BHH Ambassadors

Joan Comella holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery as well as a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Barcelona. He currently serves as a Professor of Cell Biology at the UAB. In the realm of administration, Joan Comella has held various significant roles, including Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Lleida, Director of the National Agency for Evaluation and Prospective Research (ANEP), Director of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), and Director of the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI). Additionally, he has occupied other representative positions in societies, foundations, and associations associated with research in Catalonia, Spain, and Europe. From September 2009 to 2022, Joan Comella directed the Vall d'Hebron Hospital Research Institute (VHIR), serving as the head of research at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital Campus. Subsequently, starting from October 2022, he assumed the role of Director of Research, Innovation, and Learning at the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona. Furthermore, since February 2023, Joan Comella has taken on the additional responsibility of directing the Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD).

Olga Insua, the Chief Commercial Operations Officer at Ferrer Pharma, boasts a pharmaceutical career dating back to 1997, beginning with roles at Novartis in the United States. Over nearly a decade, she held various positions in sales and marketing. In 2008, she joined Novo Nordisk, leading a therapeutic area at the U.S. headquarters. Transitioning to Europe in 2012, Olga directed global marketing for a business unit at Novo Nordisk in Denmark. By 2016, she assumed the general management for Spain, later adding Portugal in 2017. Since 2020, Olga has spearheaded Angelini Pharma's cultural and organizational transformation in Spain and Portugal, and joined Ferrer as CCO in September 2024. Her impactful leadership underscores a trajectory marked by international experience and a commitment to driving positive change in the pharmaceutical industry.

Carlos Nueno has developed a career of 25 years in the healthcare industry with a special focus on healthcare services and technology. He is an Industrial Engineer by background and holds an MBA from IESE Business School. Carlos co-founded and was CEO of Advance Medical, which became a leading provider of critical illness diagnosis services around the world. He scaled the company across Europe, the Middle East, Latam, Asia and the US. Carlos now runs the international business of Teladoc Health (a NYSE listed company with revenues of $2.6B in 2023) as President of International, managing all international markets from its headquarters in Barcelona. Carlos is a member of the Supervisory Board of Barcelona Global, a private, independent and non-profit association aiming to make Barcelona one of the world's best cities for talent, and economic activity. He is also a member of the Healthcare Chapter at IESE Business School, and a proud BHH Ambassador.

Carmen González is currently Vice President of Huawei Spain, a position from which she drives the company's corporate communication and social responsibility activities, relations with institutions, as well as the digitalisation strategy and the development of the different business units. With a career of more than 20 years in the field of technology and telecommunications, ten of them in senior positions at Huawei, Carmen González Gens served until June 2023 as Vice President of Sales of Huawei Consumer Business Group, bringing her extensive experience in the field of sales, negotiation and strategic planning. Prior to joining Huawei Technologies España in 2012, Carmen had developed her career in several technology companies such as Blackberry, Orange and HP. She is an Industrial Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and with a broad knowledge of different business cultures, having developed part of her professional activity in the United States and her ten years of experience in positions of responsibility at Huawei. Carmen is a great enthusiast of technology and the positive impact that it can have on people's lives.

Antoni Esteve, President of AdSalutem Institut, is a distinguished figure in the healthcare sector. With a remarkable leadership journey, he has demonstrated a commitment to advancing healthcare solutions and promoting well-being. Esteve's extensive experience spans various roles, contributing to the growth of organizations and fostering innovation in the industry. His visionary approach is characterized by a focus on patient well-being, technological advancements, and strategic collaborations. As President, he continues to guide AdSalutem Institut with a dedication to excellence, shaping the organization's impact on the healthcare landscape. Esteve's leadership legacy underscores a passion for transformative healthcare initiatives and a steadfast commitment to improving health outcomes.

