis Management, European Commission
• Bart Van Der Schueren, President, Belgian Association for the Study of Obesity
• Anne-Sophie Joly, President and Founder, Collectif National des Associations d’Obèses (CNAO)
• Fatima Kartout, Medical Advisor, Public Health, France

10:55 Closing remarks

• Pernille Weiss, MEP (EPP-DK) and Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience
• Susana Solís Pérez, MEP (Renew Europe Group – ES) and Vice Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience

Pernille Weiss MEP (EPP-DK)
Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience

MEP Pernille Weiss, is a politician from the Conservative People’s Party of Denmark and a member of the European People’s Party, (EPP). Ms. Weiss holds a seat in the Industry, Research & Energy Committee (ITRE) and is a substitute in the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) as well as in the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee (FEMM).

She is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of a healthcare and architectural consultancy and serves as a board member to the business association of the European People’s Party (SME Europe) since 2019. She is an acknowledged Nordic expert in architecture and health and is passionate about the impact of the built environment on complex institutions.

Ms Weiss is a qualified nurse who later went on to specialise in forensic nursing. She holds two masters degrees; one in Health from the University of South Denmark and one in Leadership and Innovation from Copenhagen Business School.

Sara Cerdas MEP (S&D-PT)
Vice Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience

MEP Sara Cerdas is a politician from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Portugal. Mrs Cerdas has been a member of the European Parliament since July 2019.

She is a member of the Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI). She is also vice-chair of the Beating Cancer Special Committee and co-Chair of the Health Working Group.

Her aim is to bring health to all policies and contribute to healthier and safer environments where people can enjoy better lifestyles. Her priorities are health accessibility, tackling the threat posed by non-communicable diseases and antimicrobial resistance as well as improving health literacy and education.

Cerdas holds a master’s degree in Medicine from the University of Lisbon, a postgraduate degree in travel medicine from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Umeå and is a doctoral student in Public Health Sciences from the University of Stockholm.

Susana Solís Pérez MEP (Renew Europe Group – ES)
Vice Chair of MEP Interest Group on Obesity & Health System Resilience

Susana Solís Perez is a Spanish politician for Ciudadanos, part of the Renew Europe group. She has been a member of Parliament since May 2019.

She is a member of the Committee on Regional Development (REGI) and the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence (AIDA). She also holds a seat as a substitute in the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) as well as in the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee (FEMM). In addition to her committee assignments, Pérez is also a member in the MEPs Against Cancer group.

Ms Perez is passionate about promoting a more innovative and smarter Europe. Before being an MEP, she worked in the private sector, for companies such as Mercedes, Benz, Johnson & Johnson and Robert Bosch.

She holds a master’s degree in European Mechanical Engineering from the Fachhochschule de Osnabrück (Germany), an MBA and a master’s degree in Marketing Management from IE Business School (Madrid). She also holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and Leadership from IESE (Madrid).

Jacqueline Bowman-Busato
Policy Lead, European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)

Ms Jacqueline Bowman-Busato is EU Policy Lead at EASO (European Association for the Study of Obesity) in Brussels. She has worked in the Brussels environment since 1996 towards transforming health ecosystems from policy to reality. A pioneer of multi-stakeholder coalition building for societal impact, Jacqueline has previously worked for an MEP, ran the expert secretariat of a European Parliamentarian Interest Group, headed up the Brussels office of a global NGO, transformed a patient-led platform into an equally-weighted multi-stakeholder think tank for patients, science and industry.

She strongly believes in empowering all actors to be effective and engaged in optimising health ecosystems for health outcomes relevant to all actors across sectors through evidence-based policies.

She lives with two major complex chronic diseases of autoimmune hashimotos and obesity: both of which affect physical and mental health and wellbeing. Jacqueline holds degrees in English Law, French Law, Strategic Communications and an MBA. She’s a Guyanese born dual British-Belgian national, speaks fluent French and has a very good passive understanding of Dutch.

Euan Woodward
Executive Director, European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)

Euan Woodward has worked with EASO since 2005 and has been its Executive Director since 2007. He is responsible for the development and implementation of EASO’s strategic action plans and coordinates the activities of the Association’s General Council, Executive Committee, Task Forces and Working Groups.

He manages EASO’s annual congress (the European Congress on Obesity), its network of Collaborating Centres for Obesity Management (COMs) and its research projects. He is the Dissemination WP leader in several EU Projects. He holds a BA (hons) in European Business and a Masters in Business Tourism.

Isabel de la Mata

Principal Adviser for Health and Crisis Management, European Commission

Previously, Dr de la Mata worked as Counsellor for Health and Consumers at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU, as Deputy Director General for Health Planning at the Spanish Ministry of Health, as Adviser to the Vice-minister of Health and several other posts at the Ministry of Health of Spain and the Regional Departments in the Basque Country and in Madrid.

In addition, she has been a member of the EURO-WHO Standing Committee of the Regional Committee, and has worked with the Pan American Health Organisation, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation.

Dr de la Mata graduated in Medicine and Surgery by the University of Basque Country in 1983 and holds post-graduate degrees from the University of Leuven and Paris VI in Public Health, Hospital Administration and Statistics. She is a specialist in Preventive Medicine and Public Health.

Bart Van der Schueren

President, Belgian Association for the Study of Obesity (BASO)

Bart Van der Schueren obtained his medical degree from the University of Leuven in 2002. In 2009 he successfully defended his PhD on the topic of drug development for migraine treatment. The emphasis of this work was on developing techniques to assess cardiovascular effects of new drugs early in their clinical development. In the same year he was recognized as a Clinical Pharmacologist by the Dutch Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmacy. Following his PhD, he finished his internship and graduated in 2010 as a Specialist in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology. Subsequently, he left for a post-doctoral scholarship at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA to study the hormonal and metabolic effect of bariatric surgery. He returned to Belgium in September 2011 and is now responsible for the obesity and lipid clinic at the University Hospital in Leuven. He was the Belgian member of the committee for medicinal products for human use  (CHMP) and a member of the cardiovascular working party (CVWP) at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) until July 2020. He is the president elect of the Belgian Association for the Study of Obesity (BASO) since 2018.

Mário Silva,

President of Portuguese Association Against Childhood Obesity (APCOI)

Mário Silva is a public health project manager and a researcher strongly committed to helping people affected by obesity, especially children.He is the president of Portuguese Association Against Childhood Obesity (APCOI) and the national coordinator of Fruit Heroes – Healthy Schools Network, the largest obesity prevention program in Portugal. Mário is an active partner of the Institute of Environmental Health (ISAMB) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (FMUL). He is also a member of the European Coalition of People Living with Obesity (ECPO) where he is involved in advocacy at the European level in order to generate improvements in healthcare access and services for all individuals living with obesity. Mário is regularly invited to speak about childhood obesity in the media or at congress events. He is passionate about children’s animated movies and he is also a writer of children’s health educational books.

Anne-Sophie Joly

President and Founder, Collectif National des Associations d’Obèses (CNAO)

Anne-Sophie Joly, founded the CNAO in March 2003 which was approved by the Ministry of Health and brings together over 50 French patient associations. She is also an expert at the ‘Haute Authorite de Sante’ (HAS) who contributed to the 12 recommendations of good practices in the writing committee related to obesity and weight problems, as well as to the patient information commission. Anne-Sophie had the honor of being a member of the presidential commission of President Nicolas Sarkozy which gave rise to the Obesity Plan. She is also a member of various state bodies at the Ministry of Health including Public Health France. More recently, she joined as a member of the “States General of Food” chaired by the current French President  Mr Emmanuel Macron, and she became a member of the CNA (interministerial body composed of 4 ministries: Finance, Ecology, Agriculture-Food and Health). She is also a lecturer at the Sorbonne University on IUD of Obesity at the Hospital Center of Pitié Salpétrière, IUD in Pediatric Nutrition at the CH of Trousseau and IUD of Bariatric Surgery at the University Hospital of Lille in relation to patients-doctors Therapeutic Education. In 2016, Anne-Sophie Joly was awarded the “Order of Merit” for her work in the field of obesity by Mr. Kenner Minister of Sports and Community Life.

Fatima Kartout

Medical Advisor, Public Health, France

Dr Fatima Kartout is a public health expert specialised in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and nutrition. She is a project manager at the ‘Fédération de la Mutualité Française’ and has actively contributed to the elaboration of a three-year strategic plan in public health for the prevention of NCDs. Dr Kartout is also a public health consultant. She represented the Mutuality in national health programs with institutional partners and is involved in the working groups of various health agencies. Dr Kartout holds a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Algers and a University Diploma in obesity and metabolic disease management, from the Faculté de Médecine Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris.

Jason Halford

President, European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)

Jason is an advocate for a person focused approach in obesity research and intervention. As a Professor of Psychology he studied appetite and eating behaviour for most of his career with the aim of supporting weight management.  He was Head of Department at the University of Liverpool (Experimental Psychology, Psychological Sciences) from 2010 to 2019 and the Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Leeds from 2010. He is currently the treasurer and president elect of the European Association for the Study of Obesity and former chair of the UK ASO. He also leads the Nutrition, Behaviour and Health theme for N8 Agrifood (for the UK Northern research Universities), part of the food systems project iKnowFood, and has coordinated European FW7 and H2020 projects on food reformulation (SATIN and SWITCH).

His interests include the links between physical and mental health, the behaviour effects of clinical and nutritional interventions, and the role of stress and coping in eating. Jason also sits on the board of directors of the European Coalition for People living with Obesity (ECPO).