Jean-Jacques Degroof is an experienced teacher with a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned degrees in management and organizational behavior from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. In the early-mid 2010s, Jean-Jacques Degroof has served on the advisory board of Stiftung Charité's Entrepreneurship Summit.
Johanna Quandt established the private, non-profit Stiftung Charité in 2005 to advance university-level medicine and biological sciences in Berlin across all research, training, and healthcare fields. Johanna Quandt's deep ties to medicine and Berlin, where she finished her medical assistant training, are her primary inspiration for the foundation's existence.
Initially, Stiftung Charité concentrated on establishing an entrepreneurial culture at Charité -Universitätsmedizin Berlin, planning events, and assessing the financial potential of the research and healthcare system. Later, the Max Rubner Prize and the validation financing program were also established, making technology transfer a crucial component of university medicine in Berlin.
Johanna Quandt subsequently established the Private Excellence Initiative in 2012 to aid in establishing and growing the Berlin Institute of Health. This allowed the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin to build their translational partnership and the institute. Programs including the Clinician Scientist Program, Johanna Quandt Professorships, and Einstein BIH Visiting Fellow Program, were modified under the project.
By continuing to provide Stiftung Charité with private donations in 2021, Stefan Quandt and Susanne Klatten made it possible to launch Open Life Science. This is an ongoing program that emphasizes societal accountability and public participation.
