Derek Brandt
DCB, CEO

Strong Pharma-, Biotech and Medical Device know-how, T1D for the past 35 years. Derek’s mentoring focus is on vision, strategy, positioning & R&D of medical devices.

Maren Schinz
DCB, Innovation Manager

Ph.D. in molecular medicine, T1D for more than 15 years, patient entrepreneur. Specialized in product launches, branding strategies, co-creation and patient networks.

Greta Ehlers
DCB, Business Scout

T1D for 20 years. Strong connection & insights into the user perspective/patient community and strong experience in digital communication, branding and marketing.

Simon Schwaighofer
DCB, Business Development

Medical device launches in start-ups/scale-ups – from late prototype stage to launch plan; business development and B2C/B2B sales.

Stefanie Hossmann
DCB, Clinical Research Scientist

Background in neurobiology, strong experience in clinical evaluation planning and conduct, regulatory affairs and quality managment.

Martina Rothenbühler
DCB, Project Leader Data Sciences

Strong experience in clinical development, trial design, clinical evaluation for health authorities (MDR, FDA) and clinical validation of machine-learning algorithms.

Stefanie Hofer
DCB, Clinical Research Physician

Medical Doctor, Diabetes Specialist and T1D. Stefanie’s mentoring focus lies in Clinical Research, Clinical Trial Strategy and reaching target patients & HCPs.

Cordelia Trümpy
DCB, Innovation & Communication

Business economist and nutrition specialist with more than 20 years of experience in the HealthTech market, at the intersection between science, technology and customer/patient.

Myriam Tinner
DCB, Product Manager

Background in Marketing, several years of experience in medical device product development, requirements definition, validation and global roll-outs and launches.

Ema Grabenweger
DCB, Innovation Manager

M.A. in Business Consultancy Int., 10+ years in MedTech industry corporates & start-ups, go-to-market strategies, regulatory affairs, product launch ex-cellence, global marketing.

Michael Schoemaker
Medical Devices Industry Expert

20+ years experience in MD industry on development of CGM devices, covering all aspects from early research to manufacturing, clinical studies and launch activities.

Valentin Splett
Life Sciences Innovation Consultant

13+ years experience in consulting in life sciences innovation. Valentin’s mentoring focus lies on commercialisation, reimburse-ment, sales, business model and funding.

Paul Senn
Pharma & MedTech Consultant

Pharma and MedTech Consultant. In the industry for 30 years. Strong experience in developing and launching drug products, drug/device combinations and devices in major markets.

George Stark
MedTech Specialist

MedTech specialist, sales manager and business developer for insulin pump and CGM technology. T1D for 14 years, specialized in team management, strategic goal planning & sales effectiveness.

Aurelie Moser
Life Sciences Innovation Consultant

Deep expertise in business model, commercial, access & pricing strategy. Enabling start-ups to reduce time between technology or idea discovery & significant investments or first paying customers.

Walter Esser
Strategy Consultant & Coach

Founder of EuSoftSkills, T1D Dad, Mentor & Trainer. Specialising in Vision, Strategy, Positioning, People & Team, Decision Making and Pitch Optimisation. 

Sabine Nieba
Regulatory Expert

20 years experience in medical device and software, IVD and regulatory affairs quality management. Supporting start-ups in implementing regulatory strategies, QMS and writing submission dossiers.

Lee Leichter
Medical Device & Pharma Consultant

50 years experience in health care industry; 30 years consulting business, scientific, regulatory and quality issues relating to drug delivery & combination products for marketing in the USA/EU/CAN.

Mark Duman
Market Access & Patient Engagement

30+ years experience in combining a management consultant, clinical, & patient background; supporting organisations in market access, patient engagement & digital therapeutics.

Sanjay Gohil
Market Access 

20+ years in diabetes in Pharma, MedTech & Digital health industry working with start-ups/SMEs. Utilising experience, & network to enable market access to improve system and patient outcomes.

Heinz Müller
Patent Expert

20+ years as patent expert at Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property; regular lecturer in biochemistry (University of Basel) and intellectual property law at several Swiss universities.

