Team – SPIDEN

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

Science director

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 M.Sc. in chemistry from Université de Toulouse

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

Elizabeth Canovic, PhD

Team lead biomedical science

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

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

Gabriela Santilli, PhD

Team lead biochemistry

7 years of experience in biochemistry and analytical chemistry; postdoctoral researcher at UZH

Strong expertise in separation, identification and quantification of biomarkers, method validation, quality control, design and analysis of experiments, and operating and maintaining analytical instruments

PhD in Sciences from ETH Zürich, MS in Physical Chemistry from UFSCar/Embrapa Brazil

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

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

MS in Electronics Engineering and in Physics from the Complutense University of Madrid

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

Hirad Rezaeian

Electronics engineer

9 years of experience in R&D conducted in academia (ETH Zurich) and in the industry (u-blox)

Design of Digital and Mixed-Signal ASICs/FPGA for GNSS and AI applications
ASIC/FPGA Digital Design and Verification
System-Level Integration, FPGA Prototyping, and FPGA-Based Neural Network Accelerator

MS in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from ETH Zurich

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

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

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

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. MS and BS in Mechanical Engineering from ETH

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

PhD in Electrical Engineering from University of Pittsburgh

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)

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

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

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)

Mohammad Asghari

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, M.Sc. in Materials Science from Bilkent University and B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology

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

M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering at Politecnico di Torino, Certified in Software Test Analysis (ISTQB Advanced), Requirement Engineering (IREB) and Business Analysis (IQBBA)

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, MS in Molecular Medicine and BS in Biochemistry from University of Frankfurt

Sophia Velicer

Biomedical intern

Recent graduate of B.Sc. Medical Sciences from the University of Edinburgh

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

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

M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at Rzeszow University of Technology

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. MS and BS in Physics from the University of Heidelberg

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

Lucas Binggeli

Business development associate

6 years of experience in banking & insurance

Master Candidate in Business Innovation and CEMS Master in International Management at University of St. Gallen

B.Sc. in Business Administration with specialisation in Strategy & Managing Dynamics from Bern University of Applied Sciences

Ana Perez

Associate communications & HR operations

Over 4 years of international working experience (Mexico, USA, Switzerland) in the hospitality industry and in the startup scene

M.Sc. Business Administration major Business Development and Promotion from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts

BA International Hospitality Management from Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland and UVM in Mexico

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

Sophie Bouchard

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

M.Sc. in Management at Emlyon Business School and National Taiwan University

Céline Stalder

Operations & strategy 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

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

Sofia Leonova

Science & innovation intern

Master candidate in Life Sciences Engineering at EPFL

B.Sc. in Life Sciences Engineering at EPFL

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

Simon P. Hoerstrup, Prof.

Chair & Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine (Uni Zurich) and Founding Co-Director of Wyss Zurich (Uni & ETH Zurich)

Prof. of Biomedical Engineering at TU Eindhoven, Associate Member of the Department of Health Science Technology at ETH Zurich, associate faculty of the Harvard Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering

Co-Founder of a series of medtech and biotech spin-off companies

Laura Figulla, PhD

Associate Partner Transaction Advisory at E&Y

Co-Founder/CEO of coramaze technologies GmbH (founded 2013), where she built a class III implant medical device start-up from scratch, raising >10m EUR in funding

Co-Founder/part-time COO of DEVIE medical GmbH, a startup at early-stage development of a disruptive drug-eluting-valve technology

PhD in Health Economics from University Essen

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!)

Ignacio Martin-Loeches, MD

Professor at the Medical School Trinity College and Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at St James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

Multiple roles in leading medical societies such as the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC)

Research interests are critically ill infection, sepsis and translational medicine. Has published over 300 manuscripts in top-end journals, with over 10,000 citations

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

EXPERTS

Tilman Humpl, MD

Mira Araujo Klein, MAS

Claudia Studer, FA