Till Erdmann is co-founder of Berlin-based pharma start-up Myelo Therapeutics. It develops Myelo001, the first oral treatment for Chemotherapy-induced Neutropenia. Myelo001 is currently in clinical trials with breast cancer patients. It would be the first therapy innovation in over two decades to protect patients from one of the most frequent and most severe side effects of anticancer therapy.
Over the last two decades, Till got to know many facets confronting serious illnesses, as pharma industry management consultant, manager of a patient relationship program, founder of three life sciences start-ups, and family member of loved ones struggling with cancer. Till invented and launched the first virtual nurse visit program for Multiple Sclerosis patients via online video conferencing over 10 years ago and published research that showed it improved treatment adherence.
Till holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from Technical University of Berlin and a MBA from San Francisco State University. He loves to spend time with his Brazilian-German family, kitesurf, and play soccer.
Dr. Apfel is the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board. Prior to starting SageMedic, he was a Professor in the Department of Anesthesia at UCSF, where he worked as a clinician and led the Clinical Research Core. He is a nationally and internationally known authority on designing, conducting, and publishing highest quality clinical trials with thousands of patients that have changed medical practice with over 100 peer-reviewed publications. Most notable, he developed the “Apfel Score,” a standard tool that is now used in clinical practice world-wide. He also teaches clinical trial design as an Adjunct Associate Professor at UCSF and is the Chair of the Life Science Committee at the Keiretsu Angel Investment Forum and a member of Life Science Angels in the Bay Area. Dr. Apfel is a California licensed physician with 20+ years of clinical experience in anesthesiology, critical care medicine, and emergency medicine. He received his medical degree (MD) and his doctoral degree (PhD equivalent) from Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany, and his master of business administration (MBA) from The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, PA.
Thierry Desjardins, the CEO and Co-founder of Surgisafe Ltd, has been a qualified Neurosurgeon since 1995. Throughout his years of surgical experience, he has focused primarily on minimally invasive techniques whilst also taking an active role in international conferences (Europe, Middle East, China, etc..). This combination has put him in a unique position to be able to detect new surgical needs and his contacts in the medical profession have allowed him to discuss the product with qualified individuals in the best position to advise and judge it’s efficiency.
Thierry, along with his Co-founder Nicolas Veau (an engineer specialising in medical technology) originally identified the « smart Cannula » concept for CSF leakage detection then adapted the same technology for use in detecting abnormal tissues with many possible applications (cancer, endometriosis, etc…).
Boaz Gaon is the founder and CEO of Wisdo – a mission driven company helping people take on life’s greatest challenges and opportunities, by relying on the wisdom of people who have been there. Wisdo was founded after Boaz’s father, formerly President of the Israel Cancer Association, passed away from cancer of the lung, blood and kidney (all primary cancers), bringing close to home the realisation that when coping with a serious illness – the road ahead is invisible, although millions have already earned wisdom that can and should be shared proactively. Wisdo helps people anticipate what and whom they don’t know that they should, when it matters – without even searching. Prior to founding Wisdo, Boaz was an award winning novelist, playwright and journalist. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics (MSc, Global Media and Communications) and of the Iowa Writers Program for international writers. He is the author of seven produced plays, two novels and three non-fiction books. In 2014, Boaz was granted a Fulbright award in recognition of his work in theatre.
Uwe Diegel was a concert pianist until the age of 26. Following an accident that partially restricted movement in his right arm, he started a new career in medical diagnostics, quickly developing a particular interest in chronic diseases such as hypertension, asthma, and diabetes. His intense scientific curiosity has led him not only to develop new technologies in these fields, but also to become interested in medical manufacturing, industrial design, and problems in Asian manufacturing.
Uwe lives in Paris, where he is CEO of HealthWorks Global, CEO of Lifeina, and conducts fundamental research in medical diagnostics. Today, he is considered to be a foremost expert in the fields of blood pressure management, diabetes, asthma, and the manufacturing of medical diagnostics devices.
