Ksilink’s Governance
Truly committed
Ksilink’s governance reflects its strong partnership between the public and private sectors. Our Board of Directors and committees ensure translational feasibility, market access and sustainability.
Ksilink’s founder and chairmen
Ksilink has been founded in 2014 by Ulf Nehrbass and was presided by André Syrota in order to translate scientific excellence into tangible results for the pharmaceutical industry. Since 2019 Alain Beretz is president of the Ksilink association.
Alain Beretz
Chairman, Ksilink
Ulf Nehrbass
Founder and Strategic Advisor, Ksilink
André Syrota
Honorary Chairman, Ksilink
Ksilink’s board of directors
Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
Director General, Central Institute for Mental Health (ZI)
Bert M. Klebl
Managing Director, Lead Discovery Center GmbH
Claudia Mayer
Coordinator International Cooperations, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Franck Lethimmonier
Health Technologies Institute Director, INSERM
Jacques Volckmann
Head of R&D France, Sanofi
Marco Pintore
General Manager, Biovalley France
Michael Platten
Director of the Mannheim Institute for Translational Neurosciences, University of Heidelberg
Michel de Mathelin
Vice President, University of Strasbourg
Oliver Brüstle
CEO, Life & Brain GmbH
Ralf Kindervater
CEO, BioPro Baden Württemberg GmbH
Serge Braun
CSO, AFM Téléthon
Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann
CSO, Myriamed GmbH
Prof. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg
Director General, Central Institute for Mental Health (ZI)
Andreas is Director of the Central Institute of Mental Health, as well as Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Heidelberg. Key Opinion Leader in its field, he received several awards such as the Prix ROGER DE SPOELBERCH in 2014, and CINP Lilly Neuroscience Clinical Research Award in 2016.
Bert M. Klebl
Managing Director, Lead Discovery Center GmbH
Bert is the managing director and CSO of the Lead Discovery Center GmbH LDC and is one of the directing managers of the KHAN-I GmbH & Co.KG fund, bridging the “valley of death” in early drug discovery. Bert has a broad experience in the industrial sector from former positions at GPC Biotech AG, Axxima Pharmaceuticals AG and Hoechst /Aventis.
Claudia Mayer
Coordinator International Cooperations, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Claudia is Coordinator for International Cooperations at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). She formerly advised and assisted Prof. Otmar Wiestler in cooperation with the Helmholtz Association. Since 2009 she contributes in the determination of DKFZ’s strategy and programs.
Franck Lethimonnier
Health Technologies Institute Director, INSERM
Franck is Director of the Thematic Institute for Health Technology Aviesan, grouping the main stakeholders of life and health sciences in France. As such, he is also Director of the Thematic Institute for Health Technologies at INSERM, and coordinator of the French Genomic Plan for 2025.
Jacques Volckmann
Head of R&D France, Sanofi
Jacques is Vice-President, Head of R&D France at Sanofi, and a member of the Sanofi R&D Management and of the French Strategic Committee. He is also Chair of the Board “Bioproduction-ITS” Comité Stratégique de Filière, and President of the Board of the Pharmaceutical and Biologics Institute of Sciences in Lyon.
Marco Pintore
General Manager, Biovalley France
Marco is the General manager of the French biocluster BioValley France, taking part of the renowned trinational cluster BioValley. His large experience in the industrial sector comes from various former positions as the CEO of several biotechnology companies.
Michael Platten
Director of the Mannheim Institute for Translational Neurosciences, University of Heidelberg
Michael is Chairman of the Department of Neurology, University Hospital Mannheim, Director of the Mannheim Institute for Translational Neurosciences, Heidelberg University. He is a Key opinion leader in Neuro- and Brain Tumor Immunology, with its own research group at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).
Michel de Mathelin
Vice President, University of Strasbourg
Michel is vice-president for innovation and technology transfer of the University of Strasbourg. Since 2013, he is the Director of the ICube Laboratory in Strasbourg and Key Opinion Leader in the area of Engineering and Computer Science. He is co-founder of the SME Axilum Robotics, and a fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation.
Oliver Brüstle
CEO, Life & Brain GmbH
Oliver is Professor of Reconstructive Neurobiology at the University Hospital Bonn, and Co-Founder and Director of the LIFE & BRAIN GmbH. He is a key opinion leader in stem cell-based disease modeling and nervous system repair. He also is member of EMBO and senator of the German Academy of Sciences “Leopoldina”.
Ralf Kindervater
CEO, BioPro Baden Württemberg GmbH
Ralf ist director of the German cluster for Biotechnologies BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH since 2003. He also holds a honorary professorship of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technologies, KIT and is counsel for bioeconomies at the government of Baden-Württemberg since 2020.
Serge Braun
CSO, AFM Téléthon
Serge is CSO at AFM-Telethon since 2005. In addition he is Chairman of Genosafe, directing the scientific strategy for Neuromuscular Diseases at Genethon, and is member of the French National academy of Pharmacy. He formally cofounded the company Neurofit and was vice president of the industrial biotech cluster BioValley.
Wolfram Zimmermann
CSO, Myriamed GmbH
Wolfram is Director of the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University Medical Center Göttingen, speaker of the Göttingen partner-site of the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), founder of myriamed GmbH, and Key Opinion Leader in human stem cell models and their application in drug discovery and drug screening.
Alain Beretz
Chairman
Former president of the University of Strasbourg, chair of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and Director-general for research and innovation at the French ministry for higher education, research and innovation.
Ulf Nehrbass
Founder and Strategic Advisor
Former CEO of Institut Pasteur Korea and founder of the Biotech Qurient Therapeutics, Ulf founded Ksilink in 2013. In 2017 he became CEO of the Luxembourg Institute of Health. He is member of our board where he sits as scientific and strategic advisor.
André Syrota
Honorary Chairman
Member of the French Academy of Technologies and the Academia Europeae, former CEO of Inserm (2007-2014), Professor André Syrota was at the origin of Ksilink and its Chairman from 2013 to 2018. He is now Honorary Chairman of the association.
Independent Scientific Advisory Committee
The Independent Scientific Advisory Committee assists the Board of Directors in defining Ksilink’s general orientations, programs and scientific approaches. It is composed of internationally renowned experts in phenotypic drug discovery and translational science.
Portfolio Steering Committee
The Portfolio Steering Commitee is composed of representatives from members of the Ksilink association. It aims in evaluating new and ongoing programs, creating synergies and establishing a common translational vision.
Finance and Audit Committee
The Audit Committee oversees the management of Ksilink regarding its accounting, risk management and investment policy.