Isabel Afonso became Chief Executive Officer of Arcera Life Sciences in October 2023 and was recognized as one of Forbes Middle East’s Top Healthcare Leaders for 2025.

Between 2021 and 2023, Isabel held international leadership positions at the Novartis Group, including General Manager of Novartis Oncology China and International Head of In-Market Brands & Business Innovation. For 16 years, she was affiliated with the Novartis Group – including Novartis Pharma, Novartis Animal Health, and Novartis Consumer Health – in various leadership roles. More recently, Isabel served as Director and Head of International Business at Performance Health.

She co-founded a private school for computer science, mathematics, and languages in Portugal, where she served as director between 1997 and 2002. She also worked at UNICER as Decisions Support Systems Manager and at SONAE in the Information Technology department.

She holds a degree in Systems and Computer Engineering from the University of Minho (1996) and attended international executive programs in Management at INSEAD in Paris and Singapore. Isabel has also participated in executive development programs at the business schools of IMD (Switzerland), Harvard, and Wharton (USA).

She is a member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization) and of the Leading Ladies Drive association in Switzerland.