Position: CEO, Innovectis GmbH
Martin Raditsch is CEO of Innovectis GmbH, responsible for the Universities Incubator “Goethe-Unibator “ in Frankfurt am Main and is involved in a project venture fund . He also served until June2020 as President of the pan-European association for professionals involved in knowledge transfer between universities and industry (ASTP). He has 20 years of experience in international business development, licensing and technology transfer in the pharma, med-tech, biotech and material sciences sector, ranging from industry to the public research sector. Mr. Raditsch holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and is certified as RTTP (registered technology transfer professional) by ATTP, the Global Alliance of Technology Transfer Professionals. Innovectis GmbH is the technology transfer company of the Goethe University in Frankfurt.
Position: Managing Partner, BioGeneration Ventures
Edward van Wezel is a founder and Managing Partner at BioGeneration Ventures (BGV), Naarden, The Netherlands. He has extensive international expertise in pharma and biotech companies. Currently, Edward serves on the supervisory boards of Cristal Therapeutics, Synaffix, Staten Biotechnology, Azafaros, Scenic Biotechnology and Confo Therapeutics. He was a founding investor and board member of Acerta Pharma, a company focussing on the development of a treatment for leukemia, that in 2016 was acquired by AstraZeneca for over $7 billion.
Edward started his industrial career as a process engineer for Chiron Inc. He was a project manager at Johnson & Johnson responsible for product development projects in the oncology franchise, and was involved in corporate licensing activities. Since 2000, Edward gained experience as Chief Executive Officer of several biotech companies in the Netherlands. Edward van Wezel holds a MSc in chemistry from the University of Utrecht, and a MSc in biochemical engineering from the Delft University of Technology.
Position: Director of the Startups and Innovative Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Division at CzechInvest
Markéta Přenosilová holds a degree in public administration and regional development from the Czech University of Life Sciences. She has worked at CzechInvest since 2008, initially in the Research and Development Department of the Investment Division. She was subsequently responsible for launching the CzechAccelerator project, which is focused on the internationalisation of start-ups. Markéta managed the Start-ups Department from 2016 to 2019. In 2020, she became the head of the Start-ups and Innovative SMEs Division, which covers a range of activities including support for the commercialisation of R&D, startups and their technological incubation and internationalisation, and working with potential investors in the agency’s strategic sectors.
Position: Director, Fraunhofer Venture
Thomas Doppelberger has been director of Fraunhofer Venture since 2001. He studied business and economics at the University of Augsburg with a focus on financial economics, taxation and controlling. He gained his first professional experience in an auditing company, then since 1998 as commercial consultant (calculation, application for national and EU-funded research projects) at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Fraunhofer Venture is responsible for the technology transfer via spin-offs of all 74 Fraunhofer Institutes as well as for the promotion and support of possible start-up topics of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
Position: CEO ASTP, the Netherlands
Laura MacDonald is responsible for managing the Dutch headquarters of this pan-European association of knowledge transfer professionals, with over 1000 members from almost 50 countries, across industry& academia. landscape. As well as ensuring the delivery of world class knowledge transfer training and conferences, she works with the Board and relevant departments of the European Commission to implement strategies to enhance the European innovation ecosystem. The National (KT) Associations Advisory Committee (NAAC) of ASTP, provides European-wide KT insight and policy proposals to drive these strategies. A Law graduate from the University of Glasgow, Laura’s professional life has concentrated on the knowledge transfer sector where she has gained extraordinary experience as the Head of Licensing at the Universities of Dundee then Edinburgh in Scotland (1992-2006) then at Leiden University Medical Centre and Leiden University (2006-2016).
Position: Rector, Charles University
Prof. Tomáš Zima has been Rector of Charles University since 2014. He is the 508th Rector of Charles University and is also a member of the Czech Rectors Conference. He is also a member of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic, the Czech Medical Academy, and the scientific boards of Masaryk University, the University of Economics, the Czech Chamber of Medicine and the Czech Health Research Council. He is a member of the J.E. Purkyně Czech Medical Society, sits on commissions of professional organisations in both the Czech Republic and abroad (ČSKB, ČSBMB, EFLM, IFCC, ESBRA) and the editorial boards of professional journals (Adiktologie, Folia Biologica, etc.). Since 1999 he has been the head of the Institute of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics of the General University Hospital and of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University.
