Connect in Health

Hans Constandt is a social entrepreneur with a background in biotechnology, medicine, and software engineering. He combines scientific expertise with strong leadership skills and a passion for innovation. Hans is the founder of FAQIR, an initiative that makes personal health data accessible, connected, and usable through secure data vaults. His mission? To use health data intelligently to advance both individual care and societal well-being.

With prior experience as the founder and CEO of the award-winning health IT company Ontoforce, and a career at Eli Lilly in bioinformatics and R&D strategy, he has built deep expertise in FAIR data, semantic technologies, AI, and data-driven healthcare. His postgraduate studies at Vlerick and MIT have further shaped his vision of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Hans is a passionate advocate of #DataSavesLives. He believes that linking health data not only leads to faster, more personalised care but also to smarter decisions in prevention, research, and policy — with a tangible impact on people's lives.

Aniek Even received her M.Sc. degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Twente, Enschede, in 2013, followed by a Ph.D. from Maastricht University (Maastro clinic), The Netherlands, in 2017. She joined Imec and the OnePlanet Research Center (a strategic collaboration between Imec, Wageningen University and Research, Radboud University, and Radboudumc) in 2019, where she is working on new ingestible sensor technologies for preventive health and nutrition.

Stefaan is Chapter Head External Affairs at Roche BeLux. With his team, he secures the market access dossiers and the analysis of healthcare policy, engages with patient organisations and external stakeholders, and coordinates the communication strategy of the company. Before joining Roche in September 2025, he was driving external affairs at Takeda, both at national level and in the region of 24 mid-sized countries in Europe. 

Previously, he held public policy positions in the pharma industry association pharma.be, at Bristol-Myers Squibb and MSD Belgium.

Next to his activities at Roche, Stefaan is Associate Professor in Public Affairs and Comparative Politics at KU Leuven and author of several books and peer-reviewed articles on political systems. Stefaan was president of Bepact from its creation in 2016 until 2025.

Stefan Gijssels is Chair of the Patient Expert Center, he is member of the Board of Alzheimer Liga Vlaanderen, and member of ProLong, the lung cancer association. His book - « De Stem van de Patiënt” – was published by Lannoo Campus in 2025. He is co-founder and former CEO of Digestive Cancers Europe. He became a patient advocate after he was treated for a metastatic colorectal cancer in 2015. Before that, he was Vice President Communications & Public Affairs at Janssen EMEA.

Jo Lambert, MD, PhD, is Senior Full Professor in Dermatology and Venereology and Chair of the department of Dermatology at Ghent University Hospital in Belgium. She is a leading figure in dermatological research and clinical practice, particularly in the field of psoriasis. She has held prominent positions such as President of the Royal Belgian Society of Dermatology and Venereology and President of the Skin Inflammation and Psoriasis International Network (SPIN). Currently she is member of the Royal Academy of Medicine, Belgium, presiding the EADV Task Force Psoriasis, and IPC councilor, is member of the EADV Scientific Programme Committee and serves as Associate Editor of the JEADV journal. 

Since 2006, she has spearheaded a comprehensive research program at the UGent Dermatology Research Unit, focusing on translational and multidisciplinary approaches. She played a pivotal role in establishing PsoPlus, an integrated practice unit at the Ghent University Hospital that serves as a reference center for psoriasis care, managing 1200 patients annually. Her research focuses broadly on personalised dosing of newer drugs for psoriasis and on value-based care reorganisation.  Professor Lambert has published more than 275 articles in peer-reviewed journals and made contributions to several textbooks.

Kim Luyckx is the Innovation Director of Biovia, the health innovation cluster formed through the merger of flanders.bio and MEDVIA. This new industry-driven organisation unites more than 400 members in a dynamic ecosystem. From her experience in the health sector, Kim advises companies innovating in human and planetary health.

With a PhD in Natural Language Processing and a strong foundation in health data and digital technology, she brings over two decades of experience across institutions including University of Antwerp, Antwerp University Hospital, BlueHealth Innovation Center, Imec, and Sciensano. Her work spans clinical research data strategy, AI valorisation in healthcare, and large-scale digital transformation projects.

Kim currently serves on the board of a hospital and coordinates an investment fund in digital health as a consultant.

Hugues Malonne is Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP). He obtained his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1999. He then earned a Certificate at Harvard Medical School and INSEAD in Paris, and an Executive Master in Management of Health and Care Institutions at the University of Brussels (ULB).

He started his career in academia as a Professor before moving on to the pharmaceutical industry. After a successful international career (in Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, China, etc.), he returned to Belgium.

With his expertise in market access, government affairs, public relations, public policy and pharmaceuticals, Hugues Malonne joined the FAMHP in 2017 as Director General. He successively headed the PRE and POST authorisation departments. As of September 2023, he is the Chief Executive Officer of the FAMHP.

