People

Giles Keane has more than fifteen years’ experience in EU public affairs consultancy. Prior to joining acumen public affairs as a founding partner, he was a Director of International Corporate Communications at Hill & Knowlton in Brussels. He has worked across numerous sectors and policy areas including digital policy, healthcare, environment & energy, and food and agriculture. Giles has been supporting the GSK Consumer Health Government Affairs team since 2018 on issues relating pharmaceuticals in the environment

Current and recent clients of Giles since the creation of Acumen include Cargill Europe, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, Heineken, LEO Pharma, PlasticsEurope, Procter & Gamble and Syngenta. Previous clients of relevance include the British Poultry Council and US national renderers association for whom he monitored and advised on EU veterinary legislation, the European Sugar Manufacturers Association, Kellogg’s, and the European Whey Producers Association. Giles is an Irish national and in addition to his native English, he speaks fluent French and Spanish, as well as conversational Italian.

Nikos is a Partner. He has over 12 years experience in public policy, EU public affairs, communications and academia. He is a health and pharmaceuticals policy expert with in-depth knowledge in areas such as vaccines, IP, pricing and access, HTA, AMR. 

He has advised the company’s healthcare clients on public affairs issues and has led assignments on strategy development, advocacy, in-depth policy analysis, media relations and communication, disease awareness, stakeholder engagement and outreach. 

Before joining Acumen, Nikos worked for a medical association in Brussels, where he set up and ran the EU Affairs and Media department. He has also worked in academia and for another Brussels consultancy. 

Former and current clients at Acumen include Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, MSD, Roche, Sanofi, LEO Pharma, Vifor Pharma, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). He is a native Greek speaker, is fluent in English and an intermediate level French speaker.

Maëlle Quintart is the acumen public affairs office manager. She has over 15 years administrative experience in the EU, Trade Association and Consultancy world. Prior to joining acumen public affairs as Office Manager in 2011, Maëlle was New Business and Marketing coordinator at Hill & Knowlton Brussels, where she had started as personal assistant to Elaine Cruikshanks. At Acumen, Maëlle is in charge of the day-to-day running of the office (accounting, HR, travel organisation, website, suppliers, translations…) and provides client support where her skills are needed. Maëlle is a native French speaker and holds a translation degree in English and Spanish.

Journalist since 1968. Former German Correspondent, Industrial Editor and European Business Editor, The Guardian. Senior adviser CabinetDN 2009-17. Now: editor, Social Europe and sceptical.scot. Graduate of Oxford University (BA) and King's College London (MA); studied at Saarbrücken and Strasbourg Universities; fluent French and German.

Virginie is  a HR freelance professional. She has 5 years experience working for HR consultancies on various projects from HR strategy to defining pay scales and performance management. She is a native French speakers and is fluent in English, Dutch, Spanish and German. She holds a degree in European Studies.

Ana-Maria works on public affairs and communications for clients in the fields of public and global health.  She is involved in policy research and analysis, strategy development and advocacy, but also communication activities such as drafting press releases and blogs, or developing social media strategies for clients around policy milestones or disease awareness campaigns.

Prior to joining acumen, Ana-Maria worked for FleishmanHillard Paris, as well as with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and the European Institute of Romania, where she helped national experts provide input to the Romanian Government on several key European policy areas. Ana-Maria holds a Master’s degree in European Affairs from Sciences Po Paris, and is fluent in Romanian, French, English, Greek and has a basic understanding of Spanish and Italian.

George is an Associate Director. He joined the Acumen team in April 2016 and since then has worked on a range of clients including Uber, EuroCloud, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Mastercard. 

He previously worked as a Policy Advisor for EUROCITIES, the network of major cities in Europe, where he focused on issues such as citizen digital inclusion, open data and innovation policy. Prior to this he worked for a public affairs consultancy as a policy officer for EDiMA, the European Digital Media Association. Through this work George acquired in depth knowledge on issues such as innovation policy, digital transformation and data issues.

He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from University College Dublin. In addition to his native English George speaks Italian. 

Brendan Moran is an Assosiate Director in the healthcare team with over five years of experience in EU affairs. Prior to joining acumen public affairs, Brendan was a Senior Policy Adviser to the CEO at the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, where he advised the Board and senior leadership on implementing public affairs and communication strategies and was responsible for briefing the CEO on European and international affairs. Before this, Brendan worked in the healthcare team at a Brussels-based public affairs consultancy and in the EU affairs office of a multinational pharmaceutical company. Brendan holds an MA in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe and a BA in European Studies from King’s College London. Brendan is a British national, and speaks fluent French.

Iveta Kazlauskaite is a Senior Account Manager at Acumen. Iveta was previously a trainee at the company, and prior to that she completed a Blue Book traineeship at the European Commission, where she worked in the Cabinet of Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis for Health and Food Safety.

