STARTUP TRACK ADVISORS
Partner at Walder Wyss Attorneys at Law
Renate Hahn
Global Strategic Advisor & Healthcare Professional
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Pharma & Biotech Industry, Strategy, Operations, Product Launches, Diabetes, Obesity, Haematology, Cardiology, Rare Diseases
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Renate is a curious pharmacist and has over 30 years of cross-functional leadership experience in the healthcare industry with a proven global, regional and local brand and portfolio launch track record across numerous therapeutic areas and geographies. She gained broad functional experiences internationally during her tenure at Eli-Lilly, Sanofi, Zydus, Novo Nordisk and Takeda while living in various countries.
Dr. Tom Valentin
Group Leader Automated Sample Handling at CSEM
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Lab automation, Microfluidics, Additive manufacturing
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Tom Valentin is the Group Leader for the Automated Sample Handling group (15 people) at CSEM, focusing on microfluidics, lab automation, and sorting & handling of biological organisms. Tom has a background in mechanical and biomedical engineering, with a background in microfluidics, additive manufacturing, biomaterials, and tissue engineering. He received his BSc and MSc from Tufts University, PhD from Brown University, and worked as a postdoc at ETH Zürich.
Ramona Wyss
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Startup law, corporate set-up and financing instruments, IP strategy
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Ramona has worked for 10+ years at Walder Wyss, currently as a partner. She achieved her Master of Laws (LL.M.) from King’s College London and Master of Law (MLaw) at University of Zurich. She provides legal advice to start-ups at all stages, from the first agreements among founders to the exit and beyond.
Felix Kurth
Group Leader Biosystems Engineering at CSEM
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Single cell analysis, Electronics, Sensing
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Felix Kurth is group leader at CSEM for the group biosystems engineering (14 people) focusing on printed electronics, hydrogel and polymer systems, and single cell technologies. Felix has a background in bioengineering and bioanalytics with relevant experience in microfluidics, single cell analytics, and optical and electrochemical sensing modes among others. He received his degree in bioengineering from the Technical University of Dortmund and KTH Stockholm, PhD from ETH Zürich (D-CHAB), and worked as a postdoc at ETH Zürich in Basel (D-BSSE).
Dr. Ulrich Karl Genick
ETH Zürich Senior Scientist & Lecturer
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Genomics, structural biology, biochemistry, experimental planning in biolab space
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Dr. Ulrich Karl Genick is a Senior Scientist & Lecturer at ETH Zürich. He has broad experience in cross-disciplinary research (genomics, biophysics, structural biology and biochemistry) in both academic and corporate settings. Further, Dr. Genick has a strong interest in teaching with focus on techniques that promote active learning and student engagement. He has experience organizing large-scale, multi-institution, cross-disciplinary research projects and research teams and is a founding member of the MIDATA.coop health data cooperative that allows individuals to manage and use their personal health and lifestyle data for their personal benefit and for the benefit of society at large.
FORGE TRACK ADVISORS
Director, High Throughput Biologics (R&D) at Lonza
Deniz Demirhan
Senior Manager at Lonza
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Deniz is a seasoned biotechnology and pharmaceutical expert with over a decade of experience. Currently serving as a Senior Manager at Lonza, Deniz leads innovative projects in BioR&D leading a team focusing on upstream development for mammalian cell culture at various scales. Previously, Deniz was an Assistant Professor at Acıbadem University and had worked at Turgut Pharmaceuticals, and MedImmune. She holds a PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Her research interest includes process development, creating process models, and small-scale culture platform development. She had special interest in using omics models in process development, integrating genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data to optimize bioprocesses, improve product quality, and increase efficiency. She is passionate about leading teams to enable novel technologies for commercial operations.
Dr. James Graham
R&D Director at Lonza
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James is a leader in analytical and process sciences with fifteen years’ experience in biopharmaceutical analytical development and R&D. He is passionate about building teams and enabling them to solve industry problems. His technical focus is on Quality by Design for analytical methods, analytical bioseparations and mass spectrometry.
