Nicola Magrini, MD, is a medical doctor and clinical pharmacologist/ pharmacoepidemiologist with 20 years of experience in drug evaluation, guideline development and pharma­ceutical policies.
He started as a researcher at the University of Bologna and Mario Negri Institute, he established (in 1999) a NHS Centre for drug information and guideline development (NHS CeVEAS – Centre for the evaluation of the effectiveness of Health care, Modena. Italy) and worked as its director for 15 years.

He was a founder member of the Italian Cochrane Centre and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Evidence-Based Research Synthesis and Guideline Development from 2008 until 2014.

His main research interests are in evidence appraisal and synthesis, independent drug information programs and drug utilization, guideline development and implementation and clinical research ethics.

Since April 2014 he has been leading the WHO Essential Medicines List Secretariat for the comprehensive 2015 EML update and is a member of the WHO Research Ethics Review Committee (WHO ERC).

He is currently the Secretary of the WHO Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines.