We are a passionate team with the goal to take precision medicine to the next level and improve people’s health.
About DBI
We rethink breath. Deep Breath Intelligence (founded in 2018) is a healthtech company unleashing the huge potential of analyzing exhaled breath by applying machine learning algorithms.
We provide non-invasive solutions for early diagnosis of diseases and therapeutic drug monitoring – enabling better treatment by precision medicine. Our first product, DBI-EPIbreath®, is a test for drug monitoring in epilepsy which is CE-certified under IVDD.
We are working hard today on developing a broad range of products in different disease areas to take future precision medicine to the next level and improve people’s health.
News
Team
Christian Zwicky
Master of Science & MBA, ETH
CEO
Christian Zwicky is the CEO of DBI. Prior to joining DBI, he has been working for over 25 years in the field of Life Science, MedTech, Clinical Diagnostics and Digital Pathology. Thanks to his international experience in different Executive Management functions, Christian has accumulated deep knowledge and understanding in Leadership, Sales & Marketing, Innovation-, and Project Management. Christian achieved a Master’s degree in Chemistry and Industrial Management. He provides managerial expertise as well as financial and digitalization know-how to DBI.
Lucijana Dinkel
Research & Network Program Manager
Lucijana is the DBI Research & Network Program Manager. She directs and coordinates research projects and leads all DBI projects to ensure compliance with protocols and overall objectives. Before Lucijana joined DBI, she has been working for 16 years in Life Science, Biotech, Pharma and Academia as a dedicated scientist who pushed research progress from the idea to the preclinical stage. Lucijana holds a diploma in Project Management and CAS in HC Marketing. By working internationally for different organizations (Novartis, J&J, USZ), Lucijana brings a deep understanding of all biological research to DBI.
Bo Gao, PhD
Product Manager & Data Scientist
Bo Gao has a Ph.D. in Computational Cancer Genomics from the University of Zurich, where he focused on developing novel bioinformatic methods for biomarker identification and tumor detection. In the past 7 years, he has worked actively on machine learning and data science in biology research topics. Before his dedication to research, he has been working in the IT industry in development and management for 7 years. Bo brings expertise in machine learning, bioinformatics, and all aspects of computer science to DBI.
Felix Schmidt, RPh PhD
Medical Director
Felix Schmidt is a registered pharmacist with broad international experience at DBI. In his early career he worked in different clinical settings as a pharmacist and as a scientist in technical innovation of global pharmaceutical industry. In his last job he held a position in Medical Management of a global pharmaceutical company. Being in his final year of his PhD in Clinical Science at the University of Zurich, Felix provides know-how of translational academic research, personalized therapy and all aspects of medical affairs.
Kapil Dev Singh, PhD
Scientific Product Manager & Data Analyst
Kapil Dev Singh is Scientific Product Manager & Data Analyst at DBI. He provides scientific advice and consultation on various DBI projects. He is a senior scientist with Prof. Dr. Pablo Sinues at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel. His work focusses on developing methods and data analysis pipeline for real-time breath mass spectrometry using SESI-HRMS (https://sinueslab.ch). He is also an expert in LC-MS based proteomics and has a PhD from University of Zurich.
Founders & Board of Directors
Prof. Dr. Malcolm Kohler
Medical Director, University Hospital Zurich; Chair of Respiratory Medicine, University of Zurich
Prof. Kohler is responsible for the clinical aspects of science within DBI. He is Medical Director of the University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland. His research focuses on the pathophysiology and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory disorders. He founded the Zurich Exhalomics flagship project, a research consortium which explores the metabolome of breath with diverse real-time technologies. Professor Kohler has contributed more than 300 scientific articles (Publications of Prof. Dr. Malcolm Kohler) to the field of respiratory medicine and some of this work has been acknowledged with national and international awards.
Prof. Dr. Pablo Sinues
Professor at University of Basel (Department Biomedical Engineering), lecturer at ETH Zurich (Chemistry & Applied Bioscience).
Pablo Sinues has a solid background in the interface between Chemistry (MSc.) and Mechanical Engineering (PhD). Sinues has pioneered secondary electrospray ionization mass spectrometry with a focus in breath analysis. He was acquainted with the technique at the former laboratory of Prof. John B. Fenn (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2002) under the supervision of Prof. Juan Fernandez de la Mora at Yale University. He is President of the Society of Spanish Researchers in Switzerland (ACECH) and Vice-president of the Swiss Metabolomics Society (SMS). He also serves as an expert for InnoSuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency. He was awarded a prestigious Eccelenza grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation and was recipient of the 2020 Swiss Group for Mass Spectrometry award for his outstanding research in mass spectrometry.
Sigi Föhn
Swiss Startup Investor, supporting disruptive ideas strategically and financially
Sigi Föhn has always been fascinated by innovation and how it improves our lives.
Since 2012 he is an active investor in the Swiss Startup scene, supporting disruptive ideas strategically and financially. Amongst others SkyCell, which has now become the leading provider of pharma cold chain container systems globally.
Prior to becoming a startup investor, Sigi Föhn was General Manager of Rieter Textiles Systems greater China in Shanghai after various engagements with other Swiss industrial companies in Switzerland and the US.
He holds an engineering degree and an MBA from the University of St. Gallen (HSG).