Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) Strengthens Strategic Leadership with Key Executive Appointments Across Core Divisions

The Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), France’s independent public authority dedicated to health quality and medical evaluation, has announced a series of strategic leadership appointments aimed at reinforcing its organizational impact and expanding its influence across the European healthcare landscape. These high-level appointments come at a pivotal time for the French healthcare system, as the institution navigates rapid technological advancements, digital transformation, and shifting public health paradigms.

By strategically placing seasoned experts at the helm of its core directorates—spanning innovation evaluation, healthcare quality, digital health, and patient engagement—the HAS reaffirms its founding mandate: to guarantee safe, high-quality, and tailored care for every citizen, to illuminate public decision-making with independent scientific expertise, and to actively assist healthcare professionals in evolving their clinical practices.

Background Context and Institutional Mandate

Founded in 2004 under the French Public Health Code, the HAS operates as an independent scientific authority with financial autonomy. Its core mission is to evaluate health products, procedures, and services while establishing clinical guidelines and standards for accreditation across hospitals, clinics, and medical-social facilities. Over the past two decades, the institution has evolved from a national regulator into a cornerstone of European health technology assessment (HTA).

The recent wave of appointments is designed to operationalize the institution’s strategic roadmap, addressing mounting pressures on healthcare systems, including post-pandemic recovery, chronic disease management, the integration of artificial intelligence in medicine, and the harmonization of health regulations across the European Union. By strengthening its executive leadership team, the HAS seeks to enhance its operational agility and ensure that its evaluations remain robust, timely, and responsive to the needs of both patients and practitioners.

Strengthening Innovation and European Integration: Cédric Carbonneil

Stepping into the role of deputy director of the Directorate for Evaluation and Access to Innovation (DEAI) on September 1st, Dr. Cédric Carbonneil brings deep institutional memory and scientific rigor to the post. Working alongside Director Floriane Pelon, Carbonneil is far from a newcomer to the corridors of the HAS.

An immunologist by training with a doctoral degree and a robust background at Inserm, Carbonneil first joined the HAS in 2006 within the Professional Practice Evaluation Service (SEAP). His career trajectory reflects a deep understanding of both clinical research and health administration; between his early tenure at the HAS and his return, he served as an innovation mission officer at the Directorate-General for Healthcare Provision (DGOS) until 2016. Upon returning to the HAS, he directed the SEAP for nearly a decade.

In his new capacity, Carbonneil shares responsibility for steering public health recommendations, economic evaluations, and the rigorous assessment of drugs, medical devices, and professional procedures. The strategic imperatives assigned to the DEAI are twofold: to accelerate patient access to clinically useful and safe innovations, and to amplify the visibility and authority of French medical expertise across Europe. This latter priority is particularly urgent given the implementation of the European Regulation on Health Technology Assessment, which mandates joint clinical assessments across EU member states to reduce administrative duplication and speed up patient access to breakthrough therapies.

Elevating Quality and Safety of Care: Laetitia May-Michelangeli and Sophie Géhin

The Directorate for the Improvement of Quality and Safety of Care (DAQSS) has likewise undergone crucial leadership reinforcement. Dr. Laetitia May-Michelangeli has assumed the position of deputy director, working in close collaboration with Director Céline Mounier.

A medical doctor by profession, May-Michelangeli’s career bridges frontline clinical management and national health policy. She previously directed the hospital hygiene team at the Victor Dupouy Hospital Center before moving to the DGOS, where she spearheaded the national policy for preventing healthcare-associated infections. Since joining the HAS in 2013, she has served as head of the Evaluation and Tools for Healthcare Quality and Safety Service starting in 2018. Under her leadership, the service coordinated several landmark national initiatives, including the reporting and analysis of serious adverse medical events, the accreditation of physicians and medical teams, and the deployment of national quality and safety indicators. In her new role, she will help orchestrate the broad strategic orientation of the entire directorate.

Complementing May-Michelangeli is Dr. Sophie Géhin, who took the helm as head of the Good Practices Service (SBP) within the DAQSS in October, succeeding Morgane Le Bail. A neurologist specializing in electrophysiology and sleep disorders, Géhin spent nearly fourteen years practicing in both hospital and private settings before pivoting toward public health. As a public health medical inspector, she spent nearly six years leading the training and medical demography division at the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Health Agency (ARS). Her extensive clinical foundation combined with regional administrative experience positions her uniquely to guide the development of national clinical guidelines that are both scientifically unassailable and practical for clinicians on the ground.

