EBC Brussels Team
Executive Director
Frédéric Destrebecq
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Frédéric Destrebecq is the Executive Director of the European Brain Council since October 2014. In this capacity, he is responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership while managing the day to day operations of EBC and its ongoing relationships with its member associations and other stakeholders, as well as representing the organisation in various European and national forums.
Fred holds a Master Degree in Political Science and International Relations from the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium). He also studied at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Paris) and University of Wales College (Cardiff), in the framework of the former EU Socrates exchange programme. Prior to EBC, Fred served the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) as Chief Executive Officer, and previously as Director for European Affairs.
Deputy Executive Director
Stephanie Kramer
DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Stephanie Kramer joined EBC in March 2016 within the projects team, eventually making the move to heading the Communications, Advocacy & Policy team until 2023. Aside from the day to day, Stephanie’s role as Deputy Director continues to oversee the Communications & Advocacy work, with a more strategic role focused on EBC’s global partnerships portfolio, external relations and larger-scale advocacy events.
Stephanie holds an LLM in International Law from the University of Edinburgh, and a BA in International Relations & Diplomacy from Schiller International University Heidelberg & Madrid. An expat since childhood, before starting her career in the Brussels bubble she had previous communications, external relations and project management experience at the United Nations headquarters in Vienna and private sector companies in the Netherlands and Chile.
Finance & Administration Team
Latifah Irakiza
OFFICE MANAGER
Latifah Irakiza is the Office Manager at the European Brain Council as of May 2018. Latifah organized and coordinated administration duties within the EBC team, and helps maintain an efficient work environment, ensuring high levels of organizational effectiveness, communication within EBC, and safety.
Prior to this position, Latifah has worked at luxury hotels in Brussels for the past 10 years.
Ana Luís
ACCOUNTING AND ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER
Ana Luís joined EBC in January 2024 as an Accounting and Administrative Manager.
She supports all the activities of the Team, with focus on finance and reporting. With 12 years of professional experience in different industries, she can deliver a new perspective centered on finance and management, ensuring that the execution of decision-making processes are the ones that better suit the Organization.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in business management from the Universidade Lusófona in Lisbon, Portugal, and is currently writing her Master’s dissertation on Secular Stagnation and its impacts on companies financial policies. In the meantime, she also took an executive course on Competitive Project Management in New York, in order to amplify her skillset.
Communications, Advocacy & Policy Team
Dominika Suchonova
COMMUNICATIONS & ADVOCACY COORDINATOR
Dominika Suchonova joined the European Brain Council (EBC) in March 2020 and coordinates the Communications & Advocacy team.
Her work revolves around effectively communicating all EBC work to the general public, EU institutions/policymakers and all other relevant stakeholders; shaping the communications of EBC’s advocacy work, policy reports, research projects and EU projects; as well as planning EBC’s external events, such as the Brain Innovation Days and other advocacy-related meetings.
Dominika has international experience in the field of communications, marketing and event management that she acquired in France and Denmark. She worked both in the non-profit (AFS Intercultural Programs) and the public sector (French School of Public Health, French Ministry of the Armed Forces). She holds a bachelor degree in the French philology from the Masaryk University (the Czech Republic) and a master degree in Intercultural Communication from the University of Rennes 2 (France).
Hugo Hermantin
POLICY COORDINATOR
Hugo Hermantin joined EBC in May 2023 and works as Policy Coordinator. Prior to working with EBC, he has contributed to the coordination of a French political non-profit and took part in several digital advocacy campaigns. He also gained experience in digital communications in the private sector. Hugo holds a Master’s of Science in International Public Policy from University College London and a Master’s Degree in General Sociology.
Tao Isabel Buck
COMMUNICATIONS & EVENTS OFFICER
Tao discovered her love for the brain while pursuing her Liberal Arts & Science degree in Amsterdam, which led her to completing three years of valuable research experience in various neuroscientific labs at Yale, NYU, and the Child Mind Institute in New York City. She has since then completed her master’s in Applied Neuroscience at King’s College London, a degree that allowed her to further delve into the complex world of the brain, mainly through the lens of diverse neurological disorders.
As someone passionate about making brain science more accessible to the public, the chance to bring her knowledge in neuroscience to a communication and advocacy team for neuroscientific research speaks to her immensely. She is eager to turn her years of experience within the academic bubble into creating compelling content for impactful policy briefs, informative newsletters, and innovative events – further emphasizing her strong commitment to science communication. By doing so, she hopes to leverage her skills to promote brain research and improve the lives of the innumerable individuals affected by brain conditions.
Michail Tzacheilis
POLICY OFFICER
Michail Tzacheilis joined EBC as Communications and Advocacy Assistant. His recent experience was as an MEP trainee at the office of MEP Mr Kympouropoulos. He was responsible for the communication of his European activities at SANT, ENVI, EMPL, REGI committees and the Disability Intergroup. He has also worked in an advertising agency and in a public agency on European programmes. He holds a bachelor’s degree on Journalism and Mass Media Communication at Aristotle University (Greece) and he is completing his master degree on Digital Media in Europe at Vrije University (Belgium).
Research Team
Dieyenaba Faye
PROJECT MANAGER
Dieyenaba Faye joined EBC in March 2023 as Project Assistant. As Project Manager, she’s responsible for the development and implementation of the EU-funded R&I portfolio as well as the programme reporting. In her role, Dieyenaba facilitates knowledge sharing, multi-stakeholder partnerships and capacity building in brain research as well as public engagement and the translation of brain research and innovation into practice.
Within EBC/Partner-funded projects and initiatives, Dieyenaba also co-coordinates the organisation of Brain Innovation Days, leads the Task Force on the European Charter for the Responsible Development of Neurotechnologies (policy research) and supports the delivery of the Rethinking series (advocacy research).
Prior to EBC, Dieyenaba gained experience in communications and advocacy at the EU level at the European Pain Federation EFIC.
At EBC, Dieyenaba leverages her biomedicine background, advocacy experience and knowledge of EU policy processes to support the mainstreaming of high-quality, relevant and scientifically robust brain research in policymaking.
Vinciane Quoidbach
RESEARCH PROJECT MANAGER
Vinciane Quoidbach works as Public Health and Policy Research Project Manager at the European Brain Council, specializing in brain health impact assessments, care and treatment pathway analysis, and evidence-based policymaking. She is currently affiliated with the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, where she is pursuing an MSc in Neuroscience. Prior to her current position, she served as an Advisor to the Belgian Federal Public Service Health and the Federal Minister of Health’s Cabinet, where she was responsible for developing public health policies and regulations in the areas of cancer, chronic diseases, and rare diseases. She also worked as a Technical Officer at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, within the Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health cluster, and at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Pretoria, South Africa, focusing on health and social development. Vinciane holds a Master’s Degree in Hospital Management from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management and a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Management from the Manchester Business School. Additionally, she holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science and European Studies from the University of Antwerp.
Carla Finocchiaro
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER
Carla has 25 years experience in brain research public funding mainly dealing with EC grants and tenders opportunities.
Graduated in 1991 in Political Science International orientation, during her studies she had the opportunity to deepen her knowledge of Community Law, Direct and Indirect EU Financing at the University of Strasbourg, France. From 1995 till now Carla is carrying out consultancy activities within the framework of non-repayable funding programmes (Community Programmes, Structural Funds) – dealing with grant preparation and project management of EU funded projects as well as training on grant writing. In this capacity, she supports EBC since 2003 in the preparation of grant proposals and in the management of funded project as Senior Project Manager.