2023 Speakers

Adriana is the Communities Manager of ECHAlliance and she is currently based in Paris, France. She works directly with ECHAlliance members and ecosystems to bring them on board and promote them as well as to increase the connections between our existing members and ecosystems and create new and exciting content for them.

As a background, Adriana is a communications specialist, who has been working as a consultant for more than 4 years offering a wide range of services, such as social media management, creative content development, communication strategy and press relations. Clients have included local and international non-profit organisations from diverse fields such as digital health, women’s, children’s and elderly rights, visual impairment, democracy promotion, EU politics and economic and social development.

Anna studied and interned in medicine at University of Zurich Medical School and Harvard Medical School. After graduating, she conducted post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School in biomedicine and genetics. In parallel, she received a PhD in epidemiology and health systems management from University of Basel (Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute). Clinically she specialized in internal and sports medicine in Switzerland.

Before her role as the first female medical director in the history of Klinik Hirslanden, she attended courses both at Harvard Business School and INSEAD. She is a clinical lecturer at the University of Zurich and faculty of University of St. Gallen. In addition, she is also a keen mentor for master’s students and alumni from the ETH. Apart from lecturing for various executive business programs, she gives talks on planetary health, preventive medicine and longevity for the UN and the World Economic Forum among others.

She has given interviews and published extensively both in scientific journals as well as in newspapers and magazines spanning from Forbes to Neue Zürcher Zeitung. She is still involved in medical research and is committed to clinical work with patients ranging from multimorbid patients to the executive management of leading listed companies and world-class athletes.

Arezki Yaïche is since 2014 a financial journalist specialised in M&A and EU competition law. As a Senior France Correspondent and Paris Bureau Chief for the global M&A newswire Mergermarket (owned by ION Group), he writes on all types of transactions from competition issues, early stage fundraises, and private deals to takeovers of listed companies and IPOs.

Arezki was previously Senior Correspondent Antitrust for regulatory newswire MLex in Brussels between 2019 and 2021. Before that he worked four years as M&A reporter and Paris Bureau Chief for Mergermarket. Arezki also has a six-year experience as Communication consultant specialised in Finance and EU regulation. He worked for financial and public institutions including Dexia Asset Management in Brussels, Credit Agricole Assurances in France, the French embassy in Stockholm, the European Parliament, and the French Ministry for Agriculture

Close to 20 years experience in pharma, medical devices and diagnostic with primary field of expertise in oncology and hematology. International track record in clinical research, international marketing strategy, market access, commercial excellence programs and business development. Worked previously at Takeda Pharma, Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi. SkylineDx has introduced novel diagnostics into the US with reimbursement.

Artur Olesch is a Berlin-based journalist and correspondent for digital health-related topics. An author of 1000+ articles and health-IT reports. Founder of the independent e-magazine aboutDigitalHealth.com, content writer, speaker, conference moderator, mentor of med-tech startups and influential voice on social media.

Artur describes the latest technological and scientific developments in medicine and their impact on the health sector today and ​​​in the future. Artur has worked with top-rated digital health magazines in Poland and Europe and leading healthcare and health IT organizations like The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), World Health Organization (WHO), Copenhagen Institute of Future Studies, World Bank and EIT Health. He is also a member of the SCIANA Healthcare Leaders Network.

Beat Lechmann began his career in the medical field in 1993 with the AO/ASIF Development Institute. In 1999, Beat assumed the role of head of Spine product development and roles of increasing responsibility for the Spine platforms, first within Mathys Medical and then for Synthes post-merger.

Beat’s leadership in Spine innovation culminated in the role of Head of Spine Innovations and degenerative diseases treatments, in which he led a team focused on the exploration of new treatment concepts and technologies for the surgical treatment of the spine and other degenerative musculoskeletal diseases. Beat’s following role has been the Director of Product Development in the field of “Soft Tissue Solutions,” with the responsibility to start up a new business unit and product offerings for the surgical treatment of sports injuries and other degenerative soft tissue conditions.

He is further assigned as Early Innovation Partner on behalf of J&J Innovation in the London partnering office for Medtech opportunities in the EMEA region.

Beat is named inventor on 49 issued U.S. patents and investigator on several published scientific posters and publications. He is also teaching in Master programs at the University Bern.

Carole Absil is a consultant, coach and trainer for HealthTech companies. She worked for 15 years at Agoria, the Belgian technology industry association, helping companies with their advocacy and international business development. In 2020, when the pandemic started, she played a major role in the vaccination strategy and campaign in Wallonia (Belgium) as deputy to the COVID-19 General Commissioner. In 2022, she started her own company providing tailored strategy services in advocacy, scaling and international business development to HealthTech companies.

Charles-Eric Winandy is co-founder & director at moveUP. Engineer by training, Charles-Eric held various financial & IT related position before founding moveUP. At moveUP, he is responsible for finance and market access, making its digital health solution accessible to more patients in new markets.

Charlotte Puechmaille benefits from a 10-year expertise in new market launches, sales development & medical collaborations within the global digital health sector. As the former Head of Strategy at Withings, she launched 15+ digital health products in Europe and North America, both in the consumer and medical worlds. In 2022, she founded FemTech Now to meet the growth needs of Women’s Health startups. In 2023, she joined Kranus Health, the leading global provider of integrated digital care in urology, as Country Manager France. Charlotte is a graduate from HEC Paris School of Management and holds a Sustainability Master degree from Mines ParisTech Engineering School.

