Team & Advisory Board
OUR PEOPLE
We built a team with deep experience in serial entrepreneurship, MedTech product development and Spiden’s key science disciplines.
OUR TEAM
Leo Grünstein
Founder & CEO
Founder of LG Capital, a Family Office focused on incubation of “big idea” ventures
Serial entrepreneur, investor & Co-Founder of more than two dozens international start-ups, with multiple VC investments and successful exits (e.g. MoneyPark, acquired in 2016 for CHF 153m)
Previously project manager at McKinsey & Co. & Analyst at HSBC’s M&A team
MBA Columbia Business School, B.A. St. Gallen University
Bernd Wittner, PhD
Chief technology officer
20 years of experience in the MedTech industry. Built and lead cross-functional and multi-national R&D organizations; successfully developed, launched and sustained complex therapy systems
Previously Senior R&D leader of the Acute Therapies business in Baxter Healthcare Inc and Gambro Lundia AB
PhD in Engineering Design from the University of Cambridge
Adler Perotte, MD
Chief science & innovation officer
Physician and scientist with over 15 years of experience in medicine, computational biomedical research, and innovation
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University; created and lead a large research operation developing novel machine learning methods and biomedical devices; published in top-tier machine learning, clinical, and basic science journals
MD, Columbia University, MA in Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, AB Princeton University
Daniel Thürig
VP operations & strategy
Former Associate Partner at McKinsey & Co. with 8+ years of experience in management consulting, focusing on strategy, M&A, and business building for major high-tech manufacturers and service providers
Operational experience in Design-to-Value, procurement and production programs for high tech products
MA in Economics University of Zurich
Övünç Okyay
Co-founder & venture builder
Managing Director LG Capital
Previously PE investor at The Carlyle Group’s $500m MENA Fund, analyst at Morgan Stanley and consultant at McKinsey & Co.
Diverse industry expertise with strong experience in investing, strategy and portfolio management
MBA Columbia Business School; M.Sc. Production Engineering TU Berlin
Fabien Rebeaud, PhD
Director biomedical sciences
Executive Scientific Leader with 15+ years of experience in the biotech and medical device industries
Previously CSO of Abionic SA. Built and led cross-functional teams encompassing R&D, Clinical, Medical and Regulatory Affairs
Developed and brought to market innovative diagnostic solutions improving patient health
PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Lausanne
Emmanuel Delamarche, PhD
Senior manager microfluidics
Chemist with multidisciplinary expertise and 29 years of experience in R&D on microfluidics, miniaturized assays, and microfabrication
Previously at IBM, where he contributed to >200 patents and received >30 awards; lecturer at ETH and panel member/chair for various research programs; major prizes from the SCS and ACS
PhD in biochemistry from Zurich University and MSc in chemistry from Université de Toulouse
Jens Hofrichter, PhD
Lead engineer optics and photonics
15 years experience in integrated photonics R&D; drove the laser integration for Silicon Photonics at IBM
Led projects for the development of CMOS computed tomography scanners, wafer-level integration and photon counting for medical imaging, AR cameras and optical microphones at ams-Osram
Author of more than 30 patents; MSc in Electrical Engineering from RWTH Aachen; PhD in Photonics from TU Eindhoven
Mattias Cattepoel
Manager system engineering
15+ years of experience in systems engineering in aeronautics and space industry
Previous Team Lead System Engineering at RUAG Space, focus on team building and processes towards a robust and sustainable customer-oriented development
Dipl.-Ing. in Civil Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg
Christian Zakian, PhD
Senior systems engineer
15+ years of R&D experience in academia focused on clinical translation of optical and acoustic sensing and imaging technologies
Previous scientific lead in EU projects for advanced molecular endoscopy (Helmholtz Munich)
Expertise in translation of imaging techniques for dentistry (University of Manchester, Colgate Palmolive, CDC-NHANES)
PhD in Physics (University of Manchester), Masters in Inflammation (Queen Mary University London)
Elizabeth Canovic, PhD
Lead engineer biomedical initiatives
10 years experience in biomedical research at top U.S. & European institutions; postdoctoral researcher at MIT and EPFL (competitive funding from the Whitaker Foundation)
