Working at the sharp edge of finance by restructuring companies, Dimitrios Athanasiou was a very successful business consultant and executive with more than 25 years’ experience on international projects. Then, his life changed when his son was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. He has since put his business career aside, becoming a fulltime international patient advocate in Duchenne and in rare diseases. In this podcast we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on both the access to regular care for patients dealing with a rare disease, and the state of the development of needed new orphan and medicinal products given the impact of global lock downs. Dimitrios also reflects on how we can improve the state of treating orphan conditions in Europe given what we’ve learned from dealing with the pandemic. Dimitrios Athanasiou is currently a board member of European Patient Forum (EPF) and the World Duchenne Organization. He represents EURORDIS on the Paediatric Committee of the European Medicines Agency, and is a trainer for the EUPATI Academy, building the next generation of patient advocates.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.