Iveta holds a Master’s Degree in Development Policy from KDI School in Public Policy and Management, in addition she holds MA in European Studies from KU Leuven and BA in International Relations from Lancaster University. Iveta is a native Lithuanian speaker, fluent in English and proficient in Russian.

Alexandra is a Senior Account Manager at acumen public affairs. She currently provides support for clients with focus on the environment and healthcare. In addition she ensures the good conduct of the office in terms of accounting, human resources, travel organization, external visibility, and there where she can make the team’s job easier. 

She has previously worked as Project Assistant for an association focusing on sustainable resource management for more than a year. She is a native Romanian and speaks fluent English, Italian, and has an intermediate level of French.

Alastair Crooks is an Account Manager in the healthcare team and joined acumen public affairs in January 2020. Prior to joining the team, Alastair served as the Engagement & Communication Manager at the European Medicines Verification Organisation (EMVO), where he worked closely with the key stakeholders of the pharmaceutical supply chain. While working at EMVO, Alastair was responsible for external communication during the launch and initial period of the European Medicines Verification System. 

Before his time in Brussels, Alastair spent over 3 years working in the British Parliament as a researcher and assistant to a senior backbench MP. 

Alastair holds an MSc in Crisis and Security Management from Leiden University and a BA in Politics from the University of Lancaster. He is a native English speaker and is proficient in Spanish.

Matthew Hogarth is an Account Manager at Acumen, having previously worked as a Policy Advisor to British S&D MEPs. During his time in the Parliament he worked primarily across the JURI and IMCO committees, specialising in consumer protection, digital regulation and intellectual property. He holds an MA in European Interdisciplinary Studies from the College of Europe, and a BA in Modern Languages from the University of Durham. Aside from his native English, he is able to work in French, Spanish, Italian and Polish.

Anne-Sophie is an Account Manager supporting the EU and Global Health client portfolio. Prior to joining, Anne-Sophie completed traineeships at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the French Ministry of Health and the Assistance Publique – Hopitaux de Paris. She has also gained experience in public health research at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

Anne-Sophie holds a Master of Public Policy with a major in Global Health from Sciences Po Paris, as well as a BA in Social Sciences. Anne-Sophie is a native French speaker, fluent in English and has a basic knowledge of German.

Prior to joining Acumen, she worked in a consultancy firm where she was in charge of the administrative coordination of public tenders, translation, proofreading, travel coordination and meeting arrangements. She has also gained experience in law firms dealing with accounting, invoicing and credit control. Anne previously spent time working as a production and import-export assistant for a wholesale textile company. Additionally, she worked for seven years as an administrative assistant in the claims department of a shipowners’ mutual (P&I Club), and spent some of this time in the UK.

She graduated as Management Assistant from ECSEDI Brussels. Anne is a native French speaker and she is fluent in English.  She has a very good command of Dutch.

Anna is a Consultant. She joined acumen public affairs to support the EU Health team and the growing portfolio of clients focusing on the health sector. Prior to this, she completed a traineeship in DG Health and Safety at the European Commission where she gained experience in health systems and performance. Anna holds a MSc in Governance and Leadership in European Public Health and a BSc in European Public Health from Maastricht University. Anna is native in English and speaks intermediate German. She has a basic knowledge of Dutch and French. 

Laura is an Office Manager Assistant supporting the daily running of the office. Prior to joining acumen, she completed a traineeship as a personal assistant of a MEP where she gained experience in EU public affairs, communication and administration. Laura holds a LLM in European and International law from Vrije University Amsterdam and a BS in International Relations with a minor in European Institutions from Milan University. Laura is native in Italian and speaks English and Spanish. She has a basic knowledge of German and French. 

Yae is an EU Health Consultant. Prior to joining Acumen she completed an internship in a European trade association where she worked on EU health-related issues.

Yae obtained a master’s degree in International and European Law at the Catholic University of Leuven, where she wrote her dissertation on the pricing of medicine under EU Law. During this period, she also completed an Erasmus Program at the University of Copenhagen and an exchange program at Venice International University. Being born and raised in Brussels, she speaks Dutch, French, English and has a basic knowledge of Japanese.

Gianluigi is a Consultant supporting Acumen’s environment and mobility client portfolio. Prior to joining acumen public affairs, he worked as an Intern at the EU Regional Office of Regione Campania in Brussels, where he was in charge of monitoring all the developments related to the EU environmental policies. 

Gianluigi obtained a Master's degree in Law at the Federico II University of Naples, graduating cum laude with a dissertation on EU State Aid and tax rulings. During this period, he also completed an Erasmus Program at the Université Catholique de Louvain.

Gianluigi is an Italian national. In addition to his native Italian, he is fluent in English and has intermediate knowledge of Spanish and French.