María José Álvarez is a telecommunications engineer from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and has completed a Management Development Programme (PDD) at the IESE Business School and a Strategy Execution Programme at the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD). Since joining Grupo Catalana Occidente in 2014, María José has been in charge of leading the company's innovation strategy. After being appointed Director of Innovation in January 2014, in October of the same year she became head of the Innovation, Marketing and Communication department until June 2022. Subsequently, she served as Director of Innovation, Marketing and Business Development. She is currently the CEO of GCO Ventures, GCO's corporate venturing entity. Previously, she developed her professional career in other leading companies in the insurance and banking sectors.

Xavier Palomer is founder of Amelia Virtual Care. He has demonstrated the company can achieve an incredible level of excellence with different awards like the Hitlab Innovators Summit World Cup, where Amelia was recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the world. With the excellent track record of the company, Amelia merged with XRHealth in September 2023 becoming one of the most successful companies in digital health in southern Europe.

Nuria is co-founder and CEO of humanITcare. She has a degree in Psychology from UB, a master in Neuroscience and Research from UAB, cum laude, and PM at Stanford in Business Scale Up. She has extensive experience in the health sector and worked as a researcher at the Medical Research Institute of the Hospital de Mar. She is currently Second Vice President of the Board of Trustees recognised as Catalonia Bio Health Tech, and was named Forbes 30 Under30 in 2022. She has published more than 10 scientific articles on digital health and telemedicine, some of the most relevant with the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona or Division Clinical Informatics (Boston Dean's Israel Institute). She is now also a BHH Ambassador.

Dr. Adrià Comella is Managing Director of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau. He holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Lleida and a Master of Business Administration (MBA 2001) from ESADE. He has been director of the Catalan Health Service (2018 - 2021) during the pandemic. He has also been president of the Catalan Health Institute, president of the Catalan Medical Emergency System and president of the Permanent Commission of the Barcelona Health Consortium during the same period. He has developed his career in the fields of strategy consultancy, marketing and commercial management, general management and university education, both in the private and public sectors. He has been secretary general and member of the Technical Council of the Government of the Generalitat. Between 2016 and 2017 he led the planning and execution of the closure of the Barcelona model prison.

Elena Flores is a graduate in Law and Economics from the University of Barcelona. With over 25 years of extensive experience in the insurance sector, she has held numerous leadership positions, including roles within the AXA Group. In her current role as the AXA Health Director, Elena oversees a business with a turnover exceeding 260 million euros. In her distinguished career, Elena Flores has demonstrated her expertise in the insurance and banking sector by actively contributing to international companies. She has consistently taken on management roles, focusing on expansion, transformation, and innovation strategies. Her approach emphasizes adapting to dynamic market conditions and evolving customer preferences.

Josep Sanfeliu is managing partner, president and co-founder of Asabys. Josep currently sits on the board of directors of Anaconda, Cara Care, Inbrain Neuroelectronics, Medasense, Medlumics and Psious. Previously, Josep co-founded Ysios Capital (2008-2018), where he was the Partner in charge of Healthcare Technology investments, investing in a total of 9 companies in the areas of medtech and digital health in Europe and the US. Previously, Josep held positions in the pharmaceutical and homecare industries as Corporate Development Director at Almirall and CEO of DomusVi. Josep started his professional career at Cuatrecasas, KPMG and Eurohold. Josep holds a Law Degree from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Michigan Law School and an MBA from IESE Business School.

Andrea is Founder of Co-Salud, a boutique consultancy focused on promoting open and collaborative innovation within the health sector. She has collaborated in large-scale projects related to process, technology and innovation consulting for different clients in the health sector such as: Ministries of Health, Health Providers (Hospitals, Primary Care Centers, etc.), Health Insurers, Pharmaceutical Companies and Corporates/Startups, both in Spain and in Latin America. Andrea has a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Services Administration (UCES, Argentina) and a Master’s Degree in Health Management (IESyBS, Spain). She is Co-founder and Secretary of the Salus.Coop initiative, a citizen cooperative of health data for science. She is also a collaborating professor in various training offers of Digital Health in different Spanish academic institutions (UOC, OBS, …) and Latin American. Andrea is also a connector of OuiShare, a global community and think tank specialized in open innovation, sharing and platform economy. She is leader of the Salud Digital community, a community that promotes the integration of the actors of the digital health ecosystem in Argentina. And recently, together with other Argentine innovators, she created the civil association TISAC. Andrea is a born connector, very committed to using the power of people, the most intelligent use of new technologies and data, as well as all those new methodologies that allow stimulating innovation in the health and care system.

