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GABC’s Annual German American Economic Forum: Healthcare Innovation

Friday, Oct 18, 2019

On Friday, October 18th we hosted a half-day conference with CEOs and Senior Executives from major German Life Sciences companies (Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bruker, Fresenius Medical Care, Evotec, Grünenthal, MilliporeSigma and Siemens Healthineers) who were discussing the role of innovation as well as the role of business in R&D. This Economic Forum was a must-attend event for anyone in Life Sciences in the Boston area and beyond and took place at Northeastern University.

Photo credit: MilliporeSigma (all photos)

 

View the Highlights Video From the Event

Agenda

Registration: 8:00AM to 8:30AM

8:30AM     Opening

Welcome address:           James C. Bean, Provost Northeastern University
Introduction:                     Bodo Liesenfeld, President GABC
Opening remarks:            Karl-Matthias Klause, Head of Economic Dept, German Embassy
Key note:                           Jan Hartmann, Conference Chair | VP Medical Affairs, Haemonetics

9:00AM      Panel #1: The “Business” of R&D

Moderator: Katharina Janus, Founder & Managing Director, Center for Healthcare Management; Columbia University

  • Karl Ziegelbauer, Senior Vice President, Bayer AG
  • Paige Mahaney, Senior Vice President, Boehringer Ingelheim
  • Jörg Holenz, Senior Vice President, Grünenthal
  • Stephanie Oestreich, Executive Vice President, Evotec
  • Stefan Tullius, Chief of Transplant Surgery Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Professor, Harvard Medical School
10:15AM        Break
10:45AM        Panel #2: CEO Perspective: Strategic importance of innovation

Moderator: Travis McCready, President & CEO, Mass Life Sciences Center

  • Rice Powell, CEO, Fresenius Medical Care
  • Udit Batra, CEO, MilliporeSigma (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany)
  • Frank Laukien, CEO, Bruker
  • Martin Madaus, The Carlyle Group, former CEO of Ortho Clinical Diagnostics
  • Navjot Singh, Managing Partner, McKinsey&Company in Boston and immediate past Chair of Boston Chamber of Commerce
  • David Stein, Head of Global Strategy & Innovation, Siemens Healthineers

12:00PM     Closing Remarks followed by Networking Lunch
Katharina Janus, Founder & Managing Director, Center for Healthcare Management; Columbia University


Early Bird Pricing (until August 31st)

$45 | GABC Members
$70 | Non members

Final Conference Pricing (Sep 1st onwards)

$55 | GABC Members
$80 | Non members

Walk-ins on October 18th:
$65 | GABC Members
$90 | non-members

FACCNE members: Please contact us to receive member price!


Location:

The German American Economic Forum takes place at Northeastern’s Premiere Event Facility: The Conference Room on the 17th Floor with views over Boston.

Photo: via northeastern.edu

Northeastern University
East Village Conference Center
17th Floor
291 St. Botolph Street
Boston, MA


Contacts:

German American Business Council: Emily Westhoven, Executive Director, info@gabc-boston.org or (617) 870-3400
Northeastern University: Dr. Kevin Scanlon, Professor of Practice, k.scanlon@northeastern.edu


Panelists & Moderators

(in alphabetical order)

Udit Batra
Member of the Executive Board, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
Chief Executive Officer
MilliporeSigma

Udit Batra is Chief Executive Officer of MilliporeSigma, the $7.5 billion Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and a member of its Executive Board. In addition to leading MilliporeSigma, Udit has Board responsibility for the company’s global Information Technology function. He also oversees the company’s Bioethics Advisory Panel. Born in New Delhi, India, Udit is an accomplished executive who has dedicated his career to improving health for people globally, bringing more than 20 years’ experience in healthcare and the life sciences. After Udit became CEO in 2014, he and his team developed and executed a growth strategy that included the 2015 acquisition of chemicals and technology giant SigmaAldrich. Udit architected and led this merger — the largest acquisition in the history of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and one of the largest ever in the life science industry.

Today, Udit continues to lead the business through a strategic transformation that has made MilliporeSigma a top-three player in the industry and an employer of choice in many regions where it operates around the world.  MilliporeSigma, with a Life Science Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, was named to The Boston Globe’s annual “Top Places to Work” list in 2016 and 2017, as well as the Boston Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work” list in 2019. The company received an exclusive certification as a top employer in North America by the independent Top Employers Institute in 2018 for the second year in a row. Also under Udit’s leadership, MilliporeSigma has earned several prestigious awards for innovation, including the R&D 100 Award for Top Innovations in 2016; a Life Science Industry Award from BioInformatics in 2016 and an R&D 100 Award for Corporate Responsibility in 2017.

Udit has earned a well-deserved reputation for driving business growth and turnarounds, as well as building high-performing teams. Previously, as head of the global Consumer Health business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, he and his team more than doubled the profitability of the business, making it the then fastest-growing sector within the company. Earlier in his career, Udit served in a range of leadership positions at Novartis, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company. In addition to leading Corporate Strategy and Global Public Health and Market Access for Vaccines and Diagnostics, he also served as president of the Australia Pharma business. During his tenure, this subsidiary became the fastest-growing business within Novartis. Prior to that, Udit held senior positions in the healthcare, consumer and non-profit practices at McKinsey & Company, a global strategy and consulting company. Udit earned both a PhD and a BS in chemical engineering from Princeton University and the University of Delaware, respectively. He started his career as a research engineer fellow at Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, where he worked on vaccines and small molecules. He has received multiple honors and awards, including nationally competitive, recognized fellowships at Merck & Co., DuPont and Mitsubishi. He serves on the boards of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and the Massachusetts High Technology Council, as chairman. He is also a member of the Advisory Council at Princeton University’s Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of the Advisory Council at the University of Delaware’s Department of Chemical Engineering.

In 2016, Udit was named “CEO of the Year” by CPhI Pharma and was also recognized for his strategic leadership by PharmaVOICE 100 in its list of top influencers. Udit is a frequent keynote speaker, representing the company at global investor conferences and industry congresses. Most recently, he gave the keynote at the 2019 U.S. Naturalization Ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts and  addressed the following organizations; Massachusetts Association of Superintendents; National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals in Washington, DC; BioAsia in India; Societe de Chimie in New York, NY; University of Delaware’s Gerster Lecture and the Drug, Chemical and Associated Technologies Association in New York, NY, among others.


Jan Hartmann
Vice President, Head of Medical Affairs
Haemonetics
Member Board of Directors, German American Business Council | Conference Chair, German American Economic Forum 2019

Jan Hartmann, M.D. is Vice President, Head of Medical Affairs at Haemonetics, a global healthcare company dedicated to providing a suite of innovative hematology products and solutions for customers to help them improve patient care and reduce the cost of healthcare, where he has global responsibility for medical affairs, clinical development, academic partnerships, and medical safety. Previously, Dr. Hartmann spent nearly a decade at McKinsey & Company where he most recently served as Associate Partner in the Global Pharmaceuticals and Medical Device Practice.

He received his M.D. from the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg in Germany. Additionally, Dr. Hartmann was a research scientist in the Department of Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine and a scholar of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (“Studienstiftung”).


Joerg Holenz
Senior Vice President Neuroscience
Grunenthal

Dr. Joerg Holenz is a Senior RnD Leader with over 20 years of experience in building and managing large and small RnD teams, with a special focus on incorporating agile, biotech-like, ‘virtualized’ teams into larger organizations, while progressing numerous Neuroscience/Pain candidates into clinical phases and to the market.

