Advisory Board

Founder Hocoma AG

Rehabilitation Technology did not exist as a market before the year 2000. With the pioneering research Gery Colombo conducted between 1993 and 2002, as well as the commercialization of the rehabilitation robot “Lokomat”, this new field was started and built up.

Besides the Lokomat Gery Colombo also co-​invented the Erigo and the Valedo. After the contribution in research (first article is cited more than 1500 times), he started and managed the now globally leading, fully certified medical device company Hocoma and established five international subsidiaries in USA, Singapore, Slovenia, Chile and Germany.

He also was involved in building up the world leading conference in the field (RehabWeek) as well as the global industry society in this field (IISART). Today he is CTO of Vamed Switzerland and is active in different boards.

Swiss center for accessible building

Joe A. Manser is an architect and himself a wheelchair user. He was a co-founder (1981) and long-time managing director of the non-profit “Swiss center for accessible building” where he works today as a senior consultant.

The focus of his work was on researching and developing planning principles for accessible building, as well as the publication of corresponding guidelines and information sheets as planning guidelines. Two interdisciplinary basic research projects were carried out together with the ETH Zurich and UZH. Joe A. Manser was co-initiator and co-author of the relevant official Swiss standards as well as the corresponding ISO and EN standards.

In addition to the planning requirements, he also initiated a network of 22 cantonal advice centers to promote the implementation on site for thousands of construction projects per year.

As a third pillar to achieve an obstacle-free environment, he was significantly involved in the development of corresponding building regulations in the national disability equality law as well as in the 26 very different cantonal building regulations.

In addition to the construction sector, he has also initiated and accompanied significant advances in access to public transport in recent years. So that the great advances in medicine, rehabilitation and aid technology enable people to live independently, these advances in everyday life have to be complemented by a continuous, accessible built environment.

McGill University (CAN)

Vanessa Rampton is a historian of ideas and Branco Weiss Fellow at the Institute for Health and Social Policy and Department of Philosophy at McGill University. Previously, she was an ETH Fellow at ETH Zurich’s Chair for Practical Philosophy. As a Cambridge Commonwealth Scholar she received her PhD from King’s College, University of Cambridge in 2013.

Trained in philosophy and history, she has a long-standing interest in how empirical examples can challenge commonly held assumptions and beliefs.

Her current research concerns the rise and proliferation of the concept of progress in medicine in the late twentieth/early twenty-first-centuries. She has published on numerous topics related to progress including artificial intelligence, digital technologies, autonomy, ethics, and conservatism, and her recent monograph on liberalism was published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.

UZH/USZ

Prof. Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari trained in Switzerland and the US. Since 2013, she is the Chair of Geriatric Medicine and Aging Research at the University of Zurich, and responsible for the clinical departments of Geriatric Medicine at the Town Hospitals Waid&Triemli, and the University Hospital Zurich.

Prof. Bischoff-Ferrari has a research focus on Active and Healthy Aging & the prevention of frailty, she coordinates the largest healthy aging trial in Europe, external pageDO-HEALTH,call_made and the SPHN Driver Project Swiss Frailty Network and Repository external page(SFNR)call_made between all 5 University Hospitals in Switzerland.

Prof. Bischoff-Ferrari’s clinical training includes general internal medicine, geriatric medicine, rheumatology and rehabilitation medicine. With regard research methods, she carries a Doctor of Public Health Degree from Harvard School of Public Health in Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Nutrition.

Swiss Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Dr Stefan Bützberger has been chief physician rheumatology at Kantonsspital Baden’s clinic in Brugg since 2020. He is the current president of the board of directors of the Swiss Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (SSPMR), a partner society of RESC.

Stefan Bützberger specialises in internal medicine (2003), rheumatology (2006), and physical medicine and rehabilitation (2012). From 2011 to 2020 he was chief physician musculoskeletal rehabilitation, senior physician, and deputy director at aarReha rehabilitation clinic in Schinznach Bad. 

Active Communication

Fiore Capone is the founder of Active Communication AG, a Swiss provider of innovative digital assistive technology solutions in the fields of communication aids, computer access and environment control. Since its founding year in 1996, he has been the Managing Director of Active Communication. Through its brand-name “Rednet”, Active Communication is represented by a wide network of supply partners throughout Europe.

Fiore Capone was one of the founders of the first national exhibition for assistive technology in Switzerland (Swiss Handicap, founded in 2013). As a board member of Swiss Handicap, he is a dedicated supporter of this unique national inclusion platform, designed to increase awareness of the UN Convention for the rights of persons with disabilities in Switzerland.

As a networker, Fiore Capone strongly believes in the strength and the importance of a strong network in the fragmentated digital assistive technology-industry in Europe. He is immensely proud to be one of the initiators and founders of the first European industry association for digital assistive technology, founded in 2020.

Mathilde Escher Stiftung

Lukas Fischer has held various positions in the residential, educational and work areas at the Mathilde Escher Stiftung in Zurich since 2003. He is currently head of the graphic design Studio and the institute’s head of communication.

He has a professional background in PR and media. He studied social work at the ZHAW and has a CAS in learning coaching and a CAS in communication for NPO’s. It is important to him not to see disability as an individual problem for people with health limitations. Disability manifests itself in the interaction with the environment. In his view, approaches for an inclusive world must target social structures in addition to assistive technologies and therapies.

