Björn Ursing Lecturer

Sr Project Manager Life Science & Health
Nederländernas ambassad

In the role at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Stockholm, Björn Ursing heads the initiative to connect the life science sectors in Sweden and the Netherlands. Both countries are strong in life science with cutting edge research, thriving companies and innovative communities. The ongoing projects are #dualmarketentry for digital health start-ups, connecting investors in life science and broadening the network and competitiveness among service providers. Björn Ursing is a strong advocate for the service providers important role in the life science ecosystem.
Björn Ursing has spent 30 years in life sciences working in academia as Assoc Prof at Karolinska Institutet, as COO at a service provider in Copenhagen, in inward investment in Umeå, for the Swedish life science community at SwedenBIO, and board member.

Claudia Hidou Lecturer

Head of Life Science and healthcare for the Americas region
Business Sweden

Head of Life Science and healthcare for the Americas region at Business Sweden based in New York. Extensive experience providing holistic market entry support and GTM strategies for Nordic companies. Manager for Nordic AMPlify, a US market entry health acceleration program funded by Nordic Innovation.
Formerly strategy consulting positions in Canada.

Gösta Melkersson Lecturer

James Sargent Lecturer

Managing Director
RQR Capital

Experienced global healthcare executive, investor, and trusted advisor to an extensive network of entrepreneurs, government leaders, physicians, and investors across the globe. Jim led numerous sales, commercialization, and cross-functional leadership teams within Boston Scientific over 20+ year career, including residing in South Korea for several years, with responsibilities for much of Asia Pacific, including China. Jim has led workshops for, and partnered with, research institutions and government leaders throughout Northern Europe and Asia during his extensive post-Boston Scientific investment career.

Sarah Wamala-Andersson Lecturer

Professor of Health and Welfare technology
Mälardalens University

Dr. Sarah Wamala Andersson currently serves as the Professor of Health and Welfare Technology, at Mälardalen University in Sweden.
Sarah is passionate about inclusive digital transformation, co-design of human-centered technologies, real-word evidence, implementation, equity, ethics, sustainability, collaborations, children´s future career aspirations

Sarah is the founder and leader of Research group: PREVIVE Health and Welfare Technology Research Group, which stands for Policy, Reimbursement, Evidence, Implementation, Value and Effectiveness in Health and Welfare Technology interventions. https://www.mdu.se/en/malardalen-university/research/research-areas/previve
Sarah´s mission is to generate and use evidence to fast-track digital transformation that is effective, inclusive, and sustainable in ways that make lives better especially for those who are excluded in many ways and contribute to socioeconomic development.
Sarah is the principal investigator of several international and national projects related to implementation of digital health solutions and their effectiveness from a user perspective based on co-creation methodologies. Sarah serves on several international expert panels related to new digital technologies and innovations in health and care systems.
Sarah has a multidisciplinary academic training from several international universities (PhD, medical sciences, Karolinska Institutet), Master´s degree (biostatistics/epidemiology) from Stockholm university, Cambridge School of Public Health (UK) and Tufts University (USA) and bachelor’s degree (economics) from Makerere university (Uganda). Sarah has also completed a Post-doc at the University of Otago, Wellington School of Medicine (New Zealand) and the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford Business Graduate School (USA).
Sarah has long multi-professional experiences and has held several scientific and executive management roles in research-driven public organizations and pharmaceutical industry. Sarah has previously the Swedish government as Director General of the Swedish National Institute of Public Health, Professor of Health policy at Karolinska Institutet, and as Principal research scientist at multinational pharmaceutical companies.
Sarah has supervised several PhD and Master students and has published over 70 scientific articles in peer-reviewed international scientific journals, several books, conference papers, reports and public debate articles.
Linkedin profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsarahwamala/

Tom Sudow Lecturer

Partner
Novamedics Advisors, LLC

Tom Sudow, Partner
Novamedics Advisors
Tom Sudow brings over 30 years in the high-tech and biosciences industries. He was the Director of Business Development for the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, a product development consortium led by Cleveland Clinic. GCIC companies raised over $1.5B with thirty of the 60 companies’ products in market today.
Tom is the Director of the Burton J. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Ashland University; serves as the Medical Director for Merchavia; and as a Venture Partner for Eliraz Ventures. He is frequently called upon, internationally, to present at leading conferences and he has organized and led seminars on biomedical innovation internationally.
Tom served as Director Business Development for Cleveland Clinic Innovations, an Advisor to eHealth Venture a fund dedicated to digital health; as a member of the Akron BioInnovation Fund due diligence committee, and: a Founder of the Beachwood Business Development Center
Tom is actively involved in the community and served as president of a number professional and civic organizations. He had received a number of awards and recognitions.