Cyril Teixeira da Silva, Investment Officer, Growth Finance and Venture Debt, Life Science and Biotech

After graduating from ESCP Business School in 2014, Cyril Teixeira da Silva started his career in Singapore with the French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom, as financial analyst for the Asia-Pacific Region. He then joined the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg in 2016 in the venture debt team, in charge of the quasi-equity financing of innovative European companies in the field of biotechnology and medical technology.

Dorothée Moisy is the Director of Innovation for ELSAN since 2021. She holds a degree from Ecole Polytechnique and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Paris. Previously, she served as the Operational Director at Erganeo, an investment company specializing in disruptive technological innovations, particularly in the healthcare and digital fields.

Edouard is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tilak Healthcare, a unique video game studio creating clinically validated medical mobile games to help monitor and rehabilitate patients affected by chronic diseases. For more than 10 years, Edouard worked in the video game industry at Gameloft, a company developing and editing mobile video games, where he successively held the positions of Project manager in Paris, then Lead Producer in New Orleans and finally managing Director of Gameloft Madrid.

Driven by his passion for innovation and technology, he was also a writer for TechCrunch France, covering mobile apps, 2.0 web and entertainment topics.

I have 20 years of successful experience in the field of digital health.
I am now the CEO and co-founder of RDS SAS, a startup based in Strasbourg developing an award winning solution enabling high resolution cardiac and respiratory remote monitoring, and designed to accelerate and facilitate patient discharge from the hospital.
Before RDS, I have been involved in the creation of two other startups, I have directed teams in the public and private sector, and I have been the CEO of Orange Healthcare.
I am an engineer from Ecole Centrale Paris (France) and from Cornell University (USA), and I also hold a PhD in Neuroimaging, and have studied medicine at Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris.

Elodie Brient-Litzler has 15 years of R&D and innovation experience at the intersection of math/physics/chemistry and biology/medicine. She is well-versed in transitioning science from academia into products for the industry. She started her career as a scientist within the French engineering company Bertin Technologies, working on biodetection technologies. She returned to academia and joined Andrew Griffiths’ microfluidics laboratory at ESPCI, where she established and managed public-private R&D projects including the €20 million national “DigiDiag” project dedicated to diagnostics technology. She was an active participant in the launch of several start-ups such as HiFiBiO. She joined Institut Pasteur in 2015 as deputy CTO in charge of operations, where she fostered the adoption and dissemination of innovative technologies, and managed/reorganized the 150 pers. core facilities. She later moved to the Innovation Office of Institut Pasteur after its creation in 2018. There, she helped to structure a number of academic projects into product prototypes, such as the DIVA image analysis project which led to the creation of AVATAR MEDICAL in 2020. She joined the spin-off company as COO, and was also in charge of the regulatory, leading to the FDA approval of the first product in Q2 2023.

She holds a doctorate in biochemistry from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (today Sorbonne Université) and engineering degrees from Ecole Polytechnique and Chimie Paristech, Paris, France.

Dr. Nihal Engin Vrana is CEO of SPARTHA Medical, A Strasbourg-based Biotech company developing multifunctional coatings. He obtained his PhD in DCU, Ireland as a Marie Curie Fellow and did his post-doctoral studies at Harvard-MIT. He coordinated multiple large-scale European projects in FP7 and H2020 framework programmes and is currently coordinating Horizon Europe NOVA and European Innovation Council SPARTHACUS projects. He has more than 140 peer-reviewed articles, 7 patents, and 3 edited books.

With his global perspective, the entrepreneurial-minded Eric is a recognized CEO, having co-founded, led and exited two software platforms, in USA and Europe: Radianz for financial data exchange, and Streamdata.io for real-time API.

Now, as the CEO of Matrix Requirements, Eric has one goal: Ensure Matrix Requirements customers overcome the challenges within the Medical Device industry, and help them get their Medical Devices to market safer, and faster.

Matrix Requirements is a global leader in the Software in/as Medical Device industry and helps manufacturers streamline requirements management and quality compliance with full traceability and control across the product lifecycle.

Matrix is so configurable that it grows with its customers – Including startups & scale-ups such as Element Biosciences, MindMaze and Diabeloop as well as multinationals including Medtronic, Stryker, GE Healthcare and Roche.

Esther Reynal de Saint-Michel Richardot is a founding partner at THENA Capital, a UK early stage Medical Technology fund. A MedTech angel investor with over 10 years of experience in growth strategy consulting, Esther has been a trusted advisor to large brands across consumer sectors and in particular within healthcare before moving into Venture Capital. She is passionate about innovations transforming patients’ experiences, and supporting them through access to expertise and capital.

Eva’s broad experience in healthtech innovation encompasses roles as entrepreneur, headhunter, investor and CEO. She leads Foveo Fertility; a UK-based venture dedicated to optimising egg quality and IVF workflow. Combining her professional track record and personal experience as a former IVF patient and now proud mother, Eva is deeply committed to revolutionise the egg retrieval and selection market and improve outcomes for aspiring parents worldwide.

Before stepping into her current role as CEO, Eva’s track record includes healthtech venture building at NLC (80+ ventures in portfolio) as well as co-founding, leading and exiting a company specialised in Talent Strategy & Executive Search for life sciences startups and scale-ups.

