2026 Neurotech Leaders Forum at imec

Thomas Stieglitz, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Microtechnology, Freiburg University

Thomas Stieglitz received a diploma degree in electrical Engineering from Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1993, and a Ph.D. and habilitation degree in 1998 and 2002 from the University of Saarland, Germany, respectively. In 1993, he joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering in St. Ingbert, Germany, where he established the Neural Prosthetics Group. Since 2004, he is a full professor for Biomedical Microtechnology at the Albert-Ludwig-University Freiburg, Germany, currently serving as deputy spokesperson of the Cluster BrainLinks-BrainTools, board member of the Intelligent Machine Brain Interfacing Technology (IMBIT) Center and spokesperson of the research profile “signals of life” of the university. His research interests include neural interfaces and implants, biocompatible assembling and packaging and brain machine interfaces. Dr. Stieglitz has co-authored about 220 peer reviewed journal publications, 350 conference proceedings and holds 35 patents. He is co-founder and scientific consultant of CorTec GmbH and neuroloop GmbH, two spin-off companies which focus on neural implant technology and neuromodulation, respectively. Dr. Stieglitz is member of the Materials Research Society, the Society for Neuroscience, Fellow of the IEEE and serves the EMBS in the technical committee of neural engineering. He is with the German Biomedical Engineering Society where he is chair of the Neural Prostheses and Intelligent Implants section as well as delegate in the standardization committee DKE. He is also founding member of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society.

James Cavuoto, Editor and Publisher, Neurotech Reports

James Cavuoto is editor and publisher of Neurotech Business Report and the founder of Neurotech Reports. He is the lead author of "The Market for Neurotechnology," and "The Market for Bioelectronic Medicine," two market research reports published by Neurotech Reports. Cavuoto was the founder of Micro Publishing Press, Inc., a publishing company that helped pioneer the market for electronic publishing, digital imaging, and computer graphics. He holds a degree in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University, where he studied under pioneers in the field of functional electrical stimulation. He has also studied human factors engineering at University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Cavuoto spent three years as a member of the technical staff at Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles, where he worked on simulation, training, and publication products produced for the U.S. Department of Defense. Cavuoto was an adjunct professor at Rochester Institute of Technology and the author of eight books on computer graphics, electronic publishing, and digital imaging. He is a member of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. He has authored a chapter in the textbook Neuromodulation (Elsevier, 2009), as well as articles in Neuromodulation, Journal of Neural Engineering, Medical Device Daily, IEEE Spectrum, MX magazine, and the International Journal of Medical Marketing. He is coauthor, with Jennifer French, of Bionic Pioneers: Brave Neurotech Users Blaze the Trail to New Therapies (Neurotech Press, 2014).

Jeremy Koff, Senior Consulting Editor, Neurotech Reports

Mr. Koff is senior consulting editor for Neurotech Reports and president of Colibri Partners Inc., a strategic and marketing consulting firm with a primary focus in the medical device sector. The company offers services related to market and risk analysis, clinical and technology assessments, business plan development, business/financial modeling, and market research. Mr. Koff has nearly 20 years of global experience in the medical device industry with companies including Advanced Bionics Corp., Boston Scientific, MiniMed Inc., Bioness Inc, and many others. His business plans have attracted tens of millions in start-up capital. Mr. Koff holds a Bachelor's degree in biology from Middlebury College, a Masters of Public Affairs from Indiana University, and an MBA from UCLA. He is an active classically-trained musician, supporter of the arts, and is a board member of the Fender Music Foundation.

Jo Jo Platt, Senior Contributing Editor, Neurotech Reports

Jo Jo Platt brings more than 10 years experience as a neurotechnology consulant to Neurotech Reports. As the founder and president of Platt & Associates, she has helped leadership identify new opportunities, transform organizations, and build teams from the ground up. Most recently, she helped identify and establish strategic partnerships in the emerging field of bioelectronic medicine and was instrumental in the launch of the Center for Bioelectronic Medicine. Previously, Jo Jo was communications director for eDigital, where she managed all internal and external communications and built braand recognition through tradeshows and consumer events. Platt holds a bachelor's degree in communication and media studies from National University. She is currently the finance chair for the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Neural Engineering 2019 meeting.

Diana Saraceni, General Partner, Panakes SGR

Diana is the founder and managing partner of Panakes Partners. She was previously the co-founder and former managing partner at 360 Capital Partners. With 15 years of VC experience, she has invested in a significant number of companies in Italy and all over Europe in the medical device sector, and has generated several exits as IPO and M&A transactions. She holds an MSc in engineering from LaSapienza and an MBA from Luiss University.

Victor Pikov, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO, Medipace, Inc.