Val Krazman Lecturer

Director Healthcare Americas
Business Finland

An international business strategist with a systems focus and operational solution sets,
Mr. Kratzman has over 40 years’ experience in the international marketplace working with start-ups through Fortune 100 companies. He has worked on both the client and agency sides of the business equation having established US operations for foreign companies; launched new consumer, medical, and scientific products; and has been active in M&A and IP transactions.

Mr. Kratzman is currently Director of Healthcare for the Americas for Business Finland where he works with startups and SMEs to clinically validate new healthcare technologies and globally grow those companies. Val’s work with Finland started in 1994 when he was appointed Trade Commissioner to the United States. He served as the head of the Finland Trade Center in Washington, D.C. sitting on the Ambassador’s commercial staff. Val co-developed Business Finland’s Foresight practice and Finland’s “Kasvu” accelerated market entry program for start-ups. He is the architect of the Nordic AMPlify Accelerated Market Entry program designed for
Nordic digital health companies entering the US that was launched in 2020 in Winston-Salem.

Prior to Business Finland, Mr. Kratzman lead the KPMG team that created the international management consulting company BearingPoint. He was Vice President and Global Director of Economic Development for Burson-Marsteller acting as a foreign direct investment advisor to several prime ministers. As Vice President, Economic Development at Hill and Knowlton, he designed a new model for foreign direct investment that over 20 countries are using today.

Val’s commercial career in healthcare started with the Australian government assessing new medical technologies and therapies. Mr. Kratzman is a graduate of the Wharton Business School and the Pennsylvania State University. He further completed graduate studies in Health Care Administration at George Washington University. He is a mentor and judge at the Yale CBIT Healthcare Hackathon and a mentor at MIT Hacking Medicine. Val is a published author and a guest lecturer at Aalto and The New York Universities. He resides in South Thomaston, Maine with his wife, an environmental educator.

Britta Stenson Moderator

PhD, Program Manager
Business Sweden

As a program manager at Business Sweden, I focus everyday on strengthening Swedish Life Science, with a special focus on Digital Health.
I have a PhD from Karolinska Institutet and experience from non-profit, MedTech and management consulting. I have a passion for life science, business, healthcare and organizational development - and the color red.

Jonathan Gertler Moderator

Managing Partner & CEO
Back Bay Life Science Advisors

Jonathan P. Gertler, MD has more than 35 years of clinical and scientific experience, and extensive advisory work with biotechnology, medical device, diagnostic, and health care IT companies in both the private and public sectors.

A former vascular surgeon, Dr. Gertler is a frequent speaker and writer on strategic issues facing life science companies at all stages.

He has founded several life sciences companies, including Antyllus Therapeutics, a development-stage biotechnology company focused on aortic diseases, and Optivio, a commercial-stage enterprise software platform for stress management and performance optimization. Dr. Gertler also founded Cardiovascular Technologies, an endovascular company that successfully exited in 2001.

Throughout his advisory career, Dr. Gertler has counseled companies on growth and liquidity strategies and has been responsible for significant aggregate consideration in M&A private and public equity for biotech, medtech, and HCIT companies. Before his advisory and consulting career and during the latter phases of his academic career, he was a venture partner at SV Life Sciences from 1997-2001.

Dr. Gertler was an academic vascular surgeon, primarily as Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital. He has published extensively in clinical vascular surgery and endothelial and smooth muscle cell biology. He has served as an ad-hoc editor for the Journal of Vascular Surgery, The New England Journal of Medicine, and The Journal of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery.

He currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board at Boston University School of Medicine and the Venture Advisory Board of the BioInnovation Institute in Copenhagen. He is a supporter and advisor to several non-profit organizations dedicated to inclusion and diversity, including Life Science Cares and Squashbusters, a sports-based youth development program serving young people in Boston, Lawrence, and Providence.

Dr. Gertler trained in Vascular Surgery at Yale in General Surgery and the Massachusetts General Hospital. He earned a medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, an MBA in Health Policy and Management from Boston University, and a BA from Wesleyan University. Dr. Gertler is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of numerous academic and clinical surgical societies. He is a Series 24 Registered Securities Principal and is an avid musician, athlete, and fly angler.