Moderators

PD Christina Akre is a Socio-Anthropologist and PhD in Life Science, and Privat-docent at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne. She also trained during one year as a research fellow at the Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (MA, USA). She is currently head of the Social Science Sector at the Department of Epidemiology and Health Systems at the Center for Primary Care and Public Health, Unisanté, leading a team of researchers in social sciences applied to public health. Her main fields of expertise are in adolescent health, qualitative health research, implementation science, and participatory research. She also acquired a 4-year experience as head of community health at the Ministry of Health of Canton of Vaud.

Carole E. Aubert is Attending Physician at the Department of General Internal Medicine of Bern University Hospital and Associate Professor at the University of Bern. She is pursuing a career as a clinical researcher with a special focus on quality of care, patient-centered care, and reduction of low-value care, particularly with an implementation science approach. She leads and collaborates on several projects notably funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Horizon Europe. She is particularly experienced in mixed methods studies involving healthcare professionals and older adults with multimorbidity.

Thekla Brunkert is Assistant Professor of Interprofessional Primary Care at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Lucerne, Switzerland. She has substantial experience in leading implementation science research focused on developing and implementing innovative care models for complex populations. Her research program focuses specifically on caring for older adults with multiple chronic conditions across diverse healthcare settings, including primary care, nursing homes, and hospital-to-home care transitions.
She completed her Master's in Health Sciences at the University of Lucerne and earned her PhD in Nursing Science from the University of Basel. She further expanded her research expertise through a fellowship at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, and served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University Department of Geriatrics FELIX PLATTER in Basel.

Lauren Clack is Assistant Professor for Implementation Science in Health Care with tenure track at the University of Zurich. She holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Zurich and an MSc in Applied Ergonomics from the University of Nottingham.
She began working as a behavioral scientist in the field of hospital infection prevention at the University Hospital Geneva (2011-2012), where she was involved in international research projects that sought to define the core components of infection prevention programs and explore the factors influencing implementation of infection prevention practices in European hospitals. From 2012 until 2021, she worked as a researcher and project leader at the University Hospital Zürich Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, where she specialized in the application of implementation science and user-centered design to improve the systematic integration of evidence-based infection prevention practices into care delivery.

Suzanne R. Dhaini is the Head of Nursing Research at the University Children’s Hospital Zurich and a scientific collaborator at the University of Basel. She is a former Assistant Professor tenure track at the Hariri School of Nursing, American University of Beirut. Her work focuses on improving care quality through evidence-based nursing practices, workforce, and innovative community care models. Suzanne Dhaini has led and collaborated on several projects advancing nursing science and patient-centered care.

Carla Meyer-Masetti is Assistant Professor of Clinical Pharmacy in the Department of General Internal Medicine at the University Hospital of Bern and Adjunct Researcher at the Institute for Primary Care (BIHAM), University of Bern. She is also an associated researcher in the Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacy group at the University of Basel, where she collaborates on research in long-term and home care. Her work centers on effective, evidence-based clinical pharmacy approaches to improve medication safety for vulnerable patient groups. At Inselspital, she develops and implements new clinical pharmacy services and advances practice-based research.

Rahel Naef is Assistant Professor for Implementation Science in Nursing and Deputy Director at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care. She also heads the Implementation Science in Nursing Research Group at the University Hospital Zurich.

Rahel has taken a leadership role in generating scientific knowledge around family engagement and support in acute and critical care contexts. Her work utilizes intervention and implementation science research methods to advance the health and well-being of families and to establish participatory, inclusive, and collaborative healthcare systems, with a particular emphasis on families of critically ill persons, later life families, and bereaved family members. Most recently, she investigated the clinical effectiveness and implementation of FICUS®, a multicomponent, nurse-led, interprofessional model of critical care. She also explores the integration of evidence-based bereavement support practices across different healthcare settings. Rahel holds a Master's Degree in Nursing from the University of Toronto, Canada, and a PhD in Nursing Science from the University of Manchester, England.

