Executive Team and Board

Emily Westhoven | Executive Director

Emily Westhoven took on her duties as Executive Director of GABC in May 2018, bringing her extensive knowledge of German and American cultures to this position.
A native of Germany and a public relations professional by training, she has been living and working in the Boston area for more than two decades. After working in PR agencies in Boston for several years, she served most recently as a representative for Baden-Württemberg International. She joined the school committee of the German Saturday School Boston in 2008, chairing the committee for four years until 2017. Currently, she is also an advisor and non-voting member to the Board of Trustees of the German International School Boston.

---

Jan Hartmann, MD | President

Jan Hartmann, M.D. is SVP and Chief Medical Officer at Haemonetics, a global leader in blood management solutions, 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”).

---

Michael Haueisen | Vice President

Michael Haueisen is Head of Procurement Relations at Zeconomy, a technology platform that aligns the “procure-to-pay” processes among corporate buyers, sellers and institutional funders.

Previously, he worked for many years for Siemens, most recently as Vice President Strategic Project Procurement for Siemens Smart Infrastructure Canada and Latin America. In this role Michael focused on global sourcing and strategic supplier management in order to mitigate risk and maximize the process efficiency and productivity. Prior to that role Michael worked as global procurement head for SIEMENS Water Technology as well as Senior Director of Global Procurement North America for OSRAM SYLVANIA.

Michael is a German native who came to Boston in 2003 due to job relocation with OSRAM SYLVANIA. He received his Master in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University Munich, and also holds a Master of Economics from the University of Augsburg.

---

Angelo Moesslang, Ph.D. | Treasurer

Angelo Moesslang is Managing Director of SphingoTec, a Venture Capital backed start-up company that develops and markets innovative in vitro diagnostic tests for novel and proprietary blood-based protein biomarkers, based in Berlin and San Diego.

Angelo began his professional career as executive assistant to the Chairman of the Management Board of the Fresenius Group. Subsequently he spend 20 years with Fresenius Medical Care, the global leader in dialysis care, in investor relations, business development and senior finance functions in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United States, most recently as Chief Financial Officer of Fresenius Medical Care North America, Boston. Following his tenure at Fresenius he served as Chief Executive Officer of InGeneron, a clinical stage medical device company in Houston and as Chief Financial Officer of Meggle, a global leader in lactose based excipients for the pharmaceutical industry.

Angelo graduated in economics from the Ludwigs-Maximilians University Munich and completed his doctorate at the University of Stuttgart Hohenheim. He and his wife live in Boston and Munich.

---

Alexander Adam | Secretary

Alex is a Principal at the intellectual property law firm Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds where he advises significant universities, small and medium businesses, and start-ups on U.S. and international patent strategy.
Alex is a highly experienced scientist turned patent attorney specializing in drafting and prosecuting patent applications in medical devices, biotechnology, life sciences, computer systems, electronics, imaging software, control systems, mechanical devices, telecommunications, and clean energy. He has experience in trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings, patent litigation, due diligence, and providing invalidity and non-infringement opinions.
As a Ph.D. scientist, Alex worked at Boston University’s NeuroMuscular Research Center as a research assistant professor and co-supervisor in the Motor Unit Laboratory. He developed technical expertise in biosignal detection and analysis, sensor design, biomechanics, and digital signal processing. His doctoral work in biomedical engineering explored the neural regulation of human muscle activity through in-vivo recordings and mathematical modeling. Alex grew up in Germany and moved to Boston to attend university on an athletic scholarship.

---

Mridul Agrawal, MD | Director

Mridul Agrawal is a physician, scientist, and healthcare entrepreneur dedicated to advancing the care for cancer patients. He is President and Co-Founder of iuvando Health, a Germany-based digital health and precision oncology startup that enables patients to access innovative treatments within clinical trials. Prior, Mridul was a research fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard with a focus on blood cancer. Mridul studied medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore), University of Zurich, and Heidelberg University, where he graduated with a doctorate degree. He also obtained a master’s degree in Health Economics from Heidelberg University. Mridul has been honored with multiple highly prestigious national and international awards both in his role as a physician-scientist and entrepreneur.

---

Simon Alfano | Director

Dr. Simon Alfano is Vice President at Sobi North America leading the global Core Asset Team for Gamifant. Previously, he was an Associate Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Boston Office where he was advising pharmaceutical and biotech organizations on how to bring innovative therapies to patients with a high unmet need, with a focus on rare diseases, cell & gene therapies and rare oncology. Simon has worked over the last 15+ years with organizations along the entire healthcare value chain in 10+ countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia before re-locating to Boston in 2019. Simon, a German native, lives with his wife and four children in Newton, Massachusetts.