Hanna Boëthius
Community & Diabetes Expert

T1D for 38 years, international speaker, patient leader, consultant and mentor with a MSc in Diabetes.

Hanne Ballhausen
Project & Community Expert

6+ years project management experience in NGO, science and research, healthcare, communication and media. Project manager of the OPEN project.

Laura Burlando
Community & Diabetes Expert

Patient Advocate, living with type 1 diabetes, deeply involved in the Diabetes Online Community, and passionate about co-creation and representation of the patient voice at every step.

Leon Tribe
Technology & Diabetes Expert

Technology Solutions Advisor & diabetes blogger/researcher. T1D for 6+ years, first class honours degree in quantum physics, MBA in strategy and leadership; participant of the DCB Innovation Challenge 22.

Eduardo W. Jørgensen (ES): Medicsen – Needle and cannula-free Smartpatch for painless insulin delivery based on ultrasounds

“Our wearable SMARTPATCH is the first truly non-invasive delivery patch for large molecules, completely free of needles & cannulas. It ́s based on a patented ultrasonic system that transforms electric currents into sound vibrations to open skin pores temporarily and deliver macromolecular drugs through them.”

Hélène Lefebvre (FR) : Eclypia – Non-Invasive continuous glucose monitoring

“Eclypia is developing a unique non-invasive sensing platform targeting health and wellness. Its first product is a non-invasive Continuous Glucose Monitoring device built on outstanding new and disruptive photonics technologies. At Eclypia, we are driven by excellence and a multi-expertise global approach to tackle technological, physiological and algorithmic challenges.”

Nevena Paunović (CH): OctoPatch − Painless alternative for type 2 diabetes patients depending on injectable drugs

“OctoPatchTM − a small buccal patch that can be easily self-applied to the inner side of the cheek. It gently stretches the mucosa and together with proper additives temporarily permeates the barrier, enabling these large drugs to reach the bloodstream. Our device is not only more attractive than injectors, but it also provides more flexibility regarding intake instructions.”

Ebba Reinholdt (SE): D-stract – Creating painless injections

“D-stract aims to reduce the fear of needles and injections by reducing the pain from the initial injection. Needle phobia is one of the top 5 phobias in the world. Many who have repeated injections, such as people with diabetes, develop needle phobia over time. By using a method that is clinically proven, our product reduces the pain instantly as the product is in contact with your skin.”

Adam Graybill (US): Journey Biosciences is dedicated to creating technologies to predict and overcome preventable diseases

“Journey Biosciences launched the first predictive screening for people with diabetes that identifies patients at risk of chronic kidney disease prior to any clinical signs or symptoms. The company’s target audience and TAM creates strategic synergies in the Laboratory, Pharma, Retail Pharmacy and other Healthcare businesses that value access to newly-diagnosed diabetes patients or identifying at-risk populations of a costly condition.”

Amin Zayani (US/GER): dotcool box – Connected storage container for insulin and biologic injections

“Introducing dotcool box, a connected storage container for medications. With dotcool box, PwD can be assured that their medications are always kept at the correct temperature, protected from accidental freezing and from heating up. Users place their medications inside the box, connect it to their home network and place it inside their refrigerator. It connects it to the dotcool App on their phone and provides real-time remote monitoring.”

Arvind Jina (US):  ArKal Medical – Novel Surface Continuous Glucose Monitoring Technology

“Developing continuous glucose monitoring system for the management of diabetes. ArKal’s monitoring system is designed to eliminate many of the inconveniences of current glucose monitoring technologies. ArKal Medical’s technology has the potential to make an important advancement.”

Olesja Bondarenko (EE): Next-generation nanotechnology to cure diabetic foot ulcers that cannot be cured with standard methods

“We are scientists and medical doctors, who developed platform nanotechnology to prevent and cure topical bacterial infections, including those caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We developed our first product for infected diabetic foot ulcers, an advanced antibacterial wound dressing and tested it in vitro, in animals, and initiated a controlled single-blind randomized clinical trial at the largest Estonian hospital.”