Victor Pikov is a co-founder and CEO of Medipace Inc, a startup developing implantable neuromodulation therapies for auto-immune intestinal diseases. Victor previously worked at Galvani Bioelectronics and GlaxoSmithKline, where he oversaw development and testing of implantable pulse generators and stimulation leads for several clinical applications, including auto-immune and metabolic diseases. At the Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Victor developed neural interfaces for various chronic diseases, such as infertility, bladder paralysis, bladder spasticity/hyperreflexia, hearing and vision loss, tinnitus, obstructive sleep apnea, and obesity. At the California Institute of Technology, Victor developed optogenetic viral vectors for neuronal stimulation. Victor has several patent applications for implantable neural interfaces, closed-loop neuromodulation therapies, and non-invasive glucose measurement.

Barun Dutta, Chief Scientist and Fellow, imec

Barun Dutta is Chief Scientist at imec where he has been since 2010, and serves as a Program Director, initiating and leading R&D programs in semiconductor materials, device technology, and more recently, neurotechnology. He conceived of and has led the Neuropixels program at imec since its inception. As a venture capitalist and General Partner at Sevin Rosen-Alta Berkeley (1998–2010), he worked with more than 20 successful founding teams in semiconductors and networking systems. He spent the first decade of his career at Bellcore/Bell Labs and as an assignee at imec. He was educated at Middlebury College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Esther Novosel, Ph.D., CEO, neuroloop GmbH

Paru Deshpande, Ph.D., Vice President, R&D, Health Sector, imec

Paru Deshpande is Vice President of R&D in the Health Sector at imec, leading the department of Life Science Technologies. He completed his Ph.D. at Princeton University in polymer self-assembly for lithography. He joined BioNano Genomics as the first employee, leading projects in single molecule DNA detection and assay development. In 2011, he became Director of Instrument Development and managed early product testing. He joined imec in June 2012.

Jacek Eisler, Neuro Market Segment Manager, TUV SUD

At TÜV SÜD, Jacek leads business development in neurotechnology, supporting innovation through testing and certification services. He has extensive experience in compliance assessment and auditing of high-risk medical devices, with a focus on applicable standards and regulatory requirements. Jacek is actively involved in international standardization efforts for BCI and implantable neuromodulation devices. His earlier industry experience gives him a strong practical foundation in medical device development, validation, and regulatory submissions.

Lindsey Jardine, Vice President, Clinical, Regulatory and Quality Affairs, Adraxe Corp.

Lindsey Jardine is Vice President of Clinical, Regulatory, and Quality Affairs at Adraxe Corp., a neuromodulation company developing a minimally invasive closed-loop system for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy. She brings more than a decade of experience guiding breakthrough Class III medical devices through complex clinical and regulatory pathways, from early feasibility through pivotal trials and global approvals. Lindsey has successfully led multiple FDA Breakthrough Designation submissions, IDE programs, and CE Marking strategies across epilepsy, cardiology, and neurostimulation technologies, contributing to more than $15 billion in aggregate company exits and IPO valuations. She is known for building high-impact clinical programs that align scientific rigor with regulatory readiness, enabling startups to accelerate development without sacrificing quality or patient safety. Beyond her work at Adraxe, Lindsey advises early-stage neurotechnology ventures, teaches clinical and regulatory strategy at biodesign workshops including Cleveland NeuroDesign, and is an active contributor to the next generation of neurotech innovation.

Peter Peumans, Ph.D., CTO, Health Technologies, imec

Dr. Peumans currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer of Health at imec, where he plays a pivotal role in driving advancements in life sciences through nanotechnology. He was previously CTO at miDiagnostics, a spin-off from imec and Johns Hopkins University, and served as a Professor at Stanford University, focusing on large-area electronics and biomedical applications. He earned the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2005 and holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University.

Vojkan Mihajlovic, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, imec

Vojkan Mihajlovic is a Principal Scientist at imec. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Twente in 2002. He has more than 15 years of experience in neuromodulation technologies and applications. From 2008 to 2012, he was at Philips Research, focusing on algorithms for improving signal integrity in EEG recordings. He led the Wearable Brain Monitoring work package at imec the Netherlands (2016–2021), and later created a roadmap for selective peripheral nerve stimulation, establishing a research team to develop required technology. He currently serves as technical lead for neuro applications and coordinates health innovation activities at imec The Netherlands. He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and holds 15 patents.

Karl Stoklosa, CEO, Precisis GmbH

Karl Stoklosa is Managing Director and CEO of Precisis GmbH. He was previously Director of Global Marketing for Abbott's Cardiac Rhythm Management Division (CRM) and before that in regional marketing at St. Jude Medical and Abbott,for both CRM and neuromodulation. He holds a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Luca Ravagnon, Ph.D., CEO, WISE SpA

Dr. Ravagnon co-founded and has been CEO of WISE since 2011. He has long-term experience in basic and applied research in the field of nanotechnology and developed and patented WISE’s proprietary supersonic technology. Since 2019, he has been a member of the management board of the Lombardy’s Life Sciences Cluster and in 2020 he became an Endeavor Entrepreneur. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics and an Executive MBA from SDA Bocconi.

Frederik Ceyssens, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO, ReVision Implant