Next-generation brain and spinal cord implants; building bio-compatible microfabricated circuitry; analyzing tissue response to short- and long-term implants
MS and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University
Jaime Moreno Mateos
Software and machine learning engineering team lead
12+ years of international experience in Information Technology, spanning across academia, R&D, start-ups and multinationals
Previously Team Lead Machine Learning at Credit Suisse, building ML-powered products to fight Financial Crime and money laundering; EPFLoop partnership advisor for the SpaceX Hyperloop competition; UPM Alumni Entrepreneur award
MSc in Industrial Engineering from UPM. Data Science & ML management from EPFL
18+ years of experience in academic and commercial research and development in fibre optics, ultrafast laser materials processing, and systems engineering
Specialization in mechatronics and systems design with an extensive background in electrical and mechanical engineering, applied physics and optics, laser-matter interaction, and ultrafast laser systems
PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Pittsburgh
Jean-Christophe Blancon, PhD
Team lead biophotonics
10 years of research experience in physics, materials science, and optics-photonics at Rice University, Los Alamos National Lab, Université de Lyon, and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Recipient of the 2018 IUPAP Young Scientist Prize for Semiconductor Physics and of the 2019 Highly Cited Researcher
PhD in Physics from Université de Lyon and M.Sc. in Optics & Photonics from KIT
Paolo Livi, PhD
Team lead electronics engineering
10 years of experience in R&D conducted in academia (ETH Zurich) and in the industry (Dectris Ltd.)
Design of analog and mixed-signal CMOS integrated circuits (ASICs); design of novel sensors and of integrated sensing systems (bio-chemical sensors, hybrid photon counters); ultra-low power electronics
PhD in Electrical Engineering from ETH Zurich
Robert Lovchik
Principal engineer
15 years of experience in developing microfluidics for diagnostics and cellular studies at IBM Research Zurich following 6 years on developing biotech and bioprocess engineering
Drove the productization of the microfluidic probe technology at IBM and worked with diagnostic companies to develop core technologies for research and market-oriented platforms
PhD in health sciences and technology from ETH Zurich, MSc in micro/nanotechnology (UAS Dornbirn), BS in biotechnology (ZHAW)
Andrea Sterzi, PhD
Senior photonic engineer
10 years of research experience in Physics, focused on designing and operating a wide range of optical spectroscopy techniques at several institutions such as Empa (ETH, Switzerland) and at the international synchrotron facility Elettra (Trieste, Italy)
Designed and developed a market-oriented deep-UV Raman spectrometer for on-line monitoring water quality by evaluating pesticides and drugs content
PhD in Physics from the University of Trieste and BS in Physics from University Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Brescia
Anna Kutschireiter, PhD
Senior machine learning engineer
7 years of academic research at top US & European institutions; former Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School
Rich expertise computational neuroscience, state-of-the-art machine learning, nonlinear Bayesian filtering
PhD in computational neuroscience from the University of Zurich; MSc in Theoretical Physics from University of Heidelberg
Benjamin W. McMillen, PhD
Senior mechatronics engineer
18+ years of experience in academic and commercial research and development in fiber optics, ultrafast laser materials processing, and systems engineering
Specialization in mechatronics and systems design with an extensive background in electrical and mechanical engineering, applied physics and optics, laser-matter interaction, and ultrafast laser systems
PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Pittsburgh
Céline Stalder
Strategy & operations associate
Head of Operations in corporate innovation lab in the energy industry and consulting experience in capital markets
Master in Business Management at University of St. Gallen
Research assistant at the Institute of Technology Management at University of St. Gallen
Elena Laternser, PhD
Fluidic and automation engineer
8 years of research experience in separation processes and biotechnology at ETH Zurich and University of Basel (Research Fund for excellent Junior Researchers)
Expertise in liquid handling, droplet-microfluidics, development of fluidic platforms, fluid dynamics and sensing
PhD in Mechanical and Process Engineering from ETHZ and MSc from Politecnico di Milano
Ennio Monteil, PhD
ASIC design engineer
7 years of experience in R&D in academia at University of Turin and INFN