Anna currently holds the role of CEO Barcelona at Savills Spain. Highly committed to the social, cultural and economic life of Barcelona, she combines her position with the following responsibilities: Member of the Advisory Council of the Arbitration Court of Barcelona, Member of the Editorial Committee of El Periódico, Board Member of PIMEC, Consultant Member of Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Member of the International Advisory Council of UPF School of Management, Member of the Council of Catalonia of AED (Spanish Association of Directors), Cares Foundation Patron, Patron of Picasso Museum Foundation of Barcelona, Patronage Council Member of Catalunya Culture Foundation, Board Member of the ACG Barcelona, Member of the Board in Spain of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Mentor at Conector StartUp Accelerator.

Eduard is CIO and Director of Connectivity Intelligent at the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation since January 2019. He leads the 5GBarcelona initiative, the National 5G Observatory, the Areas 5G project and the foundation’s technology projects. He is currently a lecturer at different universities, providing training in digital transformation and smart cities. With more than 30 years of experience in the ICT sector, he worked for more than 27 years in the Barcelona City Council, finally being Director of Innovation, Knowledge Society and ICT Architectures of the Municipal Institute of Informatics, where he was part of the Smart City Barcelona team, and starred in the nomination of the city of Barcelona as the first European Capital of Innovation by the European Commission in 2014. He is currently also the Dean of the Official College of Computer Engineering of Catalonia, President of the Association of ICT Professionals of Catalonia, President of the Advisory Council of Catalonia at CIONET and President of the Commission Commission of Intelligent Connectivity of AMETIC.

Elena is Digital Health Deputy Director at DKV and Head of DKV Innolab for Digital Health. She is in charge of planning activities and resources to ensure the implementation of the company’s digital health strategy and leads the DKV innovation laboratory for digital health based in Barcelona Health Hub. As part of her responsibilities, she has to be aware of digital health trends and innovative solutions to fit clients’ needs from a person-centric perspective. Elena has a strong knowledge of health systems’ organization as she previously worked in the public sector. She was responsible of the Observatory of Innovation in Healthcare Management at AQUAS (Department of Health). Before, Elena was Innovation Project Manager at Institut d’Estudis de la Salut (Department of Health) and European projects consultant at Grupo DEX. She holds an MBA by ThePowerMBA, a Master in Public Management by ESADE-UAB-UPF-EAPC and a Degree in Political Sciences by UAB; she finished her degree at Science-Po Paris. Elena is member of the World Health Organisation Roster of experts on Digital Health and Board Member at EIT Health Spain.

Francesca is CEO and Founder of nen, that brings evicence-based Digitial Therapeutics solutions to preschool kids with cancer to help them manage their pain. Francesca brings with her broad drug development and healthcare expertise in both the US and Europe, with over 25 years of clinical, commercial, strategic and transactional experience. She has worked with diverse organizations including start-ups, consulting, large and specialty pharma as well as academia. Formerly the Chief Digital Officer of Almirall where she created the Almirall Digital Garden to accelerate and incubate digital health startups housed in the Barcelona Health Hub. She led European investments as Managing Director for the MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, LLC. Previously Francesca led Almirall´s Corporate Development Strategy team to transact on both med device and pharma M&A opportunities with a new and targeted focus for the company. Before that Francesca worked at Novartis where she was responsible for two Cell and Gene therapy opportunities that were successfully brought into the organization as well as managing the strategy and commercialization for the existing portfolio of cell therapy assets. Francesca holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and a BA from Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences.

