Tech4Eva Opening Conference 2025

Cathrin Brisken is internationally recognized for her work on endocrine control of mammary gland development and breast carcinogenesis. Dr. Brisken received her MD and her PhD degree in Biophysics from the Georg August University of Göttingen, Germany. She completed her postdoctoral work in cancer biology with Dr. R.A. Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA, USA. She previously held appointments at the Cancer Center of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston and the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC).

Research in Dr. Brisken’s laboratories focuses on the cellular and molecular underpinnings of estrogen, progesterone, and androgen receptor signaling in the breast epithelium and the respective roles of these hormones and hormonally active compounds in carcinogenesis. The aim is to understand how recurrent exposures to endogenous and exogenous hormones contribute to breast carcinogenesis in order to better prevent and treat the disease. The laboratory has pioneered in vivo approaches to genetically dissect the role of the reproductive hormones in driving mouse mammary gland development and shown how they control intercellular communication. Dr. Brisken’s group has developed ex vivo and humanized mouse models using patient samples that have opened entirely new ways to study hormone action in clinically relevant settings and model hormone sensitive breast cancer.

Dr. Brisken is member of the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) Biological Protocol Working Group. She served as Dean of EPFL Doctoral School (>2000 PhD students), as member of the Hinterzartener Kreis, the oncology think-tank associated with the German Science Foundation, Pezcoller Symposium committee and other Swiss, European, and AACR advisory boards. She was appointed member of the Women in Cancer Research Council of the American Association for Cancer Research (2016-2019) and co-founded the International Cancer Prevention Institute.

Stéphanie P. Lacour holds the Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Neuroprosthetic Technology in the School of Engineering at EPFL and leads the Laboratory for Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces.

She received her PhD in Electrical Engineering from INSA de Lyon, France, and completed postdoctoral research at Princeton University and the University of Cambridge.

She is the recipient of the 2006 MIT TR35, a University Research Fellowship of the Royal Society, European Research Council ERC Starting and POC Grants, and a SNSF-ERC Consolidator Grant. She was elected a 2015 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Lan is the Deputy Managing Director of EPFL Innovation Park and an Expert of Innosuisse – the Swiss Innovation Agency.  She has 23 years of hands-on professional experience in industry as well as in the ecosystem of innovation & entrepreneurship.

Lan started her career at R&D department of Rolex, in charge of creating new computer aided design and optimisation tools in the product development process. She was later appointed as Head of Operational Planning at Pictet, working closely with a startup to design, develop and implement a management information system for group operation control. As the Managing Director of Geneva Creativity Center, she connected large corporations, SMEs, startups and researchers to initiate innovative joint R&D projects.

Currently at EPFL Innovation Park, she is leading entrepreneurship training and acceleration programs and is helping startups to establish business partnership with large corporations. Lan has a PhD degree from EPFL, an MBA from HEC Lausanne and postdoctoral applied research experience at Stanford University.

Anna holds a MSc from Stockholm School of Economics, as well as diplomas from the Karolinska Institutet and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).

She is passionate about the mix between economics, technology and the human aspect of healthcare.

In her current role she is responsible for the Innovation activities carried out at Groupe Mutuel, aiming to constantly bringing new topics and trends to the table.

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With over 20 years of experience in the cancer drug development industry, I am the CEO of OncoGenomX, a prediction software company that revolutionizes individualized drug-tumor matching. Our software, PredictionStar, enables prescription of more than 20 different anti-cancer drugs based on the patient's tumor profile, for certainty of therapy success before starting treatment.

As the pioneers of biology-based drug-tumor matching and the leader of reliable outcome prediction, OncoGenomX is already a trusted name among breast cancer specialists. I work closely with oncologists, clinical researchers, international clinical study groups, and business development partners to advance our mission of ending under- and overtreatment of patients, avoiding unnecessary costs, and minimizing the risk of therapy failure and liability. I am also an entrepreneur and a strategic consultant with a MD focused on Oncology, Tumor Biology, and Cancer Genetics from the University of Innsbruck. I have multiple honors and certifications in my field, including being named one of 'Europe's Top 5 Effective Leaders in Healthcare', 'Most Innovative CEO in the FemTech Industry', and 'Healthcare CEO of the Year Switzerland'.

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Because our healthcare system needs a positive impacts, Grégory is committed to improving lives and creating a healthier future for all through innovative approaches.

Grégory has spent about fifteen years in the insurance industry, with the last nine years at Groupe Mutuel, where he has created some innovative insurance products. He is particularly renowned for creating PrimaFlex, the first alternative basic insurance model in Switzerland that supports breast cancer screening by exempting this service from the deductible, regardless of the women's age or residence.

A business economist by education, he also actively participates in interdisciplinary initiatives aimed at improving the healthcare system through innovations. He is committed to supporting those in need, enhancing access to care, and fostering collaboration and synergies among healthcare players.

Simone has 25+ years of event management, strategy, marketing, community and relationship building experience. She joined the EPFL Innovation Park team in 2020 to launch Tech4Eva in 2021 and she currently manages the Tech4Eva accelerator operations, events and community marketing.

For 16 years she built the brand/network of Tech Tour as their Managing Director leading the events team to implement 25+ tech events per year. She has a proven ability to set up well-oiled processes and leverage networks to open partnership opportunities to build a strong ecosystem by maximizing objectives and engaging all stakeholders (corporates, investors, academia, tech start-ups in all digital sectors).

Previously she worked for the University of NC in Chapel Hill, USA, implementing the new graduate student program. She also worked at SCIP as their global operations & marketing manager both in Alexandria, VA & in London, UK, where she opened and managed their branch office to establish their European presence, as well as overseeing all aspects of international conferences & tradeshows.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA. She is fluent in English, French & German.