RAPS celebrates 14 outstanding professionals with 2026 awards

14 professionals have been recognized as the 2026 recipients of the RAPS Awards, which celebrate outstanding contributions to the regulatory affairs profession. Each recipient will be celebrated in person at RAPS Convergence 2026 on 15-17 September in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Founder’s Award  

This award recognizes exemplary regulatory professionals and is the profession's highest honor.

Wilson Bryan joined the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000, where he was the director of the Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies in FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. He now works as an independent regulatory consultant. Before joining the agency, Bryan served on the neurology faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School for 13 years, where he was investigator on clinical trials in cerebrovascular disease and neuromuscular disorders, particularly ALS.

Emer Cooke is the executive director at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), where she has led Europe’s medicines regulator since 2020. Before that, she worked as the director of medical products regulation at the World Health Organization for four years, which came after 14 years at EMA, first as head of inspections and then as head of international affairs. 

Scott Gottlieb is a physician, author, and medical leader who served as FDA commissioner from 2017 to 2019. The author of Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic, Gottlieb currently serves as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a partner at New Enterprise Associates, and is a member of several boards of directors. 

Sabina L. Hoekstra-van den Bosch is global director regulatory strategy at notified body TÜV SÜD, chair of NBCG-Med, the EU Commission’s working group of notified bodies, and vice-president of Team-NB, the EU notified bodies’ association. For more than 20 years, she has served as an expert speaker and faculty member at conferences and has served on the RAPS Board of Directors. She is a RAPS Fellow. 

Community Leadership Award 

This award recognizes RAPS members who have built networks and supported regulatory professionals in their communities. 

Angelina Lisandrelli is the director of global regulatory, advertising, and promotion at Intuitive Surgical. She is an active member of the RAPS Twin Cities Chapter, where she currently serves as chair-elect, is a member of multiple RAPS committees, and has been a leading participant in the RAPS Mentoring Program. 

Florian Tolkmitt is CEO of Pro-Liance, where he serves as an expert in clinical evaluation and regulatory strategy for medical devices. He is a founding member of the RAPS Germany Chapter, where he has been chapter board chair since 2021. He has also served as a member of the RAPS Euro Convergence Programme Committee. 

Rising Star Award 

This award recognizes promising individuals early in their careers who demonstrate initiative and exhibit a passion for strengthening the regulatory affairs community.

Jasmine Guidry Muse is senior manager, global regulatory affairs CMC at UCB, where she provides critical input on health authority interactions, regulatory strategy, and more. She is an active member of the RAPS Atlanta Chapter, a dedicated mentor, and a volunteer with Regulatory Affairs Toastmasters.

Nivedha Subramanian is a regulatory affairs associate at SCIEX. She has presented at RAPS Convergence, served as an RCC exam item writer, and is a member of the RAPS Membership Committee. She is also a participant in the Standards Council of Canada’s ISO/TC 210 Mirror Committee.

Patient-Centered Health Award 

This award recognizes groups, organizations, or individuals that have significantly impacted patient-centered policy, product development, or regulatory decision-making.

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy fights to end Duchenne by accelerating research, advocating for policy changes, demanding optimal care for families, and striving to ensure access to approved therapies. 

Article of the Year Award 

This award recognizes an outstanding, original peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of Regulatory Affairs or its predecessor, RF Quarterly.

“From data to decisions: Real-world evidence for medical devices in the US and the EU,” written by Matthias Fink, Amelia Hufford, Scott Snyder, Breda Kearney, and Susan Partridge, highlights the similarities and differences in the acceptance of real-world evidence (RWE) as clinical data for medical devices in the US and the EU.

Each award winner was selected after careful review by a committee of RAPS members. Learn more about the RAPS Awards.