Ilona Reischl, PhD Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES)

Ilona Reischl joined the Austrian Medicines and Medical Devices Agency AGES/MEA in March 2006, and is currently the Head of the Clinical Trials Unit in the Institute Surveillance. This unit is responsible for clinical trials with medicinal products and medical devices as well as GCP inspection.

The transition to regulatory work from basic science was gradual. After an initial degree in pharmacy, a PhD in immunology/allergology and postdoctoral experience at an industrial research institute, post-doctoral positions followed at the University of Southampton (UK) and the National Institutes of Health (USA) in immunology.

The experience of a dual research/regulatory position at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) led to the current regulatory path. Amongst other activities, she is the Austrian member of the European Medicines Agency Biologics Working Party and Vice Chair of the Committee for Advanced Therapies.