Europe must confront numerous healthcare problems and this requires new thinking. Dr Xianqing Mao, postdoctoral researcher in the Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research of LIH’s Department of Oncology, joined the European Health Parliament 2016 to be part of a lively discussion about Europe’s major health challenges.

The European Health Parliament (EHP), an initiative from Johnson & Johnson, Google, POLITICO, College of Europe and EU40, aims to formulate innovative ideas for making Europe a healthier place and reshaping the European healthcare system. Between December 2015 and June 2016, 55 young professionals from different backgrounds will identify major health and healthcare issues and debate how to deal with them. The developed ideas shall be shared with policy makers and the healthcare community across the EU member states.

Dr Xianqing Mao responded to the call for participants for the EHP 2016 and readily accepted the extraprofessional commitment when she was selected among the numerous applicants. ‘I think my dual educational background as scientist and as medical doctor was an advantage for the selection’, tells Dr Mao. She holds a PhD in Life Sciences from the University of Lorraine (2011) and a medical doctor degree from Wuhan University in China (2009). ‘I am honoured to be an EHP member. I take this function very seriously, especially because I am the only representative from Luxembourg’, she states.

On 9th December, a kick-off session was held at the European Parliament in Brussels. Here EHP members were divided into 5 committees: digital skills for the medical profession, prevention and self-care, anti-microbial resistance, climate change and healthcare and migration and health challenges. Three plenary sessions and numerous online meetings will allow working out innovative proposals on these specific themes. Throughout the programme, the committees will communicate their ideas on social media, and at the end they will co-author an academic publication.

Dr Mao is part of the “digital skills for the medical profession” committee that debates how the healthcare system can benefit from information and communication technologies to improve diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.