In 2009, Uwe developed an interest in connected health as a means of providing better patient management. He became involved in iHealth, a platform that takes all the signals of the body and translates them into a meaningful format using smartphones and tablets. iHealth is today the world leader in the field of connected health. Uwe served as CEO of iHealthLabs Europe until 2016. He left iHealth in 2016 to work on the Lifeina project.
Uwe Diegel has been at the forefront of international changes in healthcare technology for the last 30 years. His drive and passion for innovative technology have spurred major changes in perception about healthcare. He has driven the manufacturing of medical devices to new horizons by forcing new practices in manufacturing and innovation. An internationally recognized expert in the management of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, he is continuously looking for better solutions to improve outcomes for patients. For the last few years, he has spearheaded the dissemination and acceptance of connected health as a tool for providing better solutions for patients.
Javier, who personally suffers from multiple food allergies, is the Founder and CEO of Alerje, a MedTech & Digital Health startup. He’s a member of the founding team of MedTech Color, an organization aimed to advance the representation of persons of color in the medical device industry. Javier was 2017 Detroit Google for Entrepreneurs x CODE2040 EIR, a role where he hosted diversity focused tech programming in Detroit neighborhoods with a goal to “Rewrite the Narrative”. Previous to this endeavor, he led in the development of mobile app projects for a multi-billion dollar health insurance company and pharmacy benefit manager. Prior working in the tech industry, the Chicagoland native worked in sales as a founding team member of an independent insurance agency.
I have been CEO of different projects (from medical school to my own ideas) and thus, I have formed and guided teams to solve complex tasks through lean startup and scientific R&D. I founded Medicsen (team of 20) because a little girl with diabetes rejected the treatment in consult. I raised funds, successfully completed 3 individual R&D projects (algorithm for predicting glucose, user interface to increase adherence and non invasive drug delivery system), filed a patent and negotiated with pharma and tech companies in different countries. My goal is to help shape the use of technology in medicine, and I keep looking forward for new opportunities to keep learning and improving in business, technology, science and innovation.
Ziad Alame is the diabetic founder and CEO behind Spike Diabetes Assistant. After a decade of struggling with missed insulin injections and wrong dosages, Spike was born. Ziad is a dropout coder who has previously worked on multiple social tech startups dealing with education, crowdfunding, and employment. Ziad has been awarded multiple prizes globally including top 20 entrepreneurs by Executive Magazine for 2016 and the Arabian Business Achievement Award for 2018.
As for Spike, it is a mobile assistant that helps diabetics better manage their diabetes. Spike monitors the patient’s daily behavior and jumps in with reminders and tips when needed about insulin, food, activity, etc. In addition to that, Spike stores the patient’s data for further analysis and/or sharing with doctors and caregivers.
Liberated was founded out of personal necessity. Prior to founding the company, countless hours were spent everyday preparing food my daughter could eat to maintain her specialized diet. While incredibly time consuming, I found the diet well worth the effort, as the symptoms of multiple auto-immune diseases, including epilepsy, psoriasis, IBD, and Hashimoto’s went into remission. Seeing both the incredible benefit of the diet and the challenge of trying to hand-make food that couldn’t be purchased at the store, I decided to form a food company to help others with similar challenges, as well as provide delicious, gourmet, and healthy food for the population at large.
Bola Lafe is the founder and Managing Director of Opus Innovations Ltd and a Director of TickleTec Ltd. Bola qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 1992 but went on to enjoy a 21-year career in the Investment Banking sector based in London, New York and Tokyo. Despite a very successful international career that led him to become a Managing Director in 2006, Bola left to set up Opus in 2011, and became a Director of TickleTec in 2016. Both Opus and TickleTec are healthcare product companies that were set up to develop innovative and sustainable healthcare solutions that are of benefit to people, animals and the planet. Our focus is on diabetes, injection pain relief, infection prevention & control and ethical healthcare products. Bola was selected as one of the 2017 ‘Top 100 figures’ by The Manufacturer magazine in the UK for being ‘An Inspiring Leader’, ‘A Bold Investor’ & ‘A Driver of Cultural Change’.