STEFAN SCHORLING, CEO & CO-FOUNDER

Stefan is an experienced senior executive and serial entrepreneur with a proven track record in the diagnostic, pharmaceutical, life science and medical device industry. He started his career as a management trainee at Roche Diagnostics in 2001 and held various leadership positions in R&D, Procurement, Marketing, Global Product Strategy, and Business Management with full P&L responsibility. In 2015, Stefan joined the Dutch start-up SurgVision B.V. as COO and managed the company operations until it‘s sale to Bracco Imaging S.p.A. in October 2017. Since then, he has been CEO of SurgVision GmbH leading the company towards the first commercial product introduction in February 2022. Stefan is a consultant to SMEs in the areas of strategy development and implementation to realize sustainable growth targets. Together with Vasilis and Miguel, Stefan founded sThesis GmbH in 2022 as CEO with the goal to revolutionize diabetes monitoring technology. Stefan holds a PhD. in Chemistry and Pharmacy from the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich and is a certified systemic coach.

MIGUEL PLEITE, ADVISOR & CO-FOUNDER

Professor Miguel A. Pleitez, Ph.D., gained his doctoral degree from the Institute of Biophysics at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main where, awarded by a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship where he pioneered sensing methodologies for non-invasive glucose monitoring in human skin through mid-infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy employing quantum cascade lasers. Subsequently, he moved to the Optical Imaging Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis, where he made significant contributions to the advancement of UV-based photoacoustic microscopy for intraoperative margin analysis in breast cancer resections. Here he also contributed to research in mid-infrared photoacoustic microscopy employing Optical Parametric Oscillator lasers. In 2016, Prof. Pleitez joined the Chair for Biological Imaging at TU-München and the Institute of Biological and Biomedical Imaging at Helmholtz Zentrum München, work that led to the ground-breaking development of Mid-infraRed Optoacoustic Microscopy (MiROM), enabling label-free metabolic imaging of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates and non-invasive biosensing. Recognized for his contributions, he was appointed Assistant Professor for Translational Optoacoustics at TU-München/Helmholtz Zentrum München in 2021. Leading a dedicated team, he focuses on the advancement of label-free mid-infrared technologies for live-cell metabolic microscopy, rapid analytical histology, and calibration-free non-invasive biosensing. His continuing efforts are focussed on translational research in obesity, diabetes, and cancer, promising impactful contributions to medical science and healthcare, in particular for diabetes management.

VASILIS NTZIACHRISTOS, ADVISOR & CO-FOUNDER

Professor Vasilis Ntziachristos studied electrical engineering at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. Following his M.Sc. and PhD. in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, he was appointed Assistant Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Bio-Optics and Molecular Imaging at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. Since 2007, he has served as Professor of Medicine and Electrical Engineering and the Chair of Biological Imaging at the Technical University of Munich and Director of the Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging at Helmholtz Munich. Prof. Ntziachristos is also currently Director of Bioengineering at the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus and the Head of the Bioengineering Department at Helmholtz Munich. He is the founder of the journal Photoacoustics, regularly Chairs in international meetings and councils. Prof. Ntziachristos has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Karl Heinz Beckurts prize (2021), the Chaire Blaise Pascal (2019) from the Region Ile-de-France, the Gold Medal from the Society for Molecular Imaging (2015), the Gottfried Leibnitz prize from the German Research Foundation (2013), the Erwin Schrödinger Award (2012) and was named one of the world’s top innovators by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Technology Review in 2004.

Maximilan Koch, Head of Research

Maximilian studied computer science at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich. After career steps in software development (Axxom Software AG, Trilog AG), Max joined Helmholtz-Zentrum München and Technische Universität München to conduct research, specializing in the fields of medical imaging and sensing. He further developed his expertise in the R&D and entrepreneurial sectors at Bracco Imaging Deutschland GmbH and SurgVision GmbH, where he played a key role in developing cutting-edge medical devices. In an entrepreneurial setting, Max developed a versatile skill set, extending beyond his computer science foundation to include mechanical engineering, electronics, optics, and machine learning (AI). He also gained valuable insights into intellectual property and regulatory aspects of the medical field, ensuring compliance and innovation. Since July 2022, Max has been a vital part of sThesis GmbH, driving innovation and contributing his extensive knowledge. His dedication and multidisciplinary expertise continue to push the boundaries of medical technology, aligning with sThesis GmbH's vision of transforming healthcare.

Non-invasive glucose monitoring (NIGM) represents a better alternative to finger pricking for blood glucose assessment and management of diabetes.

Current NIGM techniques do not measure glucose concentrations in blood but rely on indirect bulk measurement of glucose in interstitial fluid, where glucose is diluted and glucose dynamics are different from those in the blood, which impairs NIGM accuracy. Yet researchers at the Helmholtz Center Munich have tested a new biosensor – termed depth-gated mid-infrared optoacoustic sensor (DIROS) – which allows, for the first time, non-invasive glucose detection in blood-rich volumes in the skin (https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-01016-9).

DIROS minimizes interference caused by the stratum corneum and other superficial skin layers by time-gating mid-infrared optoacoustic signals to enable depth-selective localization of glucose readings in the skin. In measurements on the ears of mice, DIROS displays improved accuracy over bulk-tissue glucose measurements (figure). This work demonstrates how signal localization can improve NIGM accuracy, and positions DIROS as a holistic approach, with high translational potential, that addresses a key limitation of current NIGM methods.