He is a trained Organic and Medicinal Chemist and acquired his Ph.D. in Germany on the synthesis of alkaloids as antimalarial agents. His professional career started in 1998 in Preclinical Development at Gruenenthal Pharmaceuticals in Germany, where he led the activities of the marketed analgesic Tapentadol (Nucynta). From 2003 to 2006, he headed the Medicinal Chemistry Department of Barcelona-based Laboratorios Esteve. In 2006, Dr. Holenz joined AstraZeneca’s CNS/Pain Research Unit in Soedertaelje, Sweden, as Neuroscience Project Leader and Head of Lead Generation. In 2012, Joerg joined AstraZeneca’s virtual Neuroscience Unit in Boston, US, as Director for Discovery and Preclinical Sciences, and in this role was responsible for pioneering a novel concept of driving Research and Development via increased use of academic and industry collaborative networks. In 2016, Joerg build up the virtual Neuroscience PoC unit for GlaxoSmithKline in Upper Providence, PA, and within only two years created a portfolio of innovative Neuroimmune assets. In 2018, Dr. Holenz joined Gruenenthal as Senior Vice President Neuroscience based in Cambridge, US, and worked on designing and executing on the company’s new RnD organization, as well as delivering a company-wide disease area strategy within the Pain RnD area. Joerg currently builds up the Gruenenthal Pain Innovation Hub in Cambridge, MA.

In his career, Dr. Holenz worked predominantly with peripheral and central targets in the Pain/Neuroscience disease areas, where he delivered several clinical candidates and one marketed analgesic. He has edited, authored or contributed to more than 45 publications, 50 patent applications and several books and book chapters.


Katharina Janus
Founder and Managing Director, Center for Healthcare Management at Columbia University New York, NY, USA, and Paris, France
President and CEO, ENJOY STRATEGY

Dr. Katharina Janus, a professor of healthcare management in Germany and at Columbia University New York, is the founder and managing director of the Center for Healthcare Management and the president and CEO of the consulting network ENJOY STRATEGY. She has twenty years of global healthcare management experience in science and corporate practice. Starting her career in managed care at one of the largest hospital chains in the United States, she has learned about challenges on the shop floor before turning to academia where she continued to pursue applied research. She then left her tenured position in Germany to lead the Center for Healthcare Management and reinvent research and education that is in constant dialogue with practice. Her global consulting network ENJOY STRATEGY supports many of the Center’s projects on the implementation side. As a keynote speaker and moderator, she frequently contributes her global domain expertise and indepth knowledge of healthcare markets and trends. In this respect, she has helped major multinational companies with market access strategy and business development to facilitate on-site implementation in various cultural environments.

Dr. Janus was a 2006-07 Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy at The Commonwealth Fund, a Rockefeller Foundation academic fellow in 2012 and a Brocher Foundation resident in 2014. She was also one of the youngest tenured professors and female board members of a DAX company appointed in Germany. Dr. Janus earned her Master’s Degree in Business Administration at the Universities of Hamburg and the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris in 2000. She holds a PhD in Business and Social Sciences from Helmut-Schmidt-University in Hamburg (2003) and the German qualification as a full professor (2009). She has been a ballet dancer before she started her career in healthcare management which inspired her to create sculptures whenever her busy schedule permits. Her creative approaches to strategy consulting frequently are influenced by her artistic upbringing and education.


Frank Laukien
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Bruker Corporation

Dr. Frank H. Laukien has been Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer since 1991 and is the company’s largest stockholder. Dr. Laukien also serves as a director of various subsidiaries of Bruker, none of which are publicly-traded companies. Dr. Laukien served as a director of ALDA (Analytical, Life Science & Diagnostics Association), an industry association formerly known as Analytical & Life Sciences Systems Association, or ALSSA, for several terms in the past, and was ALSSA Chairman from 2002 to 2003.

Dr. Laukien was a member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee of the MIT School of Science until 2014, and a Trustee of the Rivers School in Weston, Massachusetts until 2013. In May 2017, Dr. Laukien was elected a senator of acatech, the German National Academy of Science and Engineering. Based on his long history of leading the profitable growth at Bruker, Dr. Laukien brings to the Board the perspective of a significant stakeholder with an in-depth knowledge of all aspects of the company’s operations. He also provides extensive executive experience in organizational management, strategic planning, finance, global business development and life science tools markets, as well as the scientific and technical background required for a deep understanding of key technologies, markets and industry dynamics.