The Mathilde Escher Stiftung works for the highest possible quality of life for people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy or other diseases with similar support needs. Great importance is attached to a holistic view and interprofessional cooperation.
The Mathilde Escher Stiftung enables people with high medical-therapeutic support needs to receive schooling and vocational training, professional activity, age-appropriate living, leisure and sports opportunities. In Switzerland, there are no similar organisations specialising in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Zürcher RehaZentren

Markus Gautschi works already for 30 years for healthcare providers, 23 years in somatic hospitals, since 2014 in psychiatric and rehabilitation clinics and 25 years as CEO.

He is an expert of the swiss healthcare system. From 2013 to 2019 he was president of the swiss association of hospital managers. He completed his Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Advanced Studies in Health Service Management at the University of Applied Science St. Gallen.

In 2010 he reached the Executive MBA at the University of Zurich. 2019 he absolved the CAS as a certified Director of Board Effectiveness at the University of St. Gallen. His special interest is the development of the rehabilitation system under circumstances of the lack of employees because of the future age pyramid.

He is married and father of two grown-up daughters. He lives with his wife in Davos.

ORTHO-TEAM Group

Daniel Gelbart
Passionate about human mobility, Daniel is a qualified orthopedic technologist. As a driving force behind ORTHO-TEAM Group, he spearheads the expansion and transformation of the HealthTech company group into the digital era.

Previously, with an international career spanning the USA, China, Germany, and the UK, Daniel joined Ottobock from 2012 to 2018. He served in the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa Management Team, and later as the Commercial & Academy Director of Ottobock UK, based in London. In 2019 he took on the role of CEO at Gelbart AG.

Daniel's entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found various startups, including Acquire London Ltd. Today, he is actively investing across diverse industry sectors through Gelbi Ventures GmbH. He holds a Business Administration degree.

Beyond his corporate endeavors, Daniel engages with the community as a member of the Ortho Reha Suisse Association, a board member at Refdata Stiftung, and in advisory board positions at The Singularity Group, Swiss Abilities, and Carvin Medicines Canada.

University of St. Gallen HSG

Prof. Dr Nils Jent is a Director of the Centre for Disability and Integration and Professor for Diversity Management at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). He is also a partner for Governance of (Dis)Ability Policies & Practices at the International Centre for Corporate Governance (icfcg), and a member of the Board of the Beatrice Ederer-Weber Foundation. He earned his PhD in Economics at the University of St. Gallen in 2001. He was appointed Professor for Diversity by the HSG in 2012. Prof. Jent is an expert in diversity management and inclusion, disability studies and applied ability. 

Sonova AG

Stefan Launer studied Physics at the University of Würzburg in Germany. He conducted a PhD thesis in Hearing Science and Psychoacoustics at the Universities of Göttingen and Oldenburg”. After finishing his PhD thesis Dr Launer joined Phonak in 1995 as a member of the research team.

During his career at Phonak, now Sonova, Stefan Launer managed various teams including Audiological Engineering, Digital Signal Processing & Microelectronics and Acoustic Design. In his current role Stefan Launer is in charge of supervising and coordinating the Audiology & Health Innovation program within the Sonova organization incl hearing instrument & implant technology and rehabilitation services. This includes management of the network of academic partnerships and collaborations of Sonova.

Stefan Launer also holds an Adjunct Professorship in Audiology & Hearing Instrument technology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane and at the University of Manchester, UK.

Careum School of Health at Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences

Jacqueline Martin, PhD, RN, is the CEO of the Careum School of Health at the Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences. She has over 30 years of experience in acute and critical care settings at the University Hospital Basel in various positions; nine years as Director of Nursing & Allied Healthcare Professions, and Member of the hospital board until 2020. She holds a Master’s degree in Nursing Science (University Maastricht, Netherlands), PhD (University of Ulster, Northern Ireland) and Master of Advanced Studies degree in Adult and Professional Education (University of Kaiserslautern, Germany). Jacqueline Martin is a fellow of the international Sciana Health Leaders Network. Her expertise is in the fields of leadership development, change management, lean hospital management, interprofessional collaboration, critical care nursing, and person-centred care.

Sensability / ZHAW

Brian McGowan, born in 1979, studied history and political sciences at the University of Zurich. After working for the Swiss Confederation (Federal Office for the Equality of People with Disabilities EBGB), he headed the Equality Office for People with Disabilities of the city of Bern. He currently serves as Co-President and Project Manager of Sensability.ch and as Diversity Officer at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW. Brian McGowan’s expertise in the fields of equality of people with disabilities, inclusion theories and critical diversity theories, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implementation, and diversity and higher education and university structures.

AXA Schweiz

Fabrizio Petrillo
Fabrizio Petrillo has been CEO of AXA Switzerland since 2018. Before being appointed head of Switzerland's largest all-lines insurer, he was in charge of the non-life insurance business. Prior to that, he was Head of Finance at AXA Switzerland for four years. From 2009, Fabrizio Petrillo shaped the development of various innovative insurance products in the life insurance sector as Head of "Swiss Products" and later as Head of Market Development. Prior to that, he worked for Swiss Life for seven years after holding positions in consulting.

The Ticino native with Italian roots studied theoretical physics at ETH Zurich and later completed a Master's programme in Business Administration at Insead in Fontainebleau. He is the father of three children and lives with his family in the city of Zurich.

AXA Switzerland has around 2 million customers, around 4500 employees and around 2700 field staff. With over 340 branches, it has the largest sales network in the insurance industry in Switzerland. The company is part of the AXA Group and achieved a business volume of CHF 6.8 billion in 2019.