Advisory Board Members

Prof. Dr. med. Albert Gjedde, M.D., D.Sc, FRSC, FAAAS, FACNP, MAE, MDLA

Prof. Dr. Gjedde is Professor of Neurobiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is currently also Adjunct Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the Department of Neurology, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Adjunct Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science at the Division of Nuclear Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He has published 740 research items, 674 peer-reviewed articles, and 40 book chapters. Prof. Gjedde is a world renowned accademic, author, and medical specialist for the human brain. He has served as a member of numerous boards, councils and committtees and collected over $60 million in research funds.

Prof. Dr. med. Michael R Franz, M.D., Ph.D

Prof. Dr. Franz is Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., Director, Electrophysiology Research Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Washington, D.C.. He is a world renowned expert for Cardiology and Electrophysiology, has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and four books, 25 book chapters, and holds 5 patents for cardiac catheters. He is an editorial board member for the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology and Heart Rhythm, and a frequent peer reviewer for all major cardiology journals and the intramural NIH Data Monitoring and Safety Board. As US Entrepreneur and founder of EP Technologies Inc. / Boston Scientific, Inc., he invested in BrainRepair UG based on a substantial valuation.

Prof. Dr. med. Eckard Hamelmann, M.D.

Professor Dr. Hamelmann is heading the University Dept. for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at Bielefeld (Klinik für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin) and is Professor of Pediatrics at the Ruhr-University Bochum where he was also the Chairman of the Dept. of Pediatrics from 2008 to 2014. He has published 215 research items, 186 peer-reviewed articles, and 8 book chapters. He is Chairman of the German Association for Clinical Immunology and Allergology and the General Secretary of the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology as well as the spokes person for the Allergie-Centrum Ruhr and chairman of the German Asthma Net (GAN).

Prof. Dr. med. Harald Klüter, M.D.

Prof. Dr. H. Klüter is Full Professor (C4) of Transfusion Medicine and Immunology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University Heidelberg, Germany. He is also Head of the ‘Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Immunology Mannheim’ and cord blood banking specialist of the largest German Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service of Baden-Württemberg-Hessen that provides a patient-blood management of 2.700 blood donations per day. He served as President of the ‘German Society for Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology’ (DGTI), German representative in the expert group SP-R-GS of the European Council, Delegate of the AWMF in charge of the Guidelines on Hemotherapy of the Bundesärztekammer, Germany, and is Member of the scientific committee of the German Medical Association. He has published more than 175 peer-reviewed articles listed on PubMed, served as a member of numerous boards and has been awarded the ‘Fritz-Schiff-Prize’ of the German Society for Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology (DGTI) and the Honorary Membership of the Hungarian Society for Haematology and Transfusion Medicine.

Attorney-at-Law Christian Hübner NOVACOS

Attorney-at-Law Christian Hübner is partner of NOVACOS Law, one of the leading legal advice companies for Life Sciences, Healthcare, and the Pharmaceutical Industry in Düsseldorf, Germany, that has been awarded the prestigious JUVE Award. He is specialised in both M&A, corporate and regulatory work with a focus on regulated industries, primarily the pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech and healthcare industry. He represents clients from the regulated industries sector in national and cross-border M&A transactions, cooperation and other corporate matters as well as in relation to sector-specific regulatory, contractual, commercial, advertising and distribution matters, including the law on advertising in the healthcare sector.

Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Holzgreve, M.B.A., M.Sc.

Prof. Dr. Holzgreve is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a pioneer of Prenatal Medicine, served as Chairman at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and as Medical Director and Chairman of the Board at the Universities of Freiburg and Bonn, Germany. He rejected seven honourable calls to a chair in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the USA and served as Treasurer on the Board of the European College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) being its Representative at the UNO and the WHO. He has published more than 600 peer-reviewd articles, over 10 books, and holds three patents, recieved six Honorary Doctorates, numerous awards (e.g., FACOG,FRCOG) and scientific prizes and is Member of the Academia Leopoldina, three Foundations, and 15 Editorial Boards. Recently, he was elected Chairman of the “Foundation for the disabled child” (‘Stiftung für das behinderte Kind’, Berlin, Germany). He currently serves as Medical Director and Chairman of the Board at the University of Bonn. Under his leadership he succeeded in reversing the annual balance (turnaround) from a deficit of € 20 million.

Prof. Dr. med. Olaf Dammann, M.D., S.M., Ph.D.