Frank Laukien holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a Ph.D. in chemical physics from Harvard University.


Martin D. Madaus
Operating Executive
The Carlyle Group

Dr. Martin D. Madaus is a serial global healthcare CEO, board member, investor and strategy consultant with 30 years of experience in Diagnostics and Life Science. He has a track record for delivering outstanding results by transforming large and complex business. He currently works for The Carlyle Group as an Operating Executive and serves on public and private boards.

He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. (OCD) from June 2015 until February of 2019 leading the carve-out from JNJ and the business turnaround. Prior to joining Ortho, Martin served as Executive Chairman of Quanterix Corporation, and as Senior Healthcare Advisor to the Carlyle Group.

He was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Millipore Corporation (NYSE: MIL) from January 2005 to July 2010. In addition, Martin was President and Chief Executive Officer of Roche Diagnostics Corporation North America from 2000 to 2004. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Business Development for Roche Molecular Diagnostics, and served as the President of Roche Diagnostics Canada.

Martin started his career in the Diagnostics Industry in 1989 at Boehringer Mannheim, Germany and served in various product management, marketing and general management roles in Germany, the United States and Canada.

Martin has extensive public and private company board experience and has served on the board of Mettler-Toledo International Inc (NYSE: MTD), Covidien PLC (NYSE: COV), Millipore (NYSE:MIL), PPD International (private), Quanterix (NASDAQ: QTRX) and Candela (Private).

Martin received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Munich in Germany and a PhD in Veterinary Medicine from the Veterinary School of Hanover in Germany.


Paige Mahaney
Senior Vice President
Discovery Research Site Head;  Global Head of Biotherapeutics Discovery Research
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals

Dr. Paige Mahaney is currently Senior Vice President and Discovery Research Site Head, US and Global Head of Biotherapeutics Discovery Research for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals in Ridgefield, CT. As Discovery Research Site Head, she is accountable for the overall productivity of the US Research organization across the areas of Cardiometabolic Diseases, Inflammation & Respiratory Discovery Research, Cancer Immunology and Immune Modulation and Research Beyond Borders.  In addition, her team in Biotherapeutics Discovery Research is responsible for the discovery, optimization and characterization of protein therapeutics for the global Boehringer Ingelheim portfolio including Oncology, Immunology and Respiratory Diseases, Cardiometabolic Diseases, Retinopathies and new/orphan disease areas.

Dr. Mahaney joined Boehringer Ingelheim in 2009 as a Director of Medicinal Chemistry, and between 2009 and 2019 she has held broad range of positions of increasing responsibility within the company.  In 2011, she pioneered the creation of a Research Networking team that was responsible for internal research operations, professional project leadership of the portfolio, and the creation of a contracting and alliance management team dedicated to academic and biotech partnerships in the early research space.  In 2012, she was named Vice President of Small Molecule Discovery Research responsible for all aspects of small molecule drug discovery from assay development, screening, structural biology/X-Ray crystallography to medicinal chemistry and ADME/PK.  Together with her team, she built a highly competitive clinical portfolio of small molecule drug candidates in the areas of Inflammation and Chronic Kidney Diseases.  In 2015, she was appointed Discovery Research Site Head, and in 2017, she became responsible for Global Biotherapeutics Discovery Research.

Prior to joining BI, Dr. Mahaney spent 7 years at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Collegeville, PA, where she led multiple successful project teams in the areas of CNS disorders and women’s health issues and metabolic diseases.  She began her career in drug discovery in 1995 at Hoffmann La-Roche in Nutley, NJ where, most notably, she was a key contributor to Roche’s pioneering efforts in identifying allosteric activators of glucokinasefor the treatment of type II diabetes.  This work marked the first discovery of an allosteric activator of a kinase of any type, and the X-Ray structural information derived from these activators gave new insights into structure-function relationships as well as the ability of kinases to act as key regulatory sensors.  These efforts culminated in the discovery of piragliatinwhich established positive proof-of-concept in phase II clinical trials for the mechanism of action and resulted in a publication in Science.

