About Us
Who are we?
The Council of European Bioregions (CEBR) is a highly active European Association of Life Science Clusters, supporting the growth of life science ecosystems across Europe.
With nearly 50 members in 18 countries, CEBR brings together regional and national clusters to foster collaboration, innovation, and competitiveness in Biotechnology, MedTech, Digital Health, and related fields.
Our Vision
To strengthen transfer of knowledge and collaboration between life science clusters and ecosystems in Europe, and support sustainable growth for SMEs, creating a competitive Europe in the global economy.
Our Mission
Create a European platform for cluster/ network development & collaboration. Increase visibility of clusters/ bioregions and their contribution to sustainable growth. Joint activities to support SME development.
Strategic Goals
- Connect European Clusters, developing collaboration platforms and matchmaking activities within EU-funded projects to bridge regional gaps and foster joint innovation activities.
- Increase Global Visibility, representing European Life Sciences Clusters at international fairs, policy forums, and innovation summits to promote Europe as a Global Hub for Life Sciences.
- Turn Competition into Collaboration, by launching cross-border partnership and co-funded projects that unite clusters around shared challenges and strategic value chains.
- Collaborate with Regional, National, and EU Institutions to demonstrate the role of Life Science Clusters in driving sustainable growth and innovation across Europe.
Benefits
Network and communication
Ensuring communication and networking between the members of the network:
- External web, internal newsletter and mailings sharing announcements, events, projects, contacts.
- Access to a wide network.
- Monthly newsletter to increase members’ visibility and disseminate collaboration opportunities.
Activities
- Monthly webinar on selected topics of interests (i.e matchmaking for EU proposals, internationalisation, etc)
- Side events at important partnering conferences in Europe and worldwide.
- CEBR Annual Meeting (participation with a minimum fee)
Visibility
- Participation in greater visibility of the European LifeSciences ecosystem (participation in larger EU projects, supporting the definition of cluster policies at EU level).
- Giving the voice to the members, enhancing collaboration inside the network (Special Interest Groups, matchmaking).
General Benefits
Enhance your access to funding, through a facilitated access to collaborative project funding opportunities.
Use CEBR as a benchmarking tool, as we continuously share best practices and success initiatives among clusters and managers, enabling new tools and services for your members.
Get CEBR support for internationalization activities, providing new opportunities to your SMEs.
Benefits
Network and communication
Ensuring communication and networking between the members of the network:
- External web, and Internal web with private access for members, sharing announcements, events, projects, contacts…
- Access to contacts.
- Monthly newsletter to increase members’ visibility and disseminate collaboration opportunities.
Activities
- Monthly webinar on selected topics of interests ( i.e matchmaking for EU proposals, internationalisation, etc)
- Side events at important partnering conferences in Europe and worldwide.
- CEBR Annual Meeting (participation with a minimum fee)
Visibility
- Participation in greater visibility of the European LifeSciences ecosystem (participation in larger EU projects, supporting the definition of cluster policies at EU level).
- Giving the voice to the members, enhancing collaboration inside the network (Special Interest Groups, matchmaking).
General Benefits
Enhance your access to funding, through a facilitated access to collaborative project funding opportunities.
Use CEBR as a benchmarking tool, as we continuously share best practices and success initiatives among clusters and managers, enabling new tools and services for your members.
Get CEBR support for internationalization activities, providing new opportunities to your SMEs.
Do you want to know more about our association?
Management
Stamatiki Kritas
Managing Director
Marta González
Global Communications Manager
More information
Marta is a senior communications and marketing professional with over 20 years of experience in leading multinational companies across the healthcare, medical devices, legal, fashion, and luxury sectors. She holds a degree in PR & Communications, along with a Master’s in Marketing and Sales Management.
Marta has a strong track record in developing and executing strategic communications, marketing, and event programs aimed at increasing visibility, stakeholder engagement, and brand positioning. She brings deep expertise in Public Relations, Media and Institutional Relations, Corporate Communications, Digital Media, Marketing Strategy, Content Development—and is a seasoned professional in the management of high-impact events and international medical congresses.
At CEBR, Marta leads the organisation’s Marketing and Communications strategy, ensuring a consistent and compelling presence across all platforms. She also manages communication activities within European-funded projects in which CEBR is a partner, helping to amplify the impact and visibility of collaborative research and innovation across Europe.
Alberto Baldi
Senior Project Manager
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Alberto has 20 years of experience in EU projects, clusters and regional competitiveness.After his Master Degree, he joined the experience of science&technology parks, working in tech transfer, SME support and internationalisation. In 2009 he contributed to found bioPmed, Piemonte Healthcare cluster, where he also served as Cluster Manager for 8 years and Vice-President of CEBR.
In his career has been involved in more than 20 successful EU projects, from FP6 to the launch and coordination of two European Strategic Cluster Partnerships.
He is also Lead Assessor and Benchmarking Expert at ESCA – European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis (Berlin) and Associated Trainer at the European Foundation for Cluster Excellence (Barcelona).
He is a consultant, mentor and coach in cluster management, cluster excellence and regional competitiveness.
Stamatiki Kritas
Managing Director
Marta González
Global Communications Manager
More information
Marta is a senior communications and marketing professional with over 20 years of experience in leading multinational companies across the healthcare, medical devices, legal, fashion, and luxury sectors. She holds a degree in PR & Communications, along with a Master’s in Marketing and Sales Management.
Marta has a strong track record in developing and executing strategic communications, marketing, and event programs aimed at increasing visibility, stakeholder engagement, and brand positioning. She brings deep expertise in Public Relations, Media and Institutional Relations, Corporate Communications, Digital Media, Marketing Strategy, Content Development—and is a seasoned professional in the management of high-impact events and international medical congresses.
At CEBR, Marta leads the organisation’s Marketing and Communications strategy, ensuring a consistent and compelling presence across all platforms. She also manages communication activities within European-funded projects in which CEBR is a partner, helping to amplify the impact and visibility of collaborative research and innovation across Europe.
Alberto Baldi
Senior Project Manager
More information
Alberto has 20 years of experience in EU projects, clusters and regional competitiveness.After his Master Degree, he joined the experience of science&technology parks, working in tech transfer, SME support and internationalisation. In 2009 he contributed to found bioPmed, Piemonte Healthcare cluster, where he also served as Cluster Manager for 8 years and Vice-President of CEBR.
In his career has been involved in more than 20 successful EU projects, from FP6 to the launch and coordination of two European Strategic Cluster Partnerships.
He is also Lead Assessor and Benchmarking Expert at ESCA – European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis (Berlin) and Associated Trainer at the European Foundation for Cluster Excellence (Barcelona).
He is a consultant, mentor and coach in cluster management, cluster excellence and regional competitiveness.
Board
Montse Daban
President
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PhD in Molecular Biology, Masters’ Degree in Science Communication and Executive Masters’ Degree in Diplomacy and External Affairs. She has a scientific background (12-year experience as a researcher in Spain, France and the USA) and an additional professional track in science communication (1999-2006).
She joined Biocat in 2006, a few months after its foundation (first, as head of communication, and later as head of external affairs). She has been involved since in the cluster strategy, being currently member of the managing board. She is also advisor for R&I policies (since 2011) plus international relations (since 2017) for the Government of Catalonia (Secretariat for Universities and Research), with a special focus on international alliances and R&I programs.
As a member of the Biocat team, she works to promote the BioRegion of Catalonia, an ecosystem of 1200+ stakeholders (academia, hospitals, research organizations, administration, large firms, SMEs, VC, etc.), with a particular focus on its international position. Biocat is locally and globally active, member of several networks and partner in several consortia, with a footprint mainly in Europe but also in US, Canada, Israel and China. Her domains of expertise are: Research and Innovation policies, European Institutions and bodies, Internationalization
strategy, Science Diplomacy, Research Impact Assessment, Social Progress.