Zachary McGuinness is a Consultant working on the health care team at Acumen, supporting clients both in EU affairs and global public health.

Zachary studied international relations both at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Bologna, Italy, before going on to obtain a Masters degree at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna in Austria.

Zachary brings a wide range of experiences to Acumen. Prior to joining the team, Zachary worked in communications at the Friends of Europe think tank in Brussels. Before moving to the European capital and gravitating towards the public affairs field, Zachary worked in the media industry in New York City.  

 Marta Provencio is an EU Health Consultant at Acumen Public Affaris. Prior to joining the team, Marta worked as a Market Access Consultant in Spain, where she gave support to pharmaceutical companies during the Market Access process in Spain. She collaborated with relevant Spanish stakeholders, scientific societies and patients’ associations.

Marta holds an MBA of Pharmaceutical and Biotechnological companies from Ephos Pharmaceutical School in Madrid, a MSc in Assessment and Market Access from Carlos III University in Madrid and a BA in International Relations from the Complutense University of Madrid. She is a native Spanish speaker, proficient in English and has a basic knowledge of French and Arabic

Maxime is a Consultant supporting the Sustainability team. Prior to joining acumen public affairs, Maxime completed various internships focused on a multitude of social and environmental subjects including plastic pollution, gender in artisanal fisheries, and farmland biodiversity. Her most recent internship at EurEau allowed her to take part in studying EU water policy and waste-water management. 

Maxime holds a bachelor’s degree in Human and Social Sciences with a minor in Public Health from the Free University of Brussels (ULB). She also obtained a Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences and Management from the same institution in 2019. Passionate about environmental matters and circular economics in particular, her master’s thesis was a life cycle analysis (LCA) of a cosmetic-grade essential oil. 

Maxime was born in Atlanta, Georgia and holds dual citizenship for Belgium and the United States. She is fluent in English and French and has a beginner’s level of Spanish and Dutch.

Anneleen is a Consultant supporting Acumen’s sustainability team. Prior to joining Acumen Public Affairs, she worked in another Brussels based PA consultancy. Anneleen also interned as a Political Journalist at VRT NWS and worked as a Research Assistant for the Institute of European Studies at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

 Anneleen obtained a MA degree in Political Sciences from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and in International Relations at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). She is a Dutch speaking Belgian national and fluent in French and English.

Felix Sames is an EU Health Trainee Consultant at acumen public affairs. Prior to joining the team, he completed an internship at a European trade association, where he worked on international issues related to the innovative pharmaceutical industry.

Felix holds an LL.M. in European and European Legal Studies from the University of Hamburg, an LL.M. in International and a European Law from Tilburg University, and a Bachelor of Laws from Universitas Pelita Harapan in Indonesia.  Felix is native in English, speaks intermediate German and Indonesian, as well as conversational Mandarin.

Theofilos is a Trainee Consultant supporting the Sustainability team.

Prior to joining acumen public affairs, Theofilos worked as a Trainee at the European Parliament where he was in charge of monitoring developments related to the International Trade, Industry, Internal Market and Environment. He has previously also worked as economic researcher and analyst in healthcare projects. He is expected to receive his qualification from the Athens Bar Association in 2021.

Theofilos holds an LLM in International Business Law from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a law degree from the University of Athens and a bachelor’s in Health Management and Economics from the Technological Institute of Kalamata. He speaks Greek, French and English.

Raphaëlle is a Global Health Trainee Consultant at Acumen Public Affairs.

Prior to joining Acumen, Raphaëlle worked as an Academic and Scientific Cooperation Assistant at the Scientific and Higher Education department of the French Embassy in London where she gained experience in public governance and diplomacy. She also worked in the field of press relations as an Assistant Press Officer in Paris, where she strengthened her communications and organisation skills.

Raphaëlle holds a B.A in Politics and International Relations from Sciences Po Grenoble, France and studied International Relations for a year at the University of Warwick (UK). She also holds a M.A in Media Studies from Sciences Po Grenoble. She is a French native speaker, also fluent in English.

Silvia is a Trainee Consultant providing support across teams for clients in the area of Global and EU Health, as well as Energy and Environment. 

Prior to joining Acumen Public Affairs, Silvia worked as a Digital Organizer at the pan-European citizen movement WeMove Europe where she helped with the campaigns in Spanish and Portuguese. She has also done internships at the DEMOSPAZ human rights institute in Madrid and the Spanish Consulate in Rio de Janeiro where she developed her communications knowledge.

Silvia holds a double B.A in Law and Political Science and Public Administration from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. While studying this double degree, she studied in the Utrecht School of Governance for a year and in the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro for a semester. Currently, she is studying a M.A in European Public Affairs (Maastricht University). She speaks Spanish, Basque, Portuguese and English.