Bachir El Debs
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Dr. El Debs holds a PhD in microfluidics, specializing in manipulating small fluid volumes to study single cells. Along with an extensive experience in high throughput approaches and lab automation, Dr. El Debs has led a team of scientists exploring disease mechanisms to identify treatment targets for chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Currently, as the head of the High Throughput Center of Excellence at Lonza, Dr. El Debs focuses on increasing R&D throughput by integrating novel technologies and automating scientific workflows. This role involves optimizing biologics production and understanding new molecular formats, ultimately enhancing biomanufacturing processes. Dr. El Debs is dedicated to fostering teamwork and innovation, leveraging high throughput tools to generate valuable data and enable AI-driven methodologies. This approach addresses customer challenges, optimizes operations, and develops new offerings in response to emerging trends.
Vishwanathgouda Maralingannavar
Associate Principal Scientist at Lonza
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Vishwanathgouda, known as Vish, is a Scientist at Lonza, leading the Bioreactor and High Throughput group. His primary focus is on establishing small-scale culture platforms and optimizing processes in large-scale bioreactors. With a PhD in Life Science, Vish brings a wealth of research experience in mammalian cell culture. His expertise spans both academic and industrial settings, with a particular focus on media and feed formulation, clone screening, and process development. He excels in creating experimental models and intends to utilize them for predictive process modeling to make process development simpler. Vish is passionate about leveraging his technical skills and research background to drive innovation and solve complex challenges in the biotech industry. His goal is to collaborate with like-minded professionals to develop cutting-edge solutions and make a meaningful impact.
Ming K. Chang
Director for Biologics R&D Strategy at Lonza
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Ming is a Director for Biologics R&D Strategy at Lonza. In this role, she leads innovation roadmap alignment and strategic reviews to drive long-term success. Ming brings extensive experience in biopharmaceutical R&D, digital innovation, and business transformation. Prior to Lonza, she held senior roles at management consulting firms, where she lead digital transformation initiatives, developed R&D service offerings, and provided strategic consulting to top pharmaceutical and biotech companies. With a scientific foundation from roles at Roche, Novartis, and ETH Zürich, she combines deep technical expertise with commercial acumen to influence executive decision-making and deliver impactful solutions. Ming holds a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology.
Celine Bordin
Senior Legal IP Counsel
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Celine Bordin is a European Patent Attorney with a Master’s degree in Biochemistry and a Master’s degree in Intellectual Property. Before transitioning to the field of Intellectual Property (IP), she thrived in the realm of biological innovation, gaining valuable experience in R&D at well-established biotech companies in Berlin, such as Biotez and TibMolBiol. These companies specialize in the development of immunoassay kits and the manufacturing of nucleotide molecules, including custom primers.
Following an internship at a law firm, Celine embarked on a career in Intellectual Property, contributing to pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Bayer. She has been involved in drug development projects and the management of marketed drugs, all while maintaining a strong connection to the scientific community.
Currently, Celine serves as a Senior IP Counsel at Lonza, where she oversees the company’s patent portfolio, negotiates contracts such as supplier/customer agreements and research collaborations, and supports business acquisitions. She takes great pride in being part of an innovative company and enjoys educating employees about the importance of IP, highlighting both its advantages and potential risks.
Michael Rappleye
UZH PostDoc in Optogenetics
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Michael is a PostDoc in Optogenetics at the University of Zurich that offered domain mentorship to the teams during the second Forge challenge
LAB SPACE MENTORS
In addition to our subject matter experts for the Forge & Startup Tracks, we have mentors who guide us with lab space operation from our Partner the ETH Student Project House.
Dr. Ulrich Karl Genick
Lab Space Lead at SPH
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Genomics, structural biology, biochemistry, experimental planning in biolab space
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Dr. Ulrich Karl Genick is a Senior Scientist & Lecturer at ETH Zürich. He has broad experience in cross-disciplinary research (genomics, biophysics, structural biology and biochemistry) in both academic and corporate settings. Further, Dr. Genick has a strong interest in teaching with focus on techniques that promote active learning and student engagement. He has experience organizing large-scale, multi-institution, cross-disciplinary research projects and research teams and is a founding member of the MIDATA.coop health data cooperative that allows individuals to manage and use their personal health and lifestyle data for their personal benefit and for the benefit of society at large.
Mattis Stolze
Innovation Catalyst at SPH
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Innovation, project management, engineering, biolab, partnerships
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Mattis Stolze is an Innovation Catalyst at the ETH Student Project House offering assistance to numerous projects ranging from help with project management, team formation, engineering ideation, and more. Specifically for BioIncubate, Mattis helps the team coordinate usage of the SPH pop-up biolab when necessary for project prototyping.