Parkinson's Europe is managed by a number of employees and freelance professionals with many years of relevant experience, supporting an elected Board and their advisers. If you would like to get in touch with Parkinson's Europe, please email [email protected].
President
Josefa Domingos
Portugal
Vice-President
Gary Boyle
Ireland
Member
Andy Butler
United Kingdom
Josefa was elected Parkinson's Europe President in 2023, and has served a Board Member since 2020.
She is a physiotherapist, and her career has focused on creating and implementing specialized care for people living with Parkinson. Josefa has been the National Health Coordinator at the Portuguese Parkinson's Patients Association since 2006, and she founded more than 8 Parkinson's specialised services throughout the Association branches all over the country.
As an educator, clinician and researcher, she is currently finishing her PhD on Practicalities of Community-based exercise in Parkinson's at Radboud University Centre (The Netherlands), under the supervision of Professor Bastiaan Bloem.
Gary was elected Parkinson's Europe Vice-President in 2023, and has served as a Board member since 2021.
He lives in Dublin, Ireland, with his wife, son and daughter. Gary spent most of his career working for a large multinational corporation in senior human resource roles. He was diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson’s Disease in 2011, at the age of 44, and ceased working in 2015.
Gary is now a patient advocate and champion of greater awareness of Parkinson’s, and has been a Board member of the Parkinson's Association of Ireland for two years, until early 2020. He is passionate about maintaining an active lifestyle to keep Parkinson's at bay.
Andy was elected as a Parkinson's Europe Board member in 2023.
Andy started gathering information about the condition and the challenges people living with Parkinson's face regarding their treatment and daily life following his father's diagnosis with the condition in 2000.
In 2012, Andy founded the Facebook page Parkinson's People, which has become the biggest independent page on Facebook specifically for Parkinson’s. Since then, he has been travelling the world and meeting people with Parkinson's and Parkinson's organisations from all continents – being a speaker and helping with the organisation of conferences and events.
Cvetka was was was elected as an Parkinson's Europe Board Member in 2020.
She is a biologist, and has been the President of the Slovenian Parkinson's association Društvo Trepetlika since 2006. The main aim of the association is to empower and educate people with Parkinson's so they can keep in control of their condition, with a special focus on people with YOPD and carers.
Cvetka was a carer to her husband, who had Parkinson's, for 14 years.
Brian was elected as a Parkinson's Europe Board member in 2023.
Brian has 22 years of professional expertise as a Parkinson's Nurse Specialist. He works at Mater Hospital in Dublin, where he has contributed to developing a centre of excellence for Parkinson’s care in Ireland – developing patient education programmes and a holistic approach to the management of the condition.
Brian's personal experience with Parkinson's, and the challenges it brings to patients and family members, is related to his father living with the condition for more than 40 years.
Antonella was elected as an Parkinson's Europe Board member in 2021.
She spent 25 years managing non-profit organisations at a national and international level, to advance equity and inclusion in the fields of health and disability. She has been CEO of the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Society until 2015, board member of the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform and the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, as well as Director of Development and Communications at Italian Lega del Filo d’Oro.
In 2019 she joined Confederazione Parkinson Italia as a Board member and founded her own company Moretti Management Consulting, which works with non-profit associations, contributing to their growth and long-term sustainability.
Patricia was elected as an Parkinson's Europe Board member in 2021.
She is a neuropsychologist and she has been working with the Spanish Parkinson's Federation (FEP) since 2017. In her current role as FEP's Project Manager in the Social Innovation and European Projects area, she works on: supporting Parkinson's research by disseminating news and promoting patients' participation; providing guidance and education for people with Parkinson's; producing quality informative content for the Federation's website and social media channels; and developing support networks for people with Parkinson's living in rural areas.
Tsipi was was was elected as an Parkinson's Europe Board Member in 2020.
Following her Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2005, she began painting and went on to do so professionally and to exhibit her works in Israel and throughout the world. Her personal story of coping and thriving through her art has inspired a series of exhibitions of works created by artists with Parkinson’s, which she has overseen and coordinated.
A longtime volunteer with the Israel Parkinson Association, she became a Board member in 2015, and she has been developing content and projects for the association ever since.
Karl was elected as an Parkinson's Europe Board Member in 2023. He lives in Belgium, has a Masters in German Philology, is alumnus of the Vlerick Management School and studied Global Corporate Communications at New York University.
When diagnosed with Parkinson's, he decided to devote his energy to improving the lives of people with the condition. He founded medinet.tv – a video platform for patients and caregivers – and became a Board member of the Vlaamse Parkinson Liga.
Karl has a background in healthcare-related communications: initially as head of corporate communications for the pharmaceutical industry, and later by setting up a communications agency that focused on supporting disease management programs in underserved regions in Africa and Asia as well as Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) projects.
A passionate cyclist himself, Karl is a big promoter of an active lifestyle.
Josefa was elected Parkinson's Europe President in 2023, and has served a Board Member since 2020.
She is a physiotherapist, and her career has focused on creating and implementing specialized care for people living with Parkinson. Josefa has been the National Health Coordinator at the Portuguese Parkinson's Patients Association since 2006, and she founded more than 8 Parkinson's specialised services throughout the Association branches all over the country.