Zima graduated from the Charles University Faculty of General Medicine in 1990. From 1990 onwards he worked at the Institute of Medical Biochemistry of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University. He has also worked at the 1st Clinic of Internal Medicine (and subsequently at the Nephrology Clinic of the General University Hospital and of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University). He has undergone credentialing in the fields of clinical chemistry, internal medicine and nephrology. In 1996 he became an associate professor (docent) at the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, and five years later he was appointed professor of Charles University in medical chemistry and biochemistry.
Prof. Zima is an honorary professor of the J.Y. Horbachevskyi State Medical University in Ternopil, doctor honoris causa of Prešov University and of Uzhgorod University. From 2000–2003 he completed an MBA at the Prague Managerial School of the University of Economics. From 2005-2012 he was Dean of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University.
Position: Deputy Minister for Digitalisation and Innovation, Ministry of Industry and Trade
Petr Očko, born on April 22. 1976, graduated from Information Management and European Integration at the University of Economics in Prague and from Ph.D. studies of Information Economics at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. He started in 1998 in a small company that would now be labelled as a successful technology start up – the Globe Internet. As an expert in the European economic integration, he has been working at the Ministry of Finance since 2001 on the EU Structural Funds, since 2004 he worked as an advisor to the Deputy Minister of Finance for the financial market, and in 2006 he was appointed by the Government as a National Coordinator for the introduction of the euro. Since August 2007, he worked in the private sphere as an EU project coordinator for Telefónica O2. In 2009, he returned to the state administration as Chief Executive Officer for EU Budget and EU Funds at the Ministry of Transport, and since August 2010 he served as Section Director for EU Funds, Research and Development at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, where he was in charge for key programs to support industrial research and development, innovation and entrepreneurship. In 2012-2013 he was also in charge of the stabilization and development of the CzechInvest business and investment support agency as its entrusted CEO. Since 2015, he headed the Department of Financial Instruments and Project Management at the Ministry of Industry and Trade and prepared mainly the National Innovation Fund project or the transformation of the Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank. In March 2016, he was appointed by the Government as chairman of the Czech Republic's Technology Agency and successfully helped to develop support for applied research in key areas of the Czech Republic, including industry 4.0 and other major trends.
Position: Head of TTO, Netherlands Cancer Institute
Koen Verhoef is a molecular virologist by training, having obtained his PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 1999. During his post-doctoral scientific career, he received two EMBO fellowships that allowed him to conduct research at the University of Heidelberg (1998-1999) and at Oxford University (2000-2001). In 2001, Koen started as a technology transfer manager with MRC Technology (now: LifeArc), the commercialisation company of the Medical Research Council in London, UK. In 2003, he moved back to the Netherlands where he founded the Technology Transfer Office at VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, which soon expanded its activities to the other Faculties of VU University. In April 2009, Koen became the head of the Technology Transfer Office of the Netherlands Cancer Institute – Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital (NKI-AVL). Koen is an active member of ASTP, the European professional association for Knowledge Transfer, and served on its Board between 2010 and 2014.
Position: CEO, PerioTrap Pharmaceuticals GmbH
Pierre Tangermann and Mirko Bucholz are the CEOs of the German start-up company PerioTrap Pharmaceuticals which was founded in December 2018. The company has developed a highly specific antibiotic against periodontitis, making a major contribution to the risk of multi-resistant germs. Seven scientists from Halle and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft participated as founders in a research project which had started in 2013 with EU funding. Based on the new insights, it was possible to develop an active ingredient that was “double selective”. The developed active ingredient is now patented.
Photo: ©TGZ Halle GmbH/Marco Warmuth
Position: CEO, PerioTrap Pharmaceuticals GmbH
Pierre Tangermann and Mirko Bucholz are the CEOs of the German start-up company PerioTrap Pharmaceuticals which was founded in December 2018. The company has developed a highly specific antibiotic against periodontitis, making a major contribution to the risk of multi-resistant germs. Seven scientists from Halle and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft participated as founders in a research project which had started in 2013 with EU funding. Based on the new insights, it was possible to develop an active ingredient that was “double selective”. The developed active ingredient is now patented.
