Carmen Laplaza works for the European Commission where she is currently the Head of Unit in the Health Innovations & Ecosystems Unit within the Directorate General for Research and Innovation. Prior to holding this position, she was the Deputy Head of Unit of the Innovative and Personalised Medicine Unit within the same Directorate-General. Carmen has also worked for the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology where she was Deputy Head of the E-Health, Wellbeing and Ageing Unit. Before joining the European Commission in 2008 she held senior roles in financial and strategic departments of different sectors, such as retail, advertising and banking. Carmen studied at the University of Navarra, Spain where she obtained a degree in Economics in 1994.