In this capacity, Eva successfully recruited CEOs for more than 50 healthtech ventures and provided strategic guidance on talent acquisition, including advisory board formation.

Fei joined the MIG Capital investment team in April 2023 to strengthen its Life Science division. She is a healthcare expert with a deep background in medicine and biology as well as the venture capital industry.

Prior to joining MIG, Fei worked for yabeo Venture Tech, where she managed and served as board director of the health tech portfolio. Prior to that, Fei spent nine years at Vesalius Biocapital as an investment analyst and then principal. Her work included portfolio management, deal identification, due diligence, and deal structuring in the life science investment space.

Fei studied medicine at Tongji University in PRC and worked as an emergency room doctor for two years. She then completed her Ph.D. in oncology and stem cell research at Ludwig-Maximilian-University.

Florent Detroy is the director and founder of POC Media, the leading medium for science-based innovation and technology transfer.

Florent spent ten years working for the business press, Usine Nouvelle, Innovation Review and Smart Industries. Aware that companies have a vital need to innovate, he created POC Media in 2020. POC Media is an information service on cutting-edge technologies from public research, aimed at R&D and innovation managers.

Frédéric Le Roy est Professeur de Management Stratégique à l’Université de Montpellier (Institut Montpellier Management) et professeur affilié à Montpellier Business School. Il est responsable du Cooetition Lab (programme de recherche du Labex Entreprendre) et co-directeur de la Chaire Coo-Innov (Coopétition et Ecosystème d’Innovation. Il est également directeur du Master Stratégie-Innovation-Conseil de l’Institut Montpellier Management. Il a publié de nombreux ouvrages et articles scientifiques sur la coopétition et l’innovation.

Personal Statement

My main research objective is to pave the way for modern real-life health research studies by being at the interface between digital epidemiology, data science, and clinical research. I implement comprehensive observational and real-life studies to identify digital biomarkers for remote monitoring key symptoms or patient-reported outcomes of patients.

Biographical sketch

I am the Director of the Department of Precision Health (DOPH) at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), which is composed of 11 research units and where we conduct research activities in public health, epidemiology, and clinical research.

I am also the Head of the Deep Digital Phenotyping Research Unit, a multidisciplinary research lab at LIH where we 1) develop AI-based digital and vocal biomarkers for patient monitoring and 2) conduct data-driven digital phenotyping research using large cohort studies and online data to improve the understanding of the impact of various chronic diseases (diabetes, mental health, cancer, Long COVID…) on the daily lives of patients and populations.

Entrepreneur Haider developed a toolbox for bringing brand performances to life, helping organisations of various shapes and sizes navigate the unknown and generate growth. This led him to build Kainjoo in 2012, a fast-growing consulting firm supporting ambitious leaders from 500 Fortune companies. With Allegory Capital, he supports regulated industries to innovate through portfolios of emerging tech and channels.

Hatim is a practising General Practitioner in North West London, joining Kent Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network in October 2022, in a job share as Medical Director. Alongside this role he continues to act as National Clinical Lead for AI and Digital Workforce at NHS England within the Workforce, Training, and Education directorate.

In 2018, Hatim was appointed National Medical Directors Clinical Fellow to Professor Wendy Reid. His key achievements were co-author and member of the Sir Keith Pearson Commission into NHS Staff and Learner Mental Health and co-founding the ‘Topol Programme for Digital Health Fellowships’ launched by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in 2019.

Hatim has been a Senior Lecturer at Brunel University London, supporting the Physician Associate MSc and new medical school, developing its digital education strategy and curriculum. Hatim recently joined Keele University as an Honorary Senior Lecturer, working with European partners to develop a Masters in Explainable AI in healthcare management. Hatim is also a member of the NICE Technology Appraisals Committee.

Hatim is an advocate for safe and ethical digital transformation and ensuring workforce preparedness for new innovations and technologies in health and care. He regularly speaks internationally and has contributed to the publication of several academic papers and white papers spanning workforce, education reform, primary care, digital health and AI.

Outside of work Hatim enjoys travelling and football, and you will likely find him touring England’s best restaurants with his family.

Henk Stapert, PhD is a serial entrepreneur and an all-round healthcare innovation executive. He is currently CTO of smartQare, a dynamic Dutch start up in the field of remote patient monitoring. Previously he held several senior positions at Philips in program and R&D management, in global innovation portfolio management and innovation strategy. He has 20 years of experience in building new healthcare businesses both via corporate venturing as well as via VC backed startups.

Two of his radical innovations have already grown into successful businesses: The first one is the Idylla molecular diagnostics platform of Biocartis (Euronext, BCART) and the second one is Onvision, an ultrasound guidance and tracking platform, co-branded and marketed by both Philips and B. Braun. The third one, viQtor, a remote patient monitoring solution developed by smartQare, was recently awarded the CE mark under MDR and starts penetrating the markets.

Henk Stapert holds a master degree (1993) in Chemical Technology from the University of Twente and a PhD (1998) in Biomedical Engineering from the same university. After an award winning 2 years fellowship on smart drug delivery systems and photodynamic therapy at the University of Tokyo (1998), he joined Philips in 2000 and has been in several R&D and business positions since then. He has worked in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Japan. He is a (co)inventor of over 25 granted patent applications and is a frequently invited speaker.

Henk likes to be in the heart of innovation, creating balanced portfolios and initiating & directing innovative programs that create solutions for the bigger challenges in healthcare, thereby playing an integral role in the company’s innovation portfolio, strategic roadmap and future growth.