Hickmah Tagaully
Vice-president
More information
Following a Masters’ degree in European & International Affairs from Sorbonne University, Hickmah strengthened her expertise in European affairs in various capacities, including consultancy, the disability sector and presently, within the healthcare sector.
In 2022, she joined Medicen Paris Region which is the Health Competitiveness Cluster (state labelled) of the Paris and Ile-de-France Region (500+ members – MedTech, Biotech, E-health, Diagnostic, Data). Medicen’s vocations is to transform scientific innovation into therapeutic and economic value, into industrial processes and into job creation.
As a European Affairs Coordinator at Medicen, Hickmah collaborates with health and lifescience clusters across France and the EU to identify & respond to field needs of SMEs and academia, develop strategic inter-cluster collaborations and partnerships (also via several European projects). Her responsibilities also include coordinating the Europe team’s activities, representing Medicen in various national and European entities & working groups, and contributing to the cluster’s strategic positioning on European health challenges at regional, national, and European levels.
Kazimierz Murzyn
Board Member
Margot Jehle
Board Member
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Margot Jehle studied chemistry at the University of Würzburg. She earned her diploma and doctorate at the Institute for Biochemistry in Würzburg. Afterwards, Margot worked for several years at the company Immatics in Tübingen.
Since 2011 Margot is working for the business development company BioRegio STERN Management GmbH.
As Head for European Affairs she is responsible for the operational management and implementation of European projects where STERN is involved as project or lead partner.
Margot independently initiated, designed and developed several successfully approved European projects (such as the Interreg NWE project Codex4SMEs or the already completed ERDF project ILDA-care both coordinated by STERN).
Sauro Vicini
Board Member
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Sauro Vicini is the Cluster Manager of the Health Cluster of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy since 2018. He is a computer scientist with a Master in Technology & Innovation Management held at the Business School of the Bologna University.
From 2006 to 2017 he worked in the top ranked research centre in healthcare in Italy: the San Raffaele Hospital of Milan, working on topics such as IoT, Digital Health, cloud computing, robotics, privacy and data security, wearable sensors and personal health systems for well-being and disease prevention.
In 2012 he founded the “City of the Future Living Lab”: the living lab for experimenting user-driven Open Innovationinside the San Raffaele Hospital.
From 2014 to 2016 he has been member of the Executive Board of the Cluster Foundation “Technologies for Smart Cities and Communities”, a private foundation based in Milan and promoted by the Lombardia Region for the development of its regional Smart Specialization Strategy.
He conducted research activities, collaborating on numerous European Projects (Horizon 2020, FP7, FP6), in several ICT/Health sectors: Artificial Intelligence, Smart Cities, Internet of Things, Wearable Sensors, Cloud Computing and Big Data, Data Security, User-driven Open Innovation, Living Lab Methodologies, privacy-by-design technologies, ontologies and semantic engines.
Alexis Biton
Board Member
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Alexis Biton – International Affairs Manager at Genopole.
Alexis has a Masters 2 degree in Law and European affairs from Bordeaux University. He is specialized in European Union policies and International Affairs, programs, and financial mechanisms. As he did in his previous experience working for Innovation transfer at École Polytechnique, Alexis now brings his in-depth knowledge of European calls and networks to Genopole members looking to benefit from EU’s programs and International development opportunities.
Alexis is in charge of International & European Partnerships and his activities are structured around 3 main axes:
- International development and opportunities
- European activities
- Support to entrepreneurship
Karen Lindegaard
Board Member
More information
Karen Lindegaard , Internationalisation manager at the Danish Life Science Cluster – www.danishlifesciencecluster.dk
After working 15 years abroad with business incubator management, SMEs and Value Chain development, Karen has since 2012 strived to develop Welfare Tech and Danish Life Science Cluster to become an internationally recognized excellent Clusters awarded he Gold Label of the European Cluster Excellence Initiative (ECEI) in 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2024.
