EBC Brussels Team
Organization Chart
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.
Chief Research & Innovation Officer
Kristien Aarts
CHIEF RESEARCH & INNOVATION OFFICER
Kristien has been part of the European Brain Council since 2019 where she currently leads the research team. In this strategic role, Kristien plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the organization’s work is grounded in scientific evidence, research, and innovation.
Her responsibilities include monitoring research funding, project applications, overseeing EU-funded projects, and developing a rare brain disease ecosystem. She also manages the Brain Innovation Days program and is actively creating an evidence-based brain health toolbox for the team.
Kristien has a PhD in Psychology from Ghent University (Belgium). With diverse experience at Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, the European Health Management Association and the University of Utrecht, Kristien brings expertise in brain research, neuropsychology, emotion, cognition, multisensory processing, mindfulness, clinical research management, and EU-project management.
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 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; managing the advocacy monitoring within the health and research space – particularly involving the brain; 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
COMMUNICATIONS & ADVOCACY OFFICER
Hugo Hermantin joined EBC in May 2023 and works as Communications & Advocacy Officer. 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.
Michail Tzacheilis
COMMUNICATIONS & ADVOCACY ASSISTANT
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).
Tao Isabel Buck
COMMUNICATIONS & EVENTS ASSISTANT
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.
Research Team
Vinciane Quoidbach
RESEARCH PROJECT MANAGER
Vinciane Quoidbach is Research Project Manager – Public Health and Policy for the Value of Treatment for Brain Disorders Study at the European Brain Council.
Vinciane holds a Master Degree in Hospital and Healthcare Management from Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management and a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Management from Manchester Business School. She also holds a Master Degree in Political Sciences and European Studies from University of Antwerp. Prior to this position, Vinciane worked in both public and private sector, at national and international level. She served the Belgian Federal Public Service Health, and the Federal Minister of Health Cabinet as Advisor in charge of public health policy and regulations development in the area of Cancer, Chronic Diseases and Rare Diseases as well as the Biopharmaceutical Company AbbVie as Health Initiatives Manager. She also worked for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Swizterland as Technical Officer, Non communicable diseases and mental health cluster and the United Nations Development Programme in Pretoria, South Africa as Technical Officer, Social development department).
Vinciane is also a staff member at the Belgian Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBAM) at KULeuven.
Dieyenaba Faye
PROJECT OFFICER
Dieyenaba joined EBC in March 2023. As Project Officer, she mainly supports the application for prospective EU projects and the delivery of ongoing ones. Within the EBC Value of Treatment initiative, she also coordinates the case study on Chronic Pain disorders.
Dieyenaba has a biomedicine background focused on human nutrition. Through a science page, she popularises nutrition science promoting healthier food and lifestyle choices. Her interests include nutritional neuroscience and healthy ageing.
During her time at the European Pain Federation EFIC, Dieyenaba also gained experience in communications and advocacy at the EU level.
Ana-Livia Costache
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Ana-Livia joined EBC in June 2024 after finishing a Schuman traineeship in the European Parliament. Her background is in clinical psychology, counselling and psychotherapy and she has over 3 years of experience working in mental health related NGOs and her private practice.
She is also part of the Romanian College of Psychologists and takes an interest in sports psychology and art therapy.
She graduated with Bachelor’s in Psychology and Master’s in Clinical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy of Couples, Children and Families.
At EBC she brings value in the Research Team working on multiple projects.
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.