In addition, he is a passionate team builder who finds satisfaction in inspiring people to a common, ambitious goal and a team player that takes the lead and responsibility when needed, but finds a lot of satisfaction in coaching team members to empower their career development.

He is currently the Executive Director ad interim of the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI).

In addition, he is the Head of Scientific Operations (HoSO) at IHI where he leads a team of scientific and financial officers responsible for the operational activities of the organisation. In his role as (HoSO) he is responsible for the overall planning, management and monitoring of calls for proposals and evaluations leading to projects/grant agreements, as well as the management of the projects themselves. He held the same position in IMI2 between 2015 and 2021.  He joined IMI as a Senior Scientific Project Manager in 2011 managing specific projects and overseeing IMI’s engagement with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Before joining IMI, he worked as Industry Programme Manager at the Centre for Drug Safety Sciences at the University of Liverpool, UK. He also has extensive experience in the Biotech sector having spent nearly 10 years working in an SME identifying and developing recombinant proteins as novel therapeutics for the prevention of dermal scarring.

Trained as a Molecular biologist he has a PhD in gene cloning and developmental biology with an interest in a wide range of scientific areas and research questions.

James is the cofounder and CEO of SomX, a healthtech and biotech-specific communications group. He also hosts The Healthtech Podcast, which has listeners in >120 countries and is the Editor-In-Chief of Healthtech Pigeon, a newsletter and podcast that rounds up the sector’s news. He is an anaesthetics and ICU doctor by training, has held roles in leadership, management and innovation at NHS England, Health Education England and the British Medical Journal and previously directed two healthtech startup accelerators. He has degrees in medicine, biomedical sciences and education and is a guest lecturer on healthtech innovation and entrepreneurship at academic institutions around the world.

Following a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology, Dr. Jan F. Engels completed a PhD in chemistry and nanotechnology in Hong Kong, where he stayed the past 10 years. During his PhD studies he co-founded a medical device start-up in the field of ophthalmology and drug delivery with the position as VP technology. Next to R&D, his focus was on technology patents and business development with successful collaborations with listed companies in US, Europe, and Japan. Next to his start-up position, Jan has a part time lecturer position, teaching Entrepreneurship. After returning to Germany, he joined High-Tech Gründerfonds as an Investment Manager Life Science.

Javier holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, has expertise in Medical Imaging and holds a Masters in Business Administration.

After being selected at MIT in a Madrid-funded three-years program (M+Vision) and incorporating Newborn Solutions, he was recognized as the Spanish Innovator under 35 in 2016 according to MIT Technology Review Magazine. Javier has gained experience in the computer (Fujitsu-Siemens), automotive (Kostal), communications and space (Indra), and biomedical imaging industries (High-Technology Institute and CRC Imaging Diagnostics).

As CEO at Newborn Solutions, he has built a team, national and international industrial, clinical and patient collaborations, accomplished both public and private funding and thrives on innovation projects.

Thanks to the accomplishments achieved so far, Newborn Solutions has been awarded by Philips, Chiesi, Richi Foundation, ImagineIf!, MIT I-Corps, Fundación madri+d, Eureka E!nnoVest, TechTour, EIT Health Captapult and funded by CDTI, ACCIÓ, RIS3 (Comunidad de Madrid), EIC Accelerator, Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation, KDT-JU ( EU public-private innovation partnership).

Jeroen has a background in neuroscience and holds the position of Senior Grant Consultant at Akkodis. In this role, he specialises in helping companies and universities develop successful grant applications. Across diverse industries, he guides various types of clients through the complexities of European-funded grants and other funding opportunities.

With a passion for facilitating collaborations and securing funding, he plays a vital role in bridging the gap between various stakeholders while fostering their engagement and alignment. His dedication and knowledge around the grant application process as well as grant management aspects benefits organisations seeking resources to drive their innovations forward. In this role, Jeroen is helping his clients achieve their funding goals while building a robust grant strategy for the future.

Jessica Garestier is Of Counsel in Dentons’ Paris Life Sciences group. She provides legal advice to global companies and start-ups in the life sciences sector on a broad variety of strategic European and domestic regulatory matters, including clinical trials, partnerships and licensing, manufacturing, product approvals, regulatory pathways, market access, promotion and advertising, distribution schemes, post-market and compliance requirements. Jessica’s practice covers medicinal products, biotechnology, medical devices, cosmetics, food, chemicals, and other regulated products. She also represents life sciences companies before competent authorities and in local litigation in France. Jessica also handles related matters of commercial and consumer law.

Jessica is co-founder & CXO of SomX, a healthtech and biotech-specific communications group. She is also an editor and regular host for Healthtech Pigeon, a news brand rounding up the sector’s news.