Design of analog and mixed-signal ASICs for the readout of silicon pixel detectors used in high energy physics applications at CERN; low-power and low-noise electronics design; ASIC testing and characterization, notably in high radiation environments
PhD in Physics from the University of Turin
Florian Wiedmann
Strategy & operations associate
5 years of experience working in fast-growing start-ups and for a multinational professional services firm
Former Finance Director at a Swiss cybersecurity start-up
MSc in Business Analytics from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and a BA in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen (HSG)
Giovanna Nigro
R&D engineer
7 years of experience in start-up and multinational corporations, working in the fields of wearable devices and total laboratory automation
Extensive experience in system testing and in feasibilities studies for innovative projects
MSc in Biomedical Engineering at Politecnico di Torino, Certified in Software Test Analysis (ISTQB Advanced), Requirement Engineering (IREB) and Business Analysis (IQBBA)
Jannes Jegminat, PhD
Machine learning engineer
5 years of academic research experience focusing on computational models of human behavior and synaptic learning; ran the AI-team at the student think-tank reatch
Deep expertise in recursive Bayesian inference, combining dynamics and uncertainty
PhD in Computational Neuroscience from UZH; MSc and BS in Physics from the University of Heidelberg
Joanna Hughes, PhD
Biophysical chemistry scientist
7 years of experience in physical chemistry focused on applications of optical spectroscopy to investigations of biological system and the effects on spectroscopic signatures relevant to enzymatic catalysis and for structural studies of biomolecular aggregates, including nucleic acids and amyloid peptides relevant to disease
Expertise in ultrafast photo physics of pharmaceutical products with the focus on their probable phototoxicity
PhD in Chemistry from The University of Manchester UK
Luis Miguel Jara Casas
Electronics engineer
5 years of experience in applied electronics research for high energy physics at CERN
Deep expertise in ASIC testing and characterization, especially in radiation harsh environments; radiation effects to electronics for pixel detectors, total ionizing dose (TID), single event effects (SEUs) and data acquisition systems (DAQ) development
MSc in Electronics Engineering and in Physics from the Complutense University of Madrid
Migle Grauzinyte, PhD
Data scientist
7 years of research experience in academia and industry
Expertise in the area of computational modelling, optimization, data science techniques and deep learning
PhD in Computational Physics from the University of Basel, MPhys from the University of Edinburgh
Remo Tschudi
IT admin/engineer
20+ years of experience in IT industry with main focus on support, system administration and engineering
Previously at RUAG, migrated 700+ users in Zurich, helped building infrastructures in other countries for migration purposes, and contributed to clean-up and outsourcing projects
Microsoft certified professional, technology specialist and systems administrator
Anna Kozlowska
Laboratory technician
3 years of experience in clinical and preclinical research and the pharmaceutical industry
Broad experience in the laboratory field focused on identification and quantification of drugs using immunological, physicochemical and instrumental techniques
MSc in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at Rzeszow University of Technology
Fernanda Lavorato
Senior laboratory technician
Over 6 years of experience in clinical analysis laboratories in renowned health care institutions in Argentina
Broadly cross-trained in molecular biology, hematology, serology, microbiology and chemistry; phlebotomy procedures interacting directly with patients in ER, ICU, OR and recovery
Laboratory Technician from Dr. Ignacio Pirovano Hospital in Argentina
Gevi Anathavettivelu, PhD
Clinical scientist
6 years of experience in immunology and clinical research conducted in academia
Strong expertise in acute and chronic inflammation, hepatology, tumor biology and liver diseases
PhD in Sciences from University of Hamburg, MSc in Molecular Medicine and BS in Biochemistry from University of Frankfurt
Irina Mutti
Executive assistant
4 years of international experience as an executive assistant and office manager (Switzerland, Ireland)
Swiss Certificate of Business and Executive Assistance Proficiency
Marco Rocca, PhD
Junior scientist fluidics
4 years of research experience in microfluidics at IBM Research/KIT and 1 year of working experience at Cadence Design Systems