Her main focus on is on data-driven healthcare and on providing efficiency to the health-and-care sector by introducing innovative technology solutions, harvesting the benefits of technology introductions, and on sustaining the growth of SMEs within the sector.
Pablo Zardoya-Laguardia
Board Member
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PhD in Reproductive Biology at the Medical University of Graz, worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) in orthopaedics & traumatology, as project manager at the Biobank Graz, as product manager for viscosity measurements devices, as policy officer assistant for Food Improvement Agents in DG SANTE in Belgium and as visiting research scientist in molecular biology in the UK.
He joined Human.technology Styria (150+ members; Pharma & Biotech, MedTech, Health and Sustainability, Digitalization, Start-ups and Qualification) in 2023 as business developer responsible for the pharma and biotech field within the cluster.
As a member of Human.technology Styria, he supports the organisation, implementing regional/EU projects, events and workshops, coordinating networks regional and international partners, networking the relevant life science players in the region but also internationally, assisting the partners within the cluster but also looking for new potential partners to strengthen the regional, national and international visibility of the region in close cooperation with the business development digitalisation department.
Ria Hein
Board Member
More information
Ria Hein, works as a senior Lifetech Program Manager at Brabant Development (BOM), in the south of The Netherlands. She is involved in several regional, national, and international programs and projects. She co-developed the drug developed hotspot in the region Pivot Park, contributed as a business developer to the unicorn Acerta Pharma, created and executed several Interreg and Horizon projects. BOM is projectpartner in the ACE project within Interreg NSR. BOM was leadpartner of Boost4Health and projectpartner of Codex4SME’s and Step4Nams within Interreg NWE. From BOM she is chairing the board of LifetecZONe, a cluster organization in the South of the Netherlands. LifetecZONe has 80 Medtech and Lifesciences SME’s as members. This cluster received the bronze cluster certificate of the European Commission.
Ria wants to facilitate companies, making next steps in their businesses, to speed up the process of innovations and products, going to the market. The timeline of products going to the market should be shortened, so that patients get quicker access to solutions for their diseases or prevent that people get ill.
Kristina Eskenazi
Board Member
More information
Kristina Eskenazi is Chairwoman of the Health & Life Sciences Cluster Bulgaria and the Artificial Intelligence Cluster Bulgaria, a member of the Managing Board of KRIB—Bulgaria’s leading employers’ federation, and a board advisor to the Medical University of Plovdiv and Ruse University “Angel Kanchev”. She founded the Spinoff Bulgaria Initiative and has led numerous Horizon Europe and Digital Europe projects in AI and health innovation. Kristina mentors and organises flagship hackathons and entrepreneurship events, including AI & I Factory, AI Girls Hackathon, and Pitch2Pitch. She is a member of key European networks such as EuropaBio, ECHAlliance, and the European AI Forum, driving cross-sector collaboration and digital transformation.
Montse Daban
President
More information
PhD in Molecular Biology, Masters’ Degree in Science Communication and Executive Masters’ Degree in Diplomacy and External Affairs. She has a scientific background (12-year experience as a researcher in Spain, France and the USA) and an additional professional track in science communication (1999-2006).
She joined Biocat in 2006, a few months after its foundation (first, as head of communication, and later as head of external affairs). She has been involved since in the cluster strategy, being currently member of the managing board. She is also advisor for R&I policies (since 2011) plus international relations (since 2017) for the Government of Catalonia (Secretariat for Universities and Research), with a special focus on international alliances and R&I programs.
As a member of the Biocat team, she works to promote the BioRegion of Catalonia, an ecosystem of 1200+ stakeholders (academia, hospitals, research organizations, administration, large firms, SMEs, VC, etc.), with a particular focus on its international position. Biocat is locally and globally active, member of several networks and partner in several consortia, with a footprint mainly in Europe but also in US, Canada, Israel and China. Her domains of expertise are: Research and Innovation policies, European Institutions and bodies, Internationalization
strategy, Science Diplomacy, Research Impact Assessment, Social Progress.
