The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Paediatric Committee (PDCO) last week elected Dirk Mentzer and Henk van den Berg chair and vice-chair, respectively, at its September meeting. Both have been elected for a three-year term.
A paediatrician by training, Dr Mentzer is currently head of the pharmacovigilance unit at the Paul-Ehrlich Institut in Frankfurt, Germany. He is an expert in paediatric specialist training, including neonatology and paediatric accident and emergency admissions.
Dr Van den Berg is a consultant in paediatric haematology / oncology at the Medicines Evaluation Board in Utrecht, the Netherlands. His areas of expertise include paediatric haematology, clinical pharmacology and medical education.
On their election, Mentzer and van den Berg thanked outgoing chair Daniel Brasseur, who has left the PDCO to become a member of the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP).
Both Mentzer and van den Berg have been members of the PDCO since it was established in 2007. The committee’s main role is to assess the content of paediatric investigation plans (PIPS). It meets for three days each month at the EMA in London.