Advisory Board

DirectSens Advisory Board

Otto Kanzler

Otto Kanzler has more than 30 years experience in process- and business development in the biotech industry. As of 2007 he is serving as Management Consultant for production and technology-development for biotech- and pharmaceutical industry, specified for strategic and economic issues. Between 1993 and 2007 he was head of biopharmaceutical coordination and planning at Boehringer Ingelheim Austria, Vienna, responsible for the economic issues of the industrial biopharmaceutical business. Prior to this he was head of process development for biopharmaceutical processes at Boehringer Ingelheim Austria (1981-1993). In addition, Otto Kanzler is CEO and co-founder of several Austrian-based Biotech-Companies.

Stefan Podany

Stefan works as Director in the Strategic Business Development & Corporate Development at i5invest. In his role as Advisory Board member, he supports promising companies accelerating growth and finding the right strategic partner to scale globally. He started his career at PwC focusing on company and market analysis as well as company valuation. Before his business career he has been a professional Triathlete, that is why he is a biosensor and glucose-level measurement enthusiast. 

DI Dr. Michael Hammerschmid

Michael Hammerschmid studied Food- and Biotechnology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, and has more than 17 years professional experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He has held different leading positions, mainly at Boehringer Ingelheim RCV, Vienna (1994-2001, 2003-2013). In this period M. Hammerschmid developed strong knowledge and management skills in a constantly changing organization. He headed different functional units such as process science, production, as well as quality control and support units, as well as managing international contract manufacturing projects. The experience of working as COO in a start up company in the field of medical diagnostic supplemented his experience for the specific needs for the initial stage of an organisation (VBC-Genomics, 2002-2003). In addition, M. Hammerschmid is CEO and co-founder of Transform Science Management GmbH (www.transform-science.com)

Prof. Lo Gorten

Lo Gunnar Otto Gorton’s current affiliation is Department of Analytical Chemistry / Biochemistry and Structural Biology, University of Lund, Sweden.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree of genetics, botany, microbiology and a Master’s degree of chemistry from Lund University. After working for one year as technician at the wastewater treatment plant in Malmö he started and graduated as PhD with a thesis entitled: A Study of Modified Electrodes and Enzyme Reactors. After various positions at Lund University he became Associate Professor (docent) in analytical chemistry in 1986 and finally in 1997 Lo Gorton became the chair professor in analytical chemistry. Except for bioelectrochemistry his research interests cover immobilised enzymes, flow injection analysis, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, polysaccharide hydrolysing enzymes and their use for analysis and characterisation of derivatised cellulose, hemicellulose and starch.

Prof. Wolfgang Schuhmann

He obtained his diploma degree in chemistry from the University in Karlsruhe, Germany (1982) and his PhD from the Technical University of Munich (1986). After finishing his habilitation thesis at the Technical University of Munich in 1993, he was appointed to be a professor for Analytical Chemistry at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in 1996. His research interest addresses the development of reagentless amperometric biosensors, micro-electrochemistry, miniaturization of biosensors, scanning electrochemical microscopy, combinatorial microelectrochemistry, electrochemical robotics, miniaturised sensors for local measurements at biological cells, biofuel cells, localized corrosion, microelectrochemical investigations of fuelcell catalyst and battery materials, new materials for electrocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis as well as the in-depth understanding of electrified interfaces.

Fredrik Debong

Fredrik DeBong is a successful serial entrepreneur. In 1984 he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which led him to be one of the cofounders of mySugr, with the goal of making diabetes therapy more fun and engaging. The diabetes management system is, among other interesting tidbits, one of the first apps in the AppStore which is a standalone „medical device“, carries the CE mark and has been developed in accordance to European and US medical device guidelines and laws.

Dipl.-Ing. Manfred Augstein

He holds a diploma degree in mechanical engineering from technical university of Karlsruhe (KIT), Germany. After that he worked in software for automation technology, followed by 20 years of experience at Boehringer Mannheim/Roche Diagnostic in fields of CAD Implementation and construction, project leader mechanics, strategic purchasing, project leader PoC-platform, technology development “Lab-on- Disc”. Since 2010 Manfred Augstein is CEO of velixX GmbH. www.velixX.com

Ass. Prof. Paolo Bollella

Paolo Bollella is an assistant professor at University of Bari in the Department of Chemistry. Till December 2020, he was a Research Assistant Professor at Clarkson University in the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Science (USA). After his PhD, he joined the Department of Analytical Chemistry at Åbo Akademi in Turku (Finland) with a Johan Gadolin PostDoc fellowship awarded from the board of Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Center. In October 2018, he joined the group of “Bioelectronics & Bionanotechnology” led by Prof. Evgeny Katz. In 2020 and 2021, he was recognized among the top 100000 most influencing scientists and engineers (statistical analysis elaborated by Stanford University). His research interests lie in the interface of sensors/biosensors developing, nanomaterials modified electrodes and sensing/actuation processes. 

Dr. Friedrich Mittermayer, Msc

Friedrich Mittermayer is an Endocrinologist and our advisor for biomarker tests for hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. With a solid foundation in clinical medicine and research, Friedrich has been operating a private practice focused on diabetes, metabolism, and internal medicine since 2011 in addition to holding different positions in the clinical research industry with a focus on diabetes and metabolism since 2013. Graduating with a medical degree from the University of Vienna in 2000, he was board certified in Internal Medicine at the Medical University Vienna in 2008 and in Endocrinology in 2012 (Wilhelminen Hospital Vienna). Friedrich’s dedication to advancing his field led to a habilitation as Associate Professor for Clinical Pharmacology at the Medical University Vienna in 2008. In 2009 he obtained a Master of Science degree in Public Health from the University of London. With more than two decades of clinical and research experience and a passion for improving patient outcomes, Friedrich brings a wealth of knowledge to his role as advisor for biomarker testing for diabetes