29 & 30 OCTOBER 2026 SWISS SYMPOSIUM IN
POINT-OF-CARE DIAGNOSTICS
Osttor | Winterthur | Switzerland
Program
We are pleased to present the preliminary program of the Swiss Symposium in Point‑of‑Care Diagnostics (POCDX) 2026.
The symposium will feature an exciting and carefully curated program covering innovation, implementation, regulation, and real‑world challenges in point‑of‑care diagnostics, with contributions from clinical practice, research, industry, and regulatory bodies.
Please note that the program is subject to change and may be further refined as preparations progress.
Detailed information on the individual scientific presentations and speakers will follow shortly.
We look forward to welcoming you to POCDX 2026 in Winterthur.
Thursday, 29 October 2026
Moderated by Dr. Heiko Visurius
We are pleased to announce that this session will be moderated by Dr. Heiko Visurius, an experienced expert in healthcare innovation and diagnostics. With his extensive knowledge and longstanding involvement in the field, Dr. Visurius will guide the discussion, facilitate audience engagement, and help highlight key insights from our speakers and panelists.
We look forward to an inspiring and interactive session under his moderation.
09:00 – 10:00 | Registration & Exhibition
10:00– 10:15 | Welcome
Unmet Medical Needs & Challenges
10:15 – 10:30 | Point-of-Care Testing Between Efficiency and Responsibility: Public Health Potential and Ethical Challenges
Prof. Dr. Karin Nordström
Co-Programme Director, BSc Health Promotion and Prevention, ZHAW School of Health Sciences Institute of Public Health
10:30 – 10:45 | Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) Diagnostics at the POC: Preventive Medicine or Overdiagnosis?
Prof. Dr. Marc Pfeifer
Head of the Diagnostic Systems Competence Area, HES-SO Valais-Wallis, Institute of Life Sciences
10:45 – 11:00 | Session to be Announced
11:00 – 11:45 | Session to be Announced
11:45 – 13:00 | Lunch & Poster
POC Implementation & Data Handling
13:00 – 13:15 | POCT@KSW
Dr. Sc. Alexander Wepf
Director, Kantonsspital Winterthur, Institute of Laboratory Medicine
13:15 – 13:30 | How to implement diagnostic innovation such as POCD in clinical practice
Prof. Michael Nagler
Deputy Director of the Center for Laboratory Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital
13:30 – 13:45 | POC Applications for Infectious Diseases of Poverty: Progress and Challenges
Prof. Dr. Jürg Utzinger
Director, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH)
13:45 – 14:00 | From Data to Decision, Predict. Perform. Personalize.
Thomas Zaugg
Head of Open Innovation & External Networks RDI, Roche Diagnostics International Ltd. (RDI)
Innovation, R&D & Digital Health
14:00 – 14:15 | From PCT Quick to MeMed BV – History Might Not Repeat, But Does It Rhyme?
Prof. Dr. Beat Müller
CEO & Founder, HormoKine GmbH
14:15 – 14:30 | Transforming Chronic Care with At Home Blood Testing and Digital Health
Dr. Sc. Alex Tanno
CEO and Co-Founder, Hemetron
14:30 – 14:45 | Smart Point-of-Care Diagnostics: AI-Enabled Discovery, Design, and Deployment of Next-Generation Biosensors
Dr. Tim Heinemann
Group Leader AI for Life Science, Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM)
14:45 – 15:00 | CLIA MDK: steps towards an open hardware CLIA analyser
Dr. Christopher Wood
FHNW
15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee Break & Poster
Start-up & Industry Spotlight
15:30 – 15:45 | Machine Learning-Assisted Nanomotion: Cutting Time-to-Result for Phenotypic Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing in Sepsis
Dr. Alexander Sturm
Chief Scientific Officer, Resistell
15:45 – 16:00 | No-wash, 10-minute, real-time serology for diagnostics of vector-borne diseases
Dr. Bruno Oesch
CEO, Elionova
16:00 – 16:15 | Titel to be Announced
Dr. Iwan Märki
Chief Technology Officer, Abionic SA
16:15 – 16:30 | Poster Award
16:30 – 17:15 | POCT at the Limit
Alban Michon
Modern Times Explorer, Member of the Society of French Explorers
17:15 – 17:30 | Closing Remarks
17:30 – 18:30 | Apéro & Exhibition
Friday, 30 October 2026 – Regulatory Requirements for medical devices, IVD, SW and AI/ML
09:00 – 09:30 | Registration
09:30 – 09:40 | Welcome
09:40 – 10:10 |The Future of Diagnostics in Light of New Digital Developments: Opportunities, Challenges and Responsibilities for the Healthcare Ecosystem
Harald Borrmann
Präsident des Schweizerischen Verbandes der Diagnostikindustrie SVDI ASID
10:10 – 10:25 | AI in Medical Devices: Europe Regulates, the US Guides – A Growing Transatlantic Divide
Bruno Strappa
Quality and Regulatory Affairs Manager, Digital Health Group, Veranex SA
10:25 – 10:40 | POCT: Practical intersection of Cybersecurity implementation and Regulatory Compliance
Sushma Manjunatha
Senior Software Quality Engineer, Hilo
10:40 – 10:55 | What We Learned from the Initial 100 NB‑Reviewed AI Devices
Daniela Seneca
Regulatory Lead AI, BSI
10:55 – 11:40 | Coffe Break & Exhibition
11:40 – 11:55 | AI regualtory management in relation to clinical evidence and software updates
Lara Gervaise
Co-Founder, Virtuosis
11:55 – 12:10 | Usability Engineering and Performance Evaluation of Point-of-Care Devices – Practical Insights
Alicja Ritz
Senior Manager Reglatory Affairs, IVDExpert, ISS AG
12:10 – 12:25 | Precision Medicine in the Digital Era: Designing Innovative, Regulatory-Ready Software
Sahar Hosseinian Ehrensberger
Chief Quality Officer, Prevision Medicine
12:25 – 12:35 | Goodbye Message
