Healthcare Strategy & Innovation

Bridging science, strategy,
and technology to transform
how healthcare works.

Gates Cambridge Scholar. 15 years across the World Bank, AstraZeneca, Novartis, and the European Innovation Council. Now building the next generation of healthcare infrastructure.

Executive Director, HDI Group/CEO, MedScribe AI

Background

A career built at the
intersection of evidence
and execution.

15+Years
155+Proposals evaluated
140+Team members

Diana Pirjol began her career as a Bill Gates Cambridge Scholar — one of 55 selected from 3,500 applicants worldwide — studying cardiovascular epidemiology. What followed was 15 years of leadership across the institutions that shape global healthcare.

At the World Bank, she managed a $20M healthcare innovation portfolio spanning Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. At AstraZeneca, she built four new healthcare ventures from concept to market. At Sandoz/Novartis HQ in Munich, she co-led the global restructuring that preceded the Sandoz-Novartis split.

As an EIC Expert Evaluator, she has assessed 55+ health innovation proposals for the European Commission and designed Romania's national innovation agency framework. Her academic credentials include an MPhil from Cambridge, an Executive MBA from CEU Vienna, and an MSc in Health Policy from VU Amsterdam.

Today, she leads two organisations: HDI Group, an international advisory and data science firm of 140+ healthcare experts, and MedScribe AI, a multilingual clinical scribe built for the world's most diverse clinical settings.

Career

Professional trajectory

2024 – Present

Executive Director & CEO

HDI Group · MedScribe AI

Bucharest · UAE

Leading a 140+ expert advisory firm in healthcare data science (40% YoY growth, 30% net margin). Simultaneously building MedScribe AI, a multilingual clinical scribe. Closed partnerships with top-10 pharma. Raised €1.5M in grants.

2023 – Present

Expert Evaluator & Strategic Advisor

European Innovation Council · World Bank

Brussels

Evaluated 55+ health innovation proposals for the EIC Accelerator. Designed Romania's national innovation agency framework (€20M, 3 Ministries). Mentor to EIC-funded startups.

2022 – 2024

Innovation Partnership Manager

AstraZeneca

Bucharest · Israel

Built 4 healthcare ventures from concept to market. 3X investment tickets, 40% faster decisions. Led enterprise reorganisation improving efficiency by 20%.

2021 – 2022

Strategy Project Manager

Sandoz (Novartis) HQ

Munich

Co-led the Sandoz-Novartis global restructuring. Retained 95% critical talent through negotiation with German labour unions. Delivered double-digit million savings.

2017 – 2019

Senior Management Consultant

IQVIA

Bucharest

Advised 12 top pharma companies on multi-billion-dollar portfolios. 60+ cross-functional projects. 4 products received full reimbursement approval.

2013 – 2017

Portfolio Manager, SIEF Trust Fund

World Bank Group

Washington DC · Bucharest

Managed $20M healthcare innovation portfolio. Co-led $77.8M Indonesia national health programme evaluation. 7 multi-country ventures reaching 10M+ beneficiaries.

2011 – 2013

Gates Cambridge Scholar

University of Cambridge

Cambridge, UK

MPhil in Epidemiology. EPIC-Heart cardiovascular research. Bill Gates Cambridge Scholarship (3% admission rate).

Expertise

Areas of focus

Health AI & Clinical Technology

Building multilingual clinical AI products. Real-time transcription, translation, and clinical decision support for diverse healthcare settings.

Pharma Strategy & Market Access

15+ years across AstraZeneca, Novartis, IQVIA. Product launches, portfolio advisory, go-to-market strategy for top-10 pharmaceutical companies.

Innovation Evaluation & Policy

155+ proposals evaluated across EIC Accelerator, World Bank, and corporate programmes. Full innovation lifecycle from TRL 1 to TRL 9.

Healthcare Data Science

Epidemiological studies, health economics, outcomes research, and applied machine learning in clinical and public health contexts.

Ecosystem Design & Capacity Building

Designed Romania's national innovation agency (€20M). Advisor to 20+ VCs, accelerators, and health-tech startups on commercialisation and EU grants.

Global Health & Development

World Bank, WHO, European Parliament, EMA. Health impact evaluations and policy advisory spanning Europe, Americas, Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

Organisations

Two companies, one mission

Building the infrastructure that enables better healthcare — through evidence-based advisory and intelligent clinical technology.

Advisory & Data Science

HDI Group

An international advisory, data science, and analytics firm in healthcare and life sciences. Founded by Cambridge and World Bank alumni, HDI brings together epidemiologists, data scientists, health economists, and behavioural scientists — primarily graduates of the world's top 10 universities.

140+Expert team
40%YoY growth
95%Client retention
30%Net margin
EpidemiologyHEORMarket AccessData ScienceClinical TrialsStrategy Consulting

Clinical AI

MedScribe AI

A multilingual AI clinical scribe that listens, transcribes, translates, codes, and analyses — in real time. Built for diverse clinical settings where a doctor speaks Arabic, the patient speaks Urdu, and the chart needs to be in English.

Live multilingual transcription

Speaker identification across Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, English, and more — simultaneously.

Clinical copilot

Real-time follow-up suggestions, differential diagnosis, and safety alerts during the consultation.

Structured documentation

SOAP notes with 96% traceability. Patient summaries in plain language. EMR and FHIR export.

TranscriptionTranslationAI CopilotSOAP NotesEMR Integration

Track Record

Selected highlights

155+Innovation proposals evaluated
$78MLargest programme evaluated
10M+Beneficiaries reached
€1.5MGrants raised for startups

Education

MPhil Epidemiology

University of Cambridge

Gates Cambridge Scholar (3% admission rate). EPIC-Heart cardiovascular research.

Executive MBA

CEU University, Vienna

Fellowship covering 95% of costs (6% admission rate).

MSc Health Policy

VU Amsterdam

Fulbright / Dinu Patriciu Foundation scholarship.

Publications

Enabling the Enablers: Building Capabilities of Startup Support Organizations
World Bank, 2024
ROInnovate: Building Blocks for an Innovation Agency in Romania
World Bank, 2024
Industry-Academia Linkages in Romania's R&I Ecosystem
World Bank, 2024
Purchasing in a Pandemic: Health Systems Response in Armenia and Romania
World Bank, 2023
Overview of 71 European Initiatives against Childhood Obesity
BMC Public Health, 2014
Cardiovascular Risk Epidemiology Research (EPIC-Heart)
Cambridge MPhil Dissertation, 2013

Organisations worked with

AstraZenecaNovartisSandozPfizerSanofiMSDJanssenEli LillyNovo NordiskMedtronicAmgenWorld Bank GroupEuropean Innovation CouncilEuropean ParliamentUniversity of CambridgeGates Cambridge TrustIQVIA

Contact

Get in touch

For healthcare advisory, MedScribe AI partnerships, EU grant strategy, or speaking engagements.