Spearheading the Digital Health Transformation: Julie Marc

As healthcare systems increasingly digitize, the integration of digital health tools, telemedicine, and artificial intelligence has become a core strategic focus for the HAS. Taking charge of the Digital Health Mission (MNS) as its head on September 1st—after serving as deputy since June 2024 and succeeding Corinne Collignon—is Dr. Julie Marc.

Holding a doctorate in cellular and molecular biology, Marc brings a commercial and strategic perspective derived from over a decade in healthcare communication and strategic consulting. She spent thirteen years at Stratégik & Numérik, culminating in her role as chief operations officer, before transitioning to lead operations at Digital Pharma Lab, an incubator and research hub specialized in digital health innovation. Marc’s appointment underscores the HAS’s commitment to engaging proactively with health-tech start-ups, developers, and digital platforms to ensure that digital therapeutics and artificial intelligence applications meet rigorous safety, privacy, and clinical efficacy standards before entering the French market.

Amplifying the Patient Voice: Lucie Eches

Ensuring that patient perspectives remain central to medical evaluation and public health policy is a core pillar of modern health governance. Taking over as head of the User Engagement Service (SEU)—housed within the Directorate of Communication, Information, and User Engagement (DCIEU)—is Lucie Eches, who arrived in July to succeed Joëlle André-Vert under the leadership of Karine Lacour-Candiard.

Eches brings a wealth of international humanitarian experience to the HAS, having worked extensively in the field with organizations such as Solidarités International, Save the Children, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Notably, during her tenure with MSF France, she coordinated patient-centered care approaches in complex crisis environments. Holding a university degree in health democracy, Eches is tasked with championing and expanding the structured participation of patients, users, and health associations across the sanitary, medico-social, and social sectors. Her appointment reinforces the institutional ethos that high-quality healthcare cannot be defined solely by clinical metrics, but must incorporate the lived experiences and preferences of patients.

Expanding Global Horizons: Muriel Santoro

In an era of borderless health challenges and harmonized European regulations, international cooperation is no longer optional. Muriel Santoro is set to officially assume her role as head of the Europe, International, and Partnerships Mission (MEIP) in February 2026, succeeding Sophie Albert.

Santoro’s journey within the institution began in 2024 when she joined as a European Affairs project manager, bringing nearly a decade of experience at Expertise France and two years at Unicancer. Her leadership of the MEIP will be instrumental in managing the HAS’s expanding network of international partnerships, participating in global health forums, and ensuring that French clinical and evaluative standards continue to influence international health policy.

Fact-Based Analysis of Implications

The consolidation of this leadership team reflects a calculated institutional strategy designed to meet the complex demands of modern medicine. By blending internal institutional veterans—such as Carbonneil and May-Michelangeli—with external experts possessing strong backgrounds in digital innovation, public health administration, and humanitarian patient advocacy, the HAS is intentionally diversifying its leadership perspective.

The overarching implications of these appointments are threefold:

1. Operational Agility in Innovation Access: With the dual mandate assigned to the DEAI under Carbonneil, the HAS signals its intent to streamline evaluation processes without compromising safety standards. This is particularly vital as advanced therapies, cell and gene treatments, and AI-driven medical devices flood the European market.
2. Deepening Patient-Centric Governance: The leadership choices in user engagement and quality of care highlight a sustained commitment to participatory health. By integrating professionals with deep field experience in patient advocacy and safety protocols, the institution aims to bridge the gap between abstract regulatory frameworks and the realities of clinical care delivery.
3. Enhanced European Alignment: As joint clinical assessments become the standard across the European Union, the appointments of leaders with robust international and European project management backgrounds ensure that France will maintain a leading voice in shaping cross-border health technology assessments.

Ultimately, these strategic appointments position the Haute Autorité de Santé to navigate the intersecting pressures of technological disruption, demographic shifts, and European regulatory integration, preserving its foundational mission of safeguarding public health through independent, rigorous scientific excellence.