Dr. Mahaney received her B.S. in chemistry from Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, and earned her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from MIT in Cambridge, MA, studying the total synthesis of taxanenatural products.


Travis A. McCready
President & CEO
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center

Travis McCready is the President and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a $1 billion public–private partnership with the mission of advancing the life sciences ecosystem in Massachusetts. He directs and oversees the center’s investment strategy, including the agency’s operations, programs, and partnerships. Previously, Mr. McCready served as the Vice President for Programs at The Boston Foundation, directing the Foundation’s grants and community investment strategy to benefit the people of Greater Boston. He was the first Executive Director of the Kendall Square Association, responsible for growing the innovation economy of Kendall Square, one of the Commonwealth’s most economically robust districts. He has held the COO and CFO positions at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, overseeing the operations and finances for three convention centers in Massachusetts. A native of Brooklyn, Mr. McCready began his career as a public school teacher in the Bronx, NY. Mr. McCready serves as a trustee on the Advisory Boards for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Conservation Law Foundation, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, and WBUR; and the New England Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. He also serves on the Academic Institute Advisory Board Member for Atrius Health, in addition to, the Massachusetts Digital Healthcare Council and the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative. Mr. McCready previously served on the Economic Development Planning Council under two governors, including co-chairing the subcommittee on innovation and entrepreneurship. In 2018, he was named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Boston” by Boston Magazine. Mr. McCready is a frequent speaker on economic development strategy as it relates to the convergence of private, public, and not-for-profit interests. His blog, Life Sciences Discourses, has been recognized by The Boston Globe. Mr. McCready received his B.A. from Yale University and J.D. from the University of Iowa.


Stephanie Oestreich
Executive Vice President
Evotec

Dr. Stephanie Oestreich MPA is Executive Vice President at Evotec and leads the North American BRIDGEs Partnerships, negotiating umbrella agreements with universities and financing partners, selecting novel research projects and starting companies or licensing successful opportunities to pharma or biotech after achieving proof of concept: https://www.evotec.com/en/innovate/bridges

Previously, she was International Business Leader Avastin Breast, Cervical and Ovarian Cancer for F. Roche Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., and held local, regional and global marketing roles with increasing responsibilities in different geographies and therapeutic areas at Novartis.

Before working in Strategic Alliances at Novartis, she conducted the research for her PhD in biochemistry at Harvard Medical School and obtained an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.

As a semi-professional violinist, she has performed with members of the Berlin, Vienna, and Boston Philharmonic Orchestra in Carnegie Hall and demonstrates the analogies of teams and leadership in music and management in presentations with the Kendall Square Orchestra, an orchestra of scientists that she co-founded: www.kendallsquareorchestra.org.


Rice Powell
Chief Executive Office and Chairman of the Management Board
Fresenius Medical Care Management AG

Rice Powell is Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board effective January 1, 2013.  Prior to that, he was Vice Chairman of the Management Board and Member of the Management Board responsible for the region North America from 2010 to 2012.  He joined Fresenius Medical Care in 1997 and was appointed to the company’s management board and Co-CEO of Fresenius Medical Care North America in January 2004.  He has over 36 years of experience in the healthcare industry.  From 1978 to 1996, he held various positions, among others at Baxter International Inc. and Biogen Inc. in the US.


Navjot Singh
Managing Partner Boston Office & Former Board Chair, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
McKinsey

Dr. Navjot Singh is a leader in McKinsey’s Pharmaceuticals and Medicals practice and Public Sector Practice. He is the Managing Partner of the Boston Office and the Leader of the State and Local Public Sector Practice in North America. Dr. Singh’s work is focused on the unique intersection(s) of Science, Medicine, Business, Investments and Government.

Dr. Singh received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, an M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a B. Tech from Indian Institute of Technology. Prior to joining McKinsey, Dr. Singh was an R&D Executive at General Electric’s Global Research Center in New York. He is a co-holder of over 15 patents and has published in reputed journals such as In Vivo and Nature Drug Discovery.