Hugues Malonne has a particular interest in addressing drug shortages and exploring innovative therapies, including Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) and vaccines. He is also co-chair of the Steering Board of CMA (Critical Medicines Alliance). 

Throughout his career, he has maintained close links with the academic world and continues to teach at ULB and UNamur.

Keith is the Programme Coordinator for the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition and is an established environmental and sustainability professional with over 25 years’ experience.

A graduate biochemist, he started working in hospital pathology services. Following a career change in the 1990’s, Keith studied for a Master’s degree in Environmental Diagnostics at Cranfield University before joining AstraZeneca’s corporate environment team. There, he gained experience in wastewater treatment and environmental management systems before becoming their lead for carbon strategy and environmental aspects of their Corporate Responsibility reporting. He was admitted as a full member of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment and registered as a Chartered Environmentalist by the Society for the Environment in 2005.

He has always advocated active and constructive engagement with key stakeholders and has been a participant in many national and international working bodies, including; DEFRA Consultation on Mandatory Carbon Reporting; CIA EU ETS Working Group; ICC Environment & Energy Commission; ICCWBO Climate Group; IPAC Board of Directors; Coalition for Sustainable Pharmaceuticals and Medical devices; GlobeScan/SustainAbility expert panel; GhG Protocol Power Sector Accounting technical working group; IEMA/CDP contact group; and the IEMA Climate Change group.

With a rare combination of interpersonal and technical skills, he is a technology leader who operates from a point of empathy, focusing on inspiring people to achieve goals quickly, efficiently, and profitably. He approaches his work with the objective of increasing both top- and bottom-line revenue. The key to his success lies in his ability to identify and mitigate risk and to transform strategy into action.

In his current role as Global Chief Information Officer with Ottobock Healthcare, a global medical device company dedicated to mobility solutions for patients worldwide, he created the first-ever global IT organisation aligned with the company’s strategic objectives. To that end, he has transformed the IT organisation from a cost center into a strategic business partner. By making a one-time investment, he generated ongoing annual operating savings amounting to tens of millions of dollars. With a keen understanding of the global market, he translates data into actionable insights, focusing on critical, objective thinking.

Prior to joining Ottobock, he spent several years with the Sycor Group, both in Germany and the US. In his final role as Chief Executive Officer of the company's Americas region, he eliminated financial risks and established clear cost controls, leading the company from financial distress to profitability. Through organic growth, he expanded the company's footprint and consistently increased revenue.

Sabrina Suetens is a seasoned professional with over 30 years of experience in life sciences and healthcare. She began her career in the innovative pharmaceutical industry, later leading health data services and MedTech companies. 

Currently, she serves as the Managing Director at beMedTech, the Belgian federation of Medical Technologies. 

Sabrina is a strong advocate for leveraging medical technologies to improve patient outcomes in a cost-effective way. She firmly believes in the power of teamwork and building bridges between all stakeholders to foster a sustainable, accessible healthcare system.

Patricia van Dijck is a distinguished leader in the pharmaceutical industry, currently holding the position as Political & Medical Director at pharma.be and leading the Foresight Team. She’s a Medical Doctor, specialised in Clinical Biology, Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Medicine. Since she joined the pharmaceutical Industry, Patricia held various key positions at GSK, Novartis and Lundbeck across different functions and geographies. She chaired the Task Force on health data and digitalisation at pharma.be, emphasising the importance of data sharing to enhance patient and physician outcomes. Her extensive career history showcases her expertise in guiding strategic initiatives and developing policies that drive access to innovation. Her professional journey is marked by a commitment to advancing healthcare through collaboration and insight.

Prof. Pascal Verdonck was born in 1963 in Ghent, Belgium. He graduated as Master of Science Civil Engineering in 1986 from the Ghent University. He obtained his diplomas in Master of Business Administration (1989), Master of Science Biomedical Engineering (1993) and PhD (1993) from the Ghent University.

For twenty years he was at Ghent University with visiting professorships at Imperial College London,  University of Paris XII & University of Groningen. He took an eight-year sabbatical as CEO of the hospital Maria Middelares  in Ghent.

He is now a full professor of medical technology at Ghent University and visiting professor at the KULeuven & Vlerick Business School. He is member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts. He is chairman of the board of directors of the University College of applied sciences Artevelde,  chairman of the board of Maria Middelares Hospital & the vice president of the Belgian Association of Hospital Managers. He is an advisor to several MedTech Companies.

His recent lectures and research/cases are dealing with the MedTech Ecosystem, leadership in healthcare, innovation management in hospitals, implementation of value based, connected and integrated healthcare in the health continuüm.