As an educator, clinician and researcher, she is currently finishing her PhD on Practicalities of Community-based exercise in Parkinson's at Radboud University Centre (The Netherlands), under the supervision of Professor Bastiaan Bloem.
Gary was elected Parkinson's Europe Vice-President in 2023, and has served as a Board member since 2021.
He lives in Dublin, Ireland, with his wife, son and daughter. Gary spent most of his career working for a large multinational corporation in senior human resource roles. He was diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson’s Disease in 2011, at the age of 44, and ceased working in 2015.
Gary is now a patient advocate and champion of greater awareness of Parkinson’s, and has been a Board member of the Parkinson's Association of Ireland for two years, until early 2020. He is passionate about maintaining an active lifestyle to keep Parkinson's at bay.
Russell, a British-Belgian national, was appointed Parkinson's Europe Director General in 2019. From 2017, he advised the organisation on political advocacy as well as assisting with the development of its six-year strategic plan.
He has more than 30 years' experience of public affairs, communications and running associations. He has always been involved with health policy-related matters, including osteoporosis, cancer and rare diseases, and has worked closely with the World Health Organisation and the pharmaceutical treatment industry.
As of May 2023, he was elected as European Federation Neurological Associations (EFNA) Vice President.
Lizzie has worked with Parkinson's Europe since 1992. She retired from her position as Executive Director in December 2018.
She served as a Board member and Treasurer from 2012 to 2023, and was appointed as an advisor in January 2019, a position she continues to hold.
Dominic was appointed Parkinson's Europe Operations Director in January 2019. He has vast experience in organisation and team management, as well as project development within the not-for-profit sector.
He has worked as a freelance consultant for many years including nearly 20 years experience as a UK-based journalist working with well-known customer publishing companies.
Partnership Project Manager
Francesco De Renzis
Research Manager
Amelia Hursey
Finance Manager
Lisa Wong
Francesco was appointed as Partnership Project Manager in September 2021 having worked with Parkinson's Europe since 2018 as Information Manager and Project Officer.
Francesco has a background in political science, communication and public health. His Parkinson's Europe responsibilities include treatment industry partnership projects management, stakeholder relations and external communication.
Amelia joined Parkinson's Europe team in January 2022 as Research Manager. She has been working in the field of Neurodegenerative research since 2009.
She previously worked for the NIHR’s DeNDRoN and then at Parkinson’s UK from July 2015 as Research Participation Lead. She was responsible for initiatives to increase research participation for people affected by Parkinson’s, health care professionals and researchers, and created the innovative Parkinson’s UK Take Part Hub and co-produced the Staying Connected toolkit.
Lisa joined Parkinson's Europe in April 2021 as Finance Manager. She has over 20 years' experience in accounting and finance roles across different sectors including hospitality, publishing and public relations. Prior to joining the Parkinson's Europe, she headed the finance function for a PR agency.
Before starting her career in finance, Lisa worked as a qualified nurse for the NHS following the completion of her nursing degree in Scotland.
Membership and Logistics Lead
Natalie Levenhagen
Communications Officer
Jennifer Stratten
Insight and Engagement Manager
Fiona Montague
Natalie is a freelance consultant working with Parkinson's Europe on membership liaison, logistics, and administration support.
Her background is in event management, where she has 25 years of experience working with a number of event companies. In these roles, she has worked (and continues to do so) on a variety of projects from small meetings in the UK through to global product launches, managing all logistical elements from conception through to the live event.
Jennifer is a freelance consultant supporting Parkinson's Europe on its social media activities having gained extensive experience across a wide variety of platforms over the years.
In addition to her Parkinson’s Europe work, she is a freelance complementary therapist, successfully running her own business and treating clients for more than 20 years.
Fiona was appointed Insight and Engagement Manager in September 2022 having worked with Parkinson's Europe since 2020 as Project Manager.
Fiona has more than 25 years’ experience in stakeholder engagement, project management and communications, working in both national and international health organisations. Fiona’s passion is improving health outcomes and patient experiences, and previous responsibilities include developing the South West School of Surgery and setting up a patient network to support people in the Middle East. Fiona has a degree in Biomedical Science and Masters in Human Nutrition.
Communications Consultant
Tara Nabili
Project Support Officer
Adrien Moyroud
Social Media Consultant
Laura Vickers‑Green
Tara is a freelance communications consultant advising Parkinson’s Europe on strategic and day-to-day communications.
An ex-BBC journalist, Tara has worked in the field of communications for more than 20 years principally as strategic communications adviser to the UK central government. Before becoming a freelancer, she was Head of Corporate Communications for Breast Cancer UK.
Adrien joined Parkinson's Europe in 2021. Adrien’s key responsibilities are to support Parkinson's Europe’s advocacy activities and to assist on the organisation’s various projects and activities including the website, social media and communicating with Parkinson's Europe’s stakeholders.
Adrien has a background in political science, having graduated with a degree in Politics and International Relations as well as having gained past experience in the public consultancy sector.
Laura is working with Parkinson's Europe as a freelance social media consultant.
She has a decade of experience in social media marketing, copywriting and journalism, and has previously worked principally in the food and drink and media industries, including for The Wine Society and Hertfordshire Life magazine. As well as working with Parkinson's Europe, she is also a TV writer for Den of Geek.