Originally from Scotland, John is a pioneer of the Australasian medical recruitment industry with nearly 30 years experience in the industry. He moved to Europe in 2019 to focus on DeepTech & Life Sciences innovation. He maintains a recruitment portfolio for C-suite, board and leadership roles.  John is a speaker & mentor to start-ups & founders, on setting up their own in-house recruitment capabilities, in preparation for scale-up growth.  A keen surfer and musician, John is now permanently based in Europe & the UK.​​

Jörg Trinkwalter has been a member of the Executive Board of the Medical Valley European Metropolitan Region Nuremberg e.V. since May 2010. In this position, he was responsible for the implementation and (co-)creation of accelerator services in healthcare. Since April 2015, Jörg Trinkwalter has been also Managing Partner of Medical Valley GmbH, nice!Innovations GmbH and TBrace GmbH. Since April 1st 2022 Jörg Trinkwalter is CFO and Partner of ProCarement GmbH, a company with the objective to empower healthcare provider to implement Virtual Heart Centers as-a-service. Since May 2023 the ProCarement app “ProHerz” has been approved by the German Federal Office for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) as the first cardiological digital health application (DiGA) in Germany and is provisionally included in the DiGA directory. This allows physicians to prescribe ProHerz to their heart failure patients, and the costs will be covered by health insurers. This makes ProHerz the first approved “digital cardiac drug” in Germany.

Jussi Määttä (Msc. Eng.) is the Founder and CEO of Buddy Healthcare, the company driving hospital efficiency through streamlined patient pathways and care coordination. Buddy Healthcare’s innovative solutions have improved patient outcomes and operational efficiencies for healthcare providers.

As the CEO of Buddy Healthcare, Jussi has secured high-profile six-figure accounts and partnerships in Finland, the UK, and France, expanded into new markets, created partnerships with multiple medical device companies and industry players as well as raised significant funding for growth. With expertise in Enterprise B2B SaaS and healthcare, Jussi is a passionate leader and company builder, well-positioned to drive impact in these industries.

Kalina Mihaylova is the Head of Medical Innovations at Daye, a startup dedicated to reinventing gynaecological healthcare through innovative medical devices and telemedical services. In her role, Kalina led the development of the world’s first virtual Period Pain Clinic and the novel Diagnostic Tampon service. She’s well-versed in the challenges of navigating regulatory landscapes in the UK, EU and US as an early-stage medical device company.

Katarzyna Markiewicz-Barreaux has a passion for disruptive innovation combined with a “two-feet on the ground” drive to turn ideas into business successes. She has a Masters in Lifesciences and Business Economics, and a PhD in Health Economics.

Katarzyna combines a great understanding of healthcare market, including the trends, new technologies, regulatory shifts and competitors/players strategies with epidemiology and health economics knowledge. She is passionate about translating new technologies into potential future benefits for healthcare systems and addressing the needs of all the stakeholders (i.e., patients, healthcare providers). At the same time, she is keeping in mind the necessity of thorough multidisciplinary assessment of those technologies. Katarzyna is particularly fascinated by the AI hype, with all the market dynamics, plethora of players and countless possibilities to bring value to healthcare.

Katarzyna has been with Royal Philips for the last 8 years, leading Market Intelligence, Strategic Roadmaps and Communications efforts around Data and AI with a special focus on Insights@Scale Strategic Transformation Program. In this position she is, among others, working on the Value Proposition Creation and Go-to-Market strategy (incl. e.g., business/innovation ecosystems development; evidence roadmaps development; regulatory roadmap; road to reimbursement) for selected carrier projects. She is also supporting development and validation over time of an overall strategic vision behind Insights@Scale and its carrier projects.

In the MedTech Europe industry association Katarzyna is leading the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Committee focusing on Digital Health and AI. In this role she is concentrating on successful implementation of the HTA Regulation (HTA-R), which entered into force in January 2022, and it is expected to be applicable as of January 2025. Specifically, for the digital health & AI part of the HTA-R, there is an EU Harmonized Evaluation of Medical Digital Devices Taskforce set up, that aims to create a common European framework of Digital Medical Devices evaluation to support reimbursement decisions and increase the competitiveness of Europe in the digital health space. Katarzyna serves as a strategic consultant to the Taskforce activities.

Kathrin Pfeiffer is the Head of Market Access at the Sympatient, a Hamburg-based digital health Start-up. After a medical apprenticeship and studies in medical technology, she worked as a scientific
assessor at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices for more than seven years.
Among others, in the areas of approval of clinical trials with medical devices and vigilance.
As the deputy head of the unit DiGA Fast-track, she was intensively involved in the development of the
German fast-track processes at the institute, helped to design it and assessed the first reimbursable DTx in Germany. She now dedicates herself to solving the worldwide psych crisis by being responsible for the reimbursability of Sympatients digital solutions.

With 30 years of experience in the healthcare field, Kris is a global commercialization expert with a background combining entrepreneurship, business development, market assessment and commercial strategy, along with clinical and regulatory expertise.

In 2005, Kris founded KAMCommunications to provide medical communications services to start-ups and established ophthalmology companies. This was followed in 2008 by Medeuronet, the first pan-European company focused on working with medical device start-ups entering the market. In 2021, Kris teamed up with some of the most experienced entrepreneurs in ophthalmology to found Medevise Consulting and Medevise Launchpad.

Kris also serves as Strategic Practice Management section editor at CRST (Bryn Mawr Communications), contributing writer for ESCRS’ publication EuroTimes, and has served as a consultant and guest speaker for ESCRS on practice management, marketing and other key topics since 2008.

Lamya is ahealthtech advisor with a deep background in biology, medicine, chemistry, life sciences, and predictive modeling. She is also involved in the world of investors, particularly venture capital. She has extensive experience in helping ventures grow and succeed.

At Sanofi, she worked on digital innovation and transformation, as well as strategic issues related to the company’s activities. She assessed and managed a portfolio of ventures around the world to help the company accelerate innovation along the pharmaceutical value chain.