Belén Odriozola (ES): NERVECHECK MASTER – To Increase the diagnoses, to Generate Data and to Personalize medical treatment (diabetic foot)

“An unmet care need has been detected in the diagnostic field of Sensory Neuropathy. There is a lack of effective tools for the diagnosis and control of the indiscriminate evolution of Sensory Neuropathy (Diabetic Foot). Phi Med Europe has developed NerveCheck Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) equipment, for the quantification and diagnosis of the state of small and long nerve fibres first altered in Diabetic Foot, by running 4 tests: vibration, cold, warm and heat pain.”

Amin Zayani (US/GER): dotcool mini– Wireless temperature sensor for insulin and biologic injections

“Introducing dotcool mini, a wireless temperature sensor for medications. With dotcool mini, PwD can be assured that their medications are always kept at the correct temperature. The user simply places the sensor alongside their medications and connects it to the dotcool App on their phone via Bluetooth.”

Severine Sigrist (FR): MailPan – encapsulation on insulin secreting cell to forget diabetes

“Defymed developed MailPan®, a macro encapsulation device: it has the three pre-requisite functions of protecting the recipient of the injected cells, protecting the donor cells (immune-protection) and maximizing cell function. In addition, the developed device contains enough cells to restore the insulin independence of patients and can be emptied/refilled into cells without additional surgery. Finally, completely implantable, MailPan® is invisible and will therefore allow a physiological treatment of the disease.”

Robert Wylie (UK): Fada Medical – 30-day insulin delivery technology

“We are proud to unveil our new technology that we have developed that can extend an infusion set cannula’s performance for up to 30 days to support long term insulin pump use for people with type 1 diabetes. We use a first-of-its-kind method to successfully delivery a therapeutic, such as insulin, into subcutaneous tissue and past any blockage that can occur from the foreign body response.”

Greta Preatoni (CH): MY-SENSATION – Reducing pain and restoring touch in diabetic neuropathy through a fully wearable non-invasive neuromodulation system

“We developed a unique wearable device that restores the sense of touch and decreases pain through a non-invasive electrical nerve stimulation driven by AI algorithms. Thanks to years of research, we achieved a carefully designed electrode placement and optimal stimulation parameters, that can target directly the nerves with a pleasant stimulation, hence reducing neuropathic pain by more than 40% after just one use.”

Roman Sojic (CH): Fastskin®, a revolutionary treatment for chronic wounds

“FastSkin® is a new autologous treatment for chronic wounds. It combines micrografting and blood clotting, enhanced by sonication, to accelerate healing and address the unmet clinical need in chronic wound management, including diabetic wounds. Micrografting stimulates cellular growth, kickstarting the restoration of damaged tissue and speeding up wound closure.”

Elvis Silva (BR): SmartWalk® Plus: it is time to stay in range!

“SmartWalk® us a device capable of generating the mechanical pattern of walking, but at 1,680 steps/minute. Using the resonant frequencies of muscle fibers, it may induce the translocation of glucose transporters (GLUT4) to the cell membrane and the release of undercarboxylated osteocalcin through bone remodeling. Simply put: SmartWalk® may reduce postprandial glucose spikes and also prevent hypoglycemia.”

Rohan Arora (IN): Diaplay – Learning diabetes management by playing games!

“For a newly diagnosed, every few days diabetes can throw new questions for which they try to find answers through whichever means available. The current learning process to understand diabetes can be boring, intimidating or challenging and seems like added burden. We are trying to develop gaming devices which will help people living with diabetes to learn, understand, have conversations and inculcate good habits to manage diabetes in a fun & interactive way.”

Deval Karia (IN): InsuFlo – An affordable insulin pump for people with diabetes

“Adoption of CSII is sparse, particularly in resource constrained settings like India. Institutional factors aside, fixed, and recurring costs of such a device are often found to be a withholding factor to widespread adoption. This is the exact problem we have attempted to address: making an affordable insulin pump (InsuFlo) that is accessible to patients at the base of the economic pyramid. The other problem that we’ve attempted to address is the design of a pump particularly catering to Indian patients.”