Board of Directors and Directorate

Member of the Board of Trustees the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation
Chair of the Board of Directors of Swiss Paraplegic Research
Chair of the Research Committee

Professor Ordinarius of Public Management at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Bern, Managing Director of the Center of Competence for Public Management (CCPM) at the University of Bern, President of the University Commission for continuing education and Delegate of the University Board of Directors for continuing education, University of Bern. Research and publications in the fields of public management, leadership, motivation and performance in the public sector. Visiting professorships in Germany and the USA. Member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Philanthropy Studies (CEPS), University of Basel, member of the Grosser Kirchenrat (parish council) of the City of Thun and member of the finance committee, member of the Advisory Board of Politforum Thun.

Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Swiss Paraplegic Research

Rural engineering degree ETH from the Department of Rural, Surveying and Environmental Engineering (ETH Zurich). Since 2007 Partner and Managing Director of LEP Consultants AG, Zurich. From 1996 to 2008 worked at the ETH Institute for Spatial and Landscape Development (IRL), from 2007 to 2008 division head for Landscape and Environmental Planning, prior to that, project manager and deputy project manager. Since 2015 guest lecturer at the Kunming University of Science and Technology (KMUST), China. Since 2009 registered planner in the Swiss Register of Engineers, Architects and Technicians (REG). Since 2002 member of  the Swiss-Chinese Association and since 2017 member of the Board of Directors. Since 2018 member of the Board of Directors of the association Swiss Green Buildings (SGB).

Member of the Board of Directors of Swiss Paraplegic Research
President of the Political Advisory Board

Studied English and Romance languages and literature at the University of Freiburg and received a  teaching diploma lic. phil. I. Over 15 years’ experience as secondary school teacher for English and French at the Cantonal Teachers’ Training College in Lucerne, Cantonal school in Sursee and Engelberg Abbey School. Since 2007, managing director at Josi J. Meier Foundation, Lucerne. From 2007 to 2015, member of the Cantonal Council. From 2015 to 2019, National Council member and since December 2019, member of the Council of States of Christian Democratic People’s Party of Switzerland (CVP) and member of Science, Education and Culture Committee (WBK) as well as of Foreign Affairs Committees (APK) and of Security Policy Committees (SiK). Member of the University Council of Lucerne.

Member of the Board of Directors of Swiss Paraplegic Research

Medical studies at the University of Basel, 1985 state examination. Since 1999 full professorship and since 2000 chief physician for nephrology and transplantation immunology at the University Hospital of Basel and since 2013 head of the Division Medicine at the University Hospital of Basel. Further trainings, among others, at Swiss clinics and at the Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, USA. Member and president of numerous Swiss and European transplant and nephrology boards, board member and president of the Central Ethics Committee of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMW) until 2020, foundation board member of Swisstransplant and president of the task force STALOS until 2020; foundation board member of the Gottfried & Julia Bangerter-Rhyner Foundation; director of the Swiss Organ Living-Donor Register SOL-DHR; expert reviewer for Pfizer Prize for Research.

Member of the Board of Directors of Swiss Paraplegic Research
Vice President of the Central Board of the Swiss Paraplegics Association and member of the Foundation Board of Swiss Paralympic

Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (social pedagogue, Sierre University of Applied Sciences). Since 2009 managing partner at Défisport, S. & A. Meystre, import, distribution and consultancy in the field of wheelchairs and sports equipment for the disabled. From 2004, sports director for various wheelchair sports courses. Co-founder and technical manager of the Défisport association (founded in 2012) and technical manager of the Verbier4All association (founded in 2019).

Director of Swiss Paraplegic Research

Studies in sports and exercise sciences at the University of Basel, earning a PhD in 2005 from the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. Conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich in the field of neurorehabilitation and rehabilitation robotics. From 2010, Head of the Research Department at the Spinal Cord Injury Center of the Balgrist University Hospital; habilitation in 2017 in the field of paraplegiology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich. Since 2025, Professor of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Lucerne and Director of Swiss Paraplegic Research.

Deputy Managing Director of Swiss Paraplegic Research

Studies in psychology and master in culture and personality psychology at the Radboud University of Nijmegen, Netherlands. Post-graduate in project management and organisational psychology.

Member of the Directorate of Swiss Paraplegic Research
Research Group Co-Lead, Ageing, Functioning Epidemiology and Implementation

Studies in psychology at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and specialisation in clinical psychology at the Federal University of São Paulo. Master’s degree, PhD and, in 2016, habilitation at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany, in the field of public health and epidemiology. Over 15 years as a researcher and lecturer at LMU Munich, and from 2011 to 2018 as a consultant for the World Health Organisation (WHO). Since 2021, Professor of Rehabilitation and Healthy Ageing and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at the University of Lucerne; also Director of the Center for Rehabilitation in Global Health Systems, a WHO Collaborating Centre. Since 2018, Co-Leader of the Ageing, Functioning Epidemiology and Implementation Research group at Swiss Paraplegic Research and chair of the SwiSCI Scientific Committee.

Member of the Directorate of Swiss Paraplegic Research
Leader Clinical Trial Unit

Studies in oecotrophology at the University of Bonn, Germany, graduating with a diploma in 1996. 15 years in various roles within global pharmaceutical companies, including seven years in research and development. MBA in global and personal leadership in Lucerne in 2011 and DAS in clinical trial practice and management in Basel in 2024. Since 2011 Leader of the SwiSCI Study Center at Swiss Paraplegic Research, since 2023 Leader of the Clinical Trial Unit.