Expertise in microfluidics, capillary-driven flows, microfabrication, miniaturized assays, biosensing, prototyping, 3D printing and electronic package design
PhD in Chemistry from KIT and MSc in Nanotechnology from Politecnico di Torino
Michael Seitz, PhD
Junior scientist / spectroscopy analyst
6 years of academic and industry research experience in material science, physics, chemical engineering, and opto-electronics at ETH, MIT, UAM, Harvard, and Stanford University
Extensive experience in deploying time-resolved microscopy and spectroscopy techniques for opto-electronic materials
PhD in Condensed Matter Physics from the Autonomous University of Madrid. MSc and BS in Mechanical Engineering from ETH
Mohammad Asghari, PhD
Junior scientist fluidics
6 years of research experience in developing microfluidic platforms for in-vitro diagnostics at ETH Zurich and UNAM
Expertise in microfluidics, computational modeling, mechanobiology, and flow cytometry
PhD in Biochemical Engineering from ETH Zurich; MSc in Materials Science from Bilkent University and BS in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology
Olena Synhaivska, PhD
Biophotonic application specialist
5 years of research experience in biosensor development and optical spectroscopy at Empa
Development of biosensors for specific metal ion detection using peptides; expertise in optical spectroscopy techniques for characterization of proteins implicated in neurodegenerative diseases
PhD in Physics from the University of Basel
Sophie Bouchard, PharmD
Junior associate strategy and business development
3 years of experience in pharmaceuticals & clinical pathology, focused on strategy and innovation
Doctorate in Pharmacy, PharmD Candidate at Université de Lyon
MSc in Management at Emlyon Business School and National Taiwan University
Zahra Halvorsen, PhD
Microfluidic engineer
6 years of experience in biochemistry field focused on innovative industrial solutions for point of care diagnostic applications at several institutions including EPFL and ETH Zurich
Experience in liquid handling, microfluidics, flow cytometry and nucleic acid amplification techniques
PhD in Biochemistry from ETH Zurich
Hugo Bouquet
Biomedical sciences intern
Master Degree in Health Biology at Aix-Marseille university
MSc in Health Management & Data Intelligence at Emlyon Business School & Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne
Vanessa Matos Gonçalves
Biomedical intern
2 years of experience in assay development, electrochemical biosensors and molecular diagnostic
MSc in Biomedical Engineering at University of Minho & Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Cemal Baran Erdogan
Electronics engineering intern
2 years of experience in academia with CMOS integrated circuit design
MSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at EPLF, and BSc in Electronics with minor in Physics from Sabanci University
ADVISORY BOARD
Christian Casal, PhD
Serial VC & PE investor with multiple successful exits
Formerly CEO of McKinsey Switzerland, and member of McKinsey’s Global Board, mostly focusing on financial services (Head of EMEA Banking)
Various Board positions in Switzerland incl. Lucernefestival, and Tafeln Schweiz
PhD and M.Sc. in Business Administration from University of St. Gallen
Stephen Oesterle, MD
Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates in Palo Alto since 2015; serving on several Boards (e.g. Baxter)
Formerly Medtronic’s Senior Vice-President for Medicine and Technology and a member of the Medtronic Executive Committee for 14 years
Served on the faculty at Stanford and Harvard Medical Schools while directing the Invasive Cardiology Services at Stanford Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital
Young Sohn, MS
Former Corporate President and Chief Strategy Officer of Samsung Electronics
Chairman of the Board of Harman International, served on the Boards of Arm, Cadence and Cymer
Seed investor to companies such as Berkeley Lights, Fungible, Zoom Video, Graphcore and TTTech, continuous to be very active venture investor
Edward J. Ludwig, M.B.A.
Board member of Boston Scientific and Board member at CVS health
Former Chairman of the Board of Becton, Dickinson and Company from 2002-2012, and its CEO from 2000 – 2011
Formerly served as a director of Xylem, and as vice chair of the Board of trustees of the Hackensack University Medical Center Network
Jürgen Popp, Prof.
Chair of Physical Chemistry at Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Scientific Director of the Liebniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Jena
Research interest includes biophotonics, in particular with the development and application of innovative Raman techniques for biomedical diagnosis
PhD in Chemistry from University of Würzburg, Post-doc from Yale University
Mervyn Singer, Prof.