Prior to joining McKinsey & Company, Simon founded the AI-based capital market communication start-up TonalityTech GmbH. Simon started his career at GE Healthcare, where he worked in Germany, the UK and Singapore.

Simon holds a Dr. rer. pol. in Information Systems from the Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg. Additionally, he was a visiting researcher at Concordia University in Montreal and the University of Zurich. He was scholar of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (“Studienstiftung”).

---

Johannes Becker | Director

Johannes recently joined Dive CAE, a German-based engineering simulation software start-up where he is supporting the launch of their U.S. subsidiary in Boston. Johannes is an experienced engineer and management consultant with a background in R&D optimization, startup leadership, and software architecture. He is the founder of Becker Consulting Boston where he advises clients in the IoT, connectivity and ICS security space. He is also the CTO  of Netzwork LLC where he is develops pre-product IP on edge compute optimization. Johannes holds an M.Sc. (Dipl. Ingenieur) in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University Munich and a Ph.D in Computer Engineering from Boston University.

---

Jobina Gonsalves | Director

Jobina is an experienced and passionate Global HR Leader with over 20 years of Human Capital management experience in Asia, Europe and Americas. Jobina is currently the Chief People Officer at Forrester, one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. Previously, Jobina served for 12 years in senior HR positions at TÜV SÜD, a global testing and certification company, most recently as Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Americas. Jobina completed her Bachelor’s in Science from Mumbai University and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management and another in Human Capital Management from Management Development Institute of Singapore. She has also recently completed the Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) Program from the Wharton School of Business. Jobina is a Certified Strengths Finder Coach and holds the GPHR (Global Professional in HR) and SHRM-SCP (Senior HR Professional) certifications.

Jobina grew up in Mumbai, India and then lived in Singapore for 18 years before moving to Boston few years ago with her family.

---

Ben Hein | Director

Benjamin Hein is head of Life Science Services at the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (and/or its affiliates). He is based in Burlington, Massachusetts, U.S. In this role, he oversees the fully integrated Contract Development Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) and Contract Testing services for the Life Science business, including traditional modalities such as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and high-potency active pharmaceutical ingredients (HP-APIs), and novel modalities such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and viral and gene therapies (VGTs), as well as the business’ mRNA offering.

Hein joined the company in 2011, serving in several positions in key geographies. Most recently, he was Head of Specialty Gases, Electronics, based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. Prior to that, Hein served as General Manager for Asia (excl. Korea) for the Delivery Systems & Services business of Electronics, based in Taipei, Taiwan, as well as the Head of Strategy and Business Transformation, Electronics. In these roles, he shaped the future and strategic repositioning of Electronics including the transformational acquisitions and integrations of Versum and Intermolecular. Before joining Electronics, Benjamin served as the Head of Group Strategy and the CEO Office for Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (and/or its affiliates).

Hein holds a Master of Business (Marketing) from Queensland University of Technology, Australia, and a Master of Science in Strategic Marketing from Maastricht University, the Netherlands.

---

Bodo Liesenfeld | Director

Bodo Liesenfeld is the Managing Partner of Liesenfeld International GmbH, a private investment enterprise. For nearly 30 years, he was the CEO and Chairman of the German-based Rohde & Liesenfeld, an international air and sea freight forwarding group with a global presence. He is the Honorary Representative of the City of Hamburg to the Northeast of the U.S. and has served as Chairman of the German Latin America Business Association since 2006. He came to Boston as a Fellow at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (2009-2010). Since then, he has made Boston his primary home while still maintaining a presence in his hometown of Hamburg. He is the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute; a Member of the International Advisory Board of the Business School IAE in Buenos Aires; a Founding and Presidium Member of the Council of the German American Conference at Harvard e.V., and a Member of the Curatorship of the Protestant Entrepreneur Association in Germany.

---

Fiona Mack | Director

Fiona Mack is currently Vice President, Head of Bayer Co.Lab Cambridge, US, which is a part of the Business Development & Licensing / Open Innovation function. In this role, she is building a new cell and gene therapy incubator to accelerate innovation within the field. Prior to join Bayer, as Head of JLABS@ TMC, Fiona was responsible for external engagement, innovation sourcing, company onboarding, portfolio management, operational excellence, educational programming, and P&L. She catalyzed and supported the translation of science and technology into valuable solutions for patients and consumers across the pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer, and healthtech sectors. Fiona has held senior leadership positions at Ipsen, Roche and Pfizer supporting external innovation efforts to expand Rare Disease, Neuroscience and Oncology portfolios. Fiona earned her Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and her undergraduate degree in Biology from Cornell University. Her innovative work has been published in high impact journals and she also has several granted patents.

---