Advisory Board

Professor Eter is an ophthalmologist and director of the eye clinic at the University Hospital Münster. She was President of the German Ophthalmological Society in 2017 / 2018 and has been Chair of the Association of Ophthalmological Chairholders since 2017. Her scientific focus is on the research and treatment of retinal diseases, especially age-related macular degeneration. In the Cluster of Excellence “Cells in Motion”, she is researching the mechanisms behind retinal diseases. Her major goal is to develop new forms of therapy.

Dr. Michael Apel is working for the company Miltenyi Biotec B.V. & Co. KG, Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany. He is responsible for innovative third-party funded projects in Germany and abroad as well as research collaborations. Miltenyi Biotec employs around 4,000 people worldwide who develop pioneering solutions for biomedical research and the clinical application of cell and gene therapies.

Gregor Bornes, a chemist, is the managing director of Gesundheitsladen Köln e.V.. He has worked there as a patient advisor for around 25 years. Since 1999, he has also been the spokesman for the Federal Working Group of Patient Representatives and a member of the G-BA (spokesman for patient representation in the Dental Treatment Subcommittee).

Professor Britta Böckmann has been a professor of medical informatics at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences since 2006 and has been legally equivalent as a professor at the medical faculty of Essen University Hospital since 2017. Her research interests include telemedicine, knowledge management/decision support, and information systems in healthcare. Prior to her appointment, she shaped innovations in healthcare IT strategy in particular in the private sector.

Professor Oliver A. Cornely is Director of the Translational Research Chair of the Cluster of Excellence “Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases” (CECAD) and Scientific Director of the Center for Clinical Studies at the University of Cologne. He also directs the European Center of Excellence for Invasive Fungal Diseases (ECMM). In addition to research, he is responsible for diagnosis and therapy of infections as a consultant at the Clinic I for Internal Medicine at the University Hospital of Cologne. Mr. Cornely’s research focus is on prophylaxis and therapy of infections, especially in cases of immune deficiency.

Since 2021, Mr. Cornely has also led the VACCELERATE project, a clinical research network for the coordination and implementation of COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Dr. Anke Diehl is the Chief Transformation Officer and Head of the Digital Transformation Unit at Essen University Hospital and is responsible for implementing the Smart Hospital Strategy. Since March 2021, she has also been consortium leader of the leading-edge cluster AI in medicine ‘SmartHospital.NRW‘ and since December 2021, she has been a member of the national expert committee ‘Interop Council’. As a physician, she worked in radiology, neurology, neuroradiology and psychiatry before joining the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in 2010, where she headed the department of care structure development until 2018. In addition to digital medicine, she is currently working on gender issues in AI and digitization and is the winner of the ‘Medical Woman of the Year’ Award 2021.

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. iur. Christian Dierks is a specialist in social law and medical law, a specialist in general medicine and a professor of health systems research at Charité Berlin.

He is the founder of Dierks+Company, a consulting firm specializing in innovations in healthcare and life sciences. Dierks+Company combines legal expertise with strategy consulting.

Christian Dierks has published over 100 books, book chapters and essays and is a member of numerous national and international committees and working groups. Among others, he was president of the German Society for Medical Law, is a member of the Legal Committee of the BDI and the Legal Working Group of EUCOPE.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lauer has been head of the ‘Medical Devices’ department at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) in Bonn since 2011. He previously worked at the Chair of Medical Technology at RWTH Aachen University (MediTEC), where he headed the ‘Medical System Ergonomics and Safety’ research group. His regulatory and scientific focus lies in the areas of ‘Safety and performance of medical devices’ and ‘Digital health applications’.

Prof. Sabine Oertelt-Prigione is a physician, scientist and organizational consultant. She holds the Chair of Gender Medicine at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, since 2017 and the Professorship of Gender Sensitive Medicine at Bielefeld University since 2021. She was a member of the EU Commission expert group “Gendered Innovations” in 2018-2020 and is currently chair of the EU expert group “Gender and COVID-19.” The work in her working groups is based on three thematic pillars:

1. Advocacy for gender medicine (training and teaching, promotion to the general population),
2. Implementation of gender-sensitive care in clinical practice and research through collaborative projects with subject matter experts (e.g., in cardiology, neurology, and oncology), and
3. Organizational research and consulting to reduce gender discrimination and systemic barriers.

Meik Schnabel, a graduate sociologist, is a research officer in the asset department at Deutsche Rentenversicherung Westfalen. There, Mr. Schnabel oversees the institution’s activities in the field of rehabilitation research with the aim of broadening the scientific basis of rehabilitation services and continuously improving the services offered to insured persons.

Prof. Dr. med. Petra Thürmann is a specialist in clinical pharmacology. She is deputy medical director of the Helios University Hospital in Wuppertal, where she heads the Philipp Klee Institute for Clinical Pharmacology. At the University of Witten/Herdecke she is Vice President for Research and accompanies the Chair for the subject. Her research interests include clinical trials, drug therapy safety and geriatric pharmacology, and gender differences in pharmacology. Prof. Thürmann is a full member of the Drug Commission of the German Medical Profession and was a member of the German Council of Experts for the Assessment of Developments in the Healthcare System from 2011 to January 2023.

Professor Jörg Vienken is one of the leading international experts on biomaterials and membranes. He worked as Vice President BioSciences at Fresenius Medical Care in Bad Homburg from 1996 to 2013. Even after his retirement, his special interests are medical technology, biomaterials and artificial organs. Jörg Vienken still holds lectureships on these topics at various German and European universities. He has been a member of the Leibniz Society in Berlin since 2000.