Photo: ©TGZ Halle GmbH/Marco Warmuth
Position: Member of the Board of LAM-X (Charles University Spin-of)
Barbora Šumová is the Investment Manager at i&i Prague. She also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of LAM-X. In her work, she connects the world of science and business. At i&i Prague, Barbora uses her analytical abilities to identify and assess new investment opportunities. She is actively involved in pre-seed/seed funding negotiations, startups establishment and supervision of the company’s operational functions. Barbora obtained her Ph.D. degree in Immunology from the Charles University, Prague. For several years she researched autoimmune diseases at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany.
Position: Special Envoy for Science Diplomacy, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
Petr Kaiser assumed the role of the Special Envoy for Science Diplomacy of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs in July 2019 (however he was responsible for similar agenda from 2010 to 2016). Within the ministry's structure, he is embedded in Foreign Policy Analysis and Planning Department. He is a career diplomat with more than twenty years of working experience. Before joining the diplomatic corps he worked for some years as a researcher at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. In his capacity he is responsible for advising the minister of foreign affairs in matters related to science diplomacy. He develops projects for the Czech diplomatic service following the goals and objectives set in national RandD strategies adopted by the Government and relevant institutions and bodies. He coordinates main activities within the MFA mostly executed in partnership with other ministries, agencies, universities and research centers.
Position: CEO, i&i Prague
Jaromír Zahrádka holds Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Charles University in Prague and he earned another master’s degree in Corporate Economics, Management and Enterprise valuation. Having the scientific competence and economic background, he has developed a deep expertise in early-phase technologies evaluation and market potential analysis for biotech R&D projects; furthermore, he is lecturing at several universities. Between 2012 and 2017, Jaromir worked as a Business development manager at IOCB Tech, the Tech Transfer office of IOCB Prague Institute, which is well known due to the development of HIV therapy blockbuster Tenofovir TM, marketed by Gilead. In 2017, Jaromir became the CEO and co-founder of i&i Prague, a unique investment and incubation company for early-phase academic spin-offs from Central Europe (covering Medtech, Diagnostics and Drug discovery projects). Jaromir and his team in i&i Prague have already supported the development of more than 7 deep-tech spin-offs (including Diana Biotechnologies and LAM-X companies) and facilitated more than 10 out-licensing deals. Moreover, the total funding raised by i&i Prague projects exceeded 40 mil EUR. i&i Prague projects are carefully selected from a quickly growing pool consisting of more than 100 biotech projects originated at academic institutions from Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and other countries.
Position: CEO of Transfera.cz
Eva Janouškovcová graduated from the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University, majoring in general biology. She also holds a Ph.D. in Imunology and LL.M. from Corporate Law. She gained experience in technology transfer during her stay in the Office of Technology Transfer at McGill University, Montreal in 2005. She also attended many courses and certified trainings in technology transfer and intellectual property protection. She extends her extensive experience in solution and project management in the field of scientific research and technology transfer by participating in activities aimed at popularizing science and research and cooperating on education development projects, innovation, research and development at regional, national and international level. She also gained significant experience in business and management positions in private sector. In the TTO she is mainly responsible for protection of intellectual property and for support to the research community in this field; she negotiates research contracts between MU researchers and application partners and organizes courses and trainings for innovative business including technology transfer and intellectual property rights.
Position: Director of Centre for Knowledge and Technology Transfer of Charles University
Hana Kosová has been working with Charles University since 2011, starting as an independent business consultant for pre-seed and proof of concept projects and later on building University Innovation Network. She has been part of the management team of the Centre for Knowledge and Technology Transfer since 2014 and in 2016 was appointed its director. She helped to shape the professional Czech national association Transfera.cz and for 2015 - 2018 acted as its vice-president, she remains its board member. Since 2019 she has become a board member of the international knowledge and technology transfer professionals´ association ASTP. She was one of the team initiating and eventually in 2018 establishing a subsidiary company Charles University Innovations Prague, LLC for which she has been appointed the company´s Supervisory Board member.
