30 Rising Leaders

Michelle Werner, CEO of Alltrna, sat down with In Vivo to discuss rare disease as an increasingly important area of study, innovation in the space and how the emerging biotech hopes to impact the treatment landscape.

Biomedical engineering graduate Cécile Dupont has for the past 12 years helped healthcare technology businesses develop disruptive solutions that positively impact patients’ lives. The current chapter of her career opened in 2017 when she joined Sofinnova MD Start, the early-stage medtech incubator of VC investor Sofinnova Partners, where she is a partner.

Christoffer Ekström, one of In Vivo's 2023 Rising Leaders, spoke about the challenges a start-up founder faces, the importance of never giving up and how one should always learn from the past.

Jessica Federer, former chief digital officer at Bayer, talks to In Vivo about making the jump into investing and why women’s health is a rich and deep market set for change.

Medtech was not on Jesper Kimer’s radar when pioneering mobile phone company Nokia took him into its graduate program. A few career turns later, having fulfilled a desire to become an entrepreneur, his expertise and interests met in the middle when he co-founded thyroid disorder home monitoring start-up, HEI Therapeutics.

2022 was a turbulent year for start-ups, especially in medtech. However, Rutger Zietsma has persisted, refocused and is ready for further success with his company, Manus Neurodynamica.

One of In Vivo’s 2023 Rising Leaders, Pheast Therapeutics’ chief development officer Amira Barkal, is also busy becoming a qualified physician. She is in the unusual position of leading an early-stage drug development program and being hands-on helping patients at the same time.

Erin Wenzel, director of alliance management at Spero Therapeutics, talks to In Vivo about working with a big pharma partner and Spero’s strategy for future growth.

Urmi Prasad Richardson brings a wealth of science and business experience to diagnostics and life sciences multinational Thermo Fisher Scientific, where for the past two years she has been president of the group’s vast and varied EMEA business. The Indian-born, Germany-based executive has surmounted a range of challenges along the way and offers her story as inspiration for others.

British teleradiology provider Hexarad has shot from strength to strength in recent years, launching two different programs and opening up opportunities for its network of radiologists to continue supporting the National Health Service while working abroad. Company CEO Farzanah Rahman, one of In Vivo’s 2023 Rising Leaders, discussed Hexarad’s expansion, its values and the myth of the sole leader.

With all of the advancements in the life sciences industry, there is one area that is still assessed the way it has been for 100 years, subjectively. Pain. Gilat Zuckerman-Stark’s vision to improve patient outcomes comes from combining patience, persistence, education and artificial intelligence.

One in eight couples in the US are struggling to get pregnant. Alife Health’s CEO Paxton Maeder-York believes that by leveraging artificial intelligence for use in IVF fertility clinics, he can help shape a future where more people have a better chance of starting families at a lower cost and higher rate of success.