Prof. of Intensive Care Medicine at University College London with over 30 years’ research experience in sepsis, multi-organ failure, infection, shock and hemodynamic monitoring
Developed a hemodynamic monitor reducing length of stay after surgery, co-developed the UCL Ventura CPAP device to support breathing of COVID-19 patients
Co-chaired the Sepsis-3 International Task Force that redefined sepsis (Singer JAMA 2016); paper has had >3 million views and is one of the most heavily cited in the scientific literature over the past 5 years
Petra Jantzer, PhD
Managing Director with Accenture focused on technology and digitization
VP of the Board of Advance – women in business society
Formerly Partner with McKinsey, where she worked for 17 years, focused on Pharma, Biotech & Technology
Post-doc, PhD and M.Sc. in Biology and Immunology at Ludwig-Maximilians University
Omer Dzemali, Prof.
Chief Physician of the Clinic for Cardiac Surgery in the City Hospital Triemli Zurich
Ca. 20 years of exp. in cardiology
Full Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, State University Tetova (Macedonia); Lecturer in Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main and University of Zurich
Doctorate in Medicine from Johannes Gutenberg-Universität in Mainz
Edoardo Charbon, Prof.
Full Professor of EPFL with over 25 years of exp. with CMOS sensors, biophotonics, ultra low-power wireless embedded systems, ultra high-speed and 3D optical sensors
Advised numerous organizations, including Texas Instruments, Hewlett-Packard, and the Carlyle Group
Diploma (ETH Zürich), M.S. (UCSD) and Ph.D. (UC-Berkeley) in Electrical Engineering
Joyce Wong, Prof.
Prof. of Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at Boston University with more than 20 years of experience in development of novel biomaterials
Research interests include theranostics (detection and treatment) for cardiovascular diseases and cancer; tissue-engineered and nanoparticle strategies for cardiovascular diseases
Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stefano Ciampolini, Prof.
Serial healthcare and medical technology entrepreneur in Europe and the US with multiple successful exits in the dialysis and renal care sector
Adjunct Professor of Imperial College Business School in London, Mentor at Imperial Enterprise Lab’s Venture Mentoring Service as well as a member of the Chair of Entrepreneurship at ETH Zurich. Jury member of Venture Kick, Switzerland’s largest startup accelerator program
MBA from Imperial College Business School and degree in economics from Kingston University in London
Lui Forni, MD
Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at University of Surrey and Royal Surrey Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Wide ranging research experience ranging from basic physical chemistry through to patient centred clinical trials
Research interests focus on extracorporeal techniques and novel biomarkers for acute kidney injury translating research from the bench to the bedside. Published extensively particularly in critical care nephrology
Chris McIntyre, MD
Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Biophysics and Robert Linday Chair of Dialysis Research and Innovation at the University of Western Ontario, London
Leading a team of multidisciplinary researchers focused largely on the pathophysiology of the effecting cardiovascular, brain, liver and gastro-intestinal structure and function in patients with chronic kidney disease
Roland Betz, Dipl-Ing
45 years’ experience with medical devices (patient monitoring, dental, digital imaging, linear accelerators, dialysis, reha, etc.)
Roles included VP of Quality and Regulatory Affairs with Siemens, Gambro/Baxter and Invacare
International involvement and contacts with regulatory authorities in the EU, USA, China and India
Founder of an independent consulting company (RBQ!)
Stephen Goldrick, Dr.
Associate Professor in Digital Bioprocess Engineering at the University College London
Former researcher at the UCL-AstraZeneca Center of Excellence, working on predictive multivariate decision-support tools in the bioprocessing sector
Specialised in the application of advanced Data Analytics and Machine Learning applications to the Biotechnology industry
Fernando Perez Cruz, Prof.
Deputy Executive Director of the Swiss Data Science Center and Professor at the Computer Science Department at ETH Zurich
Over 20 years of experience in applied machine learning research
Former Member of the technical staff at Bell Labs in Murray Hill and a Machine Learning Research Scientist at Amazon; Marie Curie Fellow at Princeton University and associate professor at University Carlos III in Madrid; Also been at the Gatsby Unit (London), Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (Tuebingen), and BioWulf Technologies (New York)
PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Madrid