The scientific commitee

ROBIN E. OFFORD

Prof. Robin Offord holds a PhD and a postgraduate degree from Cambridge University, which he gained at the molecular biology laboratory. He worked alongside three Nobel Prize winners, Frederick Sanger, César Milstein and Dorothy Klug, and lectured at Oxford University for 14 years. He is director of the medical biochemistry department at Geneva University, and was president of its fundamental medicine section. For the past 25 years, Prof. Offord has been a scientific adviser to many large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He has cofounded several startups: GeneProt, whose first president he was; the California-based Ciphergen and the Institut Suisse de Bioinformatique. He currently devotes most of his energy to the Mintaka Foundation, which he founded. Prof. Offors is president of the scientific committee.

TIMOTHY WELLS

Timothy Wells is the chief scientific officer for Malaria Ventures. Before joining that organisation, he was senior executive vice president of research for Serono, conducting clinical trials on a number of innovative molecules. From 1997 to 2007, he worked at Glaxo's molecular biology institute in Geneva, where he managed research into protein biochemistry and chemotactic cytokines.

An enzymologist by training, Wells’ research interests included the relationships between protein structure and function, and the role of cytokines in controlling host responses. He has contributed to over 180 scientific publications and several patent registrations. Wells gained a doctorate in chemistry from London's Imperial College for his research into protein engineering under the supervision of Sir Alan Fersht, and then obtained an ScD from Cambridge University for his work on the cytokine biology. He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

JEAN-YVES LE COTONNEC

Dr le Cotonnec obtained a bachelor's degree in engineering, a doctorate in medicine and a master’s in statistics in Paris. For 14 years, he occupied senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry, including posts at Novartis and Serono. In 1995 he founded Triskel Integrated Services SA, a company that defines and implements strategies to develop and register medical products in Europe and the USA, working in strategic cooperation with traditional contract research and manufacturing organisations. He has been involved in the development and registration of over ten drugs, including several blockbusters.

DENIS HOCHSTRASSER

Professor Dennis Hochstrasser is a practising internist and clinical chemist. He manages the clinical pathology department and the central clinical chemistry and biological examination laboratories at Geneva’s university hospitals, supervises the computational activities of the medicine faculty at Geneva University, and runs a leading international multidisciplinary research group in proteomics. Prof. Hochstrasser cofounded the Institut Suisse de Bioinformatique, GeneBio SA, and Geneprot Inc.

KAMEL BESSEGHIR

Dr Besseghir gained his degree in medicine in Oran, Algeria in 1973. His career has included posts as deputy professor and private lecturer at Lausanne University; World Health Organization adviser on drug selection and use; international director of drug safety at Serono, where he organized a corporate international pharmacovigilance system; and work in developing countries on programmes financed by the Agence Suisse pour le Développement et la Coopération to make better use of drugs. He joined Debiopharm SA in 1995 as its scientific director.

BENEDETTO VIGNA

Benedetto Vigna was born in Potenza, Italy in 1969. He obtained a degree in nuclear physics in 1993, and spent two years at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble and the Max Planck Institute in Germany, working on x-ray lasers. He then joined the laboratories of STMicroelectronics at Casteletto in Italy, specializing in micromachining, and the Berkeley Center in California, developing captors and actuators, before returning to STMicroelectronics, where he was appointed director of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). He is now vice president and managing director of the company’s MEMS division, working on health, RF transmitters and captors and based in Casteletto. 

BERNHARD KIRSCHBAUM

Dr Bernhard Kirschbaum has been executive vice president, research and development at Merck Serono since October 2008, and is also a member of the board of directors. He joined Merck KgaA in 2005, and was previously vice president of preclinical R&D and head of global technologies.

Before joining Merck, Kirschbaum was vice president of Discovery Research, the world leader in thrombosis and angiogenesis therapies for Sanofi-Aventis.

He has also worked for Aventis Hoechst Marion Roussel in various senior posts, and managed the applied genomics center in Martinsried. Kirschbaum has conducted intensive biochemistry and physiological chemistry research at the University of Konstanz in Germany, gaining his doctorate in 1989. He has also worked at Rockefeller University in New York and the Institute Pasteur in Paris, and carried out drug development research in areas such as rheumatic and autoimmune disorders, thrombosis, angiogenesis and degenerative articular disease.

OERN STUGE

Dr Oern R. Stuge is director of Impulse Dynamics NV. He was first vice president, a member of the operating committee member and president for Europe, Canada, Latin America and emerging markets at Medtronic Inc. His numerous life sciences projects in areas such as Rx, Dx, nutrition and medical devices have given significant experience and a reputation as a leading force in this domain.

Dr Stuge was a member of Medtronic’s management team for 12 years, serving as president for cardiac surgery and president for Europe and Central Asia, where he was responsible for transforming the cardiac surgery business and accelerating the growth of Medtronic companies in Europe with cardiovascular, neurological and spinal franchises.

Before joining Medtronic, Dr Stuge served first as CEO of Medinor A/S, a Norwegian medical technology company, and then for Abbott Laboratories, where he was regional director and managing director for the Netherlands and the Nordic countries. He is a principal adviser to HealthCap, a life sciences investment fund with $1.5 billion under management; a member of the supervisory board of Mediq BV, an international medicines and pharmaceuticals distributor; and a director of Nobel Biocare AG, a world leader in dental implants. Dr Stuge graduated in medicine at Oslo University, and gained an MBA from the IMD business school in Lausanne.