Dr. Raffaella Balocco is a pharmacist Doctor and has a PhD in Pharmacology. She worked at the 'Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Researches' in Milan before joining the World Health Organization in 1993. From 1993 until 2001 she worked in the regulatory support Unit within WHO and travelled extensively all around the world, in particular in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) and African (AFRO) Regions. Since 2001 she has been the manager of the WHO International Nonproprietary Name (INN) Programme. An International Nonproprietary Name identifies pharmaceutical substances or active pharmaceutical ingredients. Each INN is a unique name that is globally recognized and is public property. The INN system as it exists today was initiated in 1950 by a World Health Assembly resolution WHA3.11 and began operating in 1953. The cumulative list of INN now stands at some 10.000 names designated since that time, and this number is growing every year by some 120-150 new INN. Nonproprietary names are intended for use in pharmacopoeias, labelling, product information, advertising and other promotional material, drug regulation and scientific literature. Dr Balocco is the Secretary of the WHO INN Expert Group, namely the Expert panel responsible for selecting INN.