Yiannoula Koulla is the president of the Cyprus Liver Patients Association and a leader of the European Liver Patients’ Association - (ELPA)'s NAFLD/NASH group. She is also a member of the National Committee for Transplants, the National Cancer Committee, and the National Committee on TB, HIV, and viral hepatitis.
Mrs Koulla got her diploma in Biochemistry and, a few years later, a diploma in Public Relations. She worked for many years for J&J pharmaceutical company as a product specialist in charge of central nervous system products (CNS). Her involvement with patients began when she became a patient herself and has been working for patients' rights ever since.
In the field of NAFLD/NASH, she co-authored many articles. One of the most quoted is ‘Redefining fatty liver disease: an international patient perspective’, published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. She also was the promotor of the ‘The Socrates survey’. This survey was done by ELPA, and the purpose was to uncover the unmet needs of people living with NAFLD/NASH to shape recommendations on how the diagnosis and management of the disease can be developed to improve patient’s quality of life. The following countries participated in this survey: Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, France, Finland, Germany, Israel, Spain, and Slovenia.
