Dr Saso Jezernik is a postdoctoral researcher and will be supporting the BRCCH-funded DAVINCI team with regard to the device’s design, users and medical input. He received an MSc in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Graz, Austria, in 1996 and a PhD in biomedical science and engineering from Aalborg University in Denmark in 1999, in collaboration with the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, USA (working on active medical implants). From 1999 until 2002, he was a postdoc at ETH Zurich working in medical robotics and neuroscience, and he later became an assistant professor at the University of Maribor.

In 2006, Dr Jezernik completed the MIT Sloan Visiting Fellows Program and studied at MIT and Harvard Medical School, specializing in technology strategy, innovation management and topics such as biomaterials, implants, MEMS microtechnology and tissue engineering. For the past 20 years, he has been focusing on implementing new technologies and enabling innovation in mechatronics and medical device products (e.g., active implants, medical injectors, hearing instruments) working for major pharma and medtech companies. Lately, his focus has been on digital healthcare and IoT areas, enabling data collection, connectivity and new solutions and business models within the healthcare ecosystem. Dr Jezernik is a designated EU FP7 healthcare innovation reviewer and an evaluator for the EU Flagship R&I Human Brain Project. He holds four patents and has 18 peer-reviewed publications. He also serves as a reviewer for major medical and biomedical engineering journals. He currently works as a Director of the life science consulting company Consultys in Switzerland, and he is also a co-founder of the digital health start-up Bioinitials.