He has served as the Chair of the Board for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Chair of the External Advisory Board of University of Minnesota, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. He has also served as an External Scientific Advisor for Partners Healthcare Innovation Grants, a Commissioner for the Commission for the Future of Transportation in the Commonwealth of MA, and a member of the Board of Directors for Massachusetts High Technology Council.


David Stein
Head of Healthineers Global Strategy
President, Molecular Diagnostics
Siemens Healthineers

Dr. David Stein is the Global Head of Strategy for Siemens Healthineers and the President of Molecular Diagnostics. David is focused on driving agility and innovation across the company through developing, adapting, and monitoring the company’s overall business strategy. In addition to leading Siemens Healthineers Strategy and its Molecular Diagnostics Business as a key Growth Field, David contributes to the success of Siemens Healthineers by fostering the company’s Healthineers Performance System, Principles, and culture; engaging in active venturing and incubating of white space innovations; and driving Global Policy and Advocacy across the company.

Prior to this, David was the CEO of the Siemens Healthineers Point of Care Business and the Head of Strategy for the Diagnostics Division.  As the CEO of Point of Care, he was responsible for long-term global strategy and business planning, strategic marketing, product and brand management, supply chain management, and product development for all existing and new POC products and solutions.

David has a strong focus on people, culture, and team development and was the Executive Sponsor of the Siemens Healthineers Diagnostics Diversity and Inclusion Council. David also previously held the position of Vice President of Engineering within the Diagnostics Division, leading and directing engineering activities for several central lab, point-of-care, and informatics products. He joined Siemens in 2001 and, through positions of increasing responsibility in product development, business operations, and portfolio strategy, has directed development and strategy for a number of successful products in the DX portfolio. Dr. Stein holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA.


Stefan Tullius
Chief of Transplant Surgery and Director of the Transplant Surgery Research Laboratory
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Professor of Surgery
Harvard Medical School

Dr. Stefan Tullius MD, PhD, FACS, is the Chief of Transplant Surgery and Director of the Transplant Surgery Research Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Dr. Tullius received an MD (Summa Cum Laude) from the Johann-Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, a PhD from the Charité in Berlin, Germany, and a (honorary) Master of Arts from Harvard University.  He completed his residency in addition to a transplant and visceral surgery fellowship at the Charité in Berlin, Germany.  He joined the faculty at the Charité in 2000, had been the Surgical Director of Transplantation at this institution until 2004, when he moved to Boston to take his current position.

Dr. Tullius is an internationally recognized clinician/scientist, a frequent invited speaker and visiting professor; he has published > 300 scientific manuscripts and book chapters. He is an Executive Editor of Transplantation, Associate Editor of Transplant International, and has served as Associate and Consulting Editor of the American Journal of Transplantation. He served on the Board of the European Society of Organ Transplantation (ESOT) and was the founding Chair of the Basic Science Committee of ESOT. He has chaired several committees for the AST and was the founding Chair of AST’s Vascular Composite Tissue Transplant Committee.  Dr. Tullius currently serves as the Senior Treasurer of The Transplantation Society. He serves as a Regional Councilor (New England) of UNOS and is also a member of the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian group.

His clinical interests focus on kidney/pancreas transplantation, individualized immunosuppression, optimized utilization of organs for transplantation and organ preservation/perfusion. Dr. Tullius has also contributed with pioneering work in face, hand and uterus transplantation.

Dr. Tullius has organized several International meetings. He co-chaired the Transplantation Science Symposia in Lorne, Australia (2015), and Victoria (Canada), and chaired the meeting in Cape Cod, Massachusetts (2011); he has been on the Executive Organizing Committee of the International Transplantation Meetings in Hong Kong (2016), and Madrid (2018), and serves currently on the Executive Organizing Committee of the Seoul meeting (2020).