Prof. Dr. Dammann is Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Public Health & Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, USA, and is long standing Editor-in-Chief em. of the Journal ‘Pediatric Research’, helped design and is now the Director of the fully online Master of Science in Health Informatics and Analytics Degree. In early 2019 he was elected as one of the Medical School Representatives on the Inaugural Faculty of University College and was appointed Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in February 2020. He has a unique multidisciplinary academic background with formal training in Linguistics and Informatics (University of Hamburg, Germany), Medicine (M.D., University of Hamburg, Germany, 1990), Epidemiology (S.M., Harvard University, Boston, USA, 1997), and Philosophy (PhD, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, 2019). After having worked as a Clinical Pediatrician he transitioned into research full-time at Harvard University in 1995 and Hannover Medical School, Germany, in 2002. His main research fields are Perinatal Epidemiology with a focus on brain/retina damage in preterm newborns, and Philosophy of Science with a focus on causation and explanation. He has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the European Union (EC), and several private foundations. He currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of EFCNI, the ‘European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants’. His bibliography includes more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and two books, “Causation in Population Health Informatics and Data Science” (Springer, 2019) and “Etiological Explanations” (CRC Press, forthcoming). Along with Alan Leviton from Harvard Medical School, Boston, and Nigel Paneth, Michigan State University, he pioneered the discovery of infection being the major insult to the immature newborn brain causing cerebral palsy. Moreover, he first developed the seminal concept that brain injury in the setting of systemic inflammation is not only a destruction of what exists but also a change of what develops. This fundamental observation increases the window of opportunity for neuroregenerative cellular therapies.

Dr. med. vet. Friedrich E Röcken, Dipl. ECVS

Dr. Röcken is an internationally recognized Veterinarian, Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Surgeons, long standing President of the DGK-DVG (2003-2018), and Honorary President of the DGK-DVG since 2019 who headed the Board of Trustees of the European Veterinary Award (2006-2011), served on Scientific Advisory Boards of the DGK-DVG and young investigators Prize committees, and as Member of the Board of the German Veterinary Medical Society (DVG) in various functions including Clinical Veterinary Medicine. He organized and chaired the 53. Annual Meeting of the German Small Animal Veterinary Association (DGK) in Berlin (2007) where he paved the way for innovative stem cell research and brain repair in animal models and will also act as President of the Annual Meeting in 2021 at the same venue. He has initiated and drafted the guidelines for the European Award for Small Animal Medicine (EVA) with focus on fostering international cooperation, review, and scientific exchange with the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC). As Member of the Standing Vaccination Committee (STIKO vet) from 2006-2013, his activities also included published health regulations and recommendations for vaccination programs in cooperation with the Paul-Ehrlich Institut (PEI). He published more than 200 research items including 142 articles, 2 books, 21 book chapters, and 6 audio-visual tutorials. Dr. Röcken has earned 6 Scientific Prizes and honorary Awards and currently serves on the Advisory Commission for Further Education Regulations of the Schleswig-Holstein Chamber of Veterinarians.

Prof. Dr. Robert A Dracker MD, MHA, MBA, CPI

Prof. Dracker is Professor of Pathology and Pediatrics at SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, board certified in Pediatrics, Transfusion Medicine, Managed Care Medicine, Quality Assurance and Utilization Review, and as Physician Investigator and acts on the Pediatric Advisory Committee of the Food & Drug Administration since 2010. He received his B.A. in Biology from NYU, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and subsequently attended medical school at the SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse, where he also graduated Alpha Omega Alpha with honors. He completed residencies and fellowships in Pediatrics, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Transfusion Medicine and later obtained Master degrees in Health Services Management (MHA) and business administration (MBA). Being actively involved in the area of cord blood banking and stem cell transplant, he was Medical Director of the Biocyte Corporation, which facilitated the first cord blood transplant in the United States, and ViaCord in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is currently the Executive Medical Director of Americord ®, NY. Dr. Dracker was the President of the Onondaga County Medical Society (2009-2010) and served as Medical Director of the Transfusion Medicine Service at the University Hospital. He is Founder, Owner, and Medical Director of Summerwood Pediatrics, Infusacare Medical Services, P.C., and Summerwood Development Corporation, and is President of SYRAMED Sciences, LLC, Liverpool, NY. Among other, Dr. Dracker served on the NYS Governor’s Council for Blood and Transfusion Services for 17 years, has been the Chairperson and member of the Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Committee for the New York State Department of Health, as well as the Co-Chairman of the Heart, Lung and Cancer Committee for the Medical Society of the State of New York. Dr. Dracker serves on a number of professional and charitable boards and published over 80 articles and abstracts and two book chapters. He is actively involved in ongoing basic science and clinical research, particularly involving intravenous therapies, vaccine development, and cord blood stem cell procurement and holds 5 patents in the field of cord blood science. He has been awarded 35 clinical research grants including numerous Phase III RCTs sponsored by, e.g., NIH and the Pharmaceutical Industry, and received a number of prestigious honors, including America’s Top Pediatricians (2010), Lifetime Achievement Award, Excellence in Healthcare, Central New York Business Journal (2018), and Leading Physicians of the World (2019), to only name a few.