Born and raised in New York, Francesca Wuttke needed to become a scientist, especially because she was once told that girls couldn’t be scientists. In spite of her catholic teacher, Francesca got her PhD in Pharmacology and embarked on a stellar international career. She successfully navigated the worlds of academia, private equity and consultancy before finding her feet in the pharmaceutical world. In 2015, after 4 years with Novartis in Basel, Francesca and her family relocated to Barcelona, where initially she headed up Almirall’s corporate strategy efforts before taking up a position at Merck’s Global Health Innovation (GHI) Fund to lead their European investments. During her time at Merck, Francesca drank the digital cool-aid - an experience which defines her most recent career move. Today, Francesca is the Chief Digital Officer at Almirall, a Spanish pharmaceutical in the early phases of its digital transformation. Under her leadership, the company is poised to benefit from and fully embrace the many opportunities digital health offers. The company’s accelerator program, the Digital Garden, entering its second year (with a focus on medical dermatology and pharma process optimization), is instrumental in the company’s digital journey. We learn more about life in Barcelona, the city’s thriving start-up scene and how the Barcelona Health Hub is attracting big investment and sponsorship from some of the largest corporations in the world.