Skip Olson is an independent consultant to the pharmaceutical industry. He focuses on using his 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to develop strategies and solutions on topics related to Evidence and Implementation Science. Much of his time in pharma was at Novartis, he was the Global Head of Integrated Evidence Strategy and Innovation where he was responsible for promoting the very best in research methodology and applications of real-world and other evidence across all therapeutic areas and around the globe to drive better decision making. He has written several publications  on implementation science in the pharmaceutical industry and strives to foster its use there. He earned a Doctor of Science (ScD) in Biostatistics from Harvard University.

Marco Riguzzi is a Senior Nursing Scientist and Implementation Researcher at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care at the University of Zurich and at the Center for Clinical Nursing Science at the University Hospital Zurich, who also has a background in health services research and health economics. His research combines nursing science, clinical research and implementation science with a focus on the physical and mental health, functioning, management and resilience of families in vulnerable situations, such as a close other suffering from critical illness or injury, and the bereavement of a family member.

Marie P. Schneider, pharmacist, is Associate Professor of Medication Adherence, Interprofessionality and Health Communication at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, Switzerland. She is also the Scientific Director of the living lab, pharma24, an academic community pharmacy located at the exit of the University Hospitals of Geneva. It serves as an academic hub at the interface between the University, and the community and hospital practices. Her research focuses on medication adherence in long-term diseases and on the implementation of interprofessional intervention programs in outpatient and community care. These programs are built upon interprofessional collaborations between patients, pharmacists, physicians and nurses. In teaching, she represents ISPSO in the Geneva Interprofessional Education Programme, which includes all health students in health of the University of Geneva and Geneva School of Health Sciences.

Bastiaan Van Grootven is an SNF Ambizione fellow at the Institute for Nursing Science, University of Basel, with a strong focus on improving quality of care for older persons. He obtained his PhD in biomedical sciences from KU Leuven, Belgium, and has additional training in biomedical statistics and evaluating complex interventions. He currently leads the ENGAGE and COMMUNITY projects, which develop and test community-based programs to reduce frailty and social isolation among older adults. In addition, he contributes as a co-investigator to international trials such as RECOVER@HOME and is a member of several research consortia on integrated care, palliative care, and social isolation. His work combines evidence synthesis, program evaluation, and individualized healthcare approaches to advance implementation science in gerontology and geriatrics.

Ursina Wälchli works as Course Coordinator at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care and is engaged as a project management, design thinking and teamwork lecturer for the Digital Society Initiative and the Institute of Political Science at the University of Zurich. She holds a Master's degree in Science of Religion and Sociology from the University of Bern, where she was also involved in various qualitative research projects. From 2010 to 2020, she served as study program coordinator and student advisor at the Institute of Political Science. Beyond academia, she works as a career counselor, stress and self-management coach, and meditation teacher. Her work is dedicated to helping individuals gain more clarity about their values, behavioral patterns, and motivations — thus finding more meaning in life, reducing stress, and creating a lifestyle aligned with their personal and professional goals.

Cassie Wu holds a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in psychology from the University of Washington and University College London, respectively. Before joining the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care as a PhD student, she worked in NHS clinical settings in London and conducted research on behavioral health interventions, including topics such as parenting, sleep, clinician implicit bias, and sustainable lifestyles.

Kaspar Wyss is Senior Project Leader at the Swiss TPH and Professor at the University of Basel. Using implementation science methods, he and his team investigate effects and effectiveness of public health measures for example in the area of suicide prevention or integrated care delivery in Switzerland, highlighting his proficiency in evaluating complex public health interventions through mixed methods approaches. Kaspar Wyss ensures that public health measures are assessed effectively, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions. His collaborations with the governmental authorities and health services providers, and his commitment to education demonstrate his commitment to translating of research findings into policy and practice as well as into concrete action on health/disease and social systems.