Lasting seizure freedom for patients suffering from drug-refractory focal epilepsy
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Until 2020 Director of the Institute of Virology at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany Professor Heilbronn has transitioned as cofounder and CEO of EpiBlok Therapeutics after receiving a €3.9M GO-Bio founders’ award to develop a gene therapy for focal epilepsy. She looks back to 30+ years of research on AAV virology and vector technology starting with Nobel Laureate Harald zur Hausen in Heidelberg, then as Heisenberg Fellow and group leader at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried before being appointed as Full Professor of Experimental and Clinical Virology at the Free University of Berlin. She authored numerous highly cited publications and a series of patent applications on AAV vectors and gene therapy.
Prof. Heilbronn studied medicine in Düsseldorf, Glasgow UK, and Freiburg i.Br. where she gained an M.D. in biochemistry, and in 2020 an Executive MBA from the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin.
Professor for Translational Epilepsy Research at the Institute of Pharmacology at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria is cofounder and CSO of EpiBlok Therapeutics. He looks back to 30+ years of research on the role of neuropeptides in epilepsy starting with Günter Sperk in Innsbruck, then as senior research fellow at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia. As Full Professor and Deputy Director of the Institute of Pharmacology at the Medical University of Innsbruck he heads the Neurobiochemistry research group. He is an acknowledged expert on the endogenous opioid system and its role in modulating epileptogenesis leading to over 100 highly cited publications and several patent applications.
Prof. Schwarzer studied microbiology and biochemistry at the University of Innsbruck and obtained his habilitation in neurobiochemistry from the Medical University of Innsbruck.