2024 Speakers
Keynote speakers
Johannes Völker – Study Director Ecotoxicology
Johannes is currently serving as the Study Director at Innovative Environmental Services, specializing in chronic toxicity and screening for endocrine disruption. Beginning in August, he will transition to a consultant role at WTC in Liestal, with a focus on regulatory affairs and regulatory ecotoxicology. Prior to his industry career, Johannes completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Norway, concentrating on endocrine and metabolic disruptors in plastic consumer products.
Pedro Imenez Silva
Pedro Henrique Imenez Silva has been an assistant professor at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam since 2023, with the main research focus on the interaction between acid-base balance and kidney pathophysiology. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Sao Paulo under the supervision of Prof Nancy A. Rebouças. In 2014, he joined Prof. Carsten Wagner’s group at the University of Zurich as a postdoctoral fellow, where he later obtained an early-career research grant and became a junior principal investigator. Pedro also loves writing fantastic realism novels and fairy tales.
Jenny Prange
As co-founder and CSO of MUVON therapeutics AG, Jenny currently leads the production team for the clinical trial Phase II according to GMP regulations at the Wyss Zurich. Jenny obtained her PhD in Integrative Molecular Medicine from the University of Zurich and gained broad research experience already during her Bachelor’s studies in Germany, her Master’s studies in France, her final research work at Novartis in the US and her doctoral studies in Switzerland. In 2017, she joined the former Horizon 2020 project MUSIC where she set the foundation for the clean room work through process translation from the research lab into the highly regulated area of GMP and performed the phase I clinical trial productions of MUVON’s cell therapy. Later in 2020, Jenny co-founded MUVON Therapeutics while the clinical phase I was about to finish and is now tightly involved in the consecutive phase II trial productions.
Career talks
Michio Painter – Head of the UMZH Translational Medicine Accelerator and Investment Manager and Board Secretary at the UZH Life Sciences Fund
Michio has spent the last ten years working to build, support, or invest in life science start-ups. Currently he is the Head of the UMZH Translational Medicine Accelerator and Investment Manager for the UZH Life Sciences Fund. Prior to this, he was Chief Scientific Partner for a seed stage venture capital group and founding CEO of a small biotech company (Blue Therapeutics). Michio completed his academic training at Harvard in the fields of Immunology and Neuroscience. He is passionate about bringing technology out of the lab towards patients and supporting first time founders to become successful entrepreneurs.
Hailey Kim – Innovation Office, University of Basel
Hailey Kim is Project Manager at the Innovation Office at the University of Basel since 2023. Before joining the Innovation Office, she completed her PhD in Clinical Neuroimmunology at University Hospital Basel and has experience in the life science and molecular diagnostics sector. The Innovation Office is the central contact point at the University for all matters related to innovation and entrepreneurship. At the Innovation Office, Hailey is deeply involved in international collaborations to support startups in life sciences, such as the Seoul-Basel Startup Hub Acceleration Program and the MIRAHI as part of Swiss Leading House Africa. She is also involved in public-private partnerships, including SPEARHEAD, to fight antimicrobial resistance with better AMR stewardship using machine-learning algorithms developed with real-world data.
Anna-Elina Pekonen – Innovation Office, University of Basel
Anna-Elina has a background in Entrepreneurship Education and startup ecosystem development. Her passion got her involved early on in the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Finland to empower both talents and innovation teams. She is also a co-founder of a few companies that focus on developing startup ecosystems. Anna-Elina joined the Innovation Office in 2023. She is passionate about future-proof innovation, sustainability, team learning and coaching. As manager of the entrepreneurial education program, she is shaping and expanding the entrepreneurial education programs at the University of Basel and support talents to receive the right tools and skills to thrive. She will always enjoy making great connections and continuing to bring impact to the innovation ecosystem with her positive attitude towards life.
Gelman Laurent – Head of the Facility for Advanced Imaging and Microscopy in the Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel
Laurent studied Biology, Mathematics and Physics and got his engineering degree from AgroParisTech in Paris in 1993. After a Master in Immunology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, he worked as a biochemist at Fournier Pharma GmbH in Heidelberg, and then started his PhD at the Pasteur Institute in Lille and at the IGBMC in Strasbourg, working on the role of cofactors in nuclear receptors-mediated gene regulation. After his graduation in 2000, Laurent worked as a post-doc at the IGBMC and then as Maître-assistant at the University in Lausanne, developing on the one hand fully purified transcription systems, and on the other hand high-end microscopy methods to investigate respectively in vitro and in vivo the mechanisms underlying nuclear-receptor triggered transcription. Laurent joined the Microscopy Facility at the FMI in 2006. Since 2010, he has been heading the facility, which today, thanks to a team of 9 experts, offers support for Light Microscopy, Electron Microscopy, Histology, High-Content Screening, Image Processing, and Spatial Transcriptomics projects.
