On November the 20th, the European Partnership for BrainHealth (EP BrainHealth) will host a round table focusing on small initiative that can achieve big effects. With the main question being: How can regional Brain Health ideas reach a larger audience?
The EP BrainHealth Round Table brings together key stakeholders from different brain health domains, to foster dialogue between innovation and implementation.
This event will help connect different regional experts and key-opinion leaders with each their own perspectives, with the aim to bridge the gap between different regions to stimulate cross-region collaboration.
With a strong focus on innovation, the desired outcomes of the round table are concrete objectives on how to facilitate the steps from research to innovation and eventually going to market.
This event is organised within the framework of EP BrainHealth, a large-scale European coordination platform funded by the European Commission to support research, innovation and implementation for anything related to brain health. The partnership consists of 64 partners from 36 countries across Europe and beyond. More information on EP BrainHealth can be found here.
The EP BrainHealth Round Table is open for public but seats are limited and registration needs to be confirmed.
“The Flemish Parliament has strict security measures before entry. After passing through a metal detector, you will have to be registered and wear a badge at all times. From check-in to the Antoon Van Dyckzaal takes roughly 8 minutes. We request you to be on time to avoid any delays.”
Agenda
Moderator
Michele Calabrò
Michele Calabrò is Executive Director of EUREGHA – the European Regional and Local Health Authorities network, where he leads the Secretariat’s work to strengthen the role of regional and local health authorities in shaping and implementing European health policy and innovation through advocacy, partnerships, EU project engagement, and collaborative activities across the health ecosystem.
Before joining EUREGHA in May 2022, Michele held policy and communications roles at the European Health Management Association (EHMA), the European Patients’ Forum (EPF), and DIGITALEUROPE, where he focused on digital health policy at EU level. Over the years, he has contributed to and coordinated several strategic European initiatives and projects, including the preparatory action for the Transforming Health and Care Systems Partnership (TO-REACH), the BeWell project on digital and green skills for the health ecosystem, and multiple initiatives under the EU Cancer Mission.
Between 2020 and 2022, Michele served as Co-Chair of the EU4Health Civil Society Alliance, while from 2023 to 2025 he was Co-Chair of the European Alliance for Value in Health. He is also an active member of several European health policy communities and networks, including the Young Forum Gastein Alumni Network and IPSE – Italiani per le Politiche Sanitarie Europee.
Introduction panellists
Marco Mohwinckel
Marco Mohwinckel is a healthcare executive, advisor and investor working across digital health, medtech, biopharma and brain health. He built and led Johnson & Johnson’s global digital health innovation team and was part of the founding leadership of COMPASS Pathways, which he helped take from the ground up to a Nasdaq IPO. He is President of Tech Tour Mental & Brain Health, Chairman of Altibbi, Strategy & BD Advisor to HMNC Brain Health and Movi S.p.A., and advisor to venture capital and private equity investors. He operates through Magnolia Health Advisors from Milan.
Dr. Iñaki Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea
Dr. Iñaki Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea is a prominent Spanish health research administrator and expert in healthcare policy and innovation. He currently serves as the Director of Health Research, Innovation and Evaluation at the Ministry of Health for the Basque Government. In this leadership role, he oversees regional R&D policy, strategic healthcare planning, and coordinates the Basque Health Research Institutes through BIOEF (the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research).
Throughout his career, he has specialized in Health Technology Assessment (HTA), regulatory science, value-based healthcare, and evidence-based policymaking. His expertise has earned him significant international recognition. He served as the President of Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) from 2019 to 2021 and currently leads EuroScan i-HTS, a global network dedicated to identifying and evaluating emerging health technologies and is chair of EUReGHA, the European Network of Regional and Local Authorities in Health.
He holds a degree in Fundamental Biology and a PhD in Neurosciences from the University of the Basque Country, alongside Master's degrees in Clinical Epidemiology, Bioethics, and Health Innovation Management. He has authored over 200 publications spanning public health, genetics, and medical ethics.
Prof. Dr. Mathieu Vandenbulcke
Mathieu Vandenbulcke is a Belgian full professor at the Department of Neurosciences at KU Leuven, Director of the KU Leuven Brain Institute and chair of the Scientific Committee of Mission Lucidity (partnership between Flemish Institute for Biotechnology, imec, UZ Leuven, KU Leuven). His research expertise includes behavioral studies and multimodal neuroimaging in aging, dementia and late life psychiatric disorders.
Prof. Vandenbulcke also serves as head of the Department of Geriatric Psychiatry at UZ Leuven and is active in clinical care and public engagement.
Vandenbulcke has authored books on brain health and aging, and contributes to interdisciplinary efforts to understand brain function and improve care for older adults.
Klaus Niederlander
Klaus Niederlander currently acts as the Secretary General of the Vanguard Initiative, a European network of 25 regions from 11 countries committed to strengthening Europe’s industrial leadership and competitiveness through interregional innovation cooperation. Klaus has 30 years of work experience in managing and orchestrating international public & private networks and partnerships dealing with complex innovation issues around demographic, climate & technology change. His personal drive is about discovering innovative ways of professionalizing inter-organisational collaboration to unleash the collective power for purposeful transformation.
With a double bachelor’s degree in European business from Germany and the UK and a master’s degree in European Economics from the College of Europe in Belgium, Klaus started his professional career in 1995 in investment banking and management consulting for the pharmaceutical, chemical & logistics industry. When moving to Brussels in 2002, he joined an EU-ACP agency for SME development as programme manager before becoming Director of Cooperatives Europe, the pan-European cooperative enterprise association in 2010. After managing a public digital innovation partnership on ‘active & healthy ageing as Director of the AAL Association between 2017 and 2022, he acted as interim CEO of an agetech start-up in 2024.
Cule Cucic
Head of the Brain Research Cluster at the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development. On behalf of the Ministries of Health, Welfare and Sport and of Education, Culture and Science, we commission research, innovation, implementation and knowledge infrastructures, and support these through grant programmes.
Trained as a medical doctor, with experience in healthcare quality at the Dutch Institute for Healthcare Improvement (CBO), as well as in healthcare quality, health professions education and research for the WHO and the World Bank.
Stamatiki Kritas
Stamatiki Kritas is the Cluster Manager of the Hellenic BioCluster (HBio). She began her career in clinical research, contributing to the development of novel technologies for improved disease diagnosis. In recent years she has moved into business development, innovation support and cluster management. She previously served on the Management Board of the Council of European BioRegions (CEBR) and as its Managing Director. She is actively engaged in innovation and life sciences policy at regional, national and EU level, bringing the voice of clusters and SMEs into policy dialogue. She has a strong track record of driving innovation, building connections across the ecosystem and identifying new opportunities for collaboration and growth. She works closely with key decision-makers to build lasting partnerships that strengthen and sustain innovation in the Life Sciences.
