LINQ - Key Persons
Alessia holds a Master of Science in Industrial Biotechnology from the University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy. Before joining LINQ, she worked as an Associate Director, Research and Development, for a drug development company in Berlin, Germany, where she managed various scientific projects. In this role, she collaborated with scientists at universities, research centers and pharmaceutical companies as well as with a German patent office on two patent applications. Her portfolio included a drug-development project focused on the treatment of depression, a drug-repurposing study focused on schizophrenia and an observational study looking at Parkinson's disease. While still in this job, Alessia completed a one-year traineeship with the Contract Research Organisation CCDRD AG. She later joined the organisation as a Clinical Project Manager, managing several phase I studies for generics, a phase I study with patients with schizophrenia and two phase III studies on patients with endometriosis.
At LINQ, Alessia uses her experience in managing diverse international research studies to provide project management related consultancy. She also supports Vax2Muc, and leads project management activities in the WORMVACS project, both funded under Horizon Europe. Moreover, Alessia is involved in the proposal process for new initiatives.
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Manager / Vita
After obtaining a degree in languages and communication, Britta started working in the administration of international projects and has now accumulated over 12 years of experience in managing collaborative research and innovation projects under a variety of funding frameworks such as FP7, Horizon 2020, EDCTP, and BMBF. She draws on her strong people skills, broad knowledge about specific funding requirements, and a detailed understanding of what it takes to efficiently plan and execute complex initiatives. Britta is committed to creating an atmosphere of collaboration, forging strong partnerships between diverse players from across the world, and helping them to successfully implement their projects.
At LINQ, Britta uses her broad range of expertise to manage the NIH project ENDxTB as well as MARC-SE Africa and PROTECT, both funded under EDCTP3. Additionally, Britta supports central processes at company level by implementing and monitoring invoicing procedures and effective record-keeping practices.
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Manager / Vita
Caroline has a background in Business Administration (M.A.) and Cross-Cultural-Studies (B.A.). After working as a Key Account Manager at an inter-cultural consultancy company where she was responsible for human resource development and consultancy schemes for international business projects, she turned to project management for large-scale research collaborations. Caroline now has over ten years of experience in managing international projects in the fields of life science and medical research and has worked in a variety of funding schemes, such as FP7, Horizon 2020, IMI, and EDCTP. She is an expert in creating the structural basis for smooth and successful collaboration in large and cross-sector research initiatives and has successfully trained and mentored many junior professionals in the field of research project management.
At LINQ, Caroline supports the management of the Horizon- and EDCTP2-funded projects TB-CAPT, StatinTB, WORMVACS and Vax2Muc. In addition, Caroline uses her expert knowledge and long-term experience to support proposals in various programmes. She provides in-depth advice on project management and guidance to junior project managers and the rest of our team.
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Manager / Vita
Christoph holds a PhD in Anthropology from Heidelberg University. Before joining LINQ, he worked as an independent research assistant, editor and translator, and provided science management and workshops on intercultural communication for Heidelberg University. His own primary research focused on health, wellness and illness in the South Asian context, and he participated in international research projects on medical tourism in India and on asymmetric relations between European and Asian medicine. His professional experience further includes community work at Y.R.G. CARE in India for HIV/AIDS research and education in South Asia and at the Fundación Norte in Argentina for the empowerment of indigenous groups from South America.
At LINQ, Christoph leads project management of the clinical trial StatinTB, funded under EDCTP2 as well as the EDCTP3-funded cluster project GenPath Africa, both coordinated in South Africa. Christoph further supports the management of the Immunising Pregnant Women and Infants Network, IMPRINT, funded by the UK Government's Global Challenges Research Fund.
Job Titles:
- Founder & Managing Director / Vita
Claudia has been working in international research and innovation projects for more than 15 years, supporting successful applications to a wide array of national and international funding programs such as BMBF, MRC/UKRI, NIH, the EU Framework Programmes, IMI, EDCTP or EIT Health. She has guided more than 40 resulting projects with funding of up to 28 million EUR through grant preparation and implementation, and many of those to successful follow-up initiatives. Claudia has strong people skills and thrives on new challenges. Her particular focus in recent years have been clinical studies and collaboration with industry.
