Hello, we are midge medical.

Michael Diebold

CEO & Managing Director
Founder

Michael’s belief in integrating the unusual allows him to go beyond borders. After co-founding meisterwerk ventures, midge medical now benefits from Michael’s integral position as their Inventor and the business’ vision of combining disruptive thinking with unique engineering solutions to found and build companies in the areas of medical and cloud technology. Prior roles saw Michael as Managing Director of medical think tank BIOLAB, where he developed their concept and built a successful team who delivered ground breaking insights, patented technologies and disruptive therapy approaches. Previous still, at Biotronik, Michael was Vice President Software Development, responsible for the development of the world’s first CE and FDA approved remote patient management.

Together with an educational background in computer science and electrical engineering under his belt, Michael is also holder of 20 US and European patents in the field of medical devices and medical device security.

Dr. Markus Riester

Managing Director
Founder

Markus is passionate for innovative approaches to tricky challenges. In 2013 he co-founded Multiphoton Optics, developing and marketing 3D-nanoprinting equipment for micro-optical and biological products. Markus held previous roles as Head of R&D, CTO, Senior Scientist and Technology consultant for companies like AT&S, Microsystems Technologies, Dyconex, Biolab, Motorola and IBM. Markus consulted the EU Commission in Future Emerging Technologies (FET), the SME program and in DG Connect, in roles of evaluator and reviewer, as vice chairman of the FET Innovation Launch Pad and as expert for Innovation Radar reviews.

He is Advisory Board member for a bioprocessing startup. He holds a PhD degree in Chemistry, and an engineering degree in Chemical Technology. His 12 patents are in the field of printed circuit boards and optical assemblies, and medical diagnostic devices; he has received two awards for technical innovation and entrepreneurship.

Arne Heissel, PhD

Head of Market Access & Outcomes Research

To midge medical, Arne brings more than 20 years of experience in academia, non-profit organizations and world-leading companies in the biotechnology and medical device industry. He studied at the University of Bayreuth, Germany and was a visiting graduate student at Princeton University, USA, before he completed a post-doc research fellowship at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Holding a PhD in economics, Arne is an expert in clinical and health economic value creation and technology assessments. His worldwide understanding of healthcare systems arises from invaluable positions co-designing large clinical and economic research projects, to negotiating patient access, to breakthrough innovations with governments, national and private payers and Health Technology Assessment Agencies. Arne's life mission is to offer innovative and disruptive solutions to help people stay healthy and heal.

Mirjam van Heek

Head of Product

Mirjam always strives to bring the lean, agile approach into a traditional context. As a passionate Product Manager for over 8 years, her clear mission is to create absolute user delight. She has vast experience in both dynamic startup environments and health agency contexts, and has built award-winning products with well-known brands from the health insurance and international pharma industry. Mirjam is an experienced team leader with a knack for servant leadership; she believes that empowering teams with a clear mission is the key to true innovation.

Simon Effenberg

Head of Software Engineering

Simon’s ambition stems from his internal desire to know what’s going on – from start to finish. As a result, his curiosity fuels his continually increasing command of technical knowledge. Previously, Simon held several senior positions with the OLX/Naspers group, including Principal Site Reliability Engineer, where he was responsible for successfully improving and restructuring the PHP code behind the OLX platform. He’s a patient and passionate team player with ample experience in both managing and bringing together an array of colleagues with whom he generously shares his expertise. Having worked with a host of different technologies, Simon’s skill and insight is central to optimizing midge medical´s innovative platform.

Dr. Christian Wahnes

Chief Technology Officer

Christian shapes strategy at the intersection of technology, added value and transformation. He’s a senior manager in the MedTech sector, and has profound experience in regulatory, R&D, quality and sourcing for class 2 & 3 devices, including analytical development. Christian has designed successful strategies of more than 10 launches (orthopedic, spine, and ventilation) on the technology side, managed a multiple of international registrations, and implemented effective cross-functional process-landscapes for two market leaders. His leadership skills include functional reorganizations, building structures from scratch, integration and development of teams, and implementation of company-wide project management and boards. Entrepreneurial thinking has led him to roles in heading corporate strategic innovations and managing new technologies. Through his education at a number of international universities, including ETH Zürich, as well as Mainz, Kyoto and Bordeaux, his background consists of physical chemistry, large molecules and biomaterials. Christian holds a PhD from Johannes Guttenberg University of Mainz and a more recent MBA from Mannheim Business School and ESSEC.

Prof. Dr. Manfred Weidmann

Head of Application Development

Manfred brings a wealth of experience in developing diagnostic assays for field use to midge medical. As Professor of Virology at the University of Stirling, UK, he coordinated a Wellcome Trust project developing and providing mobile point of care diagnostic testing for the Ebola virus in Guinea, during the epidemic in West Africa 2014-2016, together with his partners at the Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Senegal. He is currently continuing this work in several EU-funded projects. His experience in Virology is well documented in over a hundred publications; Manfred is also associate editor of Virology Journal since 2012, and a member of the European Society of Clinical Virology, and the Gesellschaft für Virologie, Germany. He is the recipient of a Commendation of the Times Higher Education Award (2016), the Abbot Diagnostic Award (2003) and was shortlisted for the Heine Medin Award (2014).

Frida Arrey, MSPH, PhD

Scientific Advisor

Frida is a humanized mouse model expert and bench scientist with more than 10 years’ experience in immunology and handling of bio level 2 and 3 samples. When not Scientific Advisor, she channels her expertise as a Guest Scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Infection Biology in Berlin and consults on business development for various biotech and technology startups. With a unique PhD thesis, Frida developed a humanized mouse model for pulmonary and disseminated tuberculosis. Prior positions involved research at Rockefeller University, New York; and data management at Tulane University, New Orleans, with an MSPH in Public Health (Tropical Medicine emphasis) also from the latter. Frida has extensive background experience in flow cytometry and immunopathology, and a solid understanding of working in clinical, translational and industry drug consortium settings.