Brad Nelson is the Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zürich and is the Chief Scientific Advisor of Science Robotics. He has over thirty years of experience in the field and has received several awards in robotics, nanotechnology, and biomedicine. He serves on the advisory boards several academic departments and research institutes across North America, Europe, and Asia. Prof. Nelson has been the Department Head of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH twice, the Chairman of the ETH Electron Microscopy Center, and a member of the Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation. He also serves on boards of three Swiss companies and is a member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW). Before moving to Europe, Nelson worked as an engineer at Honeywell and Motorola and served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana, Africa. He has also been a professor at the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Associate Professor, Dept of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Founder & Chairman of Phomedics Limited

Dr. Régis Gauderon is the CEO and co-founder of Flowbone Ltd, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) advancing bone regeneration technology. With a decade of experience at Johnson & Johnson in the MedTech industry, Dr. Gauderon brings a wealth of expertise to his current role. He holds a PhD from the University of Sydney and a Master’s degree in engineering from EPFL.

At Flowbone, Dr. Gauderon and his team are dedicated to enhancing bone health for active aging. They are developing a revolutionary hydrogel that leverages nanobiology and pharmacology for rapid local bone repair and strengthening. Their gel offers a compelling alternative to traditional injectable bone cements, providing biologic solutions for the repair of closed bone defects, for hardware augmentation, and for enhancement of spine fusion, arthroplasty, and revision surgeries. Additionally, it has the potential to significantly reduce the incidence of debilitating osteoporotic hip fractures. Flowbone anticipates FDA clearance for its first device by the end of 2025. Since its inception in July 2020, the company has raised $4.5 million, including $2.3 million in non-dilutive funding. The startup is currently seeking an additional $8 million to accelerate its development efforts and expand its presence in Asia.

Clémence Hermann serves as the Business Development Manager at Spirecut SA, a Swiss MedTech company specializing in improving treatments for trigger finger and carpal tunnel syndrome, conditions that affect one in seven people. Spirecut’s patented Sono-Instruments® are ultrasound-guided and non-invasive, enabling greater surgical accuracy and improved patient outcomes. The instruments are available through a network of distributors in various markets. Clémence is responsible for entering new markets, and overseeing the commercialization of Spirecut’s innovative treatments across Europe, Asia, and the US.

Dr. Stella Sun is the Principal Manager of Biotechnology Enterprise at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), a government department dedicated to attracting and retaining foreign direct investment, which is essential for Hong Kong’s economic development. Her primary areas of focus include biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare.

Dr. Sun brings over 15 years of extensive experience in the Innovation and Technology sector, spanning academia, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology companies. Prior to her role at InvestHK, she held a medical affairs position, where she played significant roles in launching blockbuster pipelines at leading pharmaceutical. In the biotech sector, she successfully led the productization of in vitro diagnostics (IVD) for cancer interception, guiding projects from discovery to commercialization.

Dr. Sun graduated from the University of Manchester in the UK, earning a degree in Clinical Biochemistry and a Master’s Degree in Immunology and Immunogenetics from the same institution. She holds a PhD in cancer diagnostics from The University of Hong Kong, where she also completed her postdoctoral training.

In addition to her academic qualifications, Dr. Sun has secured several patents and has served as an investigator on various research grants, contributing to numerous publications throughout her career.

Dr. Russell Chan is the co-founder and CEO of E-SENSE Innovation & Technology, and a senior consultant at COCHE (Hong Kong Center for Cerebro-cardiovascular Health Engineering). He obtained his B.Eng. in biomedical engineering and Ph.D. in electrical and electronic engineering from The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He was a post-doctoral research fellow at Stanford University in Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and New York University in Neuroscience, Tech4Health, and Ophthalmology. He was the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a Forbes Asia 100 to Watch Startup. His focus is the research, development, application and commercialization of state-of-the-art multi-modal and multi-scale biomedical imaging and in vitro diagnostic (IVD) devices to advance biotechnology and quality of life. Dr. Chan is an elected Junior Fellow of International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), a prestigious and highly selective award for young scientists from the leading global MRI society. He is the ex-co member and R&D focus group lead of the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers (HKIE) Biomedical Division. He is the founding Vice-Chair of the Young Member Section and a Young Fellow at the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences (HKAES). He is the Vice President of the Hong Kong International Biotechnology Convention (BIOHK). He has published 30 scientific journal papers and 75+ conference papers, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and Neuron. He is an inventor for more than 10 family patents/provisional patents.