Biography
Graduated in Political Science at the University of Macerata with a thesis on the principle of subsidiarity in the Italian Constitution, Antonio Gaudioso has devoted his entire professional life to the defence of citizens' rights, the strengthening of the National Health Service and the ethical governance of public policy.
From 1996 to 2021 he served within Cittadinanzattiva — one of Italy's most influential civic organisations — rising from head of the PiT Salute service and of the Tribunal for Patients' Rights to Deputy Secretary General, and, from June 2012, to Secretary General, coordinating some 35,000 members, 400 territorial offices (over 200 embedded in hospitals and NHS facilities) and 65 staff at the national headquarters, mobilising resources of approximately 40 million euro over the years of his mandate. In 2021 he was elected National President of the organisation.
He contributed to the drafting of the European Charter of Patients' Rights, to Law 38/2010 on access to pain therapies, and to the reform proposal introducing the principle of circular subsidiarity in Article 118 of the Italian Constitution. He is among the founders of the Forum Disuguaglianze e Diversità and a promoter of the Festival della Partecipazione with ActionAid and Slow Food.
From November 2021 to October 2022 he served as Chief of the Technical Secretariat of the Italian Minister of Health in the Draghi Government, coordinating technical evaluations on health legislation, relations with scientific societies, patients' associations and Parliament, and supervising the regions under commissioner regime. He chaired the steering group of the NSIS (National Health Information System) and coordinated the cabinet for the implementation of the Patto per la Salute between the State and the Regions, and served as Coordinator of the National Committee for Rare Diseases at the Ministry of Health.
From 2012 to 2016 he was Senior Advisor for CSR and Sustainability at the World Bank Group; he has been a member of the LEA Commission (Essential Levels of Care) of the Italian Ministry of Health, of the Advisory Board of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità supporting the National Guidelines System (SNLG), of the ECDC Technical and Scientific Committee on vaccines, and of the Biotechnology and Biosafety Commission of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. He is currently Vice President of the Health City Institute, board member of the Foundation for Personalised Medicine, and Senior Advisor to Apoteca Natura for the evolution of its pharmacy network.
He holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, teaching within the Master's programme in Strategic Management, Innovation and Sustainability, where he brings to the classroom the intersection of health-system governance, civic participation and sustainable public policy that has defined his professional career.
Within AEGIS, Antonio Gaudioso contributes to the Steering Committee his rare combination of grassroots civic experience, senior institutional responsibility and deep knowledge of the National Health Service — a decisive asset in ensuring that the Foundation's work on the ethical governance of artificial intelligence remains firmly anchored to the rights and needs of citizens, patients and the most vulnerable persons.