IMI appoints new chair of scientific committee

Prof Maria Beatriz da Silva Lima has been elected chair of the Scientific Committee of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI).

Prof da Silva Lima (pictured) of the University of Lisbon in Portugal will lead a 12-strogn committee, which provides strategic scientific advice to the IMI – a public-private partnership between the EC and the industry to improve health innovation in Europe.

The IMI also announced that Prof Markus Perola of Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare as vice-chair of the Committee.

IMI executive director Michel Goldman said: 'The Scientific Committee represents the voice of the scientific community within IMI, and their input is vital to our success.

“I am looking forward to working with Maria Beatriz da Silva Lima and Markus Perola, and the rest of the committee, to foster open collaboration in pharmaceutical research.'

Prof da Silva Lima described the appointment as a “great honour” and praised the work of the IMI so far, which includes a dementia trials alliance between pharma companies and a research collaboration to discover new antibiotics.

She said: “Thanks to IMI, we have seen an enormous reformulation of the European research environment as well as researchers attitude. This re-thinking of the full drug development process is the most challenging and exciting exercise that I have experienced during my entire working life.

“Finally, there is huge potential to expand the principles underlying IMI to the rest of the world.”