At Biomérieux, she led the company’s digital transformation, advising leaders, vice presidents, global directors, and board members.

At Eurobiomed, a healthtech cluster, she supported and advises ventures from all stages in pharma, biotech, healthtech, and e-health. She also sourced ventures for investors and participates in building an accelerator.

Today, Lamya is a startup and board advisor in healthtech. She is passionate about helping startups bring innovative products to market and improve patient’s lives.

Lamya completed her PhD in analytical chemistry particularly metabolomics by building predictive models in oncology. She also holds two MSc in science and a certificate in finance, private equity, and venture capital from SDA Bocconi.

I joined Kurma Partners in January 2022 to strengthen the healthcare technology investment team dedicated to seed opportunities. Prior to joining Kurma Partners, I completed an internship at Supernova Invest, as part of the medtech investment team. I hold a Master’s degree in biomedical engineering and completed my studies with an MSc in strategy at ESSEC in Singapore.

Laura is Director of Implementation for Cardiovascular Health at UCLPartners- an Academic Health Science Partnership based in London.  She co-led the development of UCLP’s award-winning Proactive Care Frameworks which support the search and stratification of patients in primary care to ensure patients receive the right care at the right time.  The Cardiovascular Health programme at UCLPartners focusses on the prevention, earlier detection and management of the high-risk conditions that can lead to heart attacks, strokes and other serious illnesses. Laura’s focus is on translating data into action  Prior to this, Laura managed the NHS Innovation Accelerator which supports innovators to spread evidence-based, high impact innovations in the NHS.

Lisa Tschalenko is leading the digital health ecosystem at 5-HT Digital Hub – Europe’s fastest growing ecosystem in Chemistry & Health. She creates valuable connections between startups, pharmaceutical companies, and health insurance and fosters collaborative projects between those parties. With a Master of Science in Healthcare Management and 6+ years of experience in various roles from organizational health, to HR manager, to digital transformation lead in the pharmaceutical industry, she brings strong expertise in the health industry and digital transformation.

Business manager, strategist, and entrepreneur with a drive for using innovative and creative strategies to solve complex problems.

Forbes 30 under 30 for Science and Healthcare, with a background in Computer Science, I have spent several years focusing on innovation and improving strategies in companies from Tech to Healthcare. My passion for entrepreneurship led me to create my first business at 18, founding and operating several ventures specializing in optimized demand prediction, lean operations, and design for growth. A deep belief in the power of Technology as the core driver for democratizing Personalized Medicine had me co-founding iLoF: a fast-growing deep tech company using AI to build a cloud-based library of disease biomarkers and biological profiles. Currently on a mission to accelerate adequate treatments for millions of patients living with complex, heterogeneous diseases around the globe.

Lynn Coorevits is a Health Innovation Manager at imec, a world-leading R&D and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. Lynn has over 15 years of experience in the cross domain of (deep)tech, innovation and health. By involving key stakeholders she accelerates and optimizes innovations. In every step of the innovation process she translates  human requirements into technological ones. From patients to buyers to policy makers, every voice counts. With and for them she identifies needs, barriers, potential value and market entry strategies for these novel technologies.

She is passionate about disruptive health tech and  aspires to transform peoples lives by making them a reality.

Lynn holds MSc degrees in Psychology and Marketing Analysis from Ghent University, Belgium.

For 10 years, Manon has devoted her energy and expertise to the ESPCI Paris, where she has played a key role within the Foundation and in creating the deeptech incubator, PC’up. Her commitment has been a key driver in supporting innovation within the institution.

She then decided to take on a new challenge by joining EIT Health France as Entrepreneurship Lead. She is now the point of contact for the French healthcare innovation ecosystem, with the aim of supporting them through the various activities of EIT Health, thanks to her team all across Europe. Her professional career testifies to her constant determination to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as her passion for cutting-edge technology and research.

Matthieu is the CEO of Therapixel. He has over 30 years’ experience, mostly internationally, in developing and commercializing innovation-based medical devices, across a dozen of medical specialties. His passion is for bringing innovative products to markets and leading multi-national teams.

He has worked for large Anglo-Saxon companies such as Medtronic, Smiths Medical and General Electric, but also for startups in biotech, medical imaging, and AI. He lived abroad for 20 years before his return to France for Therapixel.

He holds an MSc in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Lyon, France and is an alumnus from INSEAD business school. He is currently completing a PhD on adoption of innovative medical technology.

Monika Zbytniewska-Mégret is a Digital Biomarker Scientist at Roche and a member of Polonium Foundation. She completed her PhD at the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory with a thesis entitled “Robot-assisted assessments of proprioceptive and motor hand impairments and their recovery in neurological disorders”. Her research focused on the development and evaluation of novel robotic assessments and therapy exercises for stroke patients. Her long-term goal is to bridge the gap between technological advancements and the clinic, contributing to the overall progress within the healthcare sector. She continued her work on robotic assessments as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Singapore-ETH Centre on Future Health Technologies in Singapore.

Former startup fundraising advisor and current Investment Manager.

Nina is responsible for supporting NLC ventures in their funding strategy and in building co-investment consortiums with other investors to invest in (predominantly) Seed and Series A financing rounds.

