The minds behind Pulmotree
Ulf Krüger
CEO and Founder
Ulf´s deep knowledge in respiratory drug delivery combined with his strong management skills and innovative entrepreneurial vision are the foundation of PULMOTREE. His comprehensive experience involves key areas across the nebulizer industry lifecycle, from research and development, through corporate strategy to successful commercialization.
In his former position as Director – Fox Nebuliser Programs at Vectura, he was responsible for the entire sector of mesh nebulizers. Previously, he held various positions in the research and development department of PARI. He is a graduate biomedical engineer and a certified senior project manager (IPMA® Level B) and is a member of The Aerosol Society, the European Respiratory Society (ERS), the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM), and PhD student mentor for the TANDEM programme at RWTH Aachen University.
Carolina Dantas
Medical & Scientific Affairs
Carolina’s expertise as a pulmonologist MD adds to Pulmotree the valuable insight of both physicians and patients. Specialized in respiratory infectious diseases and lung related indications such as cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis, she has a vast hands-on clinical experience with inhaled drug therapies.
As a Manager of Medical and Scientific Affairs her search for innovation in healthcare matches with Pulmotree’s forward-thinking approach to the evolution of respiratory therapies. Besides her knowledge in clinical research, Carolina is an accomplished communicator in science, counting with published scientific papers, a book chapter, and several original presentations in international conferences. Carolina holds a Master’s degree in Medicine, is a member of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia, the European Respiratory Society (ERS), and the International Society for Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM).
Elena Schaefer
Chief of Staff
As part of the Pulmotree management team, Elena wears many hats and seamlessly manages the HR department, financial planning, budget monitoring, and organisational reporting. She plays an important role in growing Pulmotree with a controllable speed and in a sustainable way. With a background in general management, Elena has held diverse positions in international corporations and start-ups.
Her experience extends across operations, with a focus on supply chain management and procurement in the FMCG sector and international consulting. In the startup industry, she acquired practical expertise in driving business expansion, fostering rapid but sustainable growth for the company.
Before joining Pulmotree, Elena played a key role in a hyper-growth start-up’s management team. She played a crucial role in scaling the team from 10 to approximately 2,500 employees. Her responsibilities included not only overseeing expansion strategies but also integral aspects of human resources management.
Pia Görstner
Technical Project Lead – Device Partnering
As Technical Project Lead, Pia is responsible for the technical management of our partnering programmes for combination products, where she drives the device optimisation and its documentation. Her valuable expertise developed throughout the Kolibri nebulizer platform project management transfers perfectly into the partnering programmes. In addition to managing internal and external development projects, she is responsible for the usability of our products at PULMOTREE.
In addition to her activities in PULMOTREE’s R&D department, she advised various medical technology and pharmaceutical companies in the Business Unit Consulting, mainly in the areas of usability and risk management. Pia holds a Master’s degree in Engineering with a focus on medical device development and project management.
Pascal Förner
Device Tailoring Lead
As PULMOTREE’s Device Tailoring Lead, Pascal is responsible for requirements management, product development, and specification of customized solutions for our proprietary drug delivery platforms for combination products. His scope of work ranges from initial feasibility studies to technical support in clinical development, all the way to final documentation, including relevant in-vitro activities. Serving as a technical point of contact, he bridges the gap between device technology, customer requirements, and internal/external project management.
Pascal is an expert in research and development, holding a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Resource-Efficient Design and Simulation. Prior to joining PULMOTREE, he worked at Johnson Matthey, specializing in the characterization of adhesive composites and simulation of piezo actuators.
The 2nd degree Pulmotree family
Stefan Kaltenbacher
Advisory Board Member – Marketing & Corporate Finance
Stefan is the one connecting the dots between the Life Science industry and the corporate finance world. His broad background in Life Sciences delivers a number of values to Pulmotree when sharing insights and capabilities in identifying the strategic direction coupled with tactical sales and marketing excellence.
In his former positions as General Manager for Corporations like BAYER AG, Johnson & Johnson and CareFusion Stefan gained a richness of experience in a number of healthcare disciplines but foremost in leading people and developing talents. His extensive international work helped him to practice a global mindset but noteably sharing experiences and let others benefit from them. He lives by his credo.. “ healthcare is all about curiousity, every day.” Stefan is advising world class Private Equity groups and Family offices. He is a graduated Bachelor of Business Administration and holds a Corporate Master degree from the University of Notre Dame, USA.
Benjamin Schimmel
Advisory Board Member – Finance
As a tax consultant and German chartered accountant, Benjamin has many years of experience in implementation-oriented consulting for SMEs, which he gained among other things as a consultant at Deloitte. Benjamin is the managing director of the tax consultant and accountants firm Schimmel Steuerberater, Wirtschaftsprüfer.
We trust in his broad competence and knowledge around the topics of taxes, startups, business management and organizational design. He is our cooperation partner for internal / external accounting, tax declaration as well as tax and business consulting. Benjamin holds a degree in business administration and is a member of the chamber of chartered tax accountants, and the chamber of tax advisors.
Thorsten Reh
Advisory Board Member – Legal
Thorsten looks back at more than 16 years of international experience in med-tech and pharma as Attorney, Legal Counsel, Head of Legal, Healthcare Compliance Officer, Chief Administration Officer and Managing Director. Thorsten Reh is the managing director of MEDIAS REHS, a law firm based in Munich, Germany.
His experience includes medium-sized companies such as Helios and Biotest as well as innovative international groups like ResMed and large international companies such as Linde Healthcare. Thorsten is a fully qualified German lawyer and holds a Master of Laws degree from UNSW (University of New South Wales, Sydney) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Management from ESMT (European School of Management and Technology, Berlin). He is a Certified Compliance Officer (DIZR) as well as a Certified Data Protection Officer (TÜV).