Hickmah Tagaully
Vice-president
More information
Following a Masters’ degree in European & International Affairs from Sorbonne University, Hickmah strengthened her expertise in European affairs in various capacities, including consultancy, the disability sector and presently, within the healthcare sector.
In 2022, she joined Medicen Paris Region which is the Health Competitiveness Cluster (state labelled) of the Paris and Ile-de-France Region (500+ members – MedTech, Biotech, E-health, Diagnostic, Data). Medicen’s vocations is to transform scientific innovation into therapeutic and economic value, into industrial processes and into job creation.
As a European Affairs Coordinator at Medicen, Hickmah collaborates with health and lifescience clusters across France and the EU to identify & respond to field needs of SMEs and academia, develop strategic inter-cluster collaborations and partnerships (also via several European projects). Her responsibilities also include coordinating the Europe team’s activities, representing Medicen in various national and European entities & working groups, and contributing to the cluster’s strategic positioning on European health challenges at regional, national, and European levels.
Kazimierz Murzyn
Board Member
Margot Jehle
Board Member
More information
Margot Jehle studied chemistry at the University of Würzburg. She earned her diploma and doctorate at the Institute for Biochemistry in Würzburg. Afterwards, Margot worked for several years at the company Immatics in Tübingen.
Since 2011 Margot is working for the business development company BioRegio STERN Management GmbH.
As Head for European Affairs she is responsible for the operational management and implementation of European projects where STERN is involved as project or lead partner.
Margot independently initiated, designed and developed several successfully approved European projects (such as the Interreg NWE project Codex4SMEs or the already completed ERDF project ILDA-care both coordinated by STERN).
Sauro Vicini
Board Member
More information
Sauro Vicini is the Cluster Manager of the Health Cluster of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy since 2018. He is a computer scientist with a Master in Technology & Innovation Management held at the Business School of the Bologna University.
From 2006 to 2017 he worked in the top ranked research centre in healthcare in Italy: the San Raffaele Hospital of Milan, working on topics such as IoT, Digital Health, cloud computing, robotics, privacy and data security, wearable sensors and personal health systems for well-being and disease prevention.
In 2012 he founded the “City of the Future Living Lab”: the living lab for experimenting user-driven Open Innovationinside the San Raffaele Hospital.
From 2014 to 2016 he has been member of the Executive Board of the Cluster Foundation “Technologies for Smart Cities and Communities”, a private foundation based in Milan and promoted by the Lombardia Region for the development of its regional Smart Specialization Strategy.
He conducted research activities, collaborating on numerous European Projects (Horizon 2020, FP7, FP6), in several ICT/Health sectors: Artificial Intelligence, Smart Cities, Internet of Things, Wearable Sensors, Cloud Computing and Big Data, Data Security, User-driven Open Innovation, Living Lab Methodologies, privacy-by-design technologies, ontologies and semantic engines.
Alexis Biton
Board Member
More information
Alexis Biton – International Affairs Manager at Genopole.
Alexis has a Masters 2 degree in Law and European affairs from Bordeaux University. He is specialized in European Union policies and International Affairs, programs, and financial mechanisms. As he did in his previous experience working for Innovation transfer at École Polytechnique, Alexis now brings his in-depth knowledge of European calls and networks to Genopole members looking to benefit from EU’s programs and International development opportunities.
Alexis is in charge of International & European Partnerships and his activities are structured around 3 main axes:
- International development and opportunities
- European activities
- Support to entrepreneurship
Karen Lindegaard
Board Member
More information
Karen Lindegaard , Internationalisation manager at the Danish Life Science Cluster – www.danishlifesciencecluster.dk
After working 15 years abroad with business incubator management, SMEs and Value Chain development, Karen has since 2012 strived to develop Welfare Tech and Danish Life Science Cluster to become an internationally recognized excellent Clusters awarded he Gold Label of the European Cluster Excellence Initiative (ECEI) in 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2024.
Her main focus on is on data-driven healthcare and on providing efficiency to the health-and-care sector by introducing innovative technology solutions, harvesting the benefits of technology introductions, and on sustaining the growth of SMEs within the sector.