17+ years in the MedTech industry, in sales, marketing, business development and board positions, with experience in new high growth businesses and in more mature ones, in developed and in emerging markets. Today leading a startup active in cardiology and focused on the development of a new transcatheter mitral valve repair technology. Let’s keep moving and enjoy life.

Ozlem Budakli joined Irdeto in 2022 as a quality manager for the Connected Health team. Her responsibilities include the implementation and maintenance of the quality management system, complying with ISO 13485, EU regulations and other regulatory bodies. She brings 10 years of experience in quality and regulatory business from the medical device manufacturers industry, and has also been a lead auditor in a notified body. Ozlem holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering, is a certified lead auditor and has a wealth of expertise in both risk and quality management.

With a dual qualification in biomaterials-biomechanics engineering (UTC Compiègne) and a master’s degree in management and business administration (EM Strasbourg), Patricia Gruffaz has over 25 years’ experience in the medical device (MD) industry, acquired through various responsibilities within Medtech companies (large groups, SMEs & start-ups). This gives her a pragmatic and efficient vision of all milestones from design and development to certification and market access of innovative DMs. Since 2021, she has headed MedUniq Center, a center of expertise and engineering dedicated to medical devices and brings her expertise and that of her team and qualified partners to support Medtech innovators throughout the development of their innovative medical devices, on both strategic and operational aspects, in order to de-risk projects upstream, make successive milestones more reliable and accelerate the time-to-market of innovative MD solutions.

Business Development Manager Medical, Henkel Printed Electronics. At Henkel Adhesive Technologies, my role is realizing technical projects around Printed Electronics applications, identifying and partnering with startups and innovative technologies in the remote healthcare & wearable industry and creating a strategic fit to Henkel Adhesive Technologies, the largest global adhesive manufacturer.

Serving as the Chief Medtech Strategist for S3 Connected Health, Piotr is responsible for the development of the strategy and offerings for Medtech companies to help them take full advantage of the opportunities that digital health presents. These comprehensive solutions range from the development of medical devices and Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) applications to device connectivity and seamless integration with broader ecosystems of care, up to full end-to-end digital solution creation.

For over two decades, Piotr has worked in the medical technology space, managing engineering teams designing and delivering connected medical devices and digital health applications for leading Medtech and Pharma companies. He holds a Master of Science in Software Engineering and has further enriched his academic portfolio with post-graduate qualifications in Management, International Selling, and Coaching.

A fervent believer in the transformative potential of digital technology, Piotr views this as a catalyst for monumental shifts in healthcare delivery. In his perspective, these technologies not only improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency but also pave the way for the transition to value-based care models and more accessible, fair, and cheaper healthcare. One effective strategy to harness these benefits, while mitigating associated risks and challenges, lies in building connected digital care ecosystems that offer value creation opportunities for all stakeholders across the entire healthcare value stack.

Outside the confines of his professional life, Piotr serves as an executive coach specializing in the life sciences sector. He is committed to assisting clients in achieving their objectives, broadening their cognitive horizons, and enhancing their decision-making acumen. When not engaged in these pursuits, Piotr is an avid outdoorsman; whether scaling mountains across different continents or embarking on extensive cross-country hikes—one of which has been documented in a book.

Przemek is an experienced executive advisor with over 100 completed strategy and commercial development projects. His work spans areas such as asset and portfolio strategy, new market entry, commercial due diligence and licensing, as well as regulatory approval, and market access strategy. Przemek has worked with many of the Top 20 pharmaceutical and medical devices companies, including on blockbuster and cutting-edge novel therapies.

Prior to founding milepoint, Przemek co-led the London office of Kx Advisors, a premier global healthcare strategy consultancy, and worked as a specialist consultant at McKinsey & Company, focusing on international mergers and acquisitions and regulatory strategy.

Przemek holds an MSc in Management of Innovation from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, as well as a Bachelor of Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Granada. He also completed post-graduate training in Private Equity and Venture Capital at IE Business School, Madrid.

Raquel Torres is Business Developer in Healthanea, a company born from the partnership between AXA and Microsoft to combine their strengths and values with one objective: enabling a seamless and patient-centric healthcare experience. In her role, she works to build relevant partnerships to connect hospitals, pharmacies, pharmaceuticals, health tech solutions, insurers and more to guide patients to the right service, at the right moment and with the right insights.

With a Master in Business Economics and Internet Business, Raquel brings 14  years of experience in diverse areas in healthcare -from marketing to digital transformation to digital health solutions-, mainly in the pharmaceutical industry. She is passionate about digital health and disruptive innovation and believes in the power of collaboration to create value for patients through new business models and disruptive technologies.

Roy Kolkman is the head of the Knowledge Transfer Office at Novel-T that serves both University of Twente as Saxion University of Applied Sciences. He has 15 years experience in knowledge transfer and has been leading the Dutch initiative to realize a transparent set of national deal term principles on how to transfer IP to spin-offs.

I am a seasoned entrepreneur and venture development professional with a successful track record in the medical device industry. I have taken two startups through FDA clearance, market launch, and growth, and successfully navigated one to acquisition. In 2018, I joined Start Co. as Director of Acceleration and was promoted to VP of Venture Development in 2020. In this role, I am responsible for identifying investment opportunities for accelerators, building innovation systems for universities, city governments, and associations, teaching lean startup principles, and serving as an executive coach to new CEOs. Recently, I was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to advise the Biden administration on innovation and entrepreneurship and co-founded Lasting Machine Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on medical innovation. My achievements in business and clinical sectors have earned me recognition, including being a founding member of the Forbes Technology Council; a member of the Young Entrepreneur Council; a graduate of the world’s top VC emerging manager program; and selected by Harvard Business School for the 2022 Young American Leaders Program for U.S. competitiveness. Additionally, I have been recognized in the Memphis Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40, received the National Vascular Recognition Award, and was selected by the Americas Competitiveness Exchange in 2022 to serve as a U.S. Delegate in Ecuador.

