TEAM

Prof. Michael Schön is a distinguished Professor and Director of the Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Allergology at the University Medical Center Göttingen. He also serves as Vice Dean and Deputy Director for Research and Teaching and is the former director of the Lower Saxony Institute of Occupational Dermatology. Prof. Schön has been recognized with numerous awards for his groundbreaking research on immune reactions in inflammation. From 2011 to 2024, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the German Dermatological Society. Currently, he holds the position of Secretary General and President of the European Dermatology Forum (EDF).

Prof. Schön earned his MD in Medicine from the University of Ulm, Germany. He has worked at the Free University of Berlin, Harvard Medical School and the universities of Düsseldorf and Magdeburg. Before his appointment at the University Medical Center Göttingen, he held a professorship in Experimental Biomedicine at the University of Würzburg. Michael has further qualifications in dermatopathology, allergology, immunology and health economics.

Professor Dobbelstein has served as Director of the Institute of Molecular Oncology at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), Germany since 2005 and is also an Associate Member of the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences (MPI-NAT). He received his training as a physician at the University of Munich (LMU) and performed research as a virologist and cancer biologist at Princeton University (USA), the University of Marburg (Germany) and the University of Southern Denmark.

Professor Dobbelstein’s research interests focus on principles of infections and cancer, including the application of anti-cancer drugs as antivirals, as well as alpaca-derived NanoAbs (nanosized antibodies also known as nanobodies and VHH antibodies) as therapeutics. His collaboration with Professor Dr. Dirk Görlich at MPI-NAT as highlighted in their 2021 EMBO Journal article titled “Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by highly potent, hyperthermostable, and mutation-tolerant nanobodies” forms the scientific basis of BiondVax’s exclusive license for development and commercialization of an innovative, self-administered, inhaled NanoAb for the treatment of COVID-19. As recently reported, a preclinical trial of the inhaled anti-COVID-19 NanoAbs demonstrated significantly milder illness and faster recovery in comparison to infected hamsters treated with inhaled placebo.

In addition, Professor Dobbelstein, together with Professor Görlich, is collaborating with BiondVax under a five-year strategic research agreement for the discovery, characterization and cloning of additional NanoAbs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, asthma and macular degeneration.

Dr. Sadeh is an accomplished physician-scientist with over 20 years of experience in drug development and clinical research. He is currently the CMO and head of R&D at Bausch Health. Prior to that he was at the Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), where he held multiple senior leadership positions, including Senior Vice President and Global Programs Head for Immunology, Cardiovascular, and Neuroscience; Immunology Therapeutic Area Head; and China R&D Head.

Throughout his career, he has been responsible for multiple drug approvals across various fields, including pulmonary, rheumatology, dermatology, gastroenterology, and neurology. His most recent achievement is the approval of Sotyktu, a first-in-class TYK2 inhibitor for the treatment of psoriasis. Dr. Sadeh also held senior leadership positions at Sanofi, AstraZeneca, and Schering-Plough.

Dr. Sadeh earned his MD in Medicine from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and an M.Sc. degree in Clinical Research from Harvard Medical School. He completed his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at Harvard Medical School. He began his medical career as an academic researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital.