World leader in respiratory healthcare innovation using FRI

Jan De Backer graduated from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands as aerospace engineer. He attained an MSc degree in aerodynamics and specialized in applied biomedical computational fluid dynamics leading to a PhD from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He is an alumnus of the MBA programs at London Business School, London and Columbia Business School, New York. Dr. De Backer has received several awards for his innovative research in the field of airway modeling in respiratory and sleep medicine. His work has been published in international journals. Dr. De Backer founded FLUIDDA in 2005 and he has held the position of Chief Executive Officer since 2007.

After he graduated with a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Maastricht in 1998, Axel started his career at Deloitte Consulting in Brussels, where he conducted various international strategy and reorganization projects. Between 2001 and 2016, Axel worked for different investment banks such as Bear Stearns (now JP Morgan) in London, as well as Fortis Private Equity and ING Equity Markets in Brussels. Axel Funhoff is currently CEO at Achilles Design, the Mechelen-based Design and Innovation firm.

Gabriel Krestin received his MD from the University of Cologne/DE in 1981 where he also specialized in radiology and obtained his PhD (Habilitation) in 1989. From 1990-1997, he worked at the University Hospital in Zürich/CH, including a period as acting chair of the Department of Radiology. Dr. Krestin was until recently the Chairman of the Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam/NL. Dr. Krestin is (co-)author of over 450 original articles, (co) author of more than 70 book chapters, and editor of 15 books. His main areas of research are: imaging of abdominal organs and cardio-vascular diseases, molecular imaging and population imaging. Dr. Krestin is presently the Scientific Director of EIBIR (the European Institute of Biomedical Imaging Research) and a member of the NAM (National Academy of Medicine) in the US. Recently he joined the Board of Directors of Fluidda NV.

Wilfried De Backer has built his academic career at the University of Antwerp where he finished his affiliation as full professor of Respiratory Medicine in 2017. He obtained his PhD in 1988 with a thesis on the Chemical Regulation of Breathing in men. Starting from this basis, he mainly studied the pathogenesis of sleep related breathing disorders. The focus of his research has always been on pathophysiology of respiratory disease. In the same spirit he encouraged the development of a new functional respiratory imaging technique FRI, that helps to understand the functional behaviour of the upper and lower airways. Phenotyping of patients with FRI belongs to his ongoing clinical research topics. Related to his clinical and research interests, he founded within the European Respiratory Society (ERS) the scientific group on Sleep as part of the Clinical Physiology Assembly. Later, as chair of the Assembly, he reoriented the Assembly with respect for its pathophysiological origin towards several new domains including functional imaging and pulmonary vascular diseases. He published over 250 peer reviewed papers (H Index of 44). At present his clinical focus is on patients with respiratory insufficiency that are seen in the framework of pulmonary rehabilitation.

Jakob Glatz holds an MBA degree from London Business School, and has more than 20 years of experience as CEO and shareholder of an European Group in the food industry.

Besides this, he has over 10 years of experience in investing in Health Care, Bio Tech and Life Sciences.

Jakob joined Fluidda’s Board Of Directors in 2022.

Jan De Backer graduated from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands as aerospace engineer. He attained an MSc degree in aerodynamics and specialized in applied biomedical computational fluid dynamics leading to a PhD from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He is an alumnus of the MBA programs at London Business School, London and Columbia Business School, New York. Dr. De Backer has received several awards for his innovative research in the field of airway modeling in respiratory and sleep medicine. His work has been published in international journals. Dr. De Backer founded FLUIDDA in 2005 and he has held the position of Chief Executive Officer since 2007.

Ben Lavon became Chief Scientific Officer of Fluidda in July 2021. Prior to taking on this role, he worked for Fluidda in Business Development and as Medical Science Liaison. Before joining Fluidda, he worked for years as a professional latin ballroom dancer and coach, competing and performing internationally. He holds an A.B. degree in Linguistics from Georgetown University and a M.S. in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University.

Charles holds a Master’s degree in Bio-engineering, with a specialization in Cell and Gene Biotechnology from Ghent University and obtained an additional post-graduate Master’s Degree in Renewable Energy at the Engineering School Ecole Des Mines de Paris – Mines ParisTech. Additionally, Charles was active as a research engineer at Columbia University in the City of New York for over 2 years.

Charles has over 8 years of experience in Business Development in healthcare, more specifically in the biotech, pharmaceutical sectors. Charles quickly understands technical needs and provides clear solutions to his clients. Charles covers business activities on the east coast of the United States and provides guidance and input to the business development team globally.

Hosein Sadafi obtained his PhD degree in Fluid Mechanical Engineering from The University of Queensland, Australia. After three years of a postdoctoral position at Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, he joined Fluidda in 2020.

Thanks to his background in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), fluid dynamics, and numerical simulation, he is in charge of all aspects of computational methods in the company. His work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, and presented in various international events. Dr. Sadafi is Vice President Computational Engineering in Fluidda since 2023.

Hosein Sadafi obtained his PhD degree in Fluid Mechanical Engineering from The University of Queensland, Australia. After three years of a postdoctoral position at Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, he joined Fluidda in 2020.

Thanks to his background in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), fluid dynamics, and numerical simulation, he is in charge of all aspects of computational methods in the company. His work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals, and presented in various international events. Dr. Sadafi is Vice President Computational Engineering in Fluidda since 2023.

Charles holds a Master’s degree in Bio-engineering, with a specialization in Cell and Gene Biotechnology from Ghent University and obtained an additional post-graduate Master’s Degree in Renewable Energy at the Engineering School Ecole Des Mines de Paris – Mines ParisTech. Additionally, Charles was active as a research engineer at Columbia University in the City of New York for over 2 years.

Charles has over 8 years of experience in Business Development in healthcare, more specifically in the biotech, pharmaceutical sectors. Charles quickly understands technical needs and provides clear solutions to his clients. Charles covers business activities on the east coast of the United States and provides guidance and input to the business development team globally.

Abel has a background in teaching, where he has worked as a tutor for Bruin corps and was a part of UCLA’s Project Brainstorm where he conducted research on teaching methods to promote student’s interest from disadvantage backgrounds to pursue a field in neuroscience. He previously held a position as an account manager at Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, a company specialized in high complexity, state-of-the-art, automated DNA-based molecular analysis. Abel holds a Bachelor of science in neuroscience and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2018.

Ernestine completed her PhD in Medicine in Pharmacology at the University of Sydney. She has ample experience in pharmaceutical industry of which 5 years was spent in the Medical Communications space working closely with top pharmaceutical companies supporting their medico-marketing and publication strategies as well as their implementation in several therapeutic areas including respiratory, oncology, and metabolic diseases at global level. She received the Louisa Barllow Award for her commitment and achievements to the business.
Ernestine is Executive Project Manager with KreivoHealth where she currently supports the establishment and expansion of healthcare companies in Asia Pacific and other parts of the world. Within her current remit, she supports Fluidda with clinical operations in the Middle East, Central Asia and APAC region (ex-US and ex-EU), business development in the APAC region and regulatory affairs predominantly in Singapore.