He has a most productive NIH-funded research laboratory. Work originating from his laboratory includes significant contributions to the understanding of immunosenescence and alloimmunity, the clinical practice of organ allocation, effects of organ quality, obesity, organ preservation and composite tissue transplantation.

Dr. Tullius lists more than 250 PubMed listed publications and his work has been translated into clinical practice. He is also an enthusiastic teacher and has mentored > than 40 post-docs/graduate students who moved on into accomplished careers and have received several awards under his mentorship.

In recognition of his contributions, Dr. Tullius has received several awards including the Pichlmayr Award of the German Transplant Society, the Clinical Science Investigator Award of the AST, and the Joseph E. Murray/Simon J. Simonian Award. Dr. Tullius is also an Einstein Visiting Fellow at the Charité in Berlin, Germany.


Karl Ziegelbauer
Senior Vice President, Open Innovation & Digital Technologies
Bayer AG

Dr. Karl Ziegelbauer is currently Head of Open Innovation & Digital Technologies for the Bayer Pharma AG based in Wuppertal, Germany. In this role, he oversees all R&D activities related to collaborations and partnering and digital technologies including medical devices and eHealth.

Before this, Dr. Karl Ziegelbauer served as Senior Vice President for the Therapeutic Research Group from 2014-2018. From 2011-2014 he served as Senior Vice President for the Therapeutic Research Group Oncology and Gynecological Therapy, as Vice President for Oncology Research from 2008-2011 and as Vice President for Protein Therapeutics for Bayer Schering Pharma from 2007-2008.

He trained in biochemistry and molecular biology and holds a doctorate in Biochemical Sciences from the Max Planck Institute of Biology in Germany.

Dr. Ziegelbauer first started his career with Bayer in 1993 as a Research Scientist. He assumed positions of increasing responsibility working as Group leader at Bayer Yakuhin Ltd. in Japan from 1997-2000 before serving as Director of Antibacterial Research for Bayer AG till 2003. He subsequently assumed the position of Program Director for Research Alliances from 2001-2005.

Prior to joining Bayer in 1993, Dr. Ziegelbauer spent 4 years as a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Biology. Dr. Ziegelbauer has co-authored more than 50 scientific publications covering basic research as well as drug discovery topics.


 

About the German-American Business Council of Boston (GABC):
The GABC is the region’s premier organization specifically dedicated to fostering German-American business & trade here in New England. We count many of the region’s key German-American companies and business executives among our membership. We provide high-level networking opportunities through our wide-ranging speaker series, panel discussions and member-only programs. These have proven to be highly successful in getting key decision makers with German-American Business interests together. We are an independent, member-driven organization and enjoy close ties to the German Consulate General in Boston and the German American Chamber of Commerce in New York.

 

About the German American Economic Forum (GAEF):

The GAEF, produced by the German-American Business Council of Boston, is designed as an annual event, each year focusing on a different industry sector or topic. The focus of  #GAEF2019 is “Healthcare Innovation”. Given the growing international role the Boston region plays in Life Sciences, attracting more and more German companies to this area, this topic is particularly well suited for the inaugural event. The GAEF presents the unique opportunity to be part of a flagship event primarily dedicated to the German-American business community and capitalizing on the deep economic ties between the two countries. German companies employ more than 700,000 people in the U.S. – almost 18,000 in Massachusetts alone (according to the latest Transatlantic Economy Report 2019 by the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union).

Northeastern University: 

 Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experience-powered lifelong learning. Our world-renowned experiential approach empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create impact far beyond the confines of discipline, degree, and campus. Our locations-in Boston; the Massachusetts communities of Burlington and Nahant; Charlotte, North Carolina; the San Francisco Bay Area; Seattle; London; Toronto; and Vancouver-are nodes in our growing global university system. Through this network, we expand opportunities for flexible, student-centered learning and collaborative, solutions-focused research. Northeastern’s comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs-in on-campus, online, and hybrid formats-lead to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools. Among these, we offer more than 140 multidisciplinary majors and degrees designed to prepare students for purposeful lives and careers.