Fanny Georgi – University of Zurich
Dr. Fanny Georgi is the Head of Faculty and Professorial Affairs at University of Zurich’s Faculty of Science, where her main responsibility is organizing the recruitment of new faculty members by fair and participatory processes. Prior to this “third space” role, she did her PhD in molecular virology at the faculty from 2015 to 2020. Already during her PhD and PostDoc, she represented the junior researchers in many committees and bodies, and was the co-chair of the Association of Academic Mid-Level Faculty Staff of the University of Zurich. Together with Life Sciences Switzerland, she organized numerous career as well as outreach events. From 2020 to 2024, she was a founding member of the Swiss Young Academy, a national network of young researchers dedicated to fostering inter- and transdisciplinary exchange and representation of the next generation of researchers. Before moving to Switzerland, she studied Molecular Biotechnology at Heidelberg University, where she served as representative and was active in student networks such as the Life Sciences Student Initiative btS. One of her highlights here was participating with friends in the iGEM competition in 2013.
Mark Erik Szoldan
Mark Szoldan is a versatile IT professional whose multidisciplinary skills encompass technical training, management, consulting, and IT security solutions. Currently, he serves as an International Senior Technical Trainer at One Identity, focusing on IT security solutions. Additionally, he operates as a freelance IT and business consultant through easyITme, where he manages a variety of deployment projects and delivers specialized training programs. Demonstrating his entrepreneurial spirit across multiple industries, Mark founded Falcon Archery Malta, introducing archery as a novelty to Malta. Mark’s career is marked by leadership roles at Eden’s Original Ltd. and his presidential role in IAESTE, along with significant contributions as an Education Technology Advisor at Microsoft in both Ireland and Hungary, where he received regional awards for his work. His journey began in management consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM, showcasing his adaptability across sectors. Outside of his professional endeavors, Mark enjoys archery, canoeing, hiking, and martial arts.
Jonas V. Schaefer, PhD – Director of Breakthrough Technology Acceleration CSL
Leading translational development and acceleration of transformative technologies in Plasma Product Development at CSL, Jonas – together with his global teammates – is focusing on disruptive innovations and how those breakthroughs will change CSL’s approaches to produce life-saving medicines for patients. With extensive experience in affinity reagents both from appointments in academia (setting up and supervising high-throughput binder discovery at UZH for 6 years) and industry (leading small molecule discovery through DEL at Novartis for 6 years), he brings a wealth of expertise in innovation and method development. A biochemist by training and with >12 years of managerial responsibilities, Jonas currently also co-leads CSL’s program supporting scientific community relations, ensuring strategic collaborations with academic and industry partners from all over Switzerland and solidifying CSL’s leadership in biotech innovation.
András Iványi – Toad Works
András Iványi is a productivity coach and agile leader, dedicated to helping busy leaders unlock their potential and lead with impact and ease. As the founder of Toad Works, András is building a world where goal setting is a way of life.
With a background in software engineering and leadership roles, including Senior Manager of Agile Coaches at VISA’s Cybersource division, András brings a unique blend of technical expertise and people-focused skills to his work. His experience spans various industries, from banking to research labs.
In 2024, András launched his signature program designed to help leaders maximize their impact by restructuring their work and life and implementing proven productivity systems. His core services include goal setting, time & energy management, and leadership coaching.
An avid reader of leadership and productivity books, András combines tried-and-tested methodologies with cutting-edge techniques. His mission is to help leaders regain control of their time and energy, allowing them to achieve their goals without sacrificing work-life balance.
Workshop
Anna Stando
Anna Stando is a DEI trainer and consultant, specializing in inclusive leadership, unconscious bias, allyship at work, gender equality and intersectionality. Anna is also a Co-Leader of Lean In Network Switzerland, where she works on bridging gender disparities across various facets
of society. She is also a Certified Facilitator of the Lean In “50 Ways
to Fight Bias” program. She worked previously as Relations Manager for Advance – an association of nearly 150 companies – helping members to
reach gender equality in their business. This role has given have a unique opportunity to gain insights into best practices across various sectors and industries. She also served as a Board Member at Capacity, a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting refugees and migrants in Switzerland with finding an employment or starting their own business. Her corporate career includes working for ECCO, where she first held the responsibility for sales of accessories in Europe (12 countries), and then Asia and the US (16 markets). Born and raised in Poland, over the years she has lived in the Netherlands, Guatemala, Mexico, Denmark and Thailand, learning the practical way about inclusion, intercultural communication, unconscious bias, and more. She is now based in Switzerland, a melting pot of cultures and languages. Anna has a master’s degree in Intercultural Communication from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and she can effectively communicate in five languages. Her clients often comment on her positive energy and her talent for fostering safe learning environments that empower individuals to translate insights into actions.