Frederic is Co-Founder and Partner of Doctoralia (founded in 2007), since 2016 part of the Docplanner goup, the leading global platform that connects health professionals with patients in more than 20 countries, where he has been Business Development Manager since June 2021. Since 2011 he has been director of eHealth of ACES, the Catalan Association of Health Entities and since 2012 he has been in charge of the Health 2.0 in its Spanish editions. Dr. Frederic Llordachs has a degree in Medicine and Surgery and holds an MBA from ESADE Business School, where he has collaborated with the Business Policies, Marketing and the Institute of Entrepreneurship Initiatives departments at ESADE. He is also teacher of Global New Trends at the Gimbernat University School of Nursing, associated to Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Frederic’s experience in health management includes 8 years of work in some of the leading health insurance companies in Spain and in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as 5 years working as medical director of the prestigious CIMA Clinic in Barcelona. Since March 2014 he has been a member of the eHealth section of the Barcelona Medical Association (COMB). Now is lauching his new chronic patients remote monitoring platform stsrtup called Doctomatic.

Helena Torras is Venture Partner at Hans(wo)menGroup, and investor and independent Board Director. As an investor, she deeply believes in supporting entrepreneurs on their journey, always putting people first. She promotes the innovative tech startup mindset to society. Having been half of her professional life in the traditional corporate world and the other half in the tech ecosystem, she fulfills many different roles. She has been a serial entrepreneur, involved in several startups as co-founder or member of the entrepreneur team. Helena also has established operations in US, UK & Spain and has been Board Director both in Spain and in the US, having raised around $30M globally. She is also serving on several boards as an independent Board Director (Lucta, Mastertech).

Eager and committed, Helena is always willing to share and contribute. She belongs to the Governing Board of Tech Barcelona, to the Ambassadors Council of Collider (the Tech Transfer Program of the Mobile World Capital), and serves as an Ambassador of Barcelona Health Hub.

Helena has been recognized in the Top 100: Europe’s most influential women in the startup and venture capital space, as investor of the year by D+I, in the Top 100 women leaders in Spain, as one of the 100 leaders of digitalization in Spain and as EUTOP50 investor. She’s frequently featured in the media, both as entrepreneur, investor or opinion leader.

Javier is Founder and CEO at IOMED Medical Solutions, a company devoted to promote clinical research through the use of medical data collected from Electronic Health Records via Artificial Intelligence. As a CEO, Javier brings along expertise in stakeholder management and interaction in the healthcare field, particularily with hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry, from the perspective of a startup. Under his lead, IOMED is currently working with the world’s most relevant pharma companies, as well as some of Europe’s most prominent and research-active hospitals. Javier is a former ESADE alumnus, with previous experience as a Sales Manager in several consumer goods companies.

Mar is a digital entrepreneur always venturing in innovative and disruptive sectors with social and environmental impact. She is the founder of SocialCar, a peer to peer technology platform that pioneered in the sharing mobility sector. Among its partners, SocialCar counts with RACC, UBER and AXA. The company has overcome regulatory risks and consolidated the concept of distributed peer to peer car sharing in Spain. She is also a founding partner of 19N Strategies, a public policy consultancy specialized in digital & platform economy. Mar is highly engaged with Spain's entrepreneurial ecosystem by mentoring & investing in digital startups in the very seed stage as a partner of Lanai Partners and Ship2B Ventures investment fund . Mar accumulates a broad international experience. Mar lived 3 years in China, where she co-founded Social Energy, a vertically integrated solar photovoltaic company with panel manufacturing in China and providing engineering, procurement and construction services in Spain, Italy and France. Mar also spent time at Grameen Bank, Bangladesh, where she worked as a consultant to Muhamad Yunus, the creator of the microcredits concept and Nobel Prize winner in 2006. Mar began her professional career as a tax attorney at Cuatrecasas Abogados, specializing in due diligence processes and restructuring of family businesses. She holds a degree in Law from the UAB and has expanded her education in France (Université de Montpellier), China (CEIBS), UK (Master in Law awarded by the School of Oriental and African Studies) and the US (Professional development program at University of California in Los Angeles). Mar speaks Catalan, Spanish, English, French and Chinese. She currently holds different board positions such as Vice President of Foment del Treball, the main Catalan business association, and also at Tech Barcelona. She is member of the Board of Directors of Fira Barcelona, ADigital and EIT Urban Mobility. Mar brings to these Boards the perspective of someone who has devoted her professional career to trying to change environments for the good with a digital perspective.