Sabine is active as Venture Manager at RWTH Innovation GmbH, the entrepreneurship and tech transfer entity of RWTH Aachen and also responsible for the University Hospital Aachen. She is also in a coordinating role for the entrepreneurial support eco-system established at that pre-eminent German technical university. The main focus is on enabling and supporting deep-tech and life-science spin-outs that can leverage the intellectual property generated within academic and clinical research for attractive business models and company creation. She is also an advisor at Blue Future Partners, an emerging managers focused VC fund of funds, and active as “SKadvisory”, working both with start-ups and investors. Sabine can draw on three decades of working mostly in consulting, venture capital investing and venture building, in various roles and from multiple angles. With both a degree in Biomedical Science (Dipl. Humanbiologie) and a Master in Public Policy, she is passionate about technological and social innovations that can have a significant positive impact on people’s lives as well as the appropriate economic, societal and policy settings that allow such innovations to happen and bear fruit.

Samantha is partner at Elaia. Prior to Elaia, she joined Clipperton Finance, a corporate finance firm dedicated to high-tech growth companies. Samantha sits at the board of France Digitale, building an alliance between digital entrepreneurs and investors, as well as StartHer, an organization that aims at promoting entrepreneurship by women.

Dr Stuart Hannah is Co-Founder and CEO of Microplate Dx Ltd, an innovative, award-winning antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-focussed startup company. Dr Hannah has a PhD in Electronic & Electrical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, and has 10+ years’ academic and industrial experience in developing biosensors and diagnostics for healthcare. Dr Hannah has a wide range of interests from life sciences, in-vitro diagnostics, antimicrobial resistance and electrochemistry, to algorithm development, data analytics, product development, intellectual property and commercialisation.

Microplate Dx Limited specialises in rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) diagnostics, enabling clinicians, at the point-of-care, to confidently select the best choice of antibiotic to treat a patient’s infection in a matter of minutes, significantly quicker than the current gold standard of days, reducing antimicrobial resistance and ultimately, saving lives. Microplate Dx’s mission is to improve quality of life for patients by providing antimicrobial stewardship in a cost-effective manner, with our vision to be a leading provider of platform diagnostics to tackle the major global healthcare challenge of antimicrobial resistance in a rapid, scalable and inclusive manner. Microplate Dx offers a cost-effective, rapid, platform point of care (POC) solution to tackle antimicrobial resistance which eliminates empirical or ‘best-guess’ antibiotic prescribing, leading to significantly enhanced antibiotic stewardship. Our first product and beachhead opportunity is urinary tract infections (UTIs) – second most common cause of antibiotic treatment, and the cause of 1 in 4 sepsis presentations. The platform diagnostic has widespread applicability across primary/secondary care settings, and can be used for a broad range of organism/antibiotic combinations.

Svetlana Stotskaya is a senior consultant and mentor in global marketing, brand management and business growth. Her experience spans multiple industries with an emphasis on digital technologies.

She worked with companies of various sizes, ranging from early-stage tech startups to mature corporations.

Svetlana is a member of several global professional networks and associations.

She is also a contributing expert author for a few media outlets where she shares her insights and perspectives on marketing, innovation, technology. She mentors at Techstars Paris Accelerator and Startup Wise Guys Accelerator.

Technology business leader, with a focus on operations, enterprise sales and digital marketing. Co-founded Five Lives, a Digital Therapeutics start-up helping people stave off cognitive decline and dementia through lifestyle. Board Member at Nodle.com, the world’s largest decentralised / low energy connectivity ecosystem for IoT devices. 10 years experience in Digital Advertising and early employee at AdTech unicorn Criteo.

Thibault is a senior Partner at IBM Consulting. He benefits from more than 20 years of experience in Healthcare, Life Sciences and Public sector. He shaped and built many innovative and transformational projects with major clients in France and Europe.

He is passionate about digital transformation, consultative selling, and how technology game changers, like generative AI or quantum computing, will enable new paradigms in the future.

Thibault holds an MSc in computer science from the Ecole des Mines de Nancy, France.

Thom Rasche is a Partner at the Health Fund of Earlybird Venture Capital, which invests in early-stage companies across digital health, medical devices, diagnostics, R&D platform technologies, and biopharma.

Thom is an experienced healthcare executive with both operational and financial expertise, currently serving on the boards of Alesi Surgical, Atlantic Therapeutics, and Polares Medical. Prior to joining Earlybird in 2013, he was managing director of Ethicon and VP Europe of Johnson & Johnson. Thom holds a Kaufmann Diploma from the University of Lüneburg.

Project Director at the Digital Health Delegation (DNS) of the French Ministry of Health, Vincent Vercamer is in charge of market access for digital medical devices, and in particular the PECAN Fast track which aims to reimburse innovative DTx. He also coordinates the G_NIUS platform, which saves time for digital health innovators in their go-to-market efforts.