Dr. Renate Heinisch (PharmD)

Dr. Renate Heinisch (PharmD) is a pharmacist, with a doctorate in biopharmacy. From 1994 to 1999 she was Member of European Parliament and vice-chair of the Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel (STOA). She has been a researcher at Mainz and Konstanz Universities, Germany and at the ETH Zurich in Switzerland. She has worked in the pharmaceutical industry and later ran her own business as a pharmacist. She currently is a member of the European Economic and Social Committee, member of BAGSO (Germany’s Federal Association of Senior Citizens’ Organisations) and Chairwoman of Baden-Württemberg Parents’ Association. Her main areas of interest are public health, education, training, youth, research and innovation, and informing the public. Dr. Heinisch learned about ViVI through her work with Make Mothers Matter and the European Parents’ Association. She finds the work of the Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative Scientific Think Tank both meaningful and remarkable. Dr. Heinisch has always been passionate about Science with and for Society action by the EU Directorate General for Research, thus decided to join the ViVI Think Tank in 2020 contributing her unique expertise in policy making and advocacy as well as her know-how about the benefits of immunization for families and senior citizens. ‘Only together will we be strong. We all need to be better at making science accessible to society and the wider public.’