Verena Stocker

Verena Stocker is Associate Vice President and Regional Head of Lilly Gateway Labs Europe. Based in London, she leads all Europe Gateway efforts and associated portfolio companies. In this capacity, she connects Lilly with an entrepreneurial community in the region that drives innovation and fosters deep scientific and drug development exchanges.

Verena brings a wealth of leadership experience across health and life sciences at the national level. Most recently, she held dual national roles as Managing Director of the Accelerated Access Collaboration and Director of Innovation, Research and Life Sciences Strategy at NHS England, where she led cross-sector efforts with academia, industry, government and patient organizations to accelerate the adoption and spread of health innovation across England.

In these roles, Verena oversaw a broad and high-impact portfolio spanning clinical research, secure data environments, horizon scanning, strategic industry partnerships, digital therapeutics, and the adoption of innovative medicines and medtech. She also held national commissioning responsibility for key components of the NHS innovation ecosystem, including the Health Innovation Networks, Clinical Entrepreneur Programme and the NHS Innovation Accelerator.

Earlier in her career at NHS England, she held several senior leadership positions, including leading the Ministerially-commissioned review into digital transformation in the NHS; leading the NHS Transformation Strategy function; and driving system reform to establish Integrated Care Systems.

Verena has also worked with governments globally at the Tony Blair Institute, where she advised on health and life sciences strategies. She began her career as a health policy advisor in the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, before moving into healthcare management consulting in Australia and the UK, advising public and private sector clients on health system reform and service innovation. She is a graduate from the University of Sydney and the University of Oxford, and is a Sciana Healthcare Fellow.