At LINQ, Claudia uses her experience in supporting international research projects primarily to facilitate the planning and preparation of new initiatives. She guides and coordinates project design and proposal writing and supports new consortia in their set-up phase. Moreover, she develops actionable risk mitigation strategies and monitors their implementation to ensure successful completion of each project and help maximise impact. Claudia supports stakeholder management and guides networking both within the context of individual projects and beyond.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Senior Advisor / Vita
Vera did her PhD in the field of Molecular Biology and Tropical Medicine at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, and the Department of Infectious Diseases & Tropical Medicine at the LMU, Munich, Germany. As part of her PhD she developed diagnostic PCR assays for mycobacterial diseases under tropical and field conditions and established field laboratories in several countries in Africa. Vera has more than 15 years of experience in the field of collaborative research and innovation management. In her previous position, she oversaw project planning, proposal management and proposal writing and supported large interdisciplinary consortia in a variety of different funding schemes, including BMBF, the EU Framework Programmes, and IMI/IHI.
As a Senior Advisor at LINQ, Vera guides a portfolio of projects funded under EDCTP3 and Horizon Europe throughout their implementation phase and helps maximize project impact. She is also involved in the planning and set-up of new initiatives, providing strategic advice and hands-on proposal support.
Job Titles:
- Project & Communications Manager / Vita
Hannah holds a Master of Arts in North American Studies, with an educational background in history, literature and political science. In her research, she focused on the history of medicine and medical research. Before joining LINQ, she worked at the Freie Universität Berlin for several years, where she helped conceptualize and implement effective content and communication strategies for one of the university's Excellence Clusters. Through her work, she has experience in creating various types of content and website copy, social media campaigns, academic and non-academic articles and press releases.
At LINQ, Hannah supports Christoph in the implementation of dissemination and communication activities for GenPath Africa and IMPRINT. Specifically, she crafts promotional content for the media and the web, and drafts, reviews, and edits communication deliverables. Together with Claudia she coordinates cross-cluster communication within the GenEpi Network, funded by EDCTP3 and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Hannah is also involved in the proposal process for new initiatives.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder & Project Management Lead / Vita
Julia brings in more than ten years of experience in the management and administration of international research collaborations. Her portfolio has included small and large-scale collaborative projects, clinical trials and networks funded by EU-FP7, Horizon2020, EDCTP, EIT Health as well as national and regional funding schemes. She is an expert in day-to-day project management and monitoring, financial issues and project reporting and has provided numerous training courses on project and financial management, both at national and international level, either as part of capacity building schemes in EU and EDCTP projects or directly for partner organizations, research institutes and universities. Julia supports her projects with strong communication skills and provides expert advice on project implementation, preparation of audits and contractual issues.
At LINQ, Julia oversees all areas of operations and keeps the project management team performing at its peak. She translates best practice into standard processes and adapts them to new programmes whenever a new funder is added to the LINQ portfolio. In addition to safeguarding efficiency and compliance in general, Julia is involved in the management of EDCTP-funded clinical studies.
Job Titles:
- Content & Communications Manager / Vita
Zala has an educational background in Sociology (MA) and International Relations (BA). Before joining LINQ, she worked in a variety of non-governmental and social impact-centred organisations in Ljubljana, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Berlin. She has ample experience in strategic and impact communications on topics ranging from public procurement and green funds to labour rights. She is skilled at managing communications for organisations and initiatives active in international spaces and proficient in effective communication of complex topics using visuals, videos and written copy for websites, newsletters, and social media platforms.
At LINQ, Zala oversees dissemination and communication activities for MARC-SE Africa, PROTECT, Vax2Muc and WORMVACS projects, as well as general LINQ communications.