Committee BIOS

Prof. Georg Seifert (President)

Senior physician in pediatrics with Europe’s first professorship in integrative medicine in pediatrics at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany

Professor Dr. med. Georg Seifert is a distinguished senior physician specializing in pediatrics. He holds the prestigious position of Europe’s first professorship in integrative medicine in pediatrics at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, and serves as a Visiting Professor at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

At Charité, Professor Seifert leads a groundbreaking project aimed at establishing a center dedicated to translating experiential traditional and integrative medicine (TCIM) into evidence-based practices supported by scientific data. This initiative seeks to broaden opportunities for individual health promotion, prevention, and therapy within society, with a particular emphasis on children and adolescents. His research interests span across various areas, including mind-body medicine, nutrition, and whole medical systems.

Professor Seifert’s work is driven by a deep commitment to exploring the intersection of TCIM with modern healthcare systems. He is passionate about harnessing the potential of TCIM to drive innovation and sustainability in healthcare delivery, aligning with the global strategy outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO), where he serves as a TCIM expert.

Prof. Torkel Falkenberg

Associate Professor in Health Care Research, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

Torkel Falkenberg, BSc in Biology, PhD (Faculty of Medicine) in Pharmacology/Neuroscience, is an Associate Professor in Health Care Research at the Karolinska Institutet. He is the research constellation leader for the Integrative Care research group constellation, Division of Nursing, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at Karolinska Institutet. His research collaborations, in low and middle income countries as well as in Sweden have resulted in several PhD theses, contributions to international guidelines, and efforts to inform the EU of strategic CAM research financing.

Torkel Falkenberg has been engaged as a consultant to health care planners and decision makers nationally and internationally, including the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO) which has resulted in several global WHO TM/CAM strategy reports. He has been a board of directors of the International Society for Complementary Medicine Research (ISCMR) and is a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals and the section editor for BMC CAM.

Dr Gabriele Rotter (Treasurer)

Orthopedic surgeon & researcher, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.

Dr Rotter, MSc Ost studied medicine in Rostock, Germany, Cambridge University, UK, and University of Bern, Switzerland. She has board certification in orthopedic surgery and a Master of Science in Osteopathy. Since 2012 she has been scientist at the Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics and the Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and completed her habilitation in orthopedic surgery and epidemiology in 2023. Her research, teaching, and clinical practice focuses on musculoskeletal disorders, osteopathic medicine, complementary and integrative medicine, musicians’ medicine, music physiology. Dr Rotter is also Executive Board member of the International Society for Arts and Medicine (ISfAM) and President of the European Register for Osteopathic Physicians (EROP).

Prof. Elad Schiff

Chairperson of the Israeli Society for Complementary Medicine, Director of Internal Medicine B, and the Integrative Medicine services at Bnai-Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel, and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel

Prof. Elad Schiff begun his medical studies in complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), including reflexology, shiatsu, acupuncture (for which he received NCCAOM Dipl), and hypnosis. Concurrently, he studied conventional medicine receiving Cum Laude from Hadassah Faculty of Medicine for BSc, and Cum Laude for MD thesis at the Technion Faculty of Medicine respectively. Following his residency in Internal Medicine at Bnai Zion Medical Center, Prof. Schiff completed a two-year fellowship in Integrative Medicine, at the University of Arizona.  In 2010, he opened the Integrative Medicine Services at Bnai Zion Medical Center, through which CAM treatments are provided in the hospital’s departments, highlighting CAM provision to in-patients with complicated, acute medical conditions. He is the director of Internal Medicine B, and the Integrative Medicine services at Bnai-Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel, and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Technion. Prof. Schiff has conducted many studies focusing on CAM in the hospital setting. He has also published numerous articles in high-impact-factor journals on integration of CAM in hospital settings.

Since 2022 he is the chairperson of the Israeli Society for Complementary Medicine within the Israeli Medical Association, advancing integrative medicine on the national and international level.

