The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has appointed Dr. Petra Wilson as its Chief Executive Officer. Petra joins IDF from Cisco, where she was Senior Director of the European Health and Care Business Solutions team. At Cisco she worked with the WHO, the European Commission, national and regional governments, and healthcare organisations on policies to use communications technologies to drive safer and more efficient health and care delivery systems.
Petra has previously been Director of the European Health Management Association and a scientific officer for the European Commission where she led the work on the European eHealth Action Plan. Before her role at the European Commission Petra was a senior lecturer in law at the University of Nottingham, where she taught in both the law and medical schools. Petra’s first degree was in Law and she also holds a doctorate from Oxford University in Public Health Law. Petra is British born and lives in Brussels with her husband and two children and speaks English, German and French. She will continue her roles as Honorary Reader at the Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education at University College London, and as a Non-Executive Director of the Digital Health Institute in Scotland.
“I am delighted to be taking up this challenging post. Diabetes is one of the most pressing health challenges globally, which demands that people, organisations, communities and nations work together to create a better future for those affected by the disease. IDF has a deservedly high reputation as a forthright advocate for people with diabetes, and I look forward to being part of such a dynamic global movement,” she said.
Sir Michael Hirst, President of the IDF said “Petra brings many strengths to IDF and the world wide community of people with diabetes, researchers and practitioners. This will be a challenging role and we believe that Petra has much to contribute. We are very pleased that she has accepted the position”.