Pablo Zardoya-Laguardia
Board Member
More information
PhD in Reproductive Biology at the Medical University of Graz, worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) in orthopaedics & traumatology, as project manager at the Biobank Graz, as product manager for viscosity measurements devices, as policy officer assistant for Food Improvement Agents in DG SANTE in Belgium and as visiting research scientist in molecular biology in the UK.
He joined Human.technology Styria (150+ members; Pharma & Biotech, MedTech, Health and Sustainability, Digitalization, Start-ups and Qualification) in 2023 as business developer responsible for the pharma and biotech field within the cluster.
As a member of Human.technology Styria, he supports the organisation, implementing regional/EU projects, events and workshops, coordinating networks regional and international partners, networking the relevant life science players in the region but also internationally, assisting the partners within the cluster but also looking for new potential partners to strengthen the regional, national and international visibility of the region in close cooperation with the business development digitalisation department.
Ria Hein
Board Member
More information
Ria Hein, works as a senior Lifetech Program Manager at Brabant Development (BOM), in the south of The Netherlands. She is involved in several regional, national, and international programs and projects. She co-developed the drug developed hotspot in the region Pivot Park, contributed as a business developer to the unicorn Acerta Pharma, created and executed several Interreg and Horizon projects. BOM is projectpartner in the ACE project within Interreg NSR. BOM was leadpartner of Boost4Health and projectpartner of Codex4SME’s and Step4Nams within Interreg NWE. From BOM she is chairing the board of LifetecZONe, a cluster organization in the South of the Netherlands. LifetecZONe has 80 Medtech and Lifesciences SME’s as members. This cluster received the bronze cluster certificate of the European Commission.
Ria wants to facilitate companies, making next steps in their businesses, to speed up the process of innovations and products, going to the market. The timeline of products going to the market should be shortened, so that patients get quicker access to solutions for their diseases or prevent that people get ill.
Kristina Eskenazi
Board Member
More information
Kristina Eskenazi is Chairwoman of the Health & Life Sciences Cluster Bulgaria and the Artificial Intelligence Cluster Bulgaria, a member of the Managing Board of KRIB—Bulgaria’s leading employers’ federation, and a board advisor to the Medical University of Plovdiv and Ruse University “Angel Kanchev”. She founded the Spinoff Bulgaria Initiative and has led numerous Horizon Europe and Digital Europe projects in AI and health innovation. Kristina mentors and organises flagship hackathons and entrepreneurship events, including AI & I Factory, AI Girls Hackathon, and Pitch2Pitch. She is a member of key European networks such as EuropaBio, ECHAlliance, and the European AI Forum, driving cross-sector collaboration and digital transformation.
CEBR Achivements
CEBR Position Paper
The Council of European BioRegions (CEBR) was initiated in 2002, and consolidated through the Europe Innova ABCEurope (Advanced Biotech Cluster platforms for Europe) project, where 13 leading European bio-regions formed a partnership to raise both the quality and quantity of support services for biotech SMEs across Europe.
Contact us for a full version:
communication@cebr.net
Digitalisation Position Paper
Digitalisation is an incredible changing factor in the way we use to access and utilize healthcare services. We are still facing barriers and limits in the full exploitation of such opportunity. Clusters can be part of thesolution to change the paradigm.
Contact us for a full version:
communication@cebr.net
CEBR Achivements
CEBR Position Paper
The Council of European BioRegions (CEBR) was initiated in 2002, and consolidated through the Europe Innova ABCEurope (Advanced Biotech Cluster platforms for Europe) project, where 13 leading European bio-regions formed a partnership to raise both the quality and quantity of support services for biotech SMEs across Europe.
Contact us for a full version: communication@cebr.net
Digitalisation Position Paper
Digitalisation is an incredible changing factor in the way we use to access and utilize healthcare services.We are still facing barriers and limits in the full exploitation of such opportunity. Clusters can be part of thesolution to change the paradigm.