Orlando is a digital health entrepreneur, and has been Business Franchise Head of Neuroscience Unit in Novartis Spain. In this position Orlando was responsible for the neuroscience business and member of Pharma Executive Committee. He is also member of the Worldwide Neuroscience Franchise Leadership Team. Orlando has more than 20 years in the pharma industry And started his career in Merck Sharp & Dohme Italy where he has covered different positions from 2002 to 2009; subsequently he transferred to Milan in 2009 where he joined Stallergenes as Sr. Business Analyst. In 2010 he joined Gilead Science Italy as Business Analytics & Market Insights Manager subsequently as Manager Commercial Operations and Market Insight. In 2012 he joined Novartis Italy as Market Insight and Strategic Planning Head and in 2014 was nominated Pharma & Country Executive Project Manager. Most recently he was appointed Head of Business Operations and Strategic Projects – Region Europe, Novartis HQ Switzerland. In this position, he supported the Head of Europe in leading Novartis Pharma business, coordinating the European planning process and ensuring the implementation of the strategy in more than 50 countries. Orlando graduated in Economics and Business Administration from “La Sapienza” University of Rome (Italy) and has obtained a Master in Finance from Pisa University (Italy) and the Advanced Management Program from IESE Business School (Spain) He completed a finance course at Harvard Business School, Boston (USA) and participated in leadership programs during his career. He is curious, innovative and passionate about health ecosystems and founder of Novartis NeuroHouse in Spain. Orlando fosters and promotes the “Ecosystem Leaders Mindset” within organizations. He speaks Spanish, Italian and English fluently.

Pedro is CEO at Savia, Mapfre’s subsidiary for digital health. He leads the development of a new initiative in digital health with the brand Savia, the leading digital platform for health in Spain (the ‘Spotify of health’), based in integrations of different startups in the health tech arena, with a strong test & learn philosophy, really customer centric, and using Data as the blood of the business. Previously, Pedro worked as Head of Industry in Finance sector at Google Spain, helping Spanish banks and insurance companies to take advantage of the business development opportunities in digital. Pedro also worked as Internet Director for four years in Sanitas (Spanish subsidiary of BUPA Group), leading the digital transformation of the company. And he also worked in Páginas Amarillas (Spanish Yellow Pages), leading 11888 in Spain (leading Spanish Directoy Assistance services) and 1288 in Italy, and later as New Media Director, responsible for digital products. Pedro has a degree in telecom engineering in the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and he has also studied a PDD at IESE.

Therese is a professional with extensive experience in the technology sector, both at the corporate level and in sales, business and CSR. She was until recently Vice President of Huawei Spain. She was responsible for promoting the company’s digitalization strategy, as well as driving global and local partnerships to showcase the benefits of technology in society. Previously, Therese has been general manager at GSMA and responsible for the Mobile World Capital Barcelona project. GSMA, an association representing more than 1,000 mobile operators and companies in the technology ecosystem, is known for organizing the most important event in the mobile industry: the MWC. Previously, she was director of business development at Qualcomm. She also served companies such as Vodafone or Sema Group Schlumberger after a stint in the shipbuilding industry. Therese is a multicultural person, she was born in Lebanon, speaks eight languages and has been living in Spain for 21 years. She is also Vice President of the Spanish Red Cross Foundation.

Jordi Serrano is a renowned healthcare innovator, known for co-founding UniversalDoctor, a leading Global Digital Health Company, and UhDa Health. He was honored with the United Nations World Summit Award for Global Champion in the mHealth category in 2015. Recognized as a top Healthcare IT leader in Europe, Jordi served as a Health and Innovation Consultant at the World Health Organization. He's an Innovation Consultant for Fira de Barcelona and The Collider, and a sought-after speaker at global events. With a background in Medicine and specializations in Health and Environment, he continues to drive advancements in healthcare from Geneva, Switzerland, and Barcelona, Spain.