Prof. Elio Rossi

Dr Isabel Giralt

President, SESMI, Acupuncture and Natural Medicine Clinic ENERGIMED. Health Acupuncture Unit, Dexeus University Women’s Clinic, Spain

Dr Isabel Giralt President Sociedad Española de Salud y Medicina Integrativa ( SESMI ), Acupuncture and Natural Medicine Clinic ENERGIMED. Health Acupuncture Unit, Dexeus University Women’s Clinic, Barcelona, Spain

Dr Isabel Giralt is Physician and Master in Acupuncture for the Barcelona University; VicePresident Acupuncturist Section Official Medical College Barcelona; President of International Council of Medical Acupuncture and Related Techniques 2008-2010.

Editor in chief ”Revista Internacional de Acupuntura” Editorial Elsevier in coordination with ”Akupuntur“ 2009-2011. Founder and treasurer of the Non-Profit Organisation ”Acupuntura para el Mundo” which goals are to teach Acupuncture to health Professionals in countries in development and to treat people with economic problems in Barcelona. Today Dr Giralt is working in her clinics ENERGIMED in Barcelona and in the Fertility Clinic “Salut de la Dona Dexeus, where she is the is the Coordinator of Acupuncture Unit, as well. Since 2019 member of the executive board of the European Society of Integrative Medicine.

Prof. Benno Brinkhaus

Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Economics, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany

Benno Brinkhaus, MD, Professor of Internal Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology is currently Head of the project division for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM), Head of the Charité outpatient clinic for CIM, and deputy director of the Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.

Previously, Benno served as coordinator of student education (2005-2012) and Acting Director of the Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics (2014). From 1994-2001, Prof. Brinkhaus worked as a physician and research associate in the Medical Department I, Friedrich Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany where he was also head of the CIM department between 1995-2001.

Benno has been at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany since 2001, where he is the principal investigator of several projects including more than 30 RCTs in the field of CIM funded amongst others by the EU-FP7 programme, and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), German ministry of Research (BMBF) and German ministry of family (BMFSFJ) and member of different medical and acupuncture societies, reviewer of national and international medical journals.

Dr Ana Moreira

Manager and Director of the Clinical Integrative Medicine Center, Porto Portugal

Dr Ana Moreira is also President of the Portuguese Society of Integrative Medicine (SPMI) and the Vice-President of the Portuguese Society of Ozone Therapy. She obtained her Degree in Medicine in 2001 from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto in Portugal. Post-Graduation in Aging Medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2006; Intensive Course of Medical Aesthetics at the Brazilian Institute of Research and Education in 2006; Post-graduation in Dermo-Pharmacy and Cosmetics at the Higher Institute of Health Sciences of the North in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2006; Master’s Degree in Biological and Anti-Aging Medicine from Ramón y Caial Hospital of the University of Alcalá, Madrid – Spain, from October 2006

to July 2008, with a 20-rank diploma (Honor Diploma); Post-Graduation in Climatology and Hydrology by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto in 2007; Post-Graduation in Biological Medicine and Homotoxicology, sponsored by the International Homotoxicology Society – Germany in 2007; Post-Graduation in Occupational Medicine by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, in 2011

PD Dr Friedemann Schad

Founder and Member of the Directory Board of the Forschungsinstitut Havelhöhe (FIH), Germany

Founder and Member of the Directory Board of the Forschungsinstitut Havelhöhe. Deputy Medical Director of the Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Havelhöhe, Berlin. Head of the Oncological Center and the Department of Interdisciplinary Oncology and Palliative Care. Member of the German Cancer Society; European Society of Medical Oncology; European Society of Integrative Medicine; Society for Anthroposophical Doctors in Germany; German Network of Health Service Research.

Dr Roland Zerm

Member of the Directory Board of the Forschungsinstitut Havelhöhe, Berlin. Head of geriatrics and senior physician diabetology Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Havelhöhe, Berlin, Germany

Dr Roland Zerm is also member of the German Society of Internal Medicine; German Society for Diabetes; German Society for Geriatrics; European Society of Integrative Medicine; Society for Anthroposophical Doctors in Germany.

PD Dr Christian Keßler