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.

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.

A German-Brazilian national, Melanie is a public affairs and strategic communications expert with over 15 years of experience in roles across consultancies, government, international organizations and academia in Europe, Latin and North America. 

She was Country Manager for Brazil at a global emerging-markets consultancy for public affairs, where she advised over 50 multinational corporations on market access, policy and regulatory affairs, advocacy, community relations, and reputation management in highly regulated sectors such as Healthcare, Energy, Mining and Technology. On multi-market mandates, she worked closely with colleagues across Latin America, Europe and Africa. Prior to that, she worked for the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and the Competition Commission (CADE). She moved on to international roles working on External Relations for the World Trade Organization, and for defense & trade think tanks in Geneva.

 At Acumen, she advises clients on global and regional healthcare projects. Current and prior clients include IFPMA, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi and Vifor. She earned a PhD in international law in Geneva, complemented by a fellowship at the Yale Law School. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Brasilia and is fluent Portuguese, English, German, French and Spanish.

Brendan Moran is an Account Manager 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.

Alex is a Senior Account Manager at acumen public affairs. He joined Acumen in 2016, having previously been an intern in late 2015, a trainee and Consultant until 2018.

Since joining Acumen, Alex has worked on a broad range of projects for clients in the healthcare, transport, industrial and agriculture sectors. Alex has particular expertise on antimicrobial resistance, vaccines and Brexit, and also has a flair for creative work within the Acumen team. Alex has been recognised for his work at Acumen, winning the award for the public affairs industry’s Promising Newcomer at the 2017 EuroPAwards.

Outside of his work at Acumen, Alex is also a member of the Executive Committee of the young public affairs professionals organisation ECPA 2.0, and Alex is actively involved pro-EU movements in UK politics. Alex has previously worked at the central office of a major UK political party, including during a General Election, and has a background working on a variety of creative projects.

Alex holds a BSc in Government from the London School of Economics. He is a native English speaker and is proficient in Spanish.

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.

Prior to joining Acumen in October 2018, Giorgos developed the outreach of a Washington-based NGO establishing its presence in US Congress, got an insider’s view on EU policymaking during his work at the European Commission, and helped to shape the advocacy strategy of a large multinational company on innovation. His policy experience includes working with trade associations, diplomatic missions, and NGOs in Europe and the United States. At Acumen, he supports clients on mobility, innovation and circular economy.

Giorgos has a Master’s in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, graduating at the top of his class with a Fulbright Fellowship. He speaks English, French, Greek, and Russian.

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.

Lana joined Acumen in October 2020 as an Account Manager, following her diplomatic posting at the Permanent Representation of Croatia to the European Union. She worked for the COREPER I coordination team during the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

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.

Daan is a Consultant supporting Acumen’s global health client portfolio. Prior to joining acumen public affairs, he participated as research assistant in several biomedical research projects in the fields of HIV, cardiology, multiple sclerosis and oncology. Daan holds both a MSc in Governance and Leadership in European Public Health and a MSc in Biomedical Sciences from Maastricht University as well as a BSc in Agriculture & Biotechnology from University College PXL.

Daan is a Belgian national. In addition to his native Dutch, he is fluent in English and has intermediate knowledge of Spanish, German 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. 

Sara is a Consultant at acumen public affairs, supporting various accounts in the EU Health portfolio with tasks including day-to-day monitoring, research and advocacy. In addition, she does a significant amount of communications work, and has over the past year helped organise numerous virtual events and roundtables on behalf of clients.

She started at acumen with a five-month internship as part of her studies. During these months she worked with the public affairs teams, while also supporting the office manager with administrative tasks on a daily basis. She holds a BSc in political science oriented towards organisation and management from Malmö University. Before moving to Brussels, Sara worked as a recruiter at Adecco in Sweden. Sara is a native Swedish speaker, fluent in English and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.

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.

Luca is an EU Health Consultant at acumen public affairs.

Prior to joining Acumen, Luca worked for an European healthcare organization and at the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority).

Luca obtained a double-bachelor degree in International Studies at the University of Trento and at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. In addition, he holds a research M.A. degree in European Studies with focus on sociology completed at the Free University of Berlin.

Luca is an Italian native speaker, fluent in German, French and English, and he has a conversational level of Spanish.

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

Jack Matthijnssens is a Trainee Consultant in the Healthcare team at acumen public affairs. Prior to joining the team at Acumen, Jack served as a Press Advisor to the Irish MEP’s in the EPP Group in the European Parliament in 2019 following an internship in the group’s ITRE (Industry, Technology, Research and Energy) policy team. He has previously worked as a freelance social media manager.

Jack successfully completed a Bachelor of Arts in History and English in University College Dublin before going on to complete his Masters in European Studies at the Catholic University of Leuven.

Jack is a native English speaker and a dual citizen of Ireland and Belgium. He also speaks Dutch.

Maxime is a Trainee 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.

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.

Anthony is a Consultant Trainee in Acumen’s Global Health team, where he works for clients that are improving health equity worldwide. Prior to joining acumen public affairs, he had several years of experience in consulting and working for international organizations. He holds an MBA from Vlerick and also studied political affairs at the bachelor and master’s degree levels. 

Anthony is Italian-American, but has also become an Etterbeekois